1967 Vespa SS180 (VSC)

Seals went bad on my back plate

2012-01-17T19:57:00.001-08:00

Wow! I am frustrated. After cleaning my engine case gasket with a razor blade and brake cleaner (thx Tom G.) I found that my seals on my backplate had hardened and broken. I was shocked!
The seals I need are 93990 (qty: 2) and 93977 (qty: 1).
I spoke with Gene M. and it is difficult to find these seals he has told me. An alternative is to run P-Series seals, but the hole sizes are different and don't seal as well. It's been many months since I took the backplate off, but the seals were new when the engine was rebuilt years ago by Christopher M. I don't know if the seals he used were VSC or VSE. Bummed. So bummed. Going to hunt them down now if I can.

I spoke with Tom G. about options:

" They are just brake backing plate dust seals.

They are extremely hard to find, and for a while were completely out of production. I'd say there is a good chance that Chris M. did not replace them, because he probably could not get them at the time.

If you can get them from 25 bucks, thats probably the best deal you're going to find.

Not replacing them will have no effect on the way your motor runs, and will not cause oil leaks. The cracks and deterioration will just let water and dust into your brake area, and may cause the brakes to slip a bit, or may cause premature deterioration of the pads. Which means you may have to perform brake maintenance more often (cleaning mostly). So replace them if you can, but don't let it hand you up. They won't affect running, and you can always try to find them cheaper if you want (I would just pay the 25 bucks). and go back in and install them later, which is not difficult to do. It aint original, but you can also cut some custom rings out of sheet neoprene and use them in place of the P-type O-rings. But frankly, I think P-type O rings will seal fine on the two small holes, and may just not seal so good on the one larger hole."

I have ordered a set of dust seals that are repops for the GS/SS.

Layshaft Rebuild

2012-01-14T16:21:00.000-08:00

No normal restoration takes this long. I have made many major changes throughout the process and therefore, well you know . . .

Before I can move forward I need to rebuild the layshaft. Thanks to Derek, who helped me with his mill and expertise. I rebuilt it with him and used nut/bolts to hold it together, per Tom G.'s recommendation. Tom recommended creating a small whole in the punch nut to catch the head of the rivet. Thanks Derek for helping with that.

Today, I riveted it shut using a palm nail gun (I highly recommend buying the MINI palm nailer for additional control and better view of the area you are working on) again per Tom G.'s recommendation. It went well.

Next step is to put the engine back together, which I hope to do in spurts in early mornings and late nights after my kids are asleep.

Update for September

2011-09-28T19:20:00.000-07:00

Quick update . . .

Life again has gotten the best of me . . . a new teaching job and a young family has me spread thin. No complaints though! As you know the clutch is 100% rebuilt. The layshaft (cush drive) is rebuilt and held together by hardware. I will remove one nut/bolt at a tie and replace with rivets. Once that is done I will put everything back together and test it again. If the problem is still there a new clutch it is.

In the meantime we have replaced our two Bajaj Chetaks, which I repaired and sold in July, with a new-to-me bone stock 1979 P200 with 82XX original miles on it.

I am quite smitten with it.

Barry Gwin's Vespa Clutch Compressor Tool

2011-08-11T11:11:00.000-07:00

I called First Kick Scooters yesterday to see if they had a clutch compressor tool in stock. They did not, but I was told they just use a bolt with washers and nuts to compress clutches that come in their shop.

Then I called SF Scooter Centre and they had them in stock for $20. I stopped by to pick one up as opposed to risking damaging mine without the correct tool and Barry said, make your own. Don't buy this $20 one. He usually sells his Home Depot version ones for $5, but was all out. He drew up his design and sent me on my way.

It costs me $2.25 to make and I tested it in Home Depot and it worked great. Here's what I bought:
- 1/2 inch wing nut
- two 1/2 inch washes
- 1/2x3 inch carriage bolt

The idea is the taper on the carriage bolt is similar to the taper in the clutch. I made sure that my carriage bolt easily and freely turned so it would not score my taper in my clutch. So I guess in theory this is just like using washers, nuts, and a bolt, because my taper is not fitting the sleeve perfectly. I quickly compress, remove the circlip, and release the pressure in case this design puts undue pressure on the clutch since it is not pulling from the sleeve. I do know it is not in contact with the brass ring nut as it sits on the lip above it.

I hit Ace Hardware up yesterday, but they did not have large enough carriage bolts, so I used washers, nuts and a bolt and it worked fine if you're in a jam.

Homemade tool for the brass nut on the clutch

2011-08-11T11:04:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Derek G. who transformed a deep socket on a lathe into this beautiful tool for me.
Derek said "The tool came out perfect. There is a .001 interference fit, so you have to push it onto the brass nuts, which keeps it tight. "

Lessons learned from complete clutch rebuild

2011-08-10T21:04:00.000-07:00

Not surprisingly, I learned that Tom G. was correct about why the needle bearings were binding. This evening I disassembled the clutch 100% (yet again) and with a few taps all of the oiled needle bearings fell out. Furthermore, they all we reinstalled very easily around the circumference of the race. There was no binding.

A couple things to note:

(1) The entire clutch was rebuilt when the engine was done. VSX parts were used with the exception of new needle bearings. I did not receive the original ones back from Christopher M. after the rebuild so I can not compare the sizes, but I do know I just bought 40 new ones from Scooters O and Gene M. successfully installed them in another SS180 that had a similar problem and now there is no grinding noise from the clutch.

(2) A trick for tightening the brass ring I learned from Tom G. is "Put backing plate down on wooden surface. Screw two sheetrock or other screws in place adjacent to the "ears of the backing plate. The screws keep the backing plate from turning. then you use the tool to unscrew the ring. Use just enough force to get the ring to turn. " I took another approach and used three small headless nails and lined them through both plates and turned the top plate so each locked against the nail and there was no movement. I then tightened the brass ring and could lift the clutch assembly off the wood base. Tom's idea may be smarter as it could be less stress on the two plates. I hadn't reread Tom's note and could not get my Sheetrock screws to fit the holes the nails did.

(3) For the brass ring there is no torque guide and it is unlikely to loosen since it is a reverse thread. I kept my hand directly above the socket (less torque) and tightened it down with one jab. Then I stopped. Brass is not that hard.

(4) What I did notice is that the NOS clutch springs (I point to the NOS ones in the slide show) I just purchased are noticeably taller than the VSX ones. Furthermore, they sit in the cups much more snugly. I wonder what difference, if any, that could cause. I did not receive the original ones back so I could not compare the difference in height or width.

The only question now is if the scoring wear on the bottom of the brass ring nut is acceptable or if it suggest that the needle bearings will eventually wear through enough for the brass ring to fail or to cause binding of the heads of the bearings at low RPMs -- hence the sound between neutral and first gear. I want to know this answer ASAP. Follow-up: spoke with Tom and he said that the ring has wear, but not truly scoring. He said their is nothing wrong with the brass ring as-is.

So . . .

At this point, I guess it makes sense to reassemble the bike and test it. If it works, wonderful! If it doesn't it's not hard to replace the clutch and I will need to buy a new one.

Will this clutch work or am I in need of a new one?

2011-08-09T22:03:00.001-07:00

Tonight I went over to Derek G.'s house and worked on the cush drive and clutch. We have some concerns about the clutch which need to be answered before I proceed.

Concern #1: Note the ridges in the bottom of the brass nut. This suggests that the needle bearings have rubbed against the brass ring

Concern #2: When I removed the needle bearings many fell out with a gentle tap, but there is a corner where the bearings would not come out and would not roll smoothly, even when I pushed them. I really pushed hard on these bearings and there was no movement. It took some effort.

When staring straight on at the bearing entrance, you can see that the spacing is not equal around the circumference. This may or may not be the design of Vespa. I don't know. If you do know, please speak up. When I felt the inside of bearing house I could feel an area at the bottom and marginally against the wall that did not feel as smooth as the rest and I wondered if this could be causing the bearings to bind maybe. But when I bench tested it a long time ago I could see the bearings moving through the oil hole.

Concern #3: Another concern I had is that it appears that the needle bearings are too tall and the brass ring nut is resting against the heads of the needle bearings and NOT the clutch surface. If this is indeed true, that could be a big problem.

We did not have any machinist dye to test this theory, but that is a next step.

What we did do is to measure the original needle bearing length against the new needle bearing length and they are exactly the same. I wonder though, if my original needle bearings are indeed original. They look in way too good of shape for 10,000 miles on dirt farm roads. I don't remember seeing an invoice when the engine and clutch were rebuilt for needle bearings, but I could be wrong.
Does anyone know the exact length the needle bearing should be?

Follow-up August 10, 2011:

As a back up I found a used stock clutch for $200, which seems too high. I spoke with Steve at ScooterWest and he agreed.

I wrote my mentor Tom G. to give him an update and he recommends a new clutch:

Here is what I wrote:

What I do know is this (after speaking to Steve at ScooterWest):

(1) my brass ring is scored, likely from the bearings touching it.
The NOS ones are perfectly smooth on both sides.
I don't know if this is a problem.

(2) the needle bearings get jammed in one corner of the clutch and
will not come out unless I use a screw driver and push them hard
around the circumference of the race until they loosen up. I am
unable to put new need bearings into the race at the same area and
need to put them in and use a screw driver to move them around the
circumference until they are all installed. The head of the race is
not 100% even around. Some of it is tighter and does not allow the
needle bearings to be removed or installed. Maybe this is by design,
maybe it is not.

I do not know if this is a problem.

The potential concern here is there could be binding of the needle
bearings and maybe that is causing my grinding sound between neutral
and 1st gear *only* because of the lower RPMs.

I hear your advice and it makes sense to just finish putting
everything together and back into the bike.

Jeremy

Tom's response:

That's news to me.

If the needles are binding up, then I'd go with a completely new clutch, since you don't know where the problem is.

I would not buy a used clutch if you can afford a new one.

Either of the SIP ones look good to me. Slight preference for original type . .

Tom

Further thoughts:

Thx again Tom.

I did not disassemble the clutch before removing the needle bearings
this time. Corks and plates and springs were all in place.

Also, I forgot I needed to use the clutch removal tool and followed a
manual two screw driver approach and gave some mild pressure to the
clutch on two sides to free it a couple times and then remembered I
needed my clutch removal tool. So I guess it is possible that I bent
it and caused the binding, but then again the problem existed before I
removed the clutch.

I was able to remove the needed bearings with no effort in the past
and reinstall them with no effort when the clutch was disassembled:

Could this cause a problem?

Or maybe this is not the problem and I just created a new one. I remember I had no problem reinstalling those needle bearings back in. I don't remember binding. I guess it doesn't matter now since there is binding.

Tom's response:

No way to tell if your prying caused the damage. I'd say unlikely, but conceivable. Also, there is NEVER any reason to remove the ring and needles without dismantling the clutch. That could EASILY have caused your binding problem. Take the clutch completely apart, then reassemble the needles and see if they bind.

New tools

2011-08-08T16:20:00.000-07:00

I needed the air palm nailer that Tom G. recommended I buy. While at Harbor Freight I also picked up some other tools I knew I would need in the future. Note that Harbor Freight Tools are not quality tools and are not built to last, but rather if you have a few jobs that will require a limited amount of use over the years you'll be fine and won't beat the price. Non-mechanical tools will work out just fine for you in the long-run as well with more regular use. Copper brushes
for cleaning parts is a wise investment. The air gun impact wrench will be used ONLy for loosing super tight screws during disassembly.

I did see a $20 blue colored mini air palm nailer to use for riveting and I think that would be a smarter choice. It is easier to hold and maybe control. Something to think about.

I hope to tackle the cush drive (aka layshaft) and clutch tomorrow night.

Planning for the layshaft rebuild

2011-08-03T18:21:00.000-07:00

I contacted my mentor Tom G. and I asked him if there is anything special I need to consider when riveting and rebuilding the layshaft (cush drive aka Christmas Tree). I do not have a proper work bench nor vice yet, so I will head over to Paul S.'s house to borrow his late next week. Here is Tom's response:

Rebuilding a layshaft is not technically complicated, but in practice is not exactly child's play. Aside from the obvious (put the plate with the bulge in it on the correct side), you need to keep the plates firmly seated against the primary and cluster gears. To do this, assemble the whole unit with machine screws and bolts, and then remove one bolt at a time, substituting the rivet. You have to mash the rivet heads flat and firmly to hold the plates in place firmly. There are rivet presses that do this very nicely (but I don't have one). It is possible to just mash with a hammer, but this requires alot of care. I use a modified pneumatic brad driver (I put a bolt in the brad driver slot where the nails usually go, and drill a small locating dimple in the bolt head. The rivet tail seats nicely in the dimple. Then you just puch down on the brad driver, which is pressure activated, and the tool delivers hundreds of hammer blows in seconds, firmly collapsing the rivet. Just an idea. Good luck, Tom

I plan to buy an Air Palm Nailer and modify it for driving rivets and a vice.

Layshaft Disassembly

2011-08-02T12:36:00.000-07:00

Quite over due and finally . . . I am back to working on the VSC and getting that clutch grind sound solved. The two prospective culprits for the sound are the layshaft or the clutch. Therefore, I will rebuild both since the engine is open and they are both out.

Prior to this project, I got both my wife's and my Bajaj Chetaks running again and then sold via Craigslist. Both bikes had been sitting for quite a while. My wife's bike's flywheel rivets sheared off and I replaced the flywheel, while my bike required a lot more trouble shooting to determine the problem from rebuilding the carb to installing a new spark plug resistor cap and spark plug. You can read about those repairs here. Now we are looking to buy a Vespa P200 for my daily rider.

I also had my 1962 Lambretta TV175's front fender repaired. You can read about that here.

Furthermore, if you are or know a teacher in public education, like myself, then you know how it feels to interview mid-summer for work every summer, because the economy is crap.

The layshaft disassembly went well and at close inspection, without surprise, Christopher M. did a great job rebuilding it when he rebuilt the engine only 15 miles ago. I felt bad tearing it down, but better safe than sorry. I bought a layshaft rebuild kit I will install.

You will note that the top plate is warped looking. According to Gene M. the only way to avoid that is to have a machine that installs all the rivets at once at the same time for even distribution. The small warping does not hurt the function.

The only pain in the butt was removing the rivets once I got the top and bottom plates off. It required a lot of drilling and Dremel grinding and patience. I was stressed I would grind the "seat" where the plate rests or the lip the plate rests against and twice, by accident, I hit it extremely lightly. I wish I had the attachment for the circular blade for my Dremel. That would have been best I think. I rarely need it and it costs quite a bit for the limited use I would give it.

Tomorrow I hope to rebuild the layshaft with new parts. Christopher M. did install a sealed bearing into the layshaft and I will remove one seal so the oil can get in there the way Vespa intended it to. In the mean time I am soaking my new corks for the clutch.

