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I love the winter weather; all frosty and snowy - but this year its been most inconvenient.  Just as I get the scooter on the road, so the roads become way to dicey for me to drive on.  And so I have to make do with finding things to tinker around on in the garage.

I really like the colour of my scooter, I like its clean and simple look and I dont want of lots of chrome fittings on it, but i do feel it needs something to add some detail.  The obvious step is add some stick-on graphics (no, Im not going to spray graphics on).  There are heaps of stickers for vespas on ebay, but I couldnt find anything that I liked.  I dont want to overly associate myself or my scooter with the Mod scene by putting checker stripes on (i really dont like the look of middle aged men being mods - there is something really not right about that oxymoron).
Eventually I found a very helpful chap (Dean, AKA dsn101) on ebay who said he could print any decal/sticker i wanted, and so for £10 he printed me 3 off 1000mmx70mm Italian Tricolure strips.

Now you would think that applying stickers to your bike would be childs play wouldn't you?  I was surprised to see how many youtube videos there are of professionals showing you how to apply stickers, but was grateful to learn the water/soap spray method - it helped a lot.
And so some detailing has been added to the scooter - and i rather like it.  The only thing I might do different in another life would be to have an extra pair of hands around to help stretch the leg-shield stripe around the compound curve - mine has run off line a little - i can see now why people typically use shorter and narrower stripes on this area.

I had a comment from someone the other day about the scooter - they liked it very much and connected the front shock absorber Guinness-can cover with what they saw as the Irish flag stripes and made the immediate assumption that I was Irish! Hmm i hadnt seen it like that - I might have to change that can for a peronni can (mind you, im not Italian either!)

 in other news - Ive bought myself a 10mm link chain and an alarmed padlock - so I hope i can minimise the opportunity for any pesky thieves

hmm i must get those wheels painted too

MOT

The trouble is I cant really test the scooter without getting it on the road, and so I really do need to get an MOT.  Everything seems to run ok, except for the rear indicators.  And so while the family were watching some rubbish celebrity reality TV show, I nipped out into the garage to investigate. 
Unfortunately you cant test the lights on this scooter without starting it up, and as it was late in the cold evening I decided that I would just have to wait till the next morning to see if my scratching-the-paint-off-the-side-panel-spring-clips solution had done the trick in restoring an electrical circuit to the rear indicators. 
It did :-)
So there I was - with a bike as good as it was going to get ready for an MOT.  What to do?
The sun was out, but the forecast for a few days time is for snow! so now seemed like an ideal time to get the bike out on the road to an MOT center.
Gransport had told me previously that they used Vale Onslow for all their scooter MOTs.  Now Vale Onslow is apparently legendary in the classic motorcycle world.  I had certainly known of his shop on the Stratford road since i first came to Birmingham 30 years ago - but the building is a tip now - surely they werent still going?
I was keen to get MOT'd by someone who knew oldish Vespas - by comparison to new scooters, my PX would never stand up to the same scrutiny - not because it is unroadworthy, but because that is how they are - not as tight and sharp as a modern machine - fact of life.  And so I phoned Vale Onslow to enquire about an MOT.
"Bring it now if you want" said a quite disinterested and offhand old chap
Gulp "what now??!   er give me an hour"  I was a little off balance - i hadnt really stealed myself for going off straight away (today?)
So with - and i have to admit it - a shake in my knees (I was really quite anxious) I went and got a little tool kit together - just in case.   What would you take on a maiden voyage after a complete rebuild?  I took;
3 x combination spanners (8mm, 10mm, 13mm)
1 x small adjustable spanner
1 x pair long nosed pliers
1 x long flat screwdriver
1 x long posidrive screwdriver
all wrapped up in 3 new pieces of rag
I thought this might cover the basic slipped cable or carb adjustment - any failure bigger than that could be sorted by throwing the whole thing in the nearest skip and getting a bus home.
I did do a final tightening of front and rear brake cables and the clutch cable, then suitably togged up in my ski jacket and ski gloves (it might be sunny , but its blimmin chilly), I donned - for the first time in action - my bright orange crash helmet - remember that? the helmet I bought 6 months ago when I thought I was going to be riding it for the summer - before I looked underneath the floorpan.

As anxious as I was in preparing to go - once in the saddle and driving out the end of our road - I felt great.  I was relaxed and in control and it all felt so natural.  The scooter ran like a dream, idles gently, pulls hard and cruises effortlessly.  The riding position is really comfortable and despite my rear view mirrors vibrating beyond use, I wasnt at all anxious about the road or traffic.  I think there is a bit more adjustment to be done in the gearchange cables - or maybe it was just my inexperience that made me incorrectly select neutral a couple of times.

It was maybe a half hour run over to Vale Onslows MOT workshop (though I did choose a slightly long route to avoid the city center) and the MOT process turned out to be a delightful experience.
The workshop was comfortably grubby and cluttered.  There was no clear bench space and only just enough floor space for me to wheel my scooter in amongst the half stripped Aerials and BSAs (though I did notice a quad bike and a corgi parachute motobike in the corner)
The MOT man (i think a son of Len Onslow himself) was a delightfully reserved / grumpy old chap with a twinkle in his eye.  While he checked my bike over he and another old chap, told me stories about the war; rations, ministry-men, and black-markets.  There was no rush.  We had a lovely chat during which I was awarded with an MOT for £28.

And so I was able to drive back home so very nearly legal (I still need to get road Tax) - I smiled most of the way - and even got her up to 60mph on the Bristol road! I didnt do it for long, I really dont want to come off that bike.  Even less so in a ski jacket and ski gloves!

