Busy Busy Week

Over Thanksgiving week I accomplished quite a lot of work. I finished up the barn workshop enough to start working on the scooter.

Last Saturday, I removed the engine and starting taking it apart. Got to the clutch, but the clutch nut tool I bought was made of cheap metal and broke with the slightest pressure. So I called First Kick in San Francisco and they had the proper tool. So I went to SF to get it and picked up some gaskets. By the time I got back it was after 3 pm so I decided to continue work on Sunday.

Sunday I got the clutch off and finished disassembling the engine. Total time was about 4.5 hours for both days to completely take it apart. 

Most of the engine looked ok, but there was some definite blow-by on the piston. 

piston composite photo

I measured the cylinder, it is 57.3 mm, so it is one size over bored. I haven't decided to take it to the second overbore or just buy a new cylinder and piston.

All the parts I put in baggies and are labeled so I can remember what they are for.

I took lots of pictures, you can view them below

Vespa Disassembly Web Album

Or here is a slide show of all the pictures:

Barn Workshop almost ready

Over the last month I have been preparing the Barn Workshop where I will be rebuilding the scooter this winter. This is the barn at my friend's place, which needed to be cleaned out, roof replaced in one section, air gaps covered and a new floor covering. 

We replaced the roof section of corrugated steel with translucent PVC panels to allow more light in to the space. This took about 2 days to complete.

Then I went around the inside with tar paper to close up the air leaks in the walls.

Last weekend I put Masonite down over the old floor to cover up all the gaps and to have a nice smooth floor. Though it is a little wavy in places due to the floor beneath being uneven.

All that is left is to seal up the areas under the eves, between the roof and the top of the walls. I expect to complete that this week, then the disassembly of the scooter begins.

Not much to report

Things have been quiet lately. The scooter is running ok, but with the cold weather and the dress code at work where I can not wear jeans anymore, I haven't been riding as much. We plan on finishing of the work on the barn workspace this weekend. The it will be time to start the disassembly process. 

Over the last couple of months, I have been buying old fog and driving lights on Ebay. I have decided to mount 5 lights on a legshield crash bar, so I am seriously considering going with a 12 volt electronic ignition system with a battery to power it all.

I must be truly insane

So I bought another Vespa yesterday. It is all in parts with no engine, but the price was very good. $250 for the frame, fork, tanks, handle bars, floor rails, electrical parts, etc.

There are other parts I will need to get like an engine, seat, cowls, etc. But it will all wait until I finish the rebuild of Sprint.

Horn Cast Karma

I received a NOS (New Old Stock) today from an Ebay auction I won last week. Having a brand new unpainted horn cast is more than I had hoped for when I started searching for a replacement for the one that had been cut off in the P conversion.

Missing Horn Cast

I had a few people contact me with options. One person had a Super he was parting out, but I never could make one on one contact with him. 

Another person contacted me saying he had a NOS horn cast but was out of town. When he returned, he discovered he had sold/given it to someone a few years ago. That person wanted $100 for the horn cast. 

At this time someone posted a garage sale of misc items which included a horn cast of unknown model. I took a gamble and paid for it, but it turns out it is for a small frame Vespa. 

So I contacted the person who had given away the earlier horn cast and asked him to contact his friend who wanted $100 for confirmation on that horn cast. 

I then was looking on Ebay under a general Vespa search and found the NOS Horn cast there. It was in Denmark and the label confirmed it was the right one. The bid was at about $10 when I bid, so I put in $50 with about 36 hours left in the auction. I became the highest bidder at $11.50. But then I was outbid up to $51. So I then waited until the auction had 20 seconds to go and I put in a bid of $80. I ended up winning the bid at $54 plus $15 shipping. 

NOS Horn Cast

So I got it cheaper than the person wanting to charge $100, though I was willing to pay more if that is what it took to get the right part. If he has said $50, I would of not been looking on Ebay or other sellers in the first place while waiting for responses.