Gonna rebuild the clutch and cush drive

2011-02-20T06:47:00.001-08:00

Here are the following parts I am ordering:

Part # / Description / Qty

**** Clutch ****

- 110633 / Clutch Springs / qty: 6 (uprated if available)

- Clutch steels and corks

- 18975 / Clutch Rollers (needle bearings) / qty: 40

- Tool to open the brass nut to replace needle bearings (no more screw
driver -- not safe to use to open)

Am I missing anything else for a full rebuild?

**** Cush Drive ****

77372 / Internal Spring / qty: 6

77373 / External Spring / qty: 6

S.5765 / Rivets / qty: 6

77371 / Internal Spring Retainer Plate / 1

77370 / Outer Ring Retainer Plate / 1

Am I missing anything else for a full rebuild? I have a brand new
bearing there.

**** Seals ****

Engine Gasket

Gear Selector Gasket

Rear hub seal

Cush drive is okay

2011-01-11T19:15:00.000-08:00

Chris B. inspected the cush drive today and gave it a clean bill of health, because he said "it's already been rebuilt. See the rivets that's not the manufacturer and the little bit of warping on the plate between the rivets is normal on a rebuild". He also dismantled the gears from the axle and inspected how it all fit together and confirmed the gears were installed correctly and were not rubbing. Everything looked good. Crap! At that point Chris recommended installing a new or tester clutch even though my clutch looks just great.

When Chris inspected the clutch and again today when he inspected the cush drive he commented, "it looks brand new." That combined with a rebuilt cush drive prompted me to call Christopher Markley and ask him if he rebuilt it. He has rebuilt so many of these and could not remember. He told me to check the parts invoices he gave me to be sure.

So I found a Scooter Works invoice he ordered back on 7/2006 and among the many items ordered I found:

1 Comp Clutch Kit -- VSX Surflex (item #CK4)

6 Spring, Cush Drive Inner (item #77372)

1 Plate, Spring Gear, Inner VSX (item #77371)

1 Plate, Spring Gear Outer VSX (item #77370)

6 Rivet, Spring Gear Assembly (item #S 05765)

1 Bearing, Spring Gear VSB, VSC (item #S 07153)

1 Lock Washer, Spring Gear NOS VSB,VSC (item # 58636)

From Scooter Parts Direct I placed an order on 11/2006 that included:

6 Spring, Spring Gear Outer (item #78853)

It seems all items for the cush drive were ordered on my dollar. So I regret not checking my paperwork to verify before I cracked the cases.

Besides Chris being right that everything looks brand new, I am not exactly sure what this could mean. Maybe after market products resulted in this sound. Research time.

I will post detailed photos before I put her back together.

Suggestions?

Dry test trouble shooting

2011-01-06T22:12:00.000-08:00

I seeked help from Hiro and he gave me some good advice in terms of how to identify the grinding sound between neutral & 1st gear. Here are Hiro's suggestions:

"It is a good time to see if the gears mesh perfectly and how the noise can be generated by turning the motor by hand, shifting the gear through 1st to 4th from neutral. I am doubting the gears on the selecting rod installed with improper alignment. In case, the noise comes from the grind between the gears and shift cross. Assuming the noise can be heard during the acceleration with fully engaged clutch.

Once again, I will doubt the clutch unit if the half engaged clutch generates the noise.

I doubt the improper alignment between 1st and 2nd gear (which should have room for the neutral) or worn gears(both gears on the cush drive and the gear shift)/shift cross. I need to check if the gear cable adjustment and the condition of the waved (which align the gear location) dishes in the gear cable adjustment unit. There is a possibility that the peak(s) between the neutral position and the 1st position was worn badly and can not stay in the 1st position to grind inside the gear on shift unit."

Thank you Hiro!

Cush drive inspection

2011-01-06T21:55:00.000-08:00

I will post a detailed photo up of my cush drive soon. I have noticed that the bearing which was replaced during the engine rebuilt is a sealed bearing and it is my understanding that the caged style bearing is preferred here. I will need to remove the seal around the bearing.

I have also noted that there is some warping on the top plate of the cush drive between the rivets and I wonder what kind of impact that could or not have with regards to the grinding sound.

Tom G. taught me the best way to test the cush drive:
"Shaking the cush is not a valid test. Hold the large gear in one hand and the cluster in the other hand. Now twist hard. If the big gear moves with relation to the cluster gear, then rebuild. If no movement, the assy is fine."

Cush drive removal

2011-01-02T16:07:00.000-08:00

I invested some time over the past few days to remove the cush drive. Here is a slideshow of the process:
My goal was to remove ONLY what I must and to leave as much of the engine in tact as possible. A huge thank you to Tom G., who mentored me through the process as well as Paul S., who helped me through some of the tactical steps.

It feels as if I have been blogging about scooter restoration for quite some time. In the beginning I couldn't find any that did it in detail and that's why I decided to document the details for others like me via a blog. Also, many blogs start the documentation process, but either the bike and or the blog never seem to reach completion. Today there are many more resources available for the newbie and novices online (or course the best are the experienced wrenchers), and I'd like to recommend two resources for you that have been trustworthy and around a lot longer than me. Here are two articles I used for this process . . . transmission removal from ScooterHelp.com and brake shoes removal from Paul S.'s site ScooterLounge.com.

The next step is for me to inspect my cush drive and then rebuild it. I plan to do that work myself.

Disassembly Tip (update)

2010-12-31T10:07:00.000-08:00

Newbies,

When disassembling your bike print out an extra parts catalog with diagrams. You may need multiple copies of some pages. Use a ziplock to hold your parts and with highlighter mark the parts you have in the bag. Then put the diagram in the bag. Use zip ties to hold the "order" of the parts in place. Leave the zip tie loose enough so you can clean the parts.

Now inspect your parts and use a different color maker to label "replace" for parts that need replacing.

This will make reassembly easier.

Special thanks to Hiro who gave me a similar idea (and Hiro credited it to Tom G.).

Flywheel Removal

2010-12-31T09:57:00.000-08:00

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.

Bearing update -- danger gray market

2010-12-31T09:46:00.000-08:00

Since working on the TV175 I have learned a lot about bearings, because I am rebuilding the engine. This info is very important for all scooter owners.

Read about gray market bearings and what to avoid here.

Vapor Blasting

2010-12-31T09:31:00.000-08:00

I have priced out soda blasting, walnut shell blasting, and the works and for my Lambretta I decided on vapor blasting. I won't go into a long explanation, but I will keep it simple. Vapor blasting is equal in price, is best on your metals, and looks better than anything else in my opinion.

Check out Peter at Mods & Rockers and you won't be sorry.

I will post pictures of my Lammy when Peter's done on the sister blog. I am having my cases, carb, etc. done.

Resource DVD

2010-12-31T09:26:00.000-08:00

Folks I have used the following DVD to help me rebuild my Lambretta TV175 S3 engine and it was worth every cent. I felt like it was the second engine I was working on even though it was my first. I played the movie on my Mac because it is formatted for Europe. I highly recommend picking up the Vespa DVDs (especially the engine one) if you are a newbie/novice to wrenching on bikes.

Click on Scooter Techniques. It's totally worth it.

Preparing to remove the cush drive

2010-12-30T14:39:00.000-08:00

I popped the clutch back in the bike yesterday and went for a ride just to test the grinding sound one last time. It was there. What a shame to split the cases on a bike that has less than 18 miles on a full engine rebuild. Feels like a sin. Or maybe the sin is the cush drive was not rebuilt prior to assembling the motor.

I wrote my mentor Tom G. about splitting the cases and asked what short cuts I could take safely and his response was:

"You can do this work with the engine in the bike. Technically, you don't even have to remove the stator entirely either (you do have to unbolt it, so you can get at the engine nuts behind it though -- you just don't have to disconnect the wires from the junction block, or pull them through the housing. Be sure to mark the position of the stator plate so you don't have to re-time the engine (and don't move the points either.

So -- pull the shrouds first. Then the flywheel. Then remove the exhaust, head and at least the two cylinder studs that screw into the flywheel side case half. Technically, you can then just slide the cylinder up a bit, and not remove it entirely, and not remove the piston either. Remove the gearshift box. Then you can remove the case nuts and bolts (remove the stator and use some wire to tie it up out of your way. The flywheel side case half should then slide right off. Be careful not to damage the cylinder base gasket. Replace the case gasket just in case. You will also have to remove the rear wheel, and hub, and when the case is open, drive out the rear axle and the gears. Only then can you remove the cush gear.

Good luck! - Tom

As you can see I have my work cut out for me.

Clean bill of health for the clutch

2010-12-30T14:35:00.000-08:00

A while back Chris B. inspected the clutch. He:

1) first looked for any heavy wear -- there was none

2) then he inspected the clutch basket for shape and wear at the points the plates lock -- there was none

3) he plates the steel plates on a piece of glass to make sure there was no warping -- there was none

4) he stood all the springs up side by side to look at height equality and wear -- all was good

5) the cork plates are brand new

Overall the clutch looks in great condition and Chris B. believes the sound must be coming from the cush drive. So that is the next step.

"I feel bad-ass," said Lisa.

2010-08-19T21:18:00.000-07:00

I needed some good news, no matter how small after the clutch issue seems to be dragging out . . . so I had my wife, the owner of this VSC, ride it for the very first time -- now that I know everything is safe and tuned to operate correctly (minus clutch and lights). Her whole-hearted laugh and enjoyment of her bike has rejuvenated me and my desire to finish it (plus my Lambretta is waiting on me to restore him). I love that the Vespa is a first kick bike and is very strong! I also love that my wife, Lisa, loves her bike so much.

The clutch saga goes on

2010-08-19T20:46:00.000-07:00

Today I brought in the big gun . . . Chris B. . . . a reputable Bay Area scooter mechanic, who work on several rare bikes. Chris B. came highly recommend from a few people for both his skills and being a good human being. He test rode the bike and was very happy with it overall, but he got really nit-picky and taught me a thing or two. I am grateful, because I will be better and faster at tuning-up my scooter because he mentored and trained me today.

The first thing he did was a nuts to bolts (exterior) check of the entire bike and told me to address the following items:

(1) Flip the fuel cock lever 180 degrees so it is installed correctly, which is 12 Pm is "on" and 9 PM is "reserve".

(2) The choke is sticking, which indicates the "R" clip on the inside of the frame is missing or is loose. Address that at the same time as the fuel cock lever.

(3) The air filter gasket is missing.

(4) The drain tube is missing from the air filter.

(5) Replace the air box lid seal.

(6) Add split washers to the gas tank and seat nuts.

(7) Oil dripping from rear hub area. Check the rear hub seal. Brake pads may be soaked in oil. Chris B. tested the brakes after adjusting cable and riding and the brake pads are not soaked in oil.

(8) Add a washer or two to seat pivot screw (which locks the seat) so it is tall enough to click and lock.

(9) Look for taller seat buffers so seat frame does not scratch paint on frame anymore.

(10) Too much free play for clutch lever. Should be approx. 10 mm. Chris B. and I fixed that today.

(11) Too much free play for rear brake and the adjustment cable extension is installed incorrectly. The loose nut needs to face outward for access. Chris B. and I fixed that today.

(12) Too much free play for front brake and the adjustment cable extension is installed incorrectly. The loose nut needs to face outward for access. Chris B. and I fixed that today.

(13) Tighten kick start lever bolt down hard to avoid any free play on shaft. Chris B. and I fixed today.

(14) The clutch cable is too loose so that even before the lever is released the gears are engaged and the bike moves forward. Chris B. and I fixed today.

Chris B. taught me a lot of tricks of the trade, such as using spark plug caps to provide enough space for the 3rd hand tool to work effectively along with his "narrow" Snap-on wrenches to tighten things up properly and with great ease and little effort. He also taught me how to use a tune the clutch so the shifter notches on the handle bars lined up 100% perfectly. Using painter's tape draw a straight line. Now put this tape on your the bottom of the clutch shifter so you can see it when you are on the ground -- tape with the line going across the handle bar and shifter. Now cut the tape. Put clutch in neutral. Use the two gear box cables to "re" align the lines on the tape so they are line up perfectly and viola!

I did not have Chris B. inspect the electrical issue today. His prognoses is that it is either the clutch or the cush drive that is making the grinding sound between neutral and first.

He believes that little to no harm is happening now while the bike is being ridden, but he also says it should not be making that sound.

His recommendation now is for me to remove the clutch and inspect the clutch in person. If anything is obviously wrong he will recommend I replace it. If not, then CRAP we're shooting in the dark and may just have to live with it or buy a new clutch and test it. If that's not it the engine cases will be split and the cush drive will be inspected and maybe replaced.

But again, overall Chris B. is happy with how the bike performs. She is peppy!

Back from the dead

2010-08-19T20:25:00.001-07:00

Where have I been?

Short answer is . . . I was laid off, stressed, and looking for work all while focusing on my new born daughter, Piper, who will be 6-months-old this weekend. Two weeks ago I secured work and it is an improvement over my last high school (I'm a teacher).

Years before I met Paul S. he was giving me guidance and help with his scooter website, Scooter Lounge. I particularly liked his buyer's guide information. He is very knowledgeable and generous. I kid you not when I tell you he has given around 15 free hours of labor to this bike. This is the scooter community I have come to love and will continue to give to. Paul S. solved many problems, including:
(1) He resolved the grinding noise of the rear hub
(2) He discovered that the rear hub was not safely or correctly mounted on the axle
(3) He resolved the broken kill switch
(4) He resolved the steering column lock
(5) He removed and bench tested the clutch
. . . just to name a few.Above is a picture of Paul S. loading the scooter on to my friend's truck to come home. The electrical is in much better shape, but the rear brake light and headlight still do not work. I need to call fellow SS180 owner Krissy and have her to teach me how to resolve that issue. And finally, the clutch is still messed up. We could not resolve it.

* If you don't already either shop at or visit for information I can not recommend Scooter Lounge enough! My wife and I will forever be indebted to Paul S. for his generosity.

Next step is to have Chris B., a reputable mechanic who knows the VSC, test ride it and make recommendations.

Going no where and not in a rush

2010-04-25T08:25:00.001-07:00

Waiting on some minor paint touch-up on a part at the moment. Clutch is still out and needs to be reinstalled and tested again. I am so hopeful that just soaking the clutch plates (remember the engine sat for over 1 year after rebuild and before running), but I also suspect that will not solve the problem. Paul is still storing the scoot and says that since he has never worked specifically on an SS180 motor he fears he is overlooking something on the clutch and therefore recommends I bring it in to First Kick Scooters and have them resolve the clutch issue. Paul suspects that I do not need to open the engine cases and go to the cush drive -- he believes the problem is the clutch and why open the cases until I confirm that. I agree.