So nothing dramatic to report - everything as it should be.
I suspect that this story is coming to an end now.  I hope for years of trouble free riding - and that by its very nature it simply not very interesting stuff to write about or read about.  I wonder if the most enjoyable part of owning a Vespa is coming to the end for me?  Only time will tell.

We are going for it now!

It would of course make sense to throw a dust sheet over the scooter now and wait for winter to pass. 
But owning this scooter never made sense from the start, so why start now?

I would really like to get an MOT on the bike now - just to know all is good, and if its not then I have the whole winter to fix it.  But in order to get an MOT, i need to get it out on the road and for that I need insurance - so Ive just bought myself some insurance.
I phoned 3 companies, and they all quoted much of a muchness, but I felt in the end the best deal I got was with Bikesure. £133 for 3rdPFT, £150 Excess, 5000mile limited mileage - and this includes oodles of legal cover and heaps of personal accident cover (I wasnt really listening - but it will be in the documents when they send them through).
I valued the bike at £2000, and it made me realise that its not such a daft thing to have insurance now - even if Im not going to use it during the winter, as it is certainly stealable now, and should be covered by insurance.

In an ideal world I would like to get some miles (well at least some hours) on the clock before taking it out on the roads for an MOT - just to know that the bolts wont rattle off or a cable nipple doesnt slip - but thats virtually impossible to do.  I can only ride so many times up and down our culdesac (and even that is illegal) without annoying neighbours, and so I shall have to bite the bullet sometime, and why not straight away?
 
So, in theory,  if I wanted to now,  if i fix the rear indicators tonight,  I could take the scooter for an MOT tomorrow (the weather report says 'sunny'
ooh exciting! i wont be able to sleep!

will it start?

Well to cut a long story short.... yes it does! :-)
Of course it does.  I shouldnt have been surprised really - Vespas - they're not rocket science!

But to tell the long story....
Its saturday, which means I can comfortably take the whole day to myself in the garage, and with all the little rebuild steps ive been doing up til now, I was pretty well committed to starting her today.
Top up oils.  Put a gallon of 50:1 two-stoke mix in the fuel tank (Dan recommended this as a precaution, but I notice that Haynes also suggest this after an engine strip, just to ensure some lubrication while the autolube primes) - connect and adjust rear brake cable, clutch cable....... and then I found myself titting around again with the number plate and the tax disc holder.  Once again I was subconsciously avoiding the big question - would it run?  I snapped out of it and put the ancillaries to one side, and wheeled the scooter out of the garage.  The last time id started it, Id filled my garage and next doors house with white smoke, so I wasnt taking any chances this time.

Ignition on, fuel tap to Aperto, choke out.
Kick one (ooh that new kickstart gear does feel considerably more positive)
Kick two - and she fired into life! But OMG what is that racket?  Whats happened? it sounds worse than it did before the rebuild!  It must have only been seconds but I remember it feeling like an age as the bolt of cold sweat ran down my back and I panicked.  I could see another engine rebuild flash before my eyes as I desperately fumbled to try to work out how to stop the engine - in my panic I seemed to have become blind to the ignition switch.
Turns out that i'd forgotten to put the exhaust pipe and silencer back on!  What an idiot!

So on with the exhaust pipe - and a little reflection - is everything (else) properly in place?
Kick - first time start.  Sweet :-)
But OMG whats that racket?  Bloody hell there is still a clattering in the engine.  Again I felt a wave of depression go over me as I saw a vision of the engine coming out again - can I really be bothered?
It turns out that I could make the clattering stop if I pulled the clutch in - Aha, so maybe its a clutch adjustment thing.  I can fix that later - but first lets see if I can get this thing to drive.
Well yes it does drive, but its not sweet.  its difficult to get it into neutral and it stalls too easily unless you give it considerable revs and clutch slip.
Ok, so it starts and runs, but it looks like im going to be doing some fine tuning and cable adjustments - but it was time for breakfast.

As I sat having my toast and coffee (and this is the cool thing about walking away from a problem and letting your unconscious mind to incubate - I thoroughly recommend it - whenever you have a problem that needs sorting, start by doing nothing!) , it slowly occured to me - I wonder if it would be possible to get the gear-change cables crossed - so that what looks like first gear on the handle bar is actually fourth gear and visaversa - and in that instance, neutral would be at the other end of the twist.
[Vespa has a simple in principle, but potentially complicated and troublesome dual cable arrangement from the handlebar twist to the gear-changer unit on the side of the engine.]

So suitably caffined and warmed up, I went back to the scooter and tried to ride it down our road using the gear-change 'in reverse'
OMG (again) everything is as sweet as a nut!  its perfect!  clutch spot on and gear selection smooth.  And now that I knew where the real neutral was, that awful clattering had disappeared - clearly what id been trying to do was find a neutral INBETWEEN gears - and I think this is exactly what I was hearing in the video I posted a few weeks ago, before the engine rebuild.
Once again - I am a complete idiot - I had literally got my wires crossed!  and was selecting the gears in reverse.  No wonder it wouldnt pull without revs and clutch slip - I was trying to pull away in top gear!

So it was a simple case of swapping the cables over at the gear-selector end (well not quite so simple now that everything was on the engine, but certainly no more than 30 minutes)
Another test run and I am delighted :-)
Everything is as it should be (though I think i need to sort the earth out on those rear indicators)
There is still a fair puff of white smoke.  Im not sure what is acceptable.  Is this smoke from the grease and rebuild oil?  maybe its smoke from the double dose of 2 stroke oil (in the fuel mix and in the auto lube).  I hope its not burning oil from the gearbox now that Ive replace all those oil seals.
ooh and I do need to get those wheels painted!

