Flywheel Removal

Paul S.'s advice worked like a charm:

"If you have an impact wrench, you can just hold the flywheel with your hand while you hit the nut with the impact power. If you don't have an impact wrench, you need to have some sort of flywheel holder. If nothing else, wedge a screwdriver in between the flywheel fins and the case. Make sure it is snug (i.e. no play), and then use your ratchet on the nut.

It pulls on the circlip which is in a notch in the flywheel. Make extra sure that the circlip is set perfectly in the flywheel before you start. Also, I like to hit the nut with the impact just a touch to loosen it up. Then, loosen the nut with your ratchet by hand until it snugs up against the circlip. Then finally give it another blast with the impact. I do this because it is easy to blast away with the impact and blow out the circip. The Vespa system is pretty hokey, and if the circlip isn't perfect, it pops right out of the flywheel. When it pops out, it can damage the notch in the flywheel that it rides in. If that gets worn out, and won't hold the circlip, it is a real beyotch to get the flywheel off. "

I wrenched by hand the the nut against the circlip between taps with my copper hammer.