Front Brakes take 2 & the elusive jet

After a handful of emails to a good bloke in a scooter workshop in Queensland, Kickstart Scooters, I managed to fit the new brake shoes that I couldn't get the hub over. He suggested filing back the actual pad a little on the leading edges front and back to put a bit of an angle on them, I did this, masked up of course, and they still wouldn't clear the hub, this got me thinking, I need to reduce the whole diameter a little, I sat the old and new pads on the bench next to each other and there was at least 2-3mm difference in hieght, so I filed away a couple of mm from the non pivot end where the little shoe sits...BINGO. The hub slid straight on and after an adjustment to the cable, it was job done. I am yet to mount the small vice I got from my Pa's shed, but I just clamped it down with some sliding g-clamps I have, I would've done it but couldn't find any nuts for the bolts I had...It did the job.

I have a new dampener on its way soon, I have a 20/17 carb too when I thought I had a 20/20, which is what Planet Vespa had me believe, I didn't really know what all the marking numbers meant until Kelvin pointed it out, Cheers, but he was going to see if he had a jet between 92, which is what I have now, and a 102, which was standard for a Sprint V, I have made a few calls around and sent a few emails, with not much luck finding this jet. I can get one from overseas, but the postage will be a killer, especially when I dont really need any other parts or bits and bobs, the bike is running well so its not urgent just something I want to do, I did hit 90kmph on monday, but it was the classic down hill, tailwind scenario. I backed off in nervous excitement, tackled the hill to my street and almost got cleaned up turning into my street, as I dont have indicators, I pull over and execute a hook turn when I can, it's safer, but because I was trying to take off in second, I thought I was in first, and zip in between the cars....a subtle reminder to adjust the gear cables.

To all my Aussie friends, have a great Australia Day, a celebration to life in the lucky country.

1955

The speedo has 1955 kms on it now and despite all the little things I find each time I look a little closer, the bike is running well, the plug is still a nice chocolate brown colour, once I get the new jet and the front end sorted I will be looking into why I keep blowing bulbs, wiring is definitly not my strength and part of the reason I keep putting it off. I go over the bike from top to bottom every couple of days to see if all the welds and the paint is still ok, there are a few areas of concern and to be honest I'm going to pull up the centre mat so I can have a look underneath, for peace of mind. One thing I have noticed in one of those just sitting there and looking moments was that the chrome trim on the cowls sit at different heights, looking from directly behind and at ground level the engine side cowl trim is 20mm higher than the other side, looking at each cowl the trim looks ok but in comparison its almost an inch out, thats a head scratcher???
Fueling up the other day a beat up car full of young blokes pulls in behind me, they are all watching with interest as I put the 2T in, jump on give the bike a shake to mix it all up, kick it and take off, the thing I'm glad they didn't see was me pulled over 100 metres up the road, stalled because I had forgot to turn the fuel tap back on........

Front end blues

So I had the front wheel off to replace the brake shoes and thought I'd check out the rest of the front end, now I knew that the shock was buggered but not how much,  there was 5 washers packing out behind the nut and the bolt holding the lower end was bent and the rubber was distorted and off centre, the top wasn't much better, the spring had washers packing out the top and bottom where it was fixed. I am currently in talks with a sccoter shop in Brisbane regarding the main jet and a new front shock, as for the brake shoes I'm a little confused, It could be that the shoes are wrong, but they are very close to the ones that came off, or the hub is from anothe model perhaps, I need to do a bit more research and question asking on that one.

So I put it all back together, adjusted the front and rear brake cables, took her for a quick spin to make sure all was OK and parked up for the day.

Front Brakes

Wheel off and no surprises really, Brake shoes look buggered but as mentioned, had to go back on. The nut holding the front wheel on had to be removed with an impact wrench, I tried in vain with the missus holding the brake in, the woodruff key was ok.
I wandered over to one of the neighbours to run the shoes past someone else, Now he works in a timber mill and has done for 20 years, I must say I was a little concerned that the shoes were asbestos, but to my curious horror He ran his nose over them, scratched them with his finger nails and smelt them, and even bit them???? bit them, ran the bitten stuff through his fingers and smelt them again, tasting it like it was truffle oil. "yeah I reckon it has asbestos in it" fu#k me, that shit will kill you, might take a while, but ?, anyway I eventually put them back on.
The inside of the drum was in ok condition, no different to to the rear one. The axle looks worse for wear and even trying to get the nut back on, I couldn't get the split pin hole to line up, tried wrenching it by hand and given I needed a pretty good crack on the impact wrench to get it off, I reckon that it was stuck on and doubtful.has been for a while, call it "reconditioned" but I'm doubtful.

back to business

Holidays went well, caught up with family and friends that we dont see very often, long road trip was as expected, one major spew incident. 10 minutes from destination one, joy.
The rest of the trip was good if you are into wiggles music and children that haven't eaten a proper meal for three days..
Incidents to note,  Eldest son, 3.5 in the beach waves for the first time getting bowled over by the massive one foot swell, and star fishing just below the surface with raw panic on his face.....I was a metre away and "saved" him but the image is burned into my mind., My youngest was, against all instructions, swinging on his chair, fell back and hit a convenient corner and split his head open. A trip to hospital and some glue had him sorted, until the next day when he found a wasps nest, the upside is he isn't allergic and he suffers acute pain well, downside we couldn't let the kids let off steam outside.
Rum, Beer, cards, my fabulous cooking and others of course, and a week blurred itself away in what seemed like a day or two, as most holidays do.
Once home and unpacked, kids settled I took leave to tend to the scoots.
Gloria roared into life after 4 kicks, 14 days idle and no probs. I ran around town for 50 odd kms and the old girl didn't miss a beat, the gear cables need a tweak as they seemed a bit sloppy, the rear break that I had changed needed an adjustment after real riding time and not just a lap of my street, a happy ride all round.
Plans. well it has come to light that I have a different carb than I thought I did, the wrong size main jet, the front shock is fucked, packing washers a plenty and bent bolts, the crusty old asbestos brake shoes will have to stay because the shiny new ones wont fit into the rim, the light bulbs have an issue with working together after a week or so. But other than that it is all good.

