Update for August

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

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

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

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

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.