So now what? there was only so much riding up and down our road I could do - I need to get an MOT, tax and insurance.  Its such a shame that the weather is turning now for the winter - just when I am ready to get out on the road.
Whatever happens now, I do feel relieved and pleased to have got it all to this point - its all been worth it :-)

Engine in

Up with the lark again to see if I can get the engine back into its frame before work.
Remind me to buy myself a little trolley jack - it would have made it so much easier to lift the engine the necessary 8" off the ground and into position.  As it happened, lots of blocks of wood and plenty of swearing did the trick.  Its not that its heavy to lift or that the mounting is difficult to access, but it is difficult to get access all around the engine when you are trying to hold the blimmin thing at the same time.
Of course it all went back into place easily - its only just come out afterall.
Connected up fuel and oil pipes (I really want to get the 2-stroke oil settling into the system before i start her up).
And then it was time for work - Though I was happy to leave it there.  This was a momentous occasion (arent they all?) - the engine was securely back in the frame and I can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel.... again :-/

Building the engine up

So its all a case of popping everything back together now isnt it?
Well almost.  Im trying to grab a half hour here, and hour there so you can imagine how miffed I was when it turns out that my gasket set didnt include the carb/engine case gasket.  Another lunch time trip to Gransport who assure me that it should have been in there, so gave me one anyway - Thanks Dan.
rebuilding all the bits is pretty plain sailing really - though i do often have little panics - did I tighten those nuts properly? did I remove the bit of rag stuffed in to stop dirt falling in? etc etc

One small panic is that I forgot to soak the new clutch plates in oil before reassembling.  I notice that some engine rebuild blogs and books, dont make reference to this proceedure, but some do.  I wonder if I should take the clutch out again? or will the engine oil splash his way up there nice and easily anyway?

Another little head-scratch ive had is over the timing.  The position of the stator plate that I removed is different to that suggested by Haynes manual.  Being electronic ignition there isnt any contact breakers to adjust, but you can still advance/retard the timing by the rotary position of the stator.  The picture here, shows the timing as it was when I broke the engine down (i know it runs like that, but I dont know if it was running properly).  Haynes say that the PX200E engine should have the mark on the casing aligned with the 'A' mark on the stator plate - that looks like a couple of degrees different to how it was.
So, what to do?
Well in the end I went with what Haynes says, reasoning that I was better to trust him than some previous owner who thought a pop-riveted plate over a rotted out chassis was satisfactory engineering.
We shall see what happens when I try to start her (soon I hope)


I do worry about the autolube device - I have no evidence to say it wont work properly, but it does all seem so marginal to me - its a delicate bit of mechanics, doing a finely tuned operation with a thick gunk that is just waiting for a blockage - and then it all goes catastrophic!  I decided that as I didnt know the history of the 2-stroke oil already in the tank, I would drain it and refill with fresh - I should have thought this through, but it turns out that there is more than a pint milk-bottles worth of oil in that tank, and the following morning there was probably a good half pint of oil all over my garage floor! still at least i know ive got a flushed tank now, so fingers crossed for many years of trouble free autolube. 
Tip No.1 from Dan at Gransport - always put a couple of caps of 2-stroke oil in a full tank of petrol - as a just in case.  Tip No.2 from Dan - only fill the oil tank part way up so that you dont fill the complete sight-glass - this way you can see if the oil is being consumed by a correctly working autolube mechanism.

So everything assembled, it all seems to turn over nice and smoothly and compression feels good

Case closed

A man is allowed a lunch break isnt he?
Eager to know if that crank is pressed far enough home, I wanted to get the engine halves together and sealed.
The Gransport chaps tell me that they use silicone sealant for gasket sealing their engines (or are they just making fun of me, the noo-boy?)  However I am a fan of red hermatite and so hermatite is was.
Everything went remarkably well i think (and I touch wood as i say this - I'd like to not have to split it again for a while)  Everything lining up, pressing together smoothly and pulling up tightly - I made sure to tighten the case bolts evenly and a satisfyingly small witness of red hermatite told me that the surfaces were mating nicely.

And so while we are here, why not reassemble the oil dosing gears and drive, then why not the clutch?
Again - all pretty straight forward really - not even interesting enough to take photos.

My only challenge was to work out how to translate the 24lbft torque to the castellated clutch nut tool that I had made (which doesnt have a 1/2" socket drive).  In the end i put the torque wrench in the vice and 'sensed' just how much that feels - if you are interested, 24lbft at 16" is enough to make your first finger ache.  And so with this sensation in mind I put a 16" extender tube onto the T-bar of my castellated clutch nut tool, and tightened the clutch up until my pointy finger hurt about the same as it did in my test.  Im sure McLaren would have a better method, but Im not reckoning on competing with them.
So, lunch-break over - back to work - feeling rather happy :-)

Fitting the crank. Part 2

With crank in the freezer and engine case/bearing in the boiler cupboard - I am at risk of getting in to trouble with the wife if i dont get this job done quickly.

tube and washers to pull crank against the bearing

As suggested by the chap on the scooter help link in the previous post - I made up a 'puller' consisting of a short length of tube and a bunch of washers to help pull the clutch end shaft against the bearing, and thus not stressing the engine case counter-weight flanges by belting the crankshaft home.