Other news, I have a 9-week-old daughter now and received a pink slip for next year (I am a English teacher), which means I am focused as all hell to find work for next year.

Yesterday, I took my Bajaj Chetak to a local scoot rally:

I broke down. Fuel starvation. Thank God for a chase vehicle that day.

A thank you is due

2010-01-23T17:47:00.000-08:00

Thursday night, the local SC, First & Last Chance Scooter Club, met for its monthly drink. Just like to scoots I am a relative newbie to the club as well. I struck up a conversation with two more experienced scooterists and restorers, Paul S & Dano. I started to go on about the great customer service I have received from some scooter shops. Paul, who has been in the scene for I'm guessing a couple decades, told me about the mod-revival days and the history of all the shops. In those days, you had a catalog and a phone number and called the shops for the parts and advice. Those shops were accustomed to holding their client's hands and walking them through the challenges the scooters offered the owners. That hit the nail on the head for me!

There are a few scooter shops who held my hand for hours via the phone and email and to be honest probably did not make enough money off of me for what they invested in me, but what I can tell you is their passion for vintage bikes lives through me and now the SS180 and at some point the TV175.

For the Vespa hand-holding I can not thank enough Alex, of Motorsport Scooters. He is a very knowledgeable resource and geniueningly cares about people. He is a lot of fun to speak with. David, of First Kick Scooters. David is the most calming person in the scooter culture I spoken with. He has researched on his own time to help me trouble shoot many issues and always came back to me with answers. He has taken great care of me. Mic, of ScooterShop, is another O'G, like Alex. He is a hoot to talk with and is also very knowledgeable. He moves at the speed of light in conversation. Danell, of Scooter Parts Direct also took very good care of me and even referred me to competitors when I was in a pinch for a part she did not have.

For the Lambretta hand-holding, a true O'G scooterist is Gene, of Scooters Originali. Overall I can only say great things about him. He continues to hold my hand which each and every step of my Lambretta restoration. He is also great with Vespas. Mark, of Jet200, is new to the shop scene, I believe, but other club members also love him. He is a very fair guy and works with you until you are happy.

There are other shops that I have had positive experiences with, but the ones listed above are the ones I frequented the most.

Attention diverted

2010-01-16T08:37:00.001-08:00

My wife is due with our second child within the next 3-5 weeks and that's where my attention is. We have our hands full with Hudson Rogue, our 3-year-old boy, and soon I will need to be very available for him when my wife is caring for the infant. Gender unknown.

I am aware that the clutch video was too long for YouTube and Blogger, so I will look for alternative video sites at a later date. Paul will put the clutch back in the bike as soon as he can get to it. I also need to call a fellow SS180 owner to work out why my headlight is grounding out when in the socket. All the mean while, with every penny saved for projects, I am acquiring all the parts I need for my TV175 S3, but not really working on the bike.

I will be back!

Rebuild the clutch

2010-01-01T11:23:00.000-08:00

The video below shows the final inspection/rebuild/bench test of the clutch. I will have it reinstalled in the SS180 and test ride the bike. If the issue is not resolved, then the bike will come home from Paul S's house and I will brainstorm from there . . . whether I buy a SIP VSC clutch or drop the motor, open the cases, and inspect the cush drive.

Clutch needle bearings "okay"

2009-11-26T11:59:00.001-08:00

Got some garage time this morning and checked the needle bearings in my clutch. Yesterday, I bought a 1" pipe to hacksaw and Dremel into a tool to open the reverse thread nut to expose the needle bearings. After a few minutes with the saw and seeing that I had only scratched the surface I thought of a creative way to loosen the nut without a punch.
And the best part is the needle nose pliers worked. My only concern is I wonder if the nut should have been on tight enough so that I could not loosen it this way? Could this of caused the "grabbing" I experienced?
All forty needle bearings were there and appear to be in great condition. I need to oil them back up as I wiped them down with a micro fiber cloth to avoid any dust particles getting on them.
There is a small amount of space between the needle bearings, but it's fairly tight overall as you can see.

I need to continue down the trouble shooting list I compiled.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The clutch saga

2009-11-16T18:41:00.001-08:00

Tonight, I am re-soaking the clutch plates in SAE30 non-detergent oil. After the engine was rebuilt it sat for nearly two years before being run so I was encouraged to soak the plates again over night. I will soak for a couple days for good measure.

This evening I searched to see if I had the original gear oil we filled the engine with and guess what I found? Yamalube Utility Performance four stroke SAE 5W-30!

I know, "what the what!" as Liz Lemon says on 30 Rock. I know for sure I asked my very experienced motorcycle buddy to buy SAE30 non-detergent oil from his motorcycle store of choice and I see that the red bottle cap and the top of the Yamalube Utility Performance four stroke SAE 5W-30 was pictured in the time we filled the gear box.

Next step is to immediately drain the gear box and refill it. The engine has gone no more than 10 miles since the rebuild.

I asked Paul S. & Tom G. if the wrong oil could be an issue and the answer was it's not my issue.

Paul S. said, "having modern detergent oil would not be the cause of your problem. The reason why non-detergent oil is recommended for scooters is that they don't have oil filters. Detergent oils will tend to push particulates to the top of the oil, but on scooters, we want the junk to fall to the bottom of the oil - so it will drop out of the drain plug. Anything on top of the oil will get flung from the gears onto the clutch.

So basically, it is better to have straight up SAE 30 in there, but it isn't really going to hurt to have 5W-30. It certainly isn't going to have any effect on your clutch action at this point."

Next steps with my clutch

2009-11-13T17:51:00.001-08:00

Here's my plan for next steps in trouble shooting the clutch problem, which I compiled from speaking from a few different people:

1. Disassemble the brass retaining ring, and inspect and count the needler rollers. I suspect the problem is here, but even if it is not, you need to eliminate the possibility.

2. Test assemble the corks and circlip, to confirm that with the eared cork plate in place, the other corks slide freely in the basket slots.

3. Reassemble the clutch fully, after oiling the corks. Before installing, use your clutch compressor tool to compress the clutch slightly, and confirm that the plates are slipping smoothly as they should.

4. Reassemble the clutch on the bike.

5. If the lurching symptom is not solved, (only after the above tests) consider using "clip the ears" theory. I'm only suggesting this as a diagnostic, not as a permanent fix. I think you want to avoid riding long and hard on clipped ears, but for test purposes, I don't think you'll get into trouble. If the clipping solves the problem when nothing else did, well then I'd suggest we brainstorm some more to figure out how to keep the ears intact (substituting a new back plate of course), and still solving the problem. But at least if the clipping works, you can rule out some of the possible causes, and try to zero in on the real culprit.

Also, it occurs to me that it is just possible that your problem could be caused by insufficent oil on the clutch corks. Didn't you let the motor sit for quite a time before getting the bike on the road? If so, it is just possible that the corks are not saturated enough with oil, and thus don't disengage correctly at first. I'm not putting alot of stock in this theory, but do me a favor, and make sure you soak your corks in SAE30 overnight, just to make sure.

And while you have the clutch open, check to confirm that there is no play in the rivets that secure the large gear (which engages the inner diameter of the internediate steel clutch places) to the back steel plate.

Continuation of clutch trouble shooting update

2009-11-12T16:36:00.000-08:00

At this point, the next step is to open up the needle bearings and examine and replace them.

Here is where we started from . . . an email from Paul S.:

Gentlemen,

I fear that the problem lies with the cush drive. The clutch does not engage smoothly, but snatches and grabs. The clutch basket is perfect, and the plates and corks are new. I have not taken apart an SS clutch, so perhaps there is something I'm missing. I have three areas of concern.

1) no matter how I line up the base plate with the basket, the springs are not 100% lined up with the base plate. I'm not sure if this is how the SS clutch is supposed to work, as opposed to the later style clutches where the springs are in perfect alignment.

2) inspecting the needle bearings on the backplate/gear plate, it appears that there may be some bearings missing. I'm not sure how these are supposed to look. However, my experience with needle bearings in general tells me that there should be no gaps between the needles, and they should cover the whole circumference of the bearing area. This is not the case here. I have not taken off the brass cover to look inside. It appears that there is a special tool required to remove the brass nut. I don't want to whack on it with a punch.

3) if none of the above, then the problem is must be in the cush drive. That would be unfortunate.

Here is what I have learned from Tom G.:

Check that the gear ring is firmly riveted to the back plate of the clutch. Also check the sides of the slots in the clutch basket. In order to properly disengage, the tabs of the plates have to slide freely in the basket slots.

Also, make sure the spring washer that goes on the crank before the clutch is properly installed. The small end of the cone goes towards the crank.

The basket and back plate are not supposed to line up perfectly. The spring depressions in the back plate and the spring cups in the basket are supposed to be slightly offset. If I recall correctly, there is a small hole in both. Align the small holes. Send me pics so I can be sure I'm remembering this correctly.

The needle rollers should take up almost all of the space. Make sure you have the right amount. There is a total of 40 needle rollers.

The brass ring collar, I believe, is reverse thread. There is a special tool that allows you to remove it, but in practice, most people use a small punch (carefully). But you can also find a pipe or socket the right diameter, and grind away enough of the perimeter to just leave two protrusions to fit into the slots on the ring collar. That would be the best way to open the clutch, if you have the time and the patience.

If the clutch is out, you can see some of the cush gear. Rotate it in place, inspecting the rivets for any movement. Push and pull, tap, whatever. If you see any movement of the rivets, or the plates that the rivets hold together, it is safe to say that your cush gear is the problem. If not, continue to focus on the clutch.

I'm slightly concerned about the rust pits in that surface (the rust is gone, but the pits remain) on the plate. They could be creating too much friction against the bottom cork. However, I've run similar plates without problem, so that "probably" is not your problem. Still, if you could find a better plate you might want to use it.

Gene M. posted on the "Vespa Super-Sports Yahoo Group":

Did you install p200 corks with the external tabs on the outer plate? That lurching is common on scooters where the clutch basket is warped and not allowing the corks to slide freely in the cutouts. You can test this by cutting the tabs off the outer plate so they look more like original plates than P2 type.

We've had many many Vespas with "jumpy" clutch. Normally a new basket fixes the problem - but GS/SS baskets are not available new, so the next best thing is to take the pressure off the basket by removing the tabs. the tabs should have no pressure on them to install - they should slide into the basket freely.

**** BUT I have also learned ****

There is a reason that Piaggio started to use back plates with ears. With 125 and 150cc motors, plates without ears was fine, but with the advent of the GS150, the standard baskets could not take the stress, and started to "flower" out under high rpms. The initial cure for this was to put a steel band around the clutch. However,this intervention did not last long. I suspect it cut down on oil flow to the clutch plates, and possibly the bands started to fail anyway. (This is just my speculation). And so, the Piaggio engineers decided to put the ears on the clutch plates to keep the clutch basket from expanding. And it worked. The SS180 has plenty of power -- enough to cause the clutch basket to expand -- which you want to avoid. Keep the ears.

By the way, it is possible that it is correct that cutting off the ears might help solve the clutch grab -- even though it might not be the BEST way. Think about this -- On a lot of after market clutch plates, the ears are not perfectly stamped, and they do bind up when you try to install the plate in the basket. If there is a really bad fit, the force of installing the last plate can make the clutch basket flex slighly. It is possible that this flexing can cause the slots that the other clutch plate tabs slide into become too narrow, possibly causing the tabs to bind up. (Or the problem could be caused by aftermarket clutch plates with tabs too big on the first two plates -- or even that on an aftermarket basket, the slots for the tabs are too narrow). Frankly, there isn't much chance that this is the problem, but it is still worth checking on. One way to check is to fit all of the clutch plates, in order, into the basket (no need to assembel the basket onto the rest of the clutch assembly). Install the back clutch cork, with the ears, and then fit the circlip. Make sure the back plate is pressed up against the circlip. The two intermediate cork plates should be free to slide back and forth, and their tabs should not bind up on the basket slot anywhere along the route of travel. If they do bind up, that's a no-no, and could be your problem.

**** I just got off the phone with Steve B. from MotorSport Scooters and he said ****

#1 - Bench test the clutch with the compression tool. Tighten it till you feel the compression. Give one full rotation by grabbing/spinning the drive gear. It should spin freely.

#2 - Look for wear of the brass bushing in the clutch cover. If the bushing is loose it will cause "jumping".

#3 -- Make sure that the tension washer is facing the correct direction. The "cone" needs to be facing out.

Steve is against cutting the ears off the cork plate, because of the power of centrifical force. It could be very dangerous. He went into a long and detailed reason why it is dangerous and I could not remember all the details when I got off the phone.

He also said, I may be missing some needle bearings, but that would not be the cause of the problem.

Why won't my clutch work?

2009-11-11T12:56:00.000-08:00

My clutch is the last big snag in my restoration. One a limited inspection, the cush gear appears to be okay. When in neutral going to first gear the clutch both grinds a terrible sound and grabs pulling the bike into a wheelie. I need help.

Here is a photo of my entire clutch:

And the hardware:

The cork plates are brand new:

The video below gives you the low-down to the two potential problems that have been identified:

This video shows a glimpse of the needle bearing, which appears to be missing needles:

As stated in the video, as you spin the gear you can see it rolls around a needle bearing, but there are some spaces that appear as if they should not be there -- maybe this bearing needs to be replaced -- and the needles should be complete around the 360 degree bearing. Also, when you spin the plate there is some friction/snags at points. But if you spin the gear it turns freely, easily, and quickly.

The small holes in the basket and the plate should line up and the basket should fit the plate correctly. There are two possible settings and neither lines up for me. Note where my fingers are pointing:

When you line up the holes on both plates (in either of the two settings) you can see that clutch springs do not line up and furthermore neither does the basket. See the video with both possible settings and you will see how "off" it is.

Clutch Still Broken

2009-11-09T21:52:00.000-08:00

CRAP!!!!

Spoke with Paul S. this evening and the thrust washer was added. It appears that the clutch plates are brand new - no scribe marks. It did not work. I am frustrated. Will take pictures and video of it this week and ask others to look at it and help me determine what the issue is.

Please comment with ideas and what needs to be seen in pictures and video to help trouble shoot. My plan is to see it on Wednesday.

Vespa Tricycle

2009-11-01T07:16:00.000-08:00

My wife and I bought my son the Radio Flyer Vespa Tricycle. He likes to have his own "scooter".

No update on the SS180 at this time. Paul S. received the clutch tension/thrust washer and the clutch will need to be removed a second time to install it.

Clutch Issue Follow-Up

2009-10-16T16:08:00.000-07:00

Had a beer with my mechanic Paul S. last night and the rest of the local scoot club and Paul told me that I am missing the Clutch Spacer Washer (aka thrust washer) -- part #59133. This washer goes on the crank shaft before the clutch goes on. This could affect the the engaging/disengaging of my clutch. I ordered the part for $10 and am having it sent directly to Paul. I really hope this solves the clutch issues for good so we can move on to the electrical in the headset and then finally be done.