Sometimes karma works in the right direction.

Adjusting the Clutch cable

It took a few days to get the clutch adjusted right. I made the adjustments and it seemed fine in the parking lot, but once I started up in the morning and got on the street, the engagement area was too close to the handle being all the way out. This was a bit awkward for me since I am used to the sweet spot in the middle of the travel of the clutch lever. Finally I got it in the right spot and I am comfortable with using the clutch again.

Clutch Cable breaks

Yesterday, my clutch cable broke. Fortunately it broke with me 100 yards from my parking spot at home. I was able to find the broken end, it snapped at the cable clamp. 

Since I bought new cables 10 days ago, I count myself fortunate. But I left the cables at my friend's barn. The local motorcycle shop did not have a cable I could use, so I drove up to Petaluma to get the cables. By the time I got back, it was too dark to replace the cable.

After work today, I replaced the clutch cable, it was not that difficult, though it was a bit greasy messy. I drove around the parking lot and the clutch seems to be working fine. The real test will be when I drive into work tomorrow.

Electrical

I bought some new headlight bulbs and fiddled with the headlight and switch. All circuits seemed to be getting juice, but I blew out the pilot bulb. The larger bulb, only one filament of two works. So at least I have a light burning. 

Since I am going to replace the whole harness when I rebuild, I'm not going to put a lot of effort into tracking down this problem.

I did find out the headlight and switch is original SIEM equipment. The reflector is peeling, so it will need to be resurfaced.

When I bought the bulbs, I also got the correct taillight for my scooter, it being a clean but used SIEM unit. I also bought a cable set for the rebuild and in case one breaks before then.

Electrical Problems

Earlier this week I noticed my headlight was out. I was working late but left before it got too dark. When I started the scoot, the light was not shining on the wall where I park at work. 

The next evening I took of the headlight, having to cut one of the retaining screws, as it was buggered and frozen. I took the bulbs out, and finally found out for sure that my system is a 6 volt system. I used a old 6 volt wall wort transformer to test the bulbs. The main headlight bulb worked on both filaments but the pilot light looked like it has a tiny crack across the top and did not work.

I also found the headlight glass is a SIEM lens, so probably the original glass on the scooter. The bezel will need to be replaced though since it has some rust spots coming through the chrome.

Joy on the missing Horn Cast

I posted an inquiry on the Scoot.net classifieds looking for a horn cast for my Sprint. Within a day, I received a reply of someone who may have a NOS part (New Old Stock). This means a new part in the original packaging. Unfortunately he is out of town and won't be able to send me a picture and the part number for a couple weeks. 

If this the right part, this is great news. I did not think there would be any of these as NOS, only used taken from a wreck or a parted out scooter. Since the horn cast looks like is welded on, getting a good used one seemed like a slim proposition. 

Road trip 8/31

I took the Vespa out on another shakedown drive. It was running ok at first, but then it started bogging down once I was on the open road. I pulled over about 3 times to adjust the fuel mix and check the spark plug. The plug gap was a little wide, so I fixed that. After the third adjustment to the fuel mix, the scooter was riding like a champ.

I ended up taking a route longer than I planned since the engine was behaving itself. 

Road Trip Map

122 miles!

I really enjoy riding my scooter.

So I went to my favorite bakery first, The Busy Bee Bakery. Sadly they were out of chocolate croissants so I got a cinnamon roll instead.

Then I headed over to Limantour Beach. The road there is somewhat curvy and hilly. A good small mountain road test. I walked down a trail behind the dunes for about a mile and finished off the cinnamon roll.

Limantour Dunes, Drakes Bay in the distance

Back on the road I made a pit stop at the Point Reyes Seashore Park welcome center. The Vespa was still running like it had no worries. Fourth gear was no problem.