Eventually you have to do something - so with the engine case / bearing already up to boiler cupboard temperature, I played a calor flame directly on the bearing until too hot to touch (but not so hot that it would damage the oil seal)
A gob of grease on the mating surfaces, and a quick text from TVOR to remind me that ive got to do this quickly before the parts return to ambient temperature.  I'm feeling under pressure.
I dashed into the house to get the crank from the freezer, and before I can blink im trying to shove it into the bearing.
The scooter help chap says that with a cold crank and a hot bearing you should be able to hand press the crank home.  Bollocks.  And so i was glad that id made up his suggested puller, which seemed to do the trick - but there was a hell of a lot of pressure required - I am so glad that i didnt have to resort to hammering - i am sure the pressure needed would have damaged something.
I reckon it only took about 5 minutes to do, but it was a stressful 5 minutes and i seem to have bruised my arm in the process, but lord knows how!
Finally I made sure to slosh lots of oil around the frosty crank to save it from rusting

With crank now in place, I could pop in the christmas tree (input shaft) and the drive (output) shaft - again needing a fair degree of hammering to get home.
And that was that.  I hope.
Have I forgotten anything? i will be well fed up if i find a loose washer somewhere later.
I decided not to do anymore for the evening and be satisfied with finally getting this far...... but i did go to bed that night wondering "how do I know everything has gone home properly?" - it will be a bugger to shove the crank a little bit more now that its all cooled-down/warmed-up

fitting the crank. part 1

Oh boy Ive been fretting about this, getting the crank into its new main bearing.  The thing i am worrying about is distorting the crank as i shove it back into that very tight bearing.  Haynes talk of putting a hardwood wedge in between the counterweights.  I tried this but was still too scared to hammer heavily enough to get the crank home.
I tried warming the bearing to expand it a little, but still I darent whack hard enough to drive the crank all the way in.

And so here I am late at night looking for online solutions.  Here is a great description of how to fit a crank  http://www.scooterhelp.com/tips/engine/crank.install.lf.vespa.html
Freezing the crank as well might help a little, but I think I shall also make up a tube puller too

3am - and im tossing and turning - hope i havent damaged anything trying to fit that crank.  I dont think i was wacking too hard..... or was I?
7am - in garage inspecting crank and engine case - all looks ok.  Found some tube to make a puller spacer.  Crank in freezer.  How long does it take to freeze a crankshaft?
Lunch time - chat with Gransport - how do they do it?  Sadly the answer is 'hit it'
I am nervous

Wheel hub

The other week when I was assembling the back end in the belief that I was going to start it and ride it for the first time, I became a little suspicious of what felt like a rather soft screw thread when tightening up the wheel nuts - I turned a blind eye in my excitement to see if it would start.
However, when an engine rebuild became obvious, and I had to dissemble everything again, I took a closer inspection at those wheel hub nuts.  And im rather glad I did - they are heavily damaged.

Apparently these wheel nut studs can be fitted to the aluminium hub in one of a number of ways - pressed in, threaded in, swaged over or peened over.
It was clear that I would have to replace them so I had a go, and soon discovered that there was no-chance I was going to get those cheeky fellows out safely - even when I'd made my decision to buy a completely new hub, and hence didnt matter if I damaged the old one by drilling out to a way-oversized hole, I still couldnt get a single stud out.  How are they fixed in??

And so I was resigned to buy a brand new wheel hub - and at £35 I wasnt too disappointed - it is a rather safety critical item afterall.  I havent checked the front one in detail yet, but if its been treated like the rear one, I suspect another £35 will be in order.

And so that brings me to another budget review.  With my latest engine bits, new wheel hub, some two-stroke oil (only £10 - i didnt go for the £50 strawberry smelling 2-stroke oil), ooh And the second hand spare wheel that I recently bought on ebay for £35, I am now up to a running total of £857 (gulp!)

Christmas tree

Apparently if you are in the know, you don't call it an 'input shaft' or a 'primary shaft', you call it the 'Christmas Tree' due to its uncanny resemblance to a christmas tree (presumably one in a robot world)

As we have already seen the thread has been sheered off my original one allowing the shaft to float and things to rub.  I think ive caught it soon enough before irreversible damage.  So circlip out, and a simple wooden drift to get the shaft out of the bearing.  Here you can see the original knackered one and the new healthy one.

Im not happy with the bearing though - too rumbly and full of metal flakes so that means another trip to Gransport to spend a bit more money

Changing bits

So on with replacing bits.

First up - the clutch plates.  No problems (ive had the clutch apart before when I first got the scoot so I was cool with this)

Next up - Stripping the secondary shaft in order to replace the gear-change cruciform (aka 'spider' though im not quite sure how a 4 legged cross resembles a spider).  Without even looking at it, Dan had recommended changing this while the engine was at this level of overhaul.  And he was right, the original cruciform was quite heavily worn which can cause gear-change slips.  Apparently the cruciform is made from a relatively soft metal and is in essence sacrificial in order to protect the gears from damage

And then I sort of titted about for a while - cleaning this bit and polishing that bit.  I was avoiding the decision to change the main bearing.  Ive read all sorts of recommendations for changing this bearing, and Ive read all sorts of warnings about getting it wrong so I was a little anxious.  However in the end you simply cant tit about all day, and so I went for it..... and it was a piece of cake :-)
I didn't get to photograph this process as due to all the fretting, So, to any other PX main bearing virgins, heres what I suggest you do...

1. Get everything nice and clean and dry
2. Get a comfy, clean and clear working space, and set up some blocks of wood to hold the engine case level and solid for when it comes to bashing the bearing - I happened to have a few pieces of 2-3" dia bits of tube which I used for bracing the case to hammer against - I used these, but in retrospect I think I could have done the job without these
3. Remove the retaining circlip - this was the biggest hassle for me. My circlip pliers were up to their max on this one, but with a fair amount of persistence, i got it out without pinging it across the garage
4. With a hand held calor gas flame (the sort you use for paint stripping) i warmed the engine case around the bearing.  Just like the bloke does in the youtube video I posted earlier).  I reckon I played the flame around the area for 4 to 5 minutes trying to warm it up evenly.  I wasnt sure how hot to get it, but didnt want to over do it.  I took it to the point where the aluminum engine case was too hot to touch with bear fingers.
5.  Turn the engine case over and onto the wooden blocks you set out earlier and get ready to knock the bearing out - I used a 2" square block of hard wood as a drift.  Using a regular hammer, I knocked the bearing out - i reckon that I hammered no harder than I would knock at a front door - ie - this is not 'belting it out', or 'whacking it out' - this is 'tapping it out'
It came out without any fuss..... so why not pop the new bearing in while the casing is still hot and expanded?
6.  I cleaned the bearing housing out, and squirted a good load of engine oil around the place
7.  I DIDNT chill the new bearing like the bloke does in that youtube video, i didnt even put it in the fridge (which I had considered).  I simply offered the new bearing up, and pressed it as far as I could, then with a block of wood as a drift again I TAPPED it home - Dan had warned me of not knocking too hard as some people have been known to knock the case lugs off the back of the bearing housing
8.  Put the circlip back - and watch your eyes, as it spitted oil at me when it snapped back into place!