Reference: Stock Wire Harness

2009-10-10T21:16:00.000-07:00

For Krissy . . .

Here's a look with the shrink tubing removed:

Click to enlarge photos and see colors more clearly.
Stock wire harness.
Headlight/indicator bulb wires (Note: there is also a BLUE wire here that was cut too short to be seen in the picture below, but it is part of the headlight):

Kill switch wires:
Horn wires:
Rear brake light switch wires:

Tail light wires:
HT Coil wires:

My stator was rewired exactly to match stock and photos are posted on this blog.

Clutch Issue Continues

2009-10-03T09:23:00.000-07:00

Updates below as of 10/7/2009

Here's the work that has been done on the scooter thus far as posted on Paul's Blog. Click me!

After the clutch was put back together and rear wheel put on Paul tested the scoot and the clutch issue is NOT resolved. I need help and that is what I am asking for . . .

Email sent to my SS180 mentors & Super-Sports Yahoo Group:

"Tom, Christopher, & Hiro -

I have a problem with the clutch on the Vespa SS180. The clutch was
just examined by an experienced mechanic friend and the cork plates,
basket, etc. all look good. From what I understand there were a few
ways it could be assembled in the basket and lock into place. Two
ways had a lot of free movement and one way was sorta snug, but not
locked perfect. The snug way is not enough top get the clutch to
operate correctly.

Here's the issue:

In 1st gear at a stop the clutch grabs and pops a wheelie and makes a
terrible sound. You can see it here in the video and hear the sound
to:
http://vesparestoration.blogspot.com/2009/06/another-ride-and-whats-left.html

It seems to shift through the other gears okay, but I would not
describe it as "butter."

Help trouble shooting?"

**** RESPONSES ****

""Hi Jeremy,
I would recommend to test with another clutch unit/assembly which works good. Do
you have a friend who ride an SS there?

I would suspect the worn springs inside the Christmas tree gears if it works.
Good luck,
-Palmog" (posted on Super Sports Yahoo Group)

"Hi again, Jeremy,

I've just found this mail now. In addition to what I've posted on the Vespa Sports group, you would want to check the needle roller bearing inside the helical gear of the clutch unit. It is very easy to check only turn the reverse threaded brass washer off.

I happen to have my SS motor completely been disassembled in my room now. I can take photos of any of parts as a reference if you need. Just let me know what you need.

Good luck,
-Hiro"

Other possibilities my research turned up:

(1) The plain clutch plates are dished slightly (0.012 in) and bear a scribed
line on the concave surface. These marks must be facing outwards and assembled
above each other towards the retaining circlip.

(2) Check that the gear ring is firmly riveted to the back plate of the clutch.

(3) Check the sides of the slots in the clutch basket. In order to properly disengage, the tabs of the plates have to slide freely in the basket slots.

(4) Make sure the spring washer that goes on the crank before the clutch is properly installed. The small end of the cone goes towards the crank.

Any of my readers have suggestions? Please comment.

Resolving the rear hub grinding

2009-09-30T17:50:00.000-07:00

I was missing one critical part -- the internal cone for rear hub. See the internal and external cones pictured below. These parts are NOS and the shops that I work with in California all had them in stock. These parts sell for between $6.50 and $12.50 each depending on where you buy them. Also pictured is the replacement headlight bulb socket I needed.

Paul S. posted a blog entry on the work he did on the rear hub. You can read about that here, but you will find more information is this post.

SS180 nears completion

2009-09-29T20:17:00.000-07:00

Email in from Paul S.:

"I forgot to email you about it, but I got some time to work on your scooter last weekend. The clutch is back in, and the rear hub is on. Success! No rubbing on the rear hub, so I think the cone fixed it. I didn't have more time to run the scooter to check on the brakes and clutch action. Hopefully I can get to it this week.

I have started to post some blog entries on the work I did on your scooter. The first one is up today. I'll probably post one a day for the next week about the SS."

Thx Paul S.

Almost there

2009-09-20T16:26:00.000-07:00

Just dropped off parts at Paul's house this afternoon and it is possible that the SS180 will be done within 1-2 weeks. I had the external rear hub cone, just needed the internal one. All that will be left is touch-up paint (yes again) and photos. Clutch was inspected and put back together yesterday. Hurray!

Clutch update

2009-09-11T20:58:00.000-07:00

Being ordered:

- Clutch puller tool (aka clutch nut tool)
- Brass bits/fittings for clutch rebuild (may not exist in the GS/SS clutches, but do in Rallys and Ps)
- Rear hub spacer

* Note: If you are in a hurry and don't have a local scoot shop where you live and don't want to wait for a clutch compressor tool via mail from a shop or you want to save 80% and make your own . . . a trip to your local hardware store with the following notes and picture will give you a clutch puller for under $5.

As Christopher Markley told me long ago, he suspected a spacer was missing in the engine rebuild because the back plate was rubbing. It rubbed paint onto the brake shoes, which may now be contaminated and may not work. That's to be determined. Luckily, Paul looked at the motor and noticed that there was some play in the rear hub and that the nut was not locked into the cotter pin at the end of the axle. The only thing holding that nut in place was the cotter pin, which would have given soon. The rear wheel would have fallen off while the bike was being ridden -- catastrophic! The job of the spacer is to push the nut up into the cotter pin and have them lock in place. The wheel and the nut spin in the same direction; therefore the cotter pin is the only thing that holds the nut and wheel on. In our case, the nut was tightened down to far to be locked into the cotter pin and spun out as the scoot was ridden.

It is Paul's hope that the spacer will free the wheel up from hitting the back plate. He was surprised to see where the plate was being hit. It is possible, we hope, that the spacer and clutch rebuild will resolve all issues.

I am in the process of ordering the parts above.

My Aunt Madeline

2009-09-11T20:56:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture of my Grandma's sister, Madeline, when she was a kid growing up in France.

Love to have pictures like this in the family.

Update for August

2009-08-12T20:02:00.000-07:00

I was unable to exchange the head light socket via ScooterWorks, who I purchased it from. I was told the part has been discontinued or they discontinued carrying them. Fortunately, David at First Kick almost always has my back. He had one more "used" one in stock. I paid $3.50.

I emailed Paul about a concern I have with the slipping kickstart:

"Wanted to let you know that I will have a new light socket for the head light mailed directly to you. Also, probably not worth digging into at this time, but if I didn't mention this before, sometimes when kick starting beyond mild and gently the kick start slips. If it's kick started gently there is no problem. If it's kick started with average force it can slip."

Paul's response was relieving:

"Yeah, the kickstart problem is probably also a clutch issue. I'm hoping to get it up on the lift, and get the clutch off in the next week or so." - Paul.

Faulty headlight socket

2009-07-29T21:37:00.000-07:00

Update from Paul S.:
"I have checked out your headlight situation, and it appears that your headlight socket is faulty. It is grounding out somehow. I'm not really sure how it is possible, but it is doing it. The light works when I just put the wires to the bulb, but everything grounds when I put the bulb in the socket. I guess you need a new socket. I'm hoping to tear into the clutch this weekend."

I have emailed ScooterWorks to see if they will honor a warranty on that part. Waiting to hear back from them.

Electrics Update

2009-07-20T15:59:00.000-07:00

Email from Paul:

"I'm actually suspecting the brake backing plate (as the scraping sound problem). It is possible it is powdercoat (being thick and scraping), but more likely it is because it is slightly bent somehow. Once I get the rear hub off, I can inspect the back plate for any rubbing.

In the mean time, I spent several hours on the electrics yesterday. I've traced the power to the tail light and switch, and to the wires to the headlight. The light should work, but it doesn't. After a bunch of checking, it is starting to look like your (brand new) headlight assembly is faulty. I'm going to have to do some more checking to confirm this, but I ran out of time.

Once I get the lights sorted, I'll start on the scraping noise and the clutch."-- Paul

So I was correct that I wired the tail light incorrectly. Not sure what I was thinking back then, because when I studied the diagram earlier this month I knew immediately that my wiring job was wrong. I did not know that the switch being cracked would result in grounding. So I learned something new. I am not sure if ScooterWorks will exchange my headlight.

Red, white, blue

2009-07-11T11:17:00.001-07:00

At AmeriVespa 2009 Lisa and I were lucky enough to see all three colors (I believe there were only three, but then again I did not verify via literature). All three bikes were restored.
The white one won and the blue one was runner-up. Both those bikes are owned by husband and wife.
I did not see any round headlight VSCs at the rally.
The restorations were beautiful. An anorak would find minor things to change, but I was impressed with how well the bikes were restored.
I love that they all have classic California license plates. I do wish Lisa's SS180 could have been there, because the British Racing Green would have made it stand out.It's so funny now that I am starting my second restoration and working out the minor kinks in this SS180 restore I am not pro-restoration. I say, keep it stock. Soak your rust bucket in a bath of EvapoRust (cheaper than paint and body), which will remove the rust, brighten your original paint, and then seal the metal so no rust will come in again. While the frame is being treated do a mechanical rebuild on the bike and put it back together. Make it road worthy. Seriously, an original bike is beautiful and it has earned its war scars. Most people don't go to plastic surgeons for scars when we get hurt, so why should our scoots? The only reason I am restored the VSC and am restoring the TV is because I bought both bikes in pieces and my TV is slightly mismatched. Other than that there's just no reason in my opinion.

Running poorly & electrical

2009-07-11T10:59:00.000-07:00

The current problems are:
1) Electrical (switch is broken and tail light is wired wrong)
2) Bike is running poorly (kill switch was likely causing this)
3) Clutch not operating correctly
4) Scraping sound made when you walk or ride bike

The brand new switch should resolve issues 1 and 2.

I emailed Paul S. and asked him why a cracked/grounded horn switch would affect the bike and cause it to run poorly. I understand why is screwed up the electrical, which was one of the four problems with the scoot. Paul knew when I pulled up something was wrong with the way the bike was running and I wanted to know *exactly* why.

Response from Paul S.:

Well, I've ridden/worked on hundreds of Vespas at this point. It is pretty easy for me to hear when they are not running right. You should also be able to notice the difference with the new switch. It will be very obvious. When they are running well, they have a nice smooth idle. Yours was misfiring, and acting like it was dying. This can happen with poor igition or with poor carbueration. When you first rolled up, I thought you had an ignition problem. In a way you did. The kill switch was essentially "almost" on all the time. The broken switch made it so that the kill switch was just about engaged. That caused the igitition system to be working poorly. Once I pulled the switch off, the motor idled like a champ.

I should not have to pull the motor all the way apart to get at the clutch. I'll just have to pull off the rear hub and the clutch cover. Depending on the source of the scraping noise (when the scooter is rolling around), I may have to delve further inside the motor. I doubt it however. I suspect the scraping noise is coming from the rear brake backplate. The only way to be sure is to get it up on the lift. Luckily both of your issues are in the same area, so hopefully I can fix them both at the same time. Unfortunately I've been so busy with the family that I have had virtually no garage time in the past few weeks.

A special thanx to Paul for his expertise. He diagnosed the problems very quickly and was correct. If you remember in previous posts (years ago now) Christopher Markley said that the backplate scraped at the rear hub because it is either thicker with powder coat or it is missing a spacer, though when he looked in the parts diagram there was not an additional spacer.

Request from readers/SS180 owners: Besides the parts book diagram, does any one have pictures of their assembly of the rear hub / backplate showing all spacers and hardware for me to reference against? If so, please comment.

I have asked Paul to contact me when he knows he will be working on the bike so I can meet with him and learn from him. He is far more experienced than I am. He has a toddler, so his schedule is just like mine . . . around our toddlers.

Repro kill/horn switch

2009-07-08T07:36:00.000-07:00

The reproduction kill/horn switch arrived yesterday. I ordered it from Danell at SPD. She told me that it is a quality reproduction piece in comparison to a lot of the not-so-good stuff available.
She also said that the back plate was thick and solid. This plate is split on half on my original, hence why I need this one.
I purchased this for $34 with a 10% discount. Most shops had it listed at $39, but I saw ScooterWorks had it at $25 and when I check again it was $35 or something.

It is my intention to re-use my original chrome cover for the switch if at all possible. Trying to preserve the soul of the bike as much as possible.

This is the first step in getting this bike diagnosed for (1) electrical issues and (2) not running correctly, Paul S. says. Since my original switch back plate is broken in half it is grounding it out.

It is super challenging to find NOS for this piece since all 1960s Vespas used it.

amerivespa 2009

2009-07-05T21:13:00.001-07:00

Note: the red, white, & blue SS180s. I will post pictures of them solo later. So sad the VSC was not with us.

Thank you readers

2009-07-01T22:53:00.000-07:00

Thx to the near 40,000 visitors (see your country's flags to the right) who have visited this site starting January 1, 2007 (the day it went truly live). I am starting to come across more scooter restorer bloggers and it's an awesome and powerful resource when we share with one another.

I look forward to the unveiling of the VSC with you!

Vespa bearings

2009-07-01T22:49:00.000-07:00

The bearing market in the United States is shifting and I am hearing about some SKF bearings going bad, especially in Vespas. I posted what I have learned here.

If you are in a restore project or an engine rebuild. Educate yourself and ask your bearing supplier some pointed questions.

On a side note . . . the Lambretta TV175 restoration has begun. I have 95% of the engine broken down and ready for either bead or soda blast and parts to a part washer.

Electrical issues

2009-07-01T12:55:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow I load up the Bajaj Chetaks to take AmeriVespa. Lisa (my wife) and I are sad not to be unveiling the SS180 there. What a finale that would have been.

But as you know there a few problems with the VSC left: electrical, clutch, and grinding sound.

The bike is over at Paul S.'s house. He just wrote me this email the other day:

"I did some work on your SS last night. I think I solved the poor running problem, and perhaps some of the lighting issues.

You need to buy a new switch. The switch that was on there is cracked in half. It was grounding out the kill switch, and likely the lighting circuit. I can do some more work on it with a new switch." -- Paul.

I just ordered the switch today from Dañell of Scooter Parts Direct. Part #92041 is the listed part number for the Rally 180 (headset) and costs $34 for the repro. Hard to find NOS on this since the majority of the 60s Vespas all used this specific switch. On a side note, I recommend working with Dañell, because she take her time to work through problems with you. Once she didn't have the part I needed and she even helped me find it elsewhere. She's got integrity and knows a bit about the SS180 as well.

Dañell tells me this specific reproduction switch is of good quality in comparison to what is out there. I hope to use the original cover on it.

Install the brake light switch

2009-06-27T15:57:00.000-07:00

Before I delivered the bike to Paul S. to check the electrical I installed the rear brake switch. Remember I have a non-batt Rally 180 style brake switch, which is stock for my wife's bike.