Epicenter of the 1906 Earthquake (blue posts indicate fault line)

I was going to cut through Olema up Sir Francis Drake Blvd back to Platform Bridge road then back home, but I decided to extend the trip. My favorite challenging road in Marin County is the Fairfax-Bolinas road. This is a 6 mile assent up the ridge line that runs from Mount Tamalpais. A technical driver's dream of a curvy mountainous road. Not a high speed road, but many, many curves. Portions of this road are seen in many different car commercials.

One of many Hairpin curves on the Fairfax-Bolinas Rd (Zoom-Zoom!)

So after a fun assent, I headed along Ridgecrest Rd to go to the parking lot near the top of Mt Tam.

 

Ridgecrest Rd

Stenson Beach from Ridgecrest Rd

San Francisco from the top of Mt Tamalpais

Took another pit stop there and headed back to the other side of the Fairfax-Bolinas road which runs by Alpine Lake.

Alpine Lake Dam

Then I headed down to Fairfax and took Sir Francis Drake Blvd west to the Nicasio Valley Road.

Church in the town of Nicasio

Driving along Lake Nicasio, the engine briefly skips. I think to my self, I have driven a long way, so I stop and check the gas level. Look a little low to me, but I think there is enough to get me to Novato, where the nearest gas station on my route is located. There is a gas station in the town of Point Reyes Station, but that is the wrong way for my trip home. If only I had gone back to Point Reyes Station, I would not have run out of gas (again).

From Lake Nicasio, I drove easy, made it to Novato Blvd. On the first hill the engine sputters then dies. I get it started again, there is still between a half and a quarter of an inch of gas still in the tank. I make it down that hill, coasting as much as possible. The next hill stops me again, but I am able to get started and slowly make it over that hill. I coast by Stafford Lake with the clutch in and down to the area with the dog park. About there is where the scooter only runs for about 100 feet before quitting. There is a slight grade down hill there, so I coast as much as possible. At Sutro, the engine refuses to stay running, so I start pushing. The road there is mostly level or a slight down hill for a while, not enough to coast on the scooter though. Then there is a short rise, once I got to the top, I was able to coast down to the Shell station at the bottom of the hill.

After filling up (1.77 gallons) and a few kicks the scooter started right up. Then I headed on home. (I drove about 5 miles after a fill up the day before, so approximate MPG is 72 for that tank)

Next time I go on a road trip to areas with few gas stations, I will make a point of a complete fill up before starting and stop to top off when ever possible. The speedo seems to read fast so I am not sure of the accuracy of the odometer. I'm thinking of getting a spare gas tank that will fit inside the spare when I mount one to prevent this from happening again. I was running on the reserve setting because of all the grades to prevent the fuel from not being fed from the regular tap output.

Spark Plug & Test Drive

I bought new spark plugs today and replaced the one the scooter came with. Huge improvement, it is now running much better, not choking out at low RPMs. The previous owner told me he had to change them frequently, I just did not know how frequent he changed the plug. The old plug looked ok to me, a nice brown color around the insulator. But the swap did wonders, so I will keep that in mind. I got spares so that is the first thing I will do is swap the spark plug out at the sign of trouble.

Drove the Vespa around town today after replacing the plug for a test drive. I got lots of waves and thumbs up along the way from kids and motorists. Drove down to Redwood Blvd to get some gas, then up Grant Ave which the main street of downtown Novato. Then I headed to Wilson and on to Indian Valley Road for the test drive. Nice little loop drive with opportunities for varying speeds. Scoot drove well with no bogging down in the lower speeds.

Motorcycle Class II

Did the second part of the motorcycle class. Lots of turns and fast stops. The practical test was pretty easy, but I did not get a perfect score. I didn't follow through with the throttle on the turn test. I am so glad I took the class, it made taking the test much, much easier.

Motorcycle Class & Wrenching

Started my motorcycle class early this morning. They had scooters, so I selected a Vespa LX150. A very different experience with the automatic twist and go. I found it pretty easy, spent a lot of time waiting for others to complete their course before my turn. After the riding was the classroom part of the class, which lasted to mid afternoon. 