And that is it!  Simple!  slosh in some engine oil, tap in the oil seal - job done!
I was delighted, and celebrated by decarbing the piston, barrel and head

Buying bits for engine rebuild

top = 200cc,   below = 125cc

I took a lunch break today and went over to see the chaps at Gransport.  As requested I took a box of engine bits with me for them to have a look at and advise me.

Dan is a lovely chap.  Head to toe in oil, so clearly a hands on man, and I immediately liked his style - he was interested, knowledgeable and happy to teach me some tips and tricks.
My first surprise was when Dan simply said
   "Thats not a 125.  Thats a 200!"
And to prove it he went and fetched a 125cc piston to compare mine to.  As can be seen from the photo, mine clearly is not a 125cc engine.  Now that presents me with a bit of a predicament, because in order to ride anything larger than a 125, i have to have a full motorcycle licence.  Dan asked if my log book said it was a 125cc.  It does.
"Happy days!" says Dan.  And I take that as ...... well..... "Happy days!" ;-)


The next surprise is that Dan says my crank, bearings, piston, and rings are ok! they dont need replacing! He says the barrel, engine cases and port surfaces are "mint" and the gears look OK too.

While Ive got the engine to this level, he suggested (and I went with him on this) replacing;
- Main bearing and oil seal (this is the seal that had no alternative)
- Output shaft oil seal
- Clutch plates
- Gear selector crusiform
- Kickstart gear (that was a little worn)
- Gasket set (obviously)
- Input shaft (this is the knackered one) and nut/tab washer - he had to order that bit for me - have a guess how much?
- and while we are at it why not a good quality gearbox oil

I was worried about the worn rivets on the primary drive gear, but with the tuned ear of a Vespa expert Dan gave the assembly a good shaking - no rattling - and therefore declared it as 'mint' (apparently the shock absorbing springs inside the assembly can go, and you will know this by the rattle)

All in all then, a lovely hour of discovery with Dan, and a grand total bill of £119.
I left with some sound tips on how to remove and replace the main bearing, and a big smile on my face.  Shame that I cant do any work on this now for a whole week.

Whats the damage?

With the crank out, it was now a simple case of knocking the output shaft out and dropping the input shaft out.  I havent yet taken the gears of the shafts, but with the engine case now clear of gears and crank, I could at last inspect.  Heres what I found

1. Yup thats a split main bearing oil seal! no wonder it was burning gear oil.  I cant tell the condition of the bearing, but im going to replace it anyway.  You can see some scoring on the engine case and matching side of the crank - not sure whats caused that, and is it problem?

2. The sheared retaining thread on the input shaft is quite obvious now and the subsequent drift of the input gears has scored the engine case and damaged the rivets of the primary gear - I await to hear what Gransport think of this. I am intregued by the woodruff keyway on the input shaft - there was no matching keyway or key anywhere to be found!

I havent looked at the gear selector yet - they say this can be pretty worn sometimes, but all in all, not a major fail I dont think.

Next step, box it all up and see what the experts think

Crank shaft removal tool

I still wasnt comfortable with just whacking the crankshaft out - its not so much the distortion on the crank that worried me, but the stresses on the aluminum engine housing.
Haynes manual says;
"When removing the crankshaft from the left-hand crankcase half, it must be borne in mind that the crankshaft is a pressed up assembly and can be distorted if the ends are struck.  The official method of removal is to use a special tool. Part Number T.0038886 consisting of a thick steel plate which bolts to the three clutch over threads, with an extractor bolt at its center.  The ingenious and well equipped owner may be able to fabricate a suitable version of this tool, but failing this another method must be found"
Well, that sounded like a challenge to an ingenious and well equipped man, and within the hour, my version of the tool was in place and gently pressing the crankshaft out.  Genius :-)
The tool is now up for sale to any would-be vespa mechanics wary of the 'whack-it-out' technique - £500 ono

This is a 'budget project' - please take note.

I had to drop eldest daughter in town this morning, and it seemed like a good excuse to pop into Gransport seeings as I was passing their door.  I thought I would tap him up for some advice on how to get this crankshaft out without creating any damage.
I am warming to Gransport - my first couple of dealings with them have left me a little cold - as if I wasnt part of their special club (I guess I wasnt much of thier club when all I was buying were bits of fuel pipe and rubber grommets)  But today, they appeared to have much more time for me and my questions - maybe Ive misjudged them, and I'm glad that I was wrong because I have a suspicion Im going to be seeing a lot of them over the next couple of weeks.
I asked about the safe removal of this crankshaft from the main bearing which is still stuck in the engine casing.  Ive read many different reports on how to do it, and how to bugger it up by doing it wrong.  Gransports reply was to hit it! With 'engineering skills', hit it.  There is an indentation on the shaft and a punch lined up with this will keep it central and minimise any damage to the thread.
I asked if I could bring in my box of bits for them to assess, and they were very up for that and warned me that while the engine is open like this it is false ecconomy to not replace bits that you think you can get away with.  He went on to say "You would be better off spending your £500 now than have to keep dropping the engine out and replacing more damaged bits"
500 quid!  500 quid!!  Oh my gosh I hope its not going to come to that.
I will take him up on his offer to look over my parts once they are all out, and take advantage of his prior experience - but he has got to understand - this is a 'budget project'