I am not sure why, but it was a major pain the butt to find this exact switch with a grey gasket. Thx to Max at ScooterWest I have it.

The first thing you want to do is cut off the soldered tips of the wires. Those are there to preserve and protect the wires. If the wires can be crimped into place or if they connectors do not bend to pliers you can solder like I did.

Soldering in and of itself is an art. I am not great, but decent. Another hobby of mine is electric remote control airplanes so I have gotten to fluent when it comes to soldering. Before you tackle it yourself for the first time Google how to. It's a quick and easy read.

A few hints:
- you want the solder to look like a Hershey Kiss in shape.
- the less you can use the better.
- after you are done always cover the entire tip of the solder gun in solder and use a wet rag to wipe excess. Then put away.

Note: after I dropped the bike off at Paul S.'s I realized that I wired the tail light electrical wrong. I put the blue/black together and left the yellow alone. See past post. The black should have been left solo and the blue/yellow belong together. Furthermore I need to tighten the rear brake cable so the brake applies pressure to the brake switch.

P.S. - Sad news . . . Lisa and I are disappointed that the Vespa most likely will not be unveiled at AmeriVespa next weekend. We'll be on our Bajaj Chetaks, which bothers Lisa a bit. I should have started working on it sooner, I just did not have time.

How ride when breaking-in your new engine

2009-06-17T07:27:00.000-07:00

I asked Tom G. some questions about breaking-in the new engine and this is what I learned (answers in all caps):

1) Do I also need to rev through the ranges of 1,2,3,4 gears while riding?
IT IS NOT STRICTLY NECESSARY -- YOU SHOULD SHIFT BASED ON RIDING CONDITIONS. RIDE IN THE GEAR APPROPRIATE TO YOUR SPEED AND THE TERRAIN. MY RULE OF THUMB IS SHIFT AT OR BEFORE 3/4 THROTTLE -- NEVER REVV OVER 3/5 THROTTLE IN ANY GEAR DURING BREAK-IN. BUT DON'T LET THE MOTOR LABOR TOO HARD. IF IT IS STRUGGLING IN ANY GEAR, DOWNSHIFT TO BRING THE REVS UP A BIT.

2) Do I need to avoid hills?
NOT REALLY. FOLLOW THE DON'T LET THE MOTOR LABOR TOO HARD RULE. RIDE UP HILLS IN AN APPROPRIATE GEAR. THE ONLY PROBLEM WITH HILLS MIGHT BE LONG DOWNHILLS. THERE IS A TENDENCY TO KEEP THE THROTTLE TOO LOW AND COAST, USING THE RPMS TO BRAKE THE SPEED. RESIST THIS. YOU NEED GAS IN THE CYLINDER TO KEEP IT LUBRICATED. ON LONG DOWNHILLS, BLIP THE THROTTLE PERIODICALLY TO INTRODUCE SOME GAS AND OIL INTO THE SYSTEM. THIS DOES NOT ONLY APPLY TO BREAKIN, BUT IS IMPORTANT DURING BREAKIN.

3) How many miles should I ride until it is broken in?
EXPERTS DISAGREE. I SAY A MINIMUM OF 400 MILES. I THINK THE OWNER'S MANUAL SAYS 1200 MILES. SOME PEOPLE SAY 1 TANK OF GAS.

4) Do I need to shift through all the gears, ie 3 and 4 (if so I need to ride some where I can pick up speed)?

SEE ABOVE.

Another ride and what's left

2009-06-16T20:08:00.000-07:00

Rode the scoot over to Paul Sachelari's house this evening to figure the electrical and misc. stuff out.

May I say . . . "watch out wheelie!!"

Paul suspects that the clutch needs to be rebuilt (not uncommon I just learned for even brand new repro clutches; though we have stock). It shifts ugly in 1st. Terrible sound. There is also a grinding sound that needs to be determined. When the bike is pushed, not running, you can hear it. The electrical needs to be looked at. The horn worked before, but now nothing seems to be working. Paul also says it does not sound good when its running and needs to be tuned accordingly.

Bottom line is it may not be ready in time for AmeriVespa, which is a BIG bummer for Lisa and me. Most importantly, we are grateful to Paul for helping us out on the last steps of the Vespa and for diagnosing the problems for us.

More to follow . . .

Delay

2009-06-14T12:05:00.000-07:00

The handle on my 2nd all metal fuel lever spun off the rod. I lightly sanded and JB Weld it. Should know in 24 hours if it took. Very disappointed and I don't think I can trust JB Weld to last a long long time. The JB Weld worked on the 1st metal lever, but I accidently broke one of the two prongs that connect to the fuel cock.

Ride #2

2009-06-02T21:01:00.001-07:00

Quick update . . .

I trimmed 2 inches of my fuel line so the line is exactly 60cm at 5/16ths in diameter(manufacturer's spec) and I took a few mini rides for over 20+ minutes this evening. It's a peppy bike!

First I ran it with no airbox/bellow and it was powerful. Then I ran it with everything on and it idled a bit softer. A tune-up may be required.

Now, I need to figure out what's going on with the electrical. I need to install the tail light switch and put bulbs in the speedo, high beam, and headlight. And seal it all back up.

It's a great day!

Why does she stall?

2009-05-25T16:32:00.000-07:00

Before I can determine if the lights and electrical are working correctly I need the bike to be running. Today is the second time I have ever run it and both times it has stalled as if it lost fuel or something. I need to determine what the problem is soon so I can complete the bike. I did have the choke on in this video and had held the throttle a hair back to keep it from stalling, which only bought me some time.

Suggestions?

Possible reasons:

"Sounds like it's a fuel starving issue. Make sure that the fuel line is down and under to the carb. I had a similar problem once because my fule line was going strait into the carb w/out a j-bend going under then into the carb. Also check to make sure the air hole in the gas cap is not clogged and that the gas tank filter is not clogged. May also be your carb jets are clogged." -Scott

"Air leak. Explains the high rev as well. Carb basket base gaskets and crank seals are the places to look. Start it again and spray some carb cleaner at the base of the carb (inside the air cleaner), then at the bottom of the basket and if the idle drops at all, then you have an air leak there." - Derek

5/27/2009 Update

It is possible that my fuel line is too long. The correct length (stock) is 25 inches and the fuel line is clear on stock bikes. The other to make sure is that there is a "J" bend in the line going up to the carb. It should not feed straight to the carb.

I will measure the length of my fuel line. I suspect that it is too long for the gravity feed fuel system to work properly, hence the stalls from fuel starvation.

I also need to confirm the correct diameter of the fuel line. The black one I am currently using is 5/16". I was under the impression that black was the stock color, but clearly clear would be easier to use since you can determine that the fuel is actually flowing correctly.

Other possibilities to trouble shoot:
1) Air leak. Explains the high rev as well. Carb basket base gaskets and crank seals are the places to look. Start it again and spray some carb cleaner at the base of the carb (inside the air cleaner), then at the bottom of the basket and if the idle drops at all, then you have an air leak there. -- Derek G.

2) You said you have the choke on? I only use choke for the very initial start up, then I turn it off right away and use the throttle to warm up a bike.

The length of your fuel line from the tank to the carb is very important. I usually measure the length like this:

Lift the gas tank out of the bike. The fuel tap should not be allowed to come above the plane of the frame. The fuel line should pull tight not allowing the tap to come up above the frame. Basically you want the fuel line to be as short as possible without making it too hard to reach the bottom of the fuel tap.

I've had this same symptom when my fuel line was too long. This is a gravity feed system. You don't want to have the fuel travel too far "up hill". -- Michael C.

3) Make sure "clear" tubing you use is fuel-compatible. If you're not interested in a 100-point restoration you may want to use the transparent fuel tubing available via mail-order from Aircraft Spruce and Specialty. We've been using it on our race bikes and it works great. Let me know if you want specific part #s. -- Dave S.

4) As everyone said before, the gas line needs to be the correct length. Clear fuel line is not a problem, as long as you get fuel line, and not some other type of clear tubing. First Kick has the stuff you need.

As for the clogged breather hole, it is unlikely that is your problem. However, it is easy enough to check. Simply try to run the scooter with the gas cap open. If it still dies, then the breather hols is not the source of your woes. -- Paul S.

5) Here’s a quick way to check if your fuel line is too long:

Get a second person to help. Have that person lift the gas tank up as high as it will go. Now you kick over the bike. If the bike keeps idling while the gas tank is held up that high, then your fuel line may be too long.

What you are doing here is increasing the potential energy of the system buy making the petcock that much higher than the carb. Increasing the potential energy will help the fuel flow. -- Michael C.

6) Make sure to have a "J" bend in the fuel line going to the carb. The line should not go directly to the carb. -- Scott

JB Weld seat frame nut

2009-05-24T20:27:00.000-07:00

The nut, which is welded inside the frame to lock the seat to was free when I received the bike. In hindsight having is welded into place before paint would have been preferred. After paint I had two options and of course welding was not one of them. I could buy a lock washer and a new nut or salvage one more piece of the soul of this scoot using JB Weld to lock the nut into place.
As you can see it worked just fine. I let the glue cure for 24 hours and tested the screw in it and it was just fine.

The secret to a beautiful and easy reassembly is in the prep work before paint. Dry fit your bike. Screw (not rivet) and shape your floor rails on to the bike. Every piece you can fit it to the bike. I bought this bike and my TV175 in pieces so I did not know exactly what was not in place, such as this nut when I started off. More prep work was necessary and more research as well.

Lesson learned: juts buy a new nut, split washer, and screw for this. The JB Weld broke.

Glove box door on frame

2009-05-24T19:56:00.000-07:00

Today I installed the glove box to the frame. I used stainless 4mm hardware. I did not take the time to find out what stock hardware size would be. I also used lock washers and washers with this. With I Dremel I removed the hardware stamp on the visible screws.
Note: this picture needs to be rotated. The fender is on the bottom of the picture and the frame is on the top. The reason for this is because, I didn't look at that parts manual to see that I needed double the amount of nuts. You need two nuts per screw. The angle of the screw is not flush. The first nut locks the screw flush with the frame and the second screw (which I believe is similar to a lock nut) locks the glove box to the frame. I worried about the clearance of the fender to this screw, but after looking it over quite a bit I believe I should be good.

I need to buy four new nuts and washers and then redo this job. Should be easier without the screws spinning.

Glove Box Door Seal Install

2009-05-17T21:48:00.001-07:00

If I were to do this all over again I would:
1) Put the glove box door to the side.
2) Apply Super WeatherStrip to both the metal glove box door and the strip -- running my finger along it to make it smooth.
3) Let them both dry.
4) Cut several pieces of painters tape and put aside.
5) Apply a new coat of WeatherStrip to only the rubber gasket. Avoid using too much. This stuff goes a long long way.
6) Carefully and quickly put the gasket on the glove box frame.
7) Tape it down with fierce pressure.
8) Put the glove box door on.
9) Close and lock the door so as to ensure the gasket has pressure on it and that the gasket fits properly.
10) Peel the tape back and quickly wipe up any excess. This stuff will eat your paint. You need to clean it up immediately and while it is still wet and wipes up like rubber cement. If it even thinks about drying you are too late.

My advice is, prep and practice a dry run so you do not have any excess to wipe up and use a black Super Weathership to match the gasket. It's tricky business because if you skimp on the sealant it will not hold your gasket in place. But if you use too much you will make a terrible mess that can't be 100% cleaned up.
I am not happy with the outcome of mine. My error was in the lack of prep. It could have been a cleaner job. I had to go back a second time and reapply sealant to a couple spots.

I usually use 3m Super WeatherStrip and I have a bias for that brand.

Note: I suspect that the absolute best way to do this is to purchase Super Weatherstrip Tape (made by 3M). It's double stick tape. Tape it to the gasket and cut the excess off. It will provide a cleaner and more consistent seal. This tape cost a lot more than the actual glue I used, but my glue job is just okay. The tape job would be perfect! There is also a 3m spray mount style adhesive that may also work extremely well. My mentor, Tom G., uses contact cement.

Broken fuel rod lever

2009-05-17T21:40:00.000-07:00

It is rare that the metal fuel rod levers spin or come off the fuel rod. It is much more likely to happen to a plastic one.

I was so surprised when my brand new fuel rod lever came off the rod when I turned it. I wrote my mentor Tom G. about how to handle it. I suggested JB Weld.

Tom said:

Hi Jeremy. I've seen that happen with the new plastic fuel rods, but not (until now) with the all metal ones). I don't think JB is going to do the trick for this -- but I guess it is worth a try. If you do, you might want to slight rough up both surfaces to be joined with a dremel, to promote adhesion.

Another method, and a surer one I think would be drilling straight through the handle and rod to the other side, then tapping the hole, and screwing a small diameter machine screw right through. You might use an aluminum machine screw, and then cut off and peen the ends, and polish. Will probably look good, but quite a bit of work to salvage a not too expensive part.

At this point, I believe a replacement part is what is called for. I emailed the dealer, Gene M. of Scooters O (he's a really good guy), and he asked me to try JB Weld first. If not, he'd exchange it. He is also looking at his batch of fuel rods to ensure the rest are okay.

Note: Just graze it if you use a Dremel as I did loose the tight tight fit it had.

Fuel rod install

2009-05-09T20:35:00.001-07:00

Before I could install the new fuel rod I needed to pinch the connection tabs.

You can see the gap here. There is plenty of metal, and Gene M of Scooters O believed it would be safe enough to bend the metal.
I put the pin in place and cushioned the metal tabs with an old sock.
And pinched away. I was able to fairly easily and with good control.
Unfortunately, both tabs did not bend. Only one did. I decided not to fuss with it, because the gap is closed and now locked around the clip and it will function correctly.
Since the bike has been stored I had a bit of oil in there to protect the tank from rust. I used a little gasoline and flushed it all out. When I turned the fuel rod lever nothing happened. I removed the switch on the fuel valve and all look good. I put it back together and turned it with a screw driver an off an on the fuel work. The problem was the lever on the fuel rod. It is held on by tension and spins around the rod. I will use blue Locktite or JB Weld or Epoxy to lock it in place. I just need to determine what product is best.

Fill the tank up with a little gas and tighten/loosen the two small screws on the petcock until the on/off lever can turn easily and gas does not leak. You will need to find this perfect balance before putting the gas tank back in your bike.
The hardware for the gas tank and seat were pretty rusty. I could easily replace it, but I like the idea of a few hidden parts to show the past and soul of the bike. So I used some WD-40 and a wire brush and cleaned up the threads. I used gasoline on the tougher spots.

Note the black tape holding that screw in place. The nut on the underside came loose. It's hard to work in there. I may Locktite the nut in place or replace it.
To guide the fuel rod I use a long strand of black tape since the lever was off. Easy install. I still need to glue the lever on to the rod in the OFF POSITION and I will be good.