Well earned break.

Well I never got to get the kms done that I wanted to and the family and I are off interstate to visit family and friends for a week or so. Managed about 30kms today but due to all the other things I had to do before setting off time was my issue, I did stop in town for a subway lunch, I parked in a striped zone next to a big bin and got my lunch when I came back there was an old lady looking at my bike and saying something to a younger man that was with her, judging by the look on her face I'd say it wasn't a similar bike her husband used to whisk her about on picnics or to a movie 40 years ago, but more like a "look where some young hoolum has parked his bike, kids these days". I chuckled to myself and she never said anything to me as I stuffed the footlong into the side glove compartment and proceeded to kick the scoot about 6-7 times before it finally started. Phew.
So 1835 kms will be it until I get back, I did take the GT for a spin too to get the cobwebs off her, it is nice to have a good reliable scoot as a back-up. I have read about bikes not starting after a break of a couple of weeks, so I will cross that bridge on the 19th.

Rear brake shoes dodgey? Yep I reckon.

Top Pic. The inside of the rear hub, I cleaned it up and gave it a rub with some fine sandpaper. The surface was worn but it looked to be evenly.
Second and Third pic. The brake shoes that came off, they looked to me to be home made pads or at best pretty old, they had plenty of meat though, I thought it was possible that they might have been asbestos being a woody colour not dark grey like new ones are?? I have no idea but I was cautious with them just in case. I put new ones on for piece of mind.
Forth Pic. newby shoes.
Fifth Pic. old shoes and bits when I pulled them off.
I cleaned the whole lot up and put it all back together, She wouldn't start because I originally layed her down on her side to pull the wheel off, but the fuel tank was leaking out of the cap so I stood her back up, I'm guessing the carb got what fuel was left in the fuel line and after four or five kicks I flooded the engine. I live in a small cul de sac and it is on a small  hill, so I roll started her and all was good, I had to adjust the brake cable once and the brakes are good again, the wheel doesn't wobble so i'm good to go.
I checked the front wheel nut and it is secured properly, so I left it for now, after family holidays next week I plan to go over the front end, the shock and brakes etc. to make sure everything is OK. I have contacted two local (Aussie) parts and workshops regarding the main jet, but being the week of Christmas and New Year neither are open, I expect to be in contact with them this week. Vespa2 in Cairns help out people with imported bikes that have problems, they restore scoots that I believe the frames are imported from India and Italy they and also sell new engines that they build themselves and supply any parts required to get you on the road again. I will have a bit of a chat with them and see what they can do to help.
I have clocked just on 1800kms, I still really enjoy the bike, the attention it gets when I putt through town, we get a lots of bikes through town most of the time, more so when Phillip Island GP is on, so the resting bike riders at the roadside cafes all look, and probably laugh, at me as I putt by, but they are the ones sucking down the 2T with their lattes while trying to look hard and mean, he he he. I still get the odd person stop and tell me a story from their youth, riding too far with too many friends on an inappropriate scooter and loving every minute of it. I love when that happens.
My 3 month warranty expires on the 19th of January, I have been trying to ride as many kms as I can, weather and family harmony permitting, and I should be able to squeeze another 100 maybe 200 in before I go away and the warranty runs out the day I get back, I'm guessing that, as in most cases, the problems that will require major bits will happen not long after, hopefully not but who knows. I am going over the bike daily to keep an eye on everything.

Loose Rear Wheel Nut...WTF

So I'm riding around town today and the rear brakes just dont feel right, they are working but not well, the brake pedal goes to the floor if I downshift and they stop working, So I turn and head for home. the whole rear of the bike feels wobbly and shifts as I go through the gears and brake, luckily I am not far away, I begin to hear a shh shh sound that gets progressively worse as I get home it is quite loud. I feel the back wheel and it has at least 25mm or an inch play, I pop the wheel nut cover and this is what I see.....the nut can be turned by hand and although there is a split pin there it doesn't go through the castle nut and never has, it can't if the nut is tightened....... So I pull the pin out and take the wheel off, since the wheel is off I thought I'd check the brakes.....See next post for that one.

Top Pic. the bodged split pin, I put in a packing washer and a new split pin so this won't happen again.

Bottom Pic. Job in progress.

Main Jet??

Having reset the timing, checked the compression, the points gap and condition, I still can't get her to go past 80kms an hour. I thought I'd check out the jets. The idle jet was correct to the Haynes manual spec. The Main jet however wasn't. The top has 160 stamped into it, the middle section has E1 on it and the end of it has 92 stamped into it. This should be 102 for a Sprint Veloce, if my engine is in fact a three port Veloce engine, I'm wondering if this is the cause of the speed and power problem. I will get the right jet and see if that makes a difference.