One Job a Day

A retired neighbour told me the other day that you know when you are getting old when you are content with doing "one job a day" - he was talking about; going to the post-office, washing the car, phoning the doctor etc, but this made me think about this scooter.
Just recently Ive been trying to get lots of things crammed into my day and it would be very easy to simply let the scooter drop off my list of things to do - and so Ive been trying very hard to get an hour or maybe two in each day to keep progress - and the way ive been working is to have a plan for "one job a day" - i usually work out what the next step is while I am in bed each night
So bit by bit - in baby steps, I manage to keep the momentum - Even today when Ive got a lousy cold and would much rather be indoors watching black and white film with a cup of lemsip - I just know though that if i were to not press on, i would kick myself when Im well again for not keeping the pace up, even if it is just one job a day.

Splitting the engine

My Flywheel extractor tool arrived today, so after a successful morning in the office, i took a lunch break to see how it worked - it worked a treat! so why not strip a few more bits and split the engine case?

note the sheared thread on the input shaft in bottom right corner!

Im not sure if I was pleased or disappointed to NOT see anything disastrous inside, there are a few signs of wear but not terrible.  My hopes and curiosity were raised..... until I noticed that the input shaft seems to have at least an 1/8 inch of back and forth play in it, meaning the big gear (Im sure I will learn the names of these eventually) that is driven by the clutch is slopping back and forth - and there is signs of wear :-)

Turns out on closer inspection the input shaft pin has been buggered - the locking nut and thread has been smashed off! - and by the look of the sheared thread surface, its been like this for some time.  So certainly a new shaft is going to be required. Maybe new gears?? I hope not.

My next focus for problem solving is how to get that bloody crankshaft out of the clutchside bearing.  Haynes and many others say not to wack it out.... but some forums are suggesting it would work.  I might have to make up a tool to press it out against the clutch cover studs...... but then how do i get the bearing out?





I rather liked this chaps approach to bearing fitting (I wonder if it works for bearing extraction?) .....



I am sure the clutch side oil seal is gone but i cant see this until i get that bloody crankshaft out of the way.  A job for tomorrow now maybe

First sight of inside

I had to look as soon as possible.

So off with the head and barrel

 Well it doesnt look too carbonised, but I was surprised by the amount of oil that ran out of the barrel! Clearly all that gearbox oil is finding a easy route out of where its supposed to be.

The barrel doesn't seem to be too badly scored - but im not sure what a healthy piston should look like - the rings look good, but the aluminum piston itself certainly shows signs of scoring

Unfortunately I couldn't get the piston off tonight as I dont have the right circlip pliers (but ive since bought a pair off ebay - £5)  There is yards of lateral movement in the big end and small end (is that supposed to happen?), but I cant at this stage sense any bearing wear.

Im convinced the crankshaft bearings are shot (seals certainly are) as there seems to be some movement in at the flywheel - further inspection will reveal.  Ive got a £6 flywheel extractor on its way to me, but Im not sure if I should buy some bearing extractors or get Gransport to do them for me

So not being able to get the piston out or flywheel off tonight, i stripped and cleaned the carb box and oil pump (thats a jolly clever little device)

Heres a very useful site for anyone stripping a Vespa engine
http://www.vespamaintenance.com/engine/teardown/index.html

Phase 2 begins

In the garage at 7am. 
Engine out and on the bench by 8am.
In the office to start work by 8.30 am.

Phase 2 begins.
It occurs to me that regardless of how nice (or not) my welding is, how neatly ive fitted the floor runners, or how well ive chosen the colour scheme - this bike is rubbish if it cant run properly - and by properly, i mean smoothly and reliably.  I am sure i could get it to run around town as it is now, but it would be rubbish - and so Ive decided I'm going to strip the engine and overhaul it.
With the engine on my makeshift engine bench, i dont see this being a major hassle (major cost? not sure yet)

Having read through the Haynes manual chapter on engine overhaul, they suggest that big-ends and cranks need to be done by a specialist with presses and special tools, and so Ive just phoned GranSport scooters to enquire.
His first question to me was "why are you rebuilding the crankshaft and not buying a new one?"
My first thought was "this could mean one of 3 things"
1. A sign of the throw away times we live in? I cant believe that piaggio himself would have created a component to be expendable - in fact I am rather surprised that the big-end and crankshaft cant be serviced by the average Italian waiter on his way to work on the side of the road with nothing more than 3 spanners and a hammer.
2. Maybe Gransport are just a boutique, interested in only in selling chrome mirror bars and stickers.
3. Maybe he is genuinely giving me some sound advice based on his experience and simple economics.
I pressed him further to explain his first question.  He told me that his 'engineer' charges about 60 quid to do the labour of splitting the crank and pressing it back again with a new big-end bearing (that sounds reasonable - 2 hours work?) but I would also have to buy the bearing and maybe con-rod - could be about 40 quid (Im not sure why he doesnt know these prices exactly).  However a brand new crankshaft and conrod will cost about the same at £100ish.
He suggested I got the engine apart, brought the crankshaft into them to have a look at and then work out what to do from there.
So I am getting my head into gear now to spend another £100 plus another £100? for seals, gaskets, rings? etc? - lets call it another £250.  A lot of money.  But not a bank-breaker and it would at least give me a complete and reliable scooter.  I shall let that number linger in my mind, so that it wont be so painful when I have to pay it out.
My plan now is it do an hour before breakfast and an hour after tea each day - shouldn't take me too long i don't suppose

A 3 foot bike

Yup Hugh you are right, from 3 feet away, it doesnt look too bad - as long as you are either deaf or you are looking at it parked up and not running

Im rather liking the old english white now - it kind of works with the pale blue and chromey bits

Really want to get that engine out now

And then what?