Paul B. left a great note in the comment field. It is a good idea to install the fuel rod to frame cover (grommet) before sealing up the gas tank area as having access to both inside and outside the frame makes the job much much easier. I had to cut my circle back to get it to fit and at the last pinch to install the grommet cover it fell inside my frame. Of course! Murphy's Law. So I had to remove the seat and the gas tank to access it. Every time I move a painted item, no matter how careful I am, I run a high chance of a chip or a scratch. I believe that is also Murphy's Law.

Once I have the lever glued on I can fire her up.

Progress is being made.

Glove Box Door Install

2009-05-09T19:26:00.000-07:00

Note the correct rivets for the hinges for the glove box door. I spoke with Mic at Scooter Shop an he often makes rivet hinges out of nails. I have been told that the P200 also uses rivets and the ends were bent so they don't slide out. I do not know this for fact, but decided to bend my rivet ends as opposed to cutting and rounding off. After all, unless you stick your head inside the glove box you won't see it ever.
I used a thick headed chisel to bend the softer rivets, but please note that needle nose pliers would have been a smarter and safer option if you choose this method. The reason is the hinge frames that is welded to the glove box inner is a solid surface and when I hammered down on the tip of the rivet it caused HARD vibrations to travel through the hinge frames. The metal of the glove box is thin and it caused "star" cracks in the paint. Which pissed me off, because I know how delicate paint is and had just completed installing the gas tank and tightened everything by hand and finished off with a screwdriver with ratchet attachment to protect the paint and not over correct. In the end, I was very careful beneath the seat (gas tank) and not careful enough on the visible glove box.

Pictured above is the completed glove box with the rubber trim to silence the glove box door from vibrating. I still need to glue that trim in place with a 3M adhesive. The secret is to use a lot less than you think you need.

Thanx to Max at ScooterWest for the $.90 cent rivets, the correct rear brake switch, and the glove box door trim.

Correct brake switch

2009-05-04T18:57:00.001-07:00

Finally figured out the brake switch fiasco. I needed a grey gasket and switch for a non-batt bike. Note the one on the far left is correct. Size and plumbing is different on each of these. Even the part numbers are the same on two.

Parts in the mail & new scooter clothing business

2009-04-26T20:49:00.000-07:00

In the usual part order fashion crap happens and hoops appear from no where for you jump through. I received the fuel rod from Scooters Origanli late last week. My brake switch, rivets for glove box door, and the foam trim for the glove box door should go out in Monday's mail. I want the bike running by June 1st and ready for AmeriVespa the July 4th weekend. We have our tickets.

Living in PA afforded us more disposable income than CA does and restoring my Lambretta TV175 S.3 so I have had to get clever with fundraising for my hobby:
I have started a micro business that sells shirts for infants through toddlers with applique scooter patches. I will be making some SS180 patches and other various Vespa models. If you're interested you can me out at GoGo510. Vespa shirts and patches will be available soon!

Pictured above is my son wearing a Lambretta Series 2 shirt I made for him.

Update for April

2009-04-19T08:31:00.000-07:00

What can I say? I am waiting on parts. That's it!

I did find out that I need a USA released Rally 200 brake switch and found one through Mic at Scooter Shop (it's an SIP one). He asked me if I had a round or square horn button. And that cued him in on exactly what I needed. It should be on its way along with the glove box door sponge trim.

In the meantime I have been posting a lot of research on my Lambretta site.

Metal Fuel Rod

2009-04-09T17:42:00.000-07:00

As usual, finding "true" parts for the SS180 in this day in age can be challenging. When installing my gas tank I accidently broke the tip of the fuel rod (gas on/off/reserve) switch -- Part #84424. The odd thing is the handle on the switch is plastic on my stock one, which doesn't make since to me because metal was used. So maybe my wife's SS180 had an aftermarket switch on it. Even finding an original used one is a bit challenging. I found one through a local rider, but he has to hunt it down and recommended I just buy a new one because I can count on that. At the time I thought metal ones were still available at a few shops.

I attempted to drill a small hole through the end of the fuel rod and re-use my original. It did not work, because the fuel rod needs to be able to dangle at a steep angle to allow you to install the gas tank and get the fuel rod through the frame. I won't post pictures of that. I was able to find an original Italian made all metal one, but note that the color is not true. The handle is not black. So it was a toss up for authenticity -- Italian, metal, and silver or reproduction, plastic, and black. I asked my wife what she wanted on her bike and she chose the metal Italian one. It won't look stock, but the bike is not a stock color either. And seeing as it is metal and Italian it is closer to the original. I hope to receive it by Monday in the mail.

SS180 & Rally180

2009-04-05T19:53:00.001-07:00

Pictured above is a 1971 Vespa Rally 180 I found for sale on Scoot dot net. Note the similarities with the headset and tractor tail light on my wife's VSC. Clearly, the piston-ported engine in her bike is different than the rotary in the Rally 180, but frame wise they are close. I know that the Dept. of Motor Vehicles required the late USA models of the SS180 to have a round headset for weather-proofing. Not sure about the tractor tail light. And now that I have learned that I have a rear brake switch from the Rally180-200. There are some specific differences in the USA models that few Vespa owners know about. The question I now have, per my post just before this is . . .

Do both bikes share the same wiring loom? If not, I am in trouble.

Also, does any one know the breakdown of similarities / differences in detail on these two bikes?

Rear brake switch

2009-04-05T19:42:00.000-07:00

With the help of David at First Kick Scooters, I have come to the realization that my stock rear brake switch was actually one from the Rally 180. It would be in grey with a grey gasket. You can see my stock one pictured here on the right. Note the guts of the stock one. It is in the "open" position, which means when you push the plunger that the connection is formed. SIP pictures their black Rally 180-200 here and you can see the internals are the same as my stock one. So now my big concern is, since I don't use a "Closed" GS/SS180 brake switch, should I have also used a Rally 180 wire loom (if they are different). Anybody know this answer?

Rotate rims & hubs correctly

2009-04-05T13:54:00.000-07:00

While the scoot lived in Ted's garage, he was kind enough to tackle a bit of the reassembly. One item he took care of for me was to purchase the new tubes and put the tires on the rim. I hadn't noticed until a reader pointed out, but the tube came through the rim wrong and the rims were connected to the hubs backwards.It was an easy change for me and just one more item that needed to be done. So I tackled the front tire a week ago and the rear tire today. An item worth investing in for me is a torque wrench -- a nice Craftsman for $90. I purchased mine on sale at Harbor Freight for $12 or $20 or something like that. I figured since it is a hand tool I should be safe. I was wrong. I just pulled it out and I can't remember, but I am not sure the last time I used it if I put it on the lowest setting so to preserve the intricate mechanisms. All I know is it no longer works and I now need to invest in a quality one.

I did not fix the spare tire set up yet, as the tube inside it was pinched between the rim halves when put together (make sure to pump up with air before sealing the halves) and I figure I will fix that when I put a new tube in. No rush as the visible tires are now correct.

Spark plug changed and finished

2009-04-04T17:33:00.000-07:00

As some of you may remember I had a NGK style upgrade on my spark plug with the nice tight ball bearing connection, but was warned by a reader that it stood too tall and would dent the underside of the cowl when my wife rode over a big bump. You can see a photo and read the comments about my modified spark plug clip here. I didn't take any chances and changed it back to stock, which is a good thing.It takes very little work to remove the spark plug clip. No need to cut the wire and chance the wire being too short -- mine was in danger of being too short. I used pliers and gently walked it around the clip's end and listened for a small "cracking" sound. It did and I was able to pull the wire out with no effort at all.As you can see it was a clean break. I am no expert, but logic tells me the fact that the modified NGK spark plug clip has a sharp nail like pin going into the cables inside the wire produce both a superior connection and a better water/weather proof protection than the stock one did.In an effort to increase the connection "area" between the wire and the spark plug clip, I recommend trimming the rubber on the wire back and folding the wire back over itself so it literally rests against the clip when you tighten it down. That way you have two connections: the spike in the clip, which goes through the wire, and the folded over wire you created. Click to enlarge the photo to see what I did. Thanks to David at First Kick, who taught me this trick.

Parts to order

2009-03-23T20:31:00.000-07:00

In order to wrap this bike up I need the following parts:

(1967 Vespa SS180 with the round VSD headlight)

1) Grey rubber trim for the glove box door

2) Two securing pins for glove box door (prt #97523)

3) Bulb for the VSD/Rally speedo

4) Bulb for high beam light on VSC

5) A connector for the high beam light, see picture:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_wFlhNHDfnUA/ScLo3iKvlGI/AAAAAAAACUA/Y8kVG_5A8nk/s1600-h/VSC_HeadLight6.JPG

6) Fuel rod in black (prt #84224)

7) Copper spark plug clip (may be prt #127966 -- not sure)

8) Brake switch (prt # 181637)

9) Two screws to secure headlight bezel on a VSD (prt #S. 15544)

Grinding hardware stamps

2009-03-20T16:18:00.000-07:00

As you know the stock kickstand hardware was not stainless steel, nor did it have a stamp on it. I want stainless steel, but I do not want the stamp; therefore I grind'd all four bolt heads for the kickstand hardware. Also note that there are two different washer sizes here. I was in a hurry before I moved West so I just got the bike together. Now that I am settled I can correct those minor errors.

I used my Dremel and just very lightly ground down the stamps and made it all look even. I was able to handhold the bolts.

It is my hope that over the time the bolt head will weather a little bit and look a little more stock with less glossy shine on where I polished it with the Dremel.

HeadLight Assembly & Headset Internals

2009-03-19T17:42:00.000-07:00

As my readers may remember there were two items that needed my attention with the headset, but I went ahead and put it together before we moved to make sure nothing got lost in transit.Pictured above the headlight bezel screw that broke when installing the headlight bezel. This headlight assembly fits a VSD (the Rally 180/200). Remember that the later year VSCs in the USA were required to have a round headset. The screw pictured here is part S15544 at ScooterWorks, where I bought the assembly.
To remove the bezel I heated it so the metal would expand with a heat gun. It took about one to two minutes.
When ever banging on the Vespa I look for the softest thing I can find, such as a wooden paint stirrer. The bezel was too snug, due to paint. So I gently tapped the rubber mallet against the wood paint stirrer and it worked great.
Above note: the broken bezel screw and a chip from the paint. This is okay, because the headset is aluminum and will not rust. Plus the bezel will hide it and no one will ever see it.
Another close up of the broken bezel screw.
I need to replace both that screw and the bezel hardware for 1970s headlight assemblies, part number #15221 at ScooterWorks.
The headset assembly was supposed to arrive with a light bulb. It did not. I need one. I used a Sharpie to label what wires plugged into what terminals.
The final items I need for the headset is the terminal for the speedo light bulb as well as the bulb itself.

I have more done on the Vespa and will post more soon. I also have been working more on my Bajaj Chetak. You'll never guess what I found during the oil change. Click here to find out.

Rewiring the junction box correctly

2009-03-16T19:57:00.000-07:00

Recently I have been working more on my Bajaj Chetak and some body work on my wife's Chetak in an effort to be ready for a Rally ride in three weeks. To see what is happening with the Bajaj's click here. I need to add a post on the Bajaj site to share an interesting thing I found in the oil filter some time in this week.

For info on the rally see the flyer below:

Tonight I replaced the grommets around the junction box to the correct ones. Here's what it looked like first.
Note the incorrect grommets.

Here's what the wiring looks like complete inside the junction box:

To save myself time, I made a diagram to remind myself how to rewire it quickly:

I looked closely at the Technica photo and made sure this time I got it correct. Here's what it looks like:
Note: the only thing I am unhappy is about is the bottom grommet has two holes and I meant to run the wires from the PX HT Coil (mod) through the top hole closest to us so it would be less noticable, but I messed up. In the grand scheme of things, this isn't an issue in any way.

The anoraks may note that my screw for the junction box is also not stock.

Update for March

2009-03-07T19:32:00.000-08:00

Folks, I am working on the Vespa -- just started. I have my list and am working on it here and there. Photos to follow soon.

Today I worked on my wife's Bajaj Chetak, which needed hammer and dolly work. It was my first time. Worked out pretty good. It's documented here.

The Final Stretch

2009-01-07T17:22:00.000-08:00

Video correction: I started this blog January 1st, 2007 (not 2006).

Here's the list of what is left to be done:

Rotate rims around properly
Replace broken screw in headlight assembly
Buy and install speedo light bulb
Buy and install headlight bulb
Grind stamp off hardware for kickstand
Replace brake light switch with correct one
Buy hardware and install glove box
Buy hardware and install glove box door
Identify why steering column lock is not locking into place
Buy hardware and install seat
Put on new spark plug cap and connect to spark plug
Move wiring from behind shroud to conjunction box
Tune for running

I will document each step of the way with these final items.

Blog appreciation

2008-11-20T15:45:00.000-08:00

Forever ago I ran a survey on this blog with the following question:

HOW HELPFUL IS THIS BLOG TO A NEWBIE RESTORER?

46 people voted with these results:

45% Extremely
21% Very
10% Moderately
17% Mildly

I have removed the survey.

Moving on . . .

2008-11-11T18:08:00.000-08:00

Howdy folks. I have a little work left on the SS180 and will post my notes along the way. There's not much and my readers know exactly what is left. I will also do a nice post for the final unveiling. Vespa deadline is March 8th so my wife can ride it on her birthday.

In the meantime I am beginning the restoration of my 1962 Lambretta TV 175.

If you're up for this again, I will document the entire process of restoring my Lambretta.

Let's do again!

SS180 has its first visitor

2008-11-09T15:18:00.001-08:00

The SS180 was pulled out of the garage today for the first time in many months to welcome and meet Hiro. It was a honor having Hiro come, especially considering that Hiro lives in Japan. Hiro brought a co-worker, Ted, with him. Ted is British and owned a Lambretta TV175 in the late sixties in England. Hiro owns a GS160. He has been following this blog and sharing advice since the beginning and has been a huge supporter of this scooter's restoration. Thank you Hiro for coming! (P.S. We just moved into this house and need to buy curtains so please don't think we're the bed sheet type of curtains people).
Prior to the unveiling of the VSC today, she's lived a hidden and secluded life beneath a bed sheet in a city of boxes and Rubber Maids. Those days are over. She is completely accessible now and awaits to be finished up and ridden.

Moving your scooter with your house

2008-11-01T08:43:00.000-07:00

I'm a huge fan of Penske trucks when I make a move and I used one each time my family and I moved from coast to coast. On our move back West we rented a 26 ft truck (largest available) and a trailer for a car. We had to put all of our belongings in the truck, including three fully assembled scooters and my Lambretta in boxes. We had to leave a lot behind, some of value, but the scoots were priority. While I felt safer having the scooters in a covered truck for the 2,800 mile drive my big concern was the fact that there are NO tie down straps in these trucks. You are not allowed to change the truck in any way without it co$ting you.
Above, we're unloading the scooters in San Francisco. My original thought was to use three skids and strap the scooters to them and then strap them in place, but my father-in-law had a far superior idea.
He suggested that we buy a star wrench (like an allen wrench) and remove the screws from the floor and replace them with eye hooks, washers, a lock washer, and a nut -- all of which is a hair smaller than the threaded hole in the frame of the truck. It was so easy.