After the class I stopped by my friends place to borrow his torque wrench. Then I went home and fiddled with the head, retighting the head bolts. Then I took the scoot for a drive, it ran better than last Monday but still not as good as it ran last Saturday.

Engine Woes

I did not ride the Sprint on Sunday because I had to go to work and haul some stuff around. So Monday morning I went out and tried to start it but it just did not want to start. It eventually started but no power when throttled up. So after ten minutes of fiddling with it I decided I need to go to work and parked the scoot for the day.

Engine Work

I drove the scooter to my friends place to work on the engine yesterday. I have been having problems with it running fine for short trips, but longer trips with higher throttle, the engine would bog down upon deacceleration. 

I adjusted the mix which helped the low rpm performance. Then I removed the head to inspect and remove the carbon/coking build up on the head and piston top. There was not as much as I expected but still took a while to clean them off. Then I polished the head and cylinder top.

After reassembling the engine it started up quickly and ran sweetly.

I stayed for dinner but then the coastal fog started rolling in, so I decided to head home. The engine ran great not really causing any problems. It did slightly bog once, but I was happy with the performance.

The Story of the Vespa Sprint-P

Sprint #VLB1T036582 came off the assembly line about mid fall of 1966 at the Piaggio factory in Italy. It was sold by an Italian Vespa Dealer to someone needing cheap but reliable transportation. 

The scooter served it's owner well until one day the engine blew or froze up. The engine was cheaper to replace than repair so an engine from an old 65 Sprint was installed on the frame.

The scooter rode well but changed owners several times. In the 1980s, while the Vespa P-Series was all the rage, the Sprint was showing it's age. The paint was fading and it just looked old. So off it goes to a shop where it received body modifications to bring it up to a more modern look.

The original horn cast was cut off and a P-Series horn cast was put on the front of the leg shield. Levers and grips were changed to the newer style. A P glove box was fitted on the leg shield. The old cowl glove box was welded shut and the bottom cut out to allow a spare tire to be mounted underneath like the P Scooters. And the tail light was replaced with a newer model. Then the whole scooter was painted white over the old faded light blue color.

The Sprint then was an old machine with a new look. For several more years it traveled the streets of Italy, until the owner traded it in for a newer scooter. It sat for a few years, future uncertain, until someone bought it in a lot of other scooter to be shipped to America. 

After arriving in a container in the port of Oakland/Alameda in the mid 1990s, the Sprint was tuned up and sold to a new owner in the San Francisco area. It again changed hands a few times until the present day with a total of 68,000 kilometers on the odometer where it ended up in my hands.

The plans for the Sprint are to restore it to its off the assembly line condition, but keep it safe and functional. This blog in part will be documenting that process. All of the P modifications will be replaced with the correct part for the 1966 Sprint year model, turning it back in to a 1966 Sprint 150.

Less than 1 gallon of Gas

After doing my laundry, I decided to not let the scoot sit, so I went on a little road trip. I filled up the gas tank and went in search of the open road. I went to Inverness Park to get a chocolate croissant, as the Busy Bee Bakery knows how make them right. After that I went up to Marshall and took the Marshall-Petaluma road back to Novato.

North Marin Route

Had a intermittent problem with the motor misbehaving after long stretches of higher rpms, to where I would slow down or stop. It would run rough for a few moments then clear up. Not sure what is wrong, I do need to recheck the electrical and timing.

A quarter of the route was under marine layer fog around Marshall so, the ride was a little cool for a few miles. I didn't take many pictures, but here are a few I took around Marshall.

When I got back home, I checked my gas level and less than 1 gallon was used from this trip.

Service Trip

Saturday I drove the scoot in to SF to have it checked out and the carburetor adjusted. I found a route with very minimal freeway, about 34 miles long. Though taking surface streets took me 2.5 hours vs my regular cage drive of 45 minutes.