Its Saturday, the sun is shining and Ive got nothing other to do until 6:00pm tonight.  Today is MY day.  My day in the garage :-)
Most bits are now fitted to the scooter, so after soldering up the wires that I had to cut in order to strip the rear side panels,  I titted around with various nothing bits until I had to face it; Im going to have to see if it starts.

Ive moaned already about the size of my garage, so I wont do it again now but suffice to say, there was no way I could even kick start the thing in the space that I'd built myself into and so I resolved to tidy the garage up.  Everything came out - including the Trike on its jig (yes! you remember the Trike? its still there and not forgotten).  I managed to throw some junk out (including the old rusted floor that I so wanted to keep for posterity until Hugh woke me up and I realised 'Why?') and at last I had some clear working space and access in and out of the front garage door - which I am going to need if Im going to use this scooter as a regular mode of transport

Again, I managed to find lots of fiddly bits to do to distract me from actually kicking it over - why was I avoiding this?  Finally however, i could delay no longer.  I checked the spark - yes, a good one, Fuel tap to "Aperto", Ignition on,  Kick - 1, 2, 3 - She Started!
I was delighted that she started so easily - all electrics seem to be ok - fantastic :-D
....... ooh hang on!....

....What the hell is all that noise? I drove it round in a circle outside the house - the clutch and gears seem to be ok (though there is still some fine cable adjustment to be done), but it sounds terrible.  A real clunking / clattering sound from the engine, and its blowing white smoke.  I remember it blowing smoke when I first started it a few months ago, but i dont remember the clattering.  I have to guess that the auto oil lubrication is working ok, but I thought I would check the gear oil (even though the noise isnt a gearbox noise).  Now, Ive never checked the gearbox oil - there was no need really until now - and I was surprised at how empty it was - 3/4 pint?
I started her up again - OMGosh - white smoke everywhere, and still clattering.
I switched off, tidied up and came in doors to write this blog.  I think this is my way of walking away from the problem to 'incubate' on it.
Clearly there is a big difference between "Starting" and "Running".  And a big difference between "Running" and "Running well"

So this is where I am at - Scooter is pretty well complete now - why Ive even fitted the mirrors and twist grips!  But it clearly isnt a runner.  My first guess is the crankshaft is, well, 'shafted'.  Im guessing the seals are gone and this is where all the gearbox oil has disappeared to - out through the exhaust in the form of thick white smoke.  And so I am starting to accept, that maybe this project isnt quite over yet - i can see an engine rebuild coming on.

Bit by Bit

An hour here and an hour there.  A moment before breakfast and a spell after supper.  Bit by bit ive been putting this scooter back together again, and all the while I keep saying to myself "I reckon if i had  full day on this I could get this finished"
I have to say, Ive rather enjoyed it like this.  As much as I want to get the thing finished, its been nice to have a gentle and regular run at it.  I imagine it must be a bit like doing a 2000 piece jigsaw on your dining room table - you want to get it done and out of the way, but it can only be done a bit at a time inbetween everything else thats going on.
Everything has been pretty straight forward really - as you would expect I guess - everything came off the bike so there is no reason why it shouldnt go back.
I decided not to check every wiring connection for continuity - this might come back to haunt me, but I just couldnt face it and really wanted to press on.

Ive fitted new floor board runners, and that was a bit of a pig.  The kit comes with some roughly bent aluminum extrusions, a length of rubber insert and a bag of odd rivets.  I couldnt work out what to do with the rivets provided, so improvised by using 3mm dia x 9mm long pop-rivets to hold the runner endcaps down, and a bunch of 2BA screws and nuts for the fixings in between.  It seems to have worked, but this is clearly not an efficient production method.

I was leaving the legshield trim to pretty much the end, as i thought this would be a simple cosmetic clip-on.  Turns out, it was a bitch of a job.  I had to resort to internet forums to see how others had done it.  There are a variety of ways but in the end i opted for 1. lashings of waxoyl to encourage the trim to slip on,  2. two bits of shaped plastic to help open the trim over the leg-shield edge,  3.  Remove the tool box.  I didnt want to do this, it feels like going backwards, but its only 4 nuts and it did give me some much needed access, and 4. work two inches at a time - this was a top tip on one of the forums - and i agree, focus on the now,  and not the flying end that is clearly out of control and wanging around all over your newly painted mudguard.

So have i fitted everything now?  my box of bits only seems to have some badges and a pair of new handle-bar grips (im leaving these till the very last moment - fitting these will feel like the launching of the Queen Mary).
..... hmm, I wonder if I tightened up all those nuts properly?

Christening the Scooter

I rather like the idea of projects having names - I like the way scooters often have their names and associated graphics airbrushed down the side or across the leg-shield.  And I like the way these names can become metaphorical themes around which magazine articles hang their whole story on.
And so Ive been wondering about the name for my own scooter.
I have been clear in my own mind that this project has not been a 'restoration' - that term tends to suggest work to bring something back to its former/original glory - and this scooter is a way off original condition.
But I have certainly breathed new life into an otherwise dead and written off machine.  And for that reason, Ive been talking about it in terms of "Resurrection" and "Resuscitation" (Ive avoided "Renovation" as that was a former project of mine)  The Jury is still out on what best fits this project.
However, another option for a name came up the other day when Hugh popped in to give some encouragement and quality check the friction of the throttle twist.  I was making excuses and generally squirming about the poor panel-beating finish of the leg-sheild (actually i dont know why i feel the need to make excuses as I am very comfortable with it - I guess I dont want people to think that this is the limit of my skill and craftmanship) - anyway he was very kind about the whole thing and called it a "3-foot bike".  I'd never heard the expression before - but it means that its a bike that looks great from 3 feet away!  I rather liked this - and so I'm wondering if i should simply call the bike "3-feet"

Is it all worth it?