My father-in-law also built rear wheel chucks out of the scrap 2x4s from Home Depot. The idea being that there would be no forward/side movement of the rear end. We strapped down the scooters using Canyon Dancers around all three handle bars (my preferred method). This method worked very well.

Being anal, I kept the cowls and glove box of the SS180 wrapped up the cab of the truck with me for added safety.

This truck was the Vespa's home for nearly a week. Sadly, I forgot the camera to take a picture of the scooter our 10x25 ft storage unit as that was her temporary home for a few months.

Congrats to the blog . . . over 26,000 visits in one years ten months.

SS180 has a new home

2008-10-23T22:33:00.001-07:00

We bought a house with a garage in Oakland and the Vespa is already in the garage. We move in this weekend. It will be a while until I can give her my energy/time again to finish her off, but I aim to do a little here and a little there. Sadly, I must say I didn't remember to take a picture of her in her temporary housing in storage.

More to follow.

Update: August 30, 2008

2008-08-30T09:33:00.000-07:00

Readers,

Alive and healthy, BUT my life is stressfully nuts. My family and I are staying with my parents in SF. Our life is in storage -- including the Vespa VSC. I work in East Oakland and therefore commute. We are hunting to buy a house and get our own space and a garage for the Vespa in Oakland or Berkeley. Once we have that, I can work on the Vespa and finish it up, but as you know it is so damn close.

Honestly, I'd like to start my Lambretta too.

I haven't forgotten this blog and there will be some closure with the completion of the bike . . . thanx for your patience.

In the mean time, I hope this blog remains useful for you.

Best,

Jeremy

Update

2008-07-17T12:54:00.000-07:00

I am focusing on finding a job. I still need a few parts and then a place of our (my family) with a garage to wrap up the Vespa. I haven't forgotten it. I am a little burned out on it at the moment, because before moving I put 40-50 hours in a very short time. It is locked away in storage and the gas tank is coated in 2-stroke oil to prevent rust (remember I did not treat the inside of the gas tank).

Saving an SS180 from Asian Restoration

2008-07-04T20:45:00.000-07:00

We've all heard the nightmares of "Asian Restorations." Come to think of it I only know ONE person who has a nice and safe Asian restoration.

Although, I must be honest . . . I have family in Vietnam (my wife's family) and I would love to go over there with some money and send her uncle (a local) to pick up an old TV175 S.3 I scouted out and yank the engine and keep the body, etc. (seeing as I have a spare TV motor) and I could make my wife a TV too.

Anyways, back to the point at hand . . . another SS180 restoration blog is alive and well thanx to Scooterchick Sam. A-freakin'men! to see an Asian scooter being saved, especially a VSC.

Please check out her SS180 and the issues she has to overcome. Click on Scooterissmo.

Thank you for the support and kind words Sam. I need the encouragement too.

Please leave comments for Sam and push her on. Lurking is cool, but we bloggers need feedback too.

4th of July Update

2008-07-04T12:39:00.001-07:00

Happy 4th of July folks and 38th wedding anniversary to my parents!

Just a quick update . . . VSC is in storage. I am not doing much work on it until my wife and I get our own place in the Bay Area and I have garage to work on it in. There is very little left to do -- probably can be done in a total of 5 casual hours.

I am hunting for a job (I am an English teacher) and that is where much of my energy is going right now.

Regarding scooters . . . I have decided to begin to research and assemble a parts quote to begin restoring my 1962 Lambretta TV175. I will be blogging that restoration just as I have with my wife's Vespa, but I will be doing a lot more of the work on my own. You can begin to follow that blog, but it is moving slower than the Vespa's. Since I don't have the ability to work on the SS180, I figure I can do a lot of work on planning the TV's restoration from behind my computer.

Also, for you total newbies I have another blog that offers great generic information for all scooterists as well as the Bajaj/Stella/P-Series crowd. The site is titled Bajaj Restoration, but it has nothing to do with restoring a Bajaj -- I just wanted to keep my blog names similar. Nonetheless, I believe it offers useful tips.

Have a Happy 4th!

Restoration 101 (it's all about the process)

2008-07-03T10:11:00.000-07:00

I’m not going play it like I am an experienced restorer, because I am not. I don’t know dung compared to many. But I do know a thing or two about mistakes to avoid and “process”. Process is key in a successful restoration. In this post, I will tell you the process I wish I had taken. Please keep in mind that this is written for a newbie restorer, but I really hope that experienced restorers will chime in with comment.

Step 1:
You bought a beat up scoot and believe it is stock. Take a hundred pictures of all the details on the bike. You need to determine if it is worth restoring or it a mechanical rebuild is more appropriate. More often than not, a mechanical rebuild is the answer.

Step 2:
Research the hell out of your bike. Learn every detail you can about it. Collect color pictures, etc. Hang them up in your garage. Download the parts manual for free from Scooterhelp.com. Study it. Buy a Haynes manual. Study it. Keep this information in a well-organized binder or Blog it, like I did.

Step 3:
Assuming you are doing a full restoration . . . open up your parts manual and make photocopies of all of the diagram pages. Disassemble the bike according to the diagrams. First photograph the section you are taking apart each and every step of the way. Download these photos and put them in a folder on your computer that is named exactly the same as the diagram page. Then put the parts into a huge Ziploc bag with the extra copy of the parts diagram. With a Sharpie write the number of the parts diagram page on the outside of the Ziploc. Repeat until the entire bike is disassembled. Put all of the parts in huge Rubbermaid bins in numeric order. This process will save you when you create your parts list and when you put your bike back together.

Step 4:
The next is to create your parts list. Start with the first Ziploc bag of parts and determine if anything is damaged. Write the parts that you need on the diagram in the bag. Put together a spreadsheet of parts needed by diagram – this will help the scooter shop find you the correct part, because they use parts books too. Furthermore, make sure to keep all the original parts in the bag and do not remove them. When you get new parts that are not NOS (new old stock) you will want to compare them side-by-side and take detailed pictures of any differences. These photos will help the shop when you need to exchange parts and make sure you get the right parts.

Step 5:
Order your floor rail kit and all chrome accent pieces now if your stock parts are not usable. Once your bike is stripped down research your model and find out all the parts on the bike that will need to be stripped of paint, bodywork done, and then repainted. Count each item and check it off. Don’t strip by hand if you don’t need to. For all threaded part and items/areas you do not want medium blasted cover it in fiberglass tape to protect it and instruct the blaster to go easy around those parts.
While your bike is off at the medium blasters go buy PPG’s cleaner and conditioner for bare metal. This will prevent rust and allow you to work on your frame parts before primer. When you pick up your bike inspect it closely with cotton gloves. Keep your oily hand OFF IT. Rush it home and treat it with PPG. If you store in a dry place you can touch and handle it for 12 months before treating again or painting.

Step 6:
If you are going to have your nuts/bolts plated. Send those out now.

You should also begin cleaning your parts at this point. An inexpensive way is to fill up a 5-gallon bucket with gasoline. Buy the little copper and plastic scrub brushes from Harbor Freight when they are on sale for 51 cents for 3 brushes. Go outside to clean your parts. Run a fan so you are NOT breathing in the vapors. Don't smoke near by. Be safe and smart. You can soak the parts a little if you need to and build a mesh screen to dip or soak the parts in the bucket. Wear nitrile gloves to protect yourself. It may be best for you clean one diagram bag at a time so as not to mix parts up.

Do or have your bodywork done. Identified all holes that must be filled. This is where all your pictures come in to play. Once that is done use nuts/bolts to install your floor rail kit (minus the rubber) and leave it there as long as your can – a month or what have you. This will result in the metal remembering your floor of your scoot better. Also put on all chrome accent pieces temporarily. Does everything line up 100% perfectly? If not, right now is your last chance to fix it. Work with your body shop on this. You must be there and talking with them to inspect it is being done right. Do NOT rely on anyone to just “get it done correctly.” Invest yourself and your time too. Once that’s go ahead and have it sprayed.

Step 7:
While all this is happening you can be rebuilding your engine (and suspension) and you should also place your HUGE order for all of your parts. So they arrive just before you pick up your body of your scoot. Double-check all of your parts against the original ones to ensure they are correct. Some will not be. Put the new parts in the appropriate bags / diagrams and cross out that you have replaced them from on the diagram where you wrote you needed the part. It’s crazy how many parts did not make it to you. You will need to hunt those down now and order those.

Step 8:
Once you have the body parts back, make a super soft protective bed for them. Put your scooter on your workbench and lay it its side wrapped up in a blanket. Use nitrate or cotton gloves so you don’t leave oily hand all over the new paint. Now install:
- all the cables
- wire harness
- floor rail kit
- kick stand
- run everything that goes beneath the gas tank
The reason you install these things without the engine in and while the bike lies on its side is because it gives you easier access and hand ability of the bike. Trust me on this.

Step 9:
Now you can put the bike upright and install the engine and front suspension. Tape everything off with painters tape to protect metal on metal connections. After the tires are on stand the bike on its own two feet using the kick stand.

Step 10:
Go ahead and finish the bike up from here. As you empty each bag of parts use your digital picture file that aligns with it and put it back together just like you took it apart. If the red wire goes behind the blue wire when you took it apart then that is how you need to put it back together. Use your pictures – that’s why you took them. There is no need to spend an hour trying to figure something out when it only takes :30 seconds to take a pictures and :60 seconds to find and open the picture. Trust me there is a better way to spend those 58 minutes and 30 seconds. I wasted too much time!

Touch-up Paint

2008-06-22T13:24:00.000-07:00

Howdy folks. I am in San Francisco now and I will try to catch up on my posts and put the last 2-4 hours in on the Vespa and have it done. I have already gone in to First kick scooters to introduce myself to David and to discuss parts I need. I don't need much. Before I left Pennsylvania, I had the final touch-up work done to the scoot.Ralph at K & K painted my wife's SS180 and also handled the touch-up. Besides all the areas I identified for touch-up he told me he found about another 100-150 spots he did touch-up work to to ensure the bike looked awesome. For all areas that the paint was chipped he filled it with multiple layers of black epoxy and once it was flush, he used touch-up paint. Then he wet-sanded it with extremely fine paper/ I over tightened some hardware and caused the paint to flex too much and he bridged those areas.

Make sure when you pick up your bike from the painter that you bring an empty 35mm film canister and have them fill it up for you. It is air tight and you can keep paint in there for a very long time. Use tooth picks to create several tiny dots when doing touch-up work and use the layering technique. It may take 2-3 layers for your paint to be even where you did touch-up. Be patient and take your time.Regarding wax, I won't use it. My paint job is two-stage, meaning there is a clear coat on top; therefore, no water can get in and it's best to just use polish. Ralph uses Imperial Hand Glaze polish (pic above) and said a bottle like this will last me for life. I can use it as often as I like and heck, painters can even paint over it as opposed to wax, which much be thoroughly stripped off before any paint is applied.

Note: yup the Vespa dripped tranny oil out the breather. I emptied the excess oil and no more leak.

Moving Tomorrow

2008-06-08T17:38:00.000-07:00

Not able to respond to comments or write posts for a little while. My family and I are moving to San Francisco (my home) tomorrow.

I will be back up and running on this blog once I am settled in.

Here's a quick moving tip . . . inside your truck remove the screws that hold the floor in (and save to put back in once you are done with the truck) and replace with eye-hooks. I used eight eye-hooks for three scooters. Worked great with NO modifications to my rented truck.

It''l be a trip from Harrisburg, PA to S.F., CA in the 26 foot truck towing a car, while my wife drives the other car with the dog in it. Big move.

Keep your fingers crossed all goes smoothly.

By the way, the paint touch-up looks amazing as does the bike of course.

Fuel tap assembly

2008-06-02T14:40:00.001-07:00

First off, let me stress a mistake I made . . . I failed to test my fuel tap assembly for gas flow prior to ordering new seals. That was a mistake. My tap was thoroughly cleaned and seals were added, but at best it just dripped as opposed to gushed like it should. Click on the photo above to enlarge it and you will see that my fuel tap is beat up on the gas intake straw. Pictured above from bottom to top are: (1) the new standard non-sediment bowl tap, (2) the Indian reproduction tap, and (3) my original one. Most people I spoke with ALL recommended the non-sediment bowl style, but Tom G. I trust Tom G. 100% and I opted to buy a replacement with a sediment bowl, but I used the stock glass sediment bowl because it fit and seems more authentic to me.

It is "absolutely" vital that before the scoot company mails your new fuel tap that you ask them to wiggle the straw(s) and if there is any movement to get a new one or you will need to solder it. I have heard that fuel taps are hit or miss.

This is how my set-up looked before installation, minus the plastic catch-all pan pictured below which sits in the frame beneath the gas tank to capture any drips. I had to scrub it first. Note in the picture above that fuel tap almost looks stocks. Make sure to install your fuel tap and set the tank up in a box vertically for over night to ensure that you do NOT have any leaks.

Inside the gas tank before I put the catch-all pan and the gas tank. Note, that due to the fact that the gas flow works on gravity, I shortened the fuel line so it traveled "down hill" as much as possible.

To install the gas tank, let the fuel "On/Off" lever dangle almost vertically down until you can "roll" it through the frame. I failed to do this and in doing so broke the end of the fuel lever. What a pitiful shame.

Smallest Tire Jack

2008-06-01T12:20:00.000-07:00

I've seen a handful of small and compact tire jacks on a variety of scooters, but none have been as small and light as the one I got with my Bajaj Chetak, which also works perfectly on my wife's VSC. We once bought a friend a jack from Bajaj for cheap as a thank you gift and he has used it with his P200 and a small square block of wood to add some extra height. It fits perfectly in your glove box.

Paul B., per your request I went outside and snapped this photo for you:

Resolving oil leaks

2008-05-31T16:20:00.000-07:00

Gotta tiny oil leak . . .

Ted overfilled the tranny oil he said and my engine developed a tiny leak. Ted believes that the small leak is due to the excess oil coming out or worst-case-scenario it's the rear hub seal has gone bad. When visiting the painter on Thursday a very small puddle had formed.

I emailed Christopher Markley and asked him for advice. This is what he told me:

"If it was way overfilled, it would have developed excess pressure and blown out the breather, and also could have blown out the hub seal. You can replace the hub seal easily if that's the problem. All Vespa engines leak some oil. The old joke about old motorcycles is the customer calls the garage and says, "Hey, I don't know what you did when my bike was in the shop, but it doesn't leak any oil anymore!" The mechanic screams, "Don't ride that bike, it must mean that the engine is bone dry!"

