Off the clock.

On the way to work yesterday I went the long way as usual, forest st is one long straight, flat road, 80 speed limit, it was quite cool so I thought it was time to push Gloria to the limit. Hand on the clutch just in case and to my surprise I got it up to the 110 mark with still some to go, I went WOT and the needle crept up until it couldn't go any further, I was a little nervous, but couldn't stop smiling, bowing just need to GPS it and see exactly how fast that is.
The pics are the rear brake cleaned up, the Femsa switch is far more sturdier than what's on the Sprint, the stator could probably do with a re-wire, the points look close to new, I've put the word out for advice on the wiring, it's probably going to be the biggest challenge, at least when I made the loom for the sprint , I had the old one to use as a guide.

Back to business

So it got the better of me, staring at me on the bench begging me to pull it apart, sorry Anthony, So I did just that. I didn't find anything untoward, just coated in old tacky oil, the rotary pad is good, the bearings cleaned up OK, the gears were fine, the shaft where the gears sit needs a clean up, I knew that there was a spring and bearings holding the shift dog on, came off OK, not sure how I'm going to get them back in though. The bottom photo is of the needle bearings from the front end, it was chockers with grease so I soaked it in fuel for two days and this is what I found in there, the housings are proving to be a bitch to get out too, bit more penetrate and patience required here. I spent the rest of the weekend, in the spare time I had, cleaning all the components, I'll replace all the hardware as some of it is rusted up and different sizes. I have found another small hairline crack on the case, that's three repairs required. The clutch corks were all but worn down to nothing and were black, the steels are OK and just need a clean up. The tank is fine too, the handles a little tight but I'll sort that when the rubber bits arrive.
So other than a bit of tinkering and cleaning I'm back to waiting for parts to arrive for both engines, I'm going to start nutting out the wiring and try to get that loom made up, the body, seat, headset and painted parts will be taken off to be cleaned up and painted. I'll get onto tyres and other bits as I think of them.

Australia Day

For many Australians it's about celebrating our lucky country, a few beers with friends and family, a BBQ, backyard cricket, this year for me it was about leaving home in the dark to ride the 100kms to Ballarat, through grazing country, sown crops an amazing golden hue, flocks of sheep, quiet towns, I had the road to myself and the rising sun to my right left a smile on my face. Once fueled up, me and the scooter, I arrived and began to load the scoot on a trailer with an apple green 150 Super with a P engine, I had been invited to join a fellow scooterist and his partner on one of Melbourne's scooter scenes annual event hosted by Scooterhead SC, its a geared and classic scooter event only and is open to all. We parked in a quiet Williamstown street and after I finally got going, the trailer ends up flooding the engine by bumping about, rode through the city, an unusual event for me but I found it a great experience, there ended up being 17 scoots and about 25 people, we met in a Collingwood cafe and after the usual coffee and chatter we rode out through the Dandenongs to a little pub near Belgrave, there is something ironicly soothing about riding the twisties through old growth forest on both sides, through little arty villages, all in the while burning 2T oil, I've ridden with a few scoots before but never this many two stroke machines, aaaahhhh the sweet sweet smell.
After lunch we rode back though town, trailered up and my hosts were kind enough to drop me in Geelong and I buzzed the quiet Cape Otway Rd home, tired and saddle sore, the entire day was 330kms. My fuel usage was 26 km per litre.
The rest of the weekend was based around cleaning the Smallie's parts, I'll cover that another time.

Front end

The first photo is all that was left of the top fork bearings, the lower race had no ball bearings at all. All the o-rings were beyond perished, the speedo cable had snapped off at the gear, which is still ok, it took some tough love to get the lower front shock to let the front end unit free. Now I have to figure out how to get the clutch assembly off with out a puller? I'm enjoying this.

And this is what the grey crap was hiding, A hairline crack just to the right of the nut, it would have been leaking oil, a lazy repair.

Ticking over

What else can I say.

Extra pics.

aaaahhhh isn't it cute. Next to my new P200E piston.

Just needs a tidy up, hopefully.

a common theme is this oily film

Need to find a headlight surround for this, I reckon it could be hard to get.

If you happen to have one that will fit this model let me know.

Delving further.

The news is more good than bad, the carb was full of oil or something that used to be oil, had a funky smell as well. When I dismantled it, it was fine, the gaskets and o-rings need replacing, the needle and mix screws tips are worn as well.
The air box was next to spotless.
The previous owner thought it would be a great idea to cut the wiring from the frame, the upside was he had the sense to leave the colours in the various components which will make wiring it up easier. Lastly the horn was held in place by some pliable stiffer bluetac type material.
More to come.