This is the route I ended up taking: SF Route

I left at about 7:45 AM, the drive was ok, surface streets, stop signs and stop lights gave me plenty of chances to work on my shifting technique. I had a little nervous incident where the engine stopped halfway between the Manzanita and Marin City freeway exits. I had to go on the freeway here because it is the only place around to get past this area. It turns out I had gone into the reserve part of the fuel tank, so once I figured that out I was back on the road.

After stopping in Sausalito for gas, I stopped for a photo of SF from Sausalito.

Then I headed up to the Golden Gate. I decided to go up Hawk hill for some photo shots of the fog, GGB and SF skyline.

Back down I headed across the bridge and followed the route to First Kick scooter shop.

I left the vespa with them and went for brunch at the SF Ferry building. I returned a little over 1.5 later to the shop and the mechanic was still working on the scooter. So I hung out in the sales room looking closely at all the shiny.

When the mechanic was done, he told me about what he did and some safety concerns. He worked on the carb and ended up replacing the jet. He expressed concern about the rear hub not being tight and the nut missing off of the end of the swing arm motor mount. I asked him to fix both of those which he did rather quickly. We discussed the electrical system where it was a rough on start but smoothed out once the engine was warmed up.

I had asked in the shop about getting key copies made, the recommended a key shop on Church street. So I rode over there and it turns out the shop is closed on Saturdays.

I start heading home, taking my regular route down Lincoln, big mistake. Traffic was slow and backed up for many blocks. I stalled out a few time due to the slow movement, this is something I need to work on. I don't like the idea of lanesplitting, so I was slow like the rest of the cagers.

Back across the GGB, I drove down to Ft Baker for a dramatic photo.

Surface streets back home, besides being fun, it was uneventful.

I noticed that the previous owners did not attached the registration sticker and it was not in the little pouch with their registration papers, so I need to go by CSAA DMV to get a replacement.

* cage - car, cager - car driver

Back home

Make it home in one piece. Had some minor power problems with loss on uphill grades or full throttle.

Picture parked at home.

First trip on the road

Finally got my registration, insurance and helmet. So took a short road trip to drive the scooter home from my friends place. It was a nice trip, a good chance to try it out. I took some of the back roads between Petaluma and Novato. 

Around the driveway

Lovely North Bay -  Marin County

Cheese Factory

Stafford Lake

Picked up the Scooter, did some work on it

Sunday morning I picked up the scooter with the help of a friend and his family's truck. We took it back to his place where his father in law is letting me use one of his barns to work on it and store it when needed. 

Since the Vespa is not insured or registered yet I did not want to drive it on the roads,  so we tinkered around with the carburetor settings and I rode it around the driveway. It was running rich in the fuel mixture and the spark plug was covered with black oily soot. After adjustments it ran better but was harder to start. I may be starting it wrong, I am going to try to get more info on starting procedures.

I also removed the P series horn cast/cover which revealed the old VLB horn cast had been cut away for the modification. It seems this was a type of modification done in Italy durning the 80s to make an older scooter seem more stylish like the P-Series Vespas with out buying a new one.

The leg shield glove box and the left cowl were also part of that 80s modification. I'm going to get a replacement left cowl/glovebox and probably remove the P-Series leg shield one. Replacing the horn cast will be much more difficult to find a replacement part as no one carries that as a part and they are welded to the leg shield. I think my best option will be to find a wrecked beyond repair frame and take the horn casting from that. If I can't find a wrecked frame, then I may need to ask at Asian 'restoration' shops to see if they can sell me one.

I also changed the gear oil, ran the engine then changed it again, flushed out the remaining oil then topped it off. The engine requires very little oil, all of the oil I drained only filled a Coke bottle halfway. There were metal bits in the oil, most of them were metal filing size but there were a few larger ones. I hope the larger ones are parts of the clutch pressure pads and not broken gear bits.

I'm getting the insurance and registration Wednesday, I plan on riding the scooter to work on Friday. 