After you clean off the cases with denatured alcohol, blow some chalk dust on the cases all around. You can get this at Home Depot where they sell levels and plumb bobs. You can get the chalk dust in white or colors. After you've sprayed the chalk dust on the cases, it will be very easy to identify where an oil leak is coming from. It is very unlikely to be coming from between the case halves. The gasket and the gasket sealer usually prevents all but the tiniest weep from this joint. But good news -- if it is from there, you can just drain the oil bone dry, ultra-clean the case joint where it is leaking, and then get Yamabond gasket sealer in silver, and carefully apply it to the section of case mating area that is leaking, and voila, no more leak. If you apply it CAREFULLY, nobody will ever even see it."

Floor rail install slideshow

2008-05-31T08:24:00.000-07:00

After installing my floor rails, I feel well prepared to give you the break down in a digest format, which I believe will provide you with the critical information needed so that you can confidently install your own floor rails with ease (or as easy as it can be for a newbie). Please leave a comment if I have left anything out.

Here's what I did:

1) Do your research. Start by reading and looking at the pictures on these two posts: research post and step-by-step install post. Make sure you read the comments left too.

2) Before your scooter goes to the paint shop you MUST buy and dry install your floor rail kit. Everything must line up perfectly before the body goes to paint.

If you buy a new floor rail kit, I highly recommend searching for a kit that has no holes punched in it and will also require you to cut it to length. Such a kit was made at one point in Canada and the Brit scoot shops sold it. There have to be more of these out there.

Through extensive research I have learned that the Pascoli floor rail kit is no easier than the Rally kit to install so therefore I kept my Rally kit. My holes did not line up and if I could do it all over again I would have had the holes in body filled before having the bike painted and I would drill new holes to ensure everything fit (mark the new holes for the painter). When you hog out the holes in your rail they become much more oval shaped and this allows them to move during install.

3) If you floor rails do not line up flush with the floor board, use a hair dryer on the lowest setting to warm them. Now use a hook with rubber on it and screw it into a piece of wood for leverage and roll your floor rail to shape. Only apply pressure to the base, not the lip, of your floor rails or you will crush it If a gap still exists, leave the floor rails on so your body/paint guy can straighten your frame.

4) For the arch on the front of the floor rails put a propane camping bottle in your vice and clamp down. Now put a sock over your warm floor rail and GENTLY roll in the shape a tiny bit at a time; frequently checking so you don't curve it too much.

5) Make sure the end caps fit properly and that the rivet will not be at too much of an angle. Mine were and this cause the end caps to move slightly so a couple of them did not sit perfectly flush with the floor rail end.

6) File the mold off your end cap and polish it with Mother's Chrome Polish.

7) Examine each end cap and select each of the 12 ends in order to hide the blemishes of the file on the end cap. Number each end cap and end rail 1-12 so you remember which one goes where.

8) You will need to make two punches. Go to your local Harbor Freight Tools and spend a $1.67 for a 3-piece nail punch set on sale. Cut them back so the diameter is huge. For the "waffle" make a three cuts across in each direction with a hack saw. Then file them. Leave it waffle tips square -- don't angle them -- it won't look good. With the other punch (or bolt like I used) drill out a cone shape to slip into the end cap head to hold the rivet head it place while hand peening.

9) When the bike is back from the painter put a nice thick protective paper cover over your floor board. Double check all the holes line up. Now file out -- do NOT drill out -- the holes in your frame. Once they are cleaned out enough for the rivets to fit through seal the holes with an epoxy-based paint to protect your frame from rust. Let dry.

10) I opted to pop rivet my rails and to hand peen the 12 end caps only. I purchased all aluminum pop rivets. Pop rivet guns are cheap. Pop rivet the floor rails, but do NOT tighten them all the way or you will bend the rails. Only tighten them all the way after you have every hole pop riveted. Also, make sure the out rail rivets are flush against the body and not hung up on the outer lip. Many people prefer to use washers with pop rivets.

11) With a heavy flat weight press up against the bottom of the pop rivets and use a punch and a ball peen hammer (need a friend for this) to flatten the buttons left in the floor rails so the rubber will fit.

12) Fill up a big pot with warm water and soak your rubber. It will be more pliable and lubricated by the water to slide it it. Slide the rubber in place and leave about 1/2 inch on each side (you can get away with a little less). Over time your rubber will shrink and the excess will come in handy.

13) Start on the inner back end cap first in case you mess up. Put the end cap on and the rivet through. Cut the rivet just shy of a 1/2 inch. If you leave too much and you wack too much and too hard it will leave a dimple in your frame. Sadly, I have two.

14) Drill out a refridgerator magnet for the rivet end to go through.

15) Read up on "hand peening rivets", then practice, and watch this hand peening video.

16) After you hand peen the rivets come back with the waffle punch and have a friend hold the anchor against the rivet button and use a ball peen hammer (flat side) and give two good wacks. But be CAREFUL not to wack too hard or you will leave a dimple in your frame. I will need to take a macro shot of the waffled rivet(s) and post it. You can see it on the slide show at the top on the back bottom of the scoot.

ALTERNATIVE IDEA:If I did not have a rare bike, I would pop rivet the entire floor rail. I wonder if I use my yellow coned out punch, which fits inside of the end cap, that if I gently punched the head of the rivet if I could shape it into a button. I think I could, but it may not look perfect on every button . The secret would be to make a very tight little cone so it uses all of the excess aluminum in the head. I like how uniform pop rivets look, but I don't like the hole left in the donut. In a perfect world, all bikes would be blind riveted.

As usual, if you would like a specific photo posted please leave a comments and ask.

Next time:
If I were to this all over again I would use the pneumatic air chisel approach that Self Preservation Society posted on BBS and use rivets on everything. No pop rivets.

Rear brake switch & pedal install

2008-05-31T07:13:00.000-07:00

Installing the rear brake switch and pedal are pretty straight forward as you can see in the slide show.

Note: If you are replacing your rear brake switch there are two things to keep in mind: (1) I was told that the after-market switches that cost $15 are crap and the color is off and the quality is shottie -- so buy $25 Piaggio brand and (2) there are two types of switches -- one is always connected at the terminals and the other is not. Notice that I ordered one that is always connected and my stock one is not. I need to exchange that part for the correct one.

Regarding the switch . . . here is the switch that I need to get now . . .

"I spoke to the guys out at Scooterwest/Motorsports and came to the conclusion that the appropriate switch was the one that is often listed for large-frame, DC bikes. It makes sense, since that is the switch that is used for a VBB, and the VBB wiring harness is the closest to an original GS/SS wiring harness. I won't be able to tell you for another week how well it works out. Ah...here we go: brake switch via Motorsport Scooters is referred to as a 'Rear stop switch 125/150 Onwards GRAY', #181637, $14.00 - - Jen H."

Here's what I did:

1) I added the terminals to my new brake switch. The direction the wires enter on the new switch are different than how the entered on the old switch; therefore I had to guess on which wire goes where, but this is an easy fix for later. Make sure you run the wires through the seal first. Note that my new seal is black, not gray like the stock one.

2) Screw on the switch, but leave some play as you will need to adjust the switch once the pedal is on.

3) File down excess paint from the pedal stud and inside the locking pin canal until everything fits and moves freely.

4) Hand polish your brake pedal with a mild abrasive sponge. The white metal does not like Mother's Chrome Polish.

5) Connect your brake cable.

6) Put you pedal on the stud and push it all the way down. Now install your brake pedal lock pin from the top down. You will need a punch to gently tap it all the way down.

7) Line up your brake pedal with your switch.

8) Connect your brake cable at the rear hub and the tension will cause you pedal to stand upright.

Headset reassembly

2008-05-30T16:13:00.000-07:00

I enjoyed reassembling the headset. As you know I own a 1967 Vespa SS180 released in the USA. That means I have the round headset and my headset shares a lot of commonalities with the VSD (Rally 180). In the very early days of my restore ScooterWorks sold the headlight assembly for $25, which was 50% off. I bought it because the scoot didn't come with a headlight or I would have first tried to restore that.

Before I could reassemble my headset, I needed to get my head around the differences in 6V wiring a VSC and a VSD. As you can see from the links the pilot light is wired differently. My stock pilot light had a "gray" wire attached to it, as it should for a VSD. You'll note in the slideshow that I attached the blue, which is more similar to the VSC. That is the ONLY change I made.

Click on Hiro's detailed schematics for wiring.

Here's how I reassembled my headset:

1) I pulled my wires through the headset on the "switch" side.

2) With painter's tape I flagged each and every wire coming through my headset so I knew where everything was supposed to go.

3) I pulled the switch wires through the headset and pulled the through some excess tubing from the new wire harness was removes so I could get the wire harness to fit up through the frame and headset. Then I ran the wires through the back of the switch box.

4) Follow the switch schematics from Hiro on this blog for wiring your switch. Use a tiny flat head screw driver to loosen each terminal and then run the wire into the corresponding terminal and tighten it back down.

5) Polish your switch cover with Mothers or alike.

6) Now install the indicator light. I purchased a Clauss Studios reproduction indicator before I found my original. I chose to keep my original on the bike. Polish it.

7) The pilot bulb (which looks like a fuse) is held in place by the indicator light. My housing for the pilot bulb is missing a terminal/end point for the bulb; therefore I attached the black wire to the housing with a screw for the short run.

8) Hand screw in the pilot bulb and indicator light. Then use a wrench to "snug" it.

9) Next is the speedo. I have already replaced the speedo glass and bezel and sealed it shut so I gently twisted the white speedo bulb terminal, which holds the blue wire in place, until the white plastic unit popped free. I put the brand new blue wire in it and put the bulb back in and twisted it until it locked.

10) Then I tightened down the speedo by using a small flat head screw driver to hold it in place with the long screw, which you can reach from the base of your headset.

11) Finally the headset . . . I did not need the extension wire that came along with the brand new headlight, because I had a lot of spare, but I did need to cut off the terminal connectors and replace them with ones that would match the light. Easy to do, cheap, and I sealed with shrink tubing.

12) I assembled the light.

13) Then I used the screw mount set to lock the light housing into place. The mount set has a square-ish nut, a large hallow screw, and a tiny screw that goes into the hallow screw. Slide the nut in behind the housing and then lock the housing in place with the hallow nut.

14) The headlight bezel now needs to be slid into place. Take your time so as not to mar the paint. Once in place use the small nut to screw into the hallow nut. Be careful! Everything must be aligned perfectly. The small screws are not tough.

As always if you want to see a picture from the slide show at high res and full screen so you can see the detail, please just ask. This blog is here for you not me. I already did it and have pictures and documentation. This is for all the people who are hestitant to take on a restore or rebuild -- don't be. I am terribly far from an expert or experienced restorer, but I have learned a lot of credible information and I will be happy to give it all to any who ask./span>

Tail Light Restoration

2008-05-29T17:06:00.000-07:00

I kept my original tractor style tail light, which was used on the latter SS180s. My tail light was in good shape, minus a cracked OEM tail light (which can still be used, but looks out of place on a restored bike) and a some bends in the metal arms the license plate mounts to, but my paint/body shop guys took care of that.

Here's what I did:
1) I took apart the tail light.
2) I used painters tape to tape up the reflector and the entire wiring.
3) I hand stripped the paint with Aircraft Gel Stripper, because I was concerned that sand blasting would destroy it.
4) I had my body/paint shop take care of the housing.
5) I found new stainless hardware that was as close as possible to a match for the original.
6) I bought two new lenses. One was an Italian lens from a scoot shop and the other was from a tail light assembly sold as a kit from Lowes (for the same price as the scooter shop charged just for the lens). Neither were a 100% match, but Lowes was MUCH closer and only $6.
7) I ordered a new lens seal, but it came in black as opposed to grey (no one sees it).
8) I used a rubber replenisher (not a real word) to rejuvenate the seals I do have. The big fat circular gasket which goes between the light and housing frame I reused temporarily.
9) I purchased a matching "double filament" bulb.
10) I did the wiring to plug-n-play with the original light and used shrink tubing.
11) I mounted the light housing bracket.
12) I put the clear lens in place.
13) I put the seal between the bracket and light frame.
14) I put the bulb in.
15) I flipped the lens seal in reverse so the groove faces outward. I then put the seal in place.

Now that I had the seal in place I could not get the Italian lens to fit in. It was too big. It requires a different seal I believe. It lies flush with the housing, as opposed to how the original lens fit -- which was that it fit over the top and came over the edge. This is how the Lowes lens fits. It is bulkier like the original and that is why I decided to use it. It looks more stock and it fit naturally over the seal to boot.

16) With new stainless wood screws I installed the Lowes lens.

Note: the electrical diagram from Scooterhelp.com did not match the tractor style tail light; therefore I copied the way the wires were laid out on my stock wires from the original light and I made a guesstimate on placing the black wire based on the diagram. This is something I can very easily fix if need be and I left some excess wire if needed. This is where buying a complete bike comes in handy so you can just copy was what there before.

Heading for paint touch up

2008-05-29T16:17:00.001-07:00

Note: before reading this, please remember to NOT over tighten anything against your new paint job or you will cause a chip. Just snug it up. I overtightened the seat bolt pin and shipped the paint. I also over tightened the trim piece on my front fender and it caused a micro dent. Go easy on your paint!
On Monday evening, after the test drive, I prepped the scoot for paint touch-up. I used painters tape and a Sharpie to draw arrows to every possible nick I could find. I did this outside in the natural light to ensure I didn't miss anything at all. Florescent lights will lie to you.We threw a tarp over the scoot to protect it from the pebbles while traveling and rain. I always use Canyon Dancers to strap the bike down and also throw out all your ratchet style motorcycle straps -- they suck! Ted has pull straps that are so strong and hassle free to use. I will be buying two sets of these shortly and will no longer strap down the back of my bike like I use too.We delivered the bike back to K & K and I walked the painter through everything in detail, but I miscommunicated with the painter when discussing the rivets. He agreed to put a epoxy prep paint beneath the tuck in my rivets to help avoid any future rust. He thought I meant to paint over my rivets too and he did on the right side of my leg shield. I visited him today, thursday, to point out two areas I forgot to label with painter's tape and explained that the rivets are to remain bare alumimun. He understood and said he would scrape off the epoxy.There are a couple points at which you can tell if your painter is the real McCoy or not and one of those times is touch-up. My painter knows his shit. For all the small nicks he will fill with a black epoxy (use black for darker colors, like British Racing Green) in several thin layers until it is flush, then he will paint with a mix of matching green he will create. With 2000+ grit wet sandpaper he will sand it and no one will unless (1) they are a professional painter themselves or (2) you knew exactly where the nick was.