Saturday I am taking it in to San Francisco to have it inspected by a scooter mechanic to make sure everything is working ok and it is safe to drive. I still intend on rebuilding the engine this winter and possibly restoring the body. The cable housings are are worn and the electrical can stand to be upgraded to 12 volts with a new wiring harness.

Interest and Research

Buying the Vespa is something I did not do lightly. Ever since I saw Vespas in a visit to Costa Rica in the early 80's, I wanted to own one.

So, one day I was browsing Ebay for something unrelated and stumbled across this great looking Vespa for a decent price. I started looking at all the Vespas available and there were quite a few good looking machines. Then I noticed most of them were from Vietnam or other Asian countries. So I thought to myself this made sense and it was not a problem except for shipping since there are a great number of Vespas in Asia. 

Two things stopped me from bidding right then. Second hand items coming from another country (especially Asian countries) are subject to fraud. Then there was the fact I did not have enough money to bid at the time, but I was expecting extra cash the next month.

So I spent the next few days looking at the models available and ran across an Ebay item boldly stating it was not a Vietnam restoration. I found the guides in Ebay explaining the problems with Vietnam restorations, and then I found the Scooterbbs forums. So I was pretty much warned off importing a scooter.

So I started looking more locally for a Vespa. I did find scootrs.com and decided if I did not find a suitable scooter by the end of August I would order one from them. Though they are from Vietnam, they were the only Asian restorations that had decent marks.

Per advice already posted on the scooterbbs, I started looking for a P or PX series Vespa. I wanted the classic style and an older machine, these were recommended for a first time buyer. I thought I had found one at a shop in Portland, Oregon, but it turns out it was already sold some time ago and they had not updated their webpage in several months.

I found the scoot.net classifieds and inquired on a couple there, but they also were already sold. I posted there I was looking for a P-Series Vespa and received one reply, but the scooter had way too much chrome for my taste. (I'm a minimalist when it come to chrome.)

I was also looking in the west coast Craigslist classifieds. There I saw a couple prospects for a good price on the SF Craigslist, but by the time I was heading to look at them, they were already sold. I started checking the SF Craigslist and Scoot.net classifieds every 20 to 30 minutes everyday.

During this time I continued to research Vespas and bought several books for reference.

Then I saw a VLB Sprint 1966 for $2k in the SF Craigslist and immediately replied to the ad asking to inspect the scooter as soon as possible. I got a reply saying the sellers were going out of town and would let me see it when they returned. I also was heading out of town coming back a day later that the sellers. I asked (begged) them to let me see it first, explaining I had several scooters sold before I could see them. They agreed and we set up an appointment for the day after I returned.

The sellers got several emails inquiring about the scooter and one offering $300 more. The sellers contacted me asking if I was still interested and told me about the higher offer. I told them I was still interested and would match the offer if I decided to buy it after inspection. They were very nice and agreed to let me have first refusal.

When I saw the scooter, it I was able to recognize it had a few non standard body parts, but it ran fine after a few kicks. They mentioned that the spark plug needed to be replaced often and sometime was hard to start on a cold engine with an older plug. The engine seemed to be quite powerful once started and the body was in decent shape, so I put down a deposit. The sellers wanted to keep it until the end of the month, since they used it as a daily commuter.

I decided to buy this one instead of the newer P models due to frustration of not finding a good P and I knew I should be able to care for this one from my experience of working on cars earlier in my life. I also have a co-worker/friend who offered a space in his barn to work on the scooter.

I will be picking up the scooter the last sunday in July from the sellers. They seemed very honest and were very nice in working with me to let me have first dibs. They loved the scooter and wanted to see it go to a good home.

Just Bought

Just purchased a vintage Vespa, a unrestored 1966 VLB Spirit for $2300. Now the insanity can begin.

I bought the vespa from a couple who are grad students moving to upstate New York and they can not take the scooter with them. They had been using it as a commuter to Be

rkeley from their home.

I put down a deposit but won't take delivery until the 27th since they are still using it.

Pictures below.