Im a big fan of Google, but it does spook me out a bit when I get adverts at the top of my computer screen that speak to me directly, regardless of what I might be doing on the screen at that time.
I haven't done anything 'scooter' today, but nevertheless, a ticker tape ad across the top of my screen caught my attention;

£549 Road Scooter - www.scooter.co.uk - UK's No.1 Selling Scooter - Free Top Box & Screen - 1yrs Warranty

Blimey, I thought.  Thats a brand new scooter for at least 100 quid less than Ive spent on my rebuild!
Is it all really worth it?

Colour-ways

Hmmm,  Im not happy about the old english white that I chose for the plastic parts.  It just looks too insipid alongside the pale blue.
I think it needs something a lot more bold.
Im thinking Orange; though my family think that sounds horrid and have suggested brown - so I shall make my decision when I get to Halfords at the weekend


purple?

or maybe i should try to find the same colour as the frame (BS116C33) and make it all pale blue? 

Budget up date

Ive been keeping a running list of 'bits to buy', waiting for the last moment to actually go and actually buy them.  However, as I progress with the rebuild I find that I cant actually complete assembling any particular area fully as I'm missing a part here and a bit there.  Everything seems to be dependent on each other, and without all the bits to hand I cant make a logical or efficient progress.  For instance, Ive been dancing around finishing off the petrol tank area because I need to lay in the foot brake wiring, but I cant do that until Ive got a new return spring for the foot brake.
And so I eventually had to bite the bullet and order my list of items.
Once again I turned to the ever helpful Kevin Stannard at K and S Scooters in Derby .

1x  foot-brake spring (the one thats in the foot pedal assembly) - £1
1x  Stand spring - £3
1x  Leg shield edge trim (for sake of budget - probably not stainless) - £12
1x  Rear nearside indicator housing (not the orange lens - mine is ok - but the rest of it) - £10
1x  Vespa badge (for the front of the leg shield ) - £5 
1x  Rear bumper. - £12
1x  Pair of handle bar grips (I prefer simple black rubber ones) - £7
1x  Pair of side panel rubber trims (black) - £8
1x pair mirrors (standard handlebar mount.  chrome round?) - £50
1 x gearchange cable adjuster thread and nut - £1
All in all, with postage - £124.

So that brings my Grand total now to - £659.  Bloody hell - thats a lot more than I thought!  and a lot more than I was intending to spend.  And we have to remind ourselves here that Ive been doing this to a tight budget i.e. no frills, no replacement of parts that can be salvaged, and do all the work myself (though I guess the £320 powder coating might have reduced a little if I'd hand sprayed the frame myself?)

So much to do and so little time to do it

Im trying to pack a lot of things into my weeks at the moment, which is great but I cant stop thinking about the scooter.  And so I was up with the lark this morning to get an hour in the garage before work.
It was a dark and damp morning - not too chilly - very autumnal, and as I opened the garage door and switched the light on I was struck with how very exciting the scooter is starting to look (I guess in all my rushing I hadn't noticed it before) - Its really starting to look like it could all come together now :-)

So on with the job - Painting the horn-cast, handlebar cowl and mudguard trim - these are all plastic bits that couldn't be powder-coated so Ive bought some cellulose in a can.  This morning it was a wet and dry rub down and 2 coats of primer

And I was still in my office for 7:30am!

handle bars

I thought we were going to have a family night in with a movie - but they all decided they wanted to watch a new telly period drama.  So that seemed like a good excuse to pop out to the garage and assemble the handlebar unit.  Once again it all seemed to go together nicely (though I have no idea as to how stiff the twist grips should be - I would have thought they would be a little freer, but I have left as is - as designed - with plenty of lube), and so it seemed a logical next step to assemble to the steering column.  Here the only challenge was getting all the cables and wires threaded through neatly - I was again very pleased that I'd taken so many photos of the tear-down to help me work out the designed reorder of all the bits

Rebuilding continues

Life is busy busy busy at moment and so im not getting into the garage as much as I would like. Every time I think I have a moment clear in my diary, my wife tells me otherwise! Having said that, she is pretty cool with me and the time I do have in the garage (even allowing me a couple of hours without mentioning once that I should really be getting on with putting the patio and decking back down after last weeks sewage overflow - who is that mystery sewage-pipe blocker?)
And so progress is not as fast as I would like, but the bits that I have managed to do are keeping me excited and enthused.
I'd been pondering for a while as to the perfect order to reassemble the bits.  Clearly wires and cables needed to go in first, but what then? There are so many independencies that nothing can be installed and ticked off as finished - everything seems to need to be going together at the same time.  And so after some head-scratching and procrastination (and with an eye on the limited time I had this weekend) I simple decided to "go for it" regardless of a 'correct' proceedure.
I was rather surprised at just how quickly the front end all came together (note - I havent changed the steering column bearings) and so thought I'd attempt the engine/rear suspension unit too.  And lo and behold, that also seemed to pop in quite sweetly.  I was delighted that the two chassis sides (that I had completely re-fabricated) between which the engine frame bolts was a perfect fit and everything appears to have lined up just right.
So within a couple of hours I had the scooter standing on its own two wheels with the aid of a milk crate for balance.
I had planned to spray black 'stone-chip' paint inside the wheel arches/mudguards but (again with my new 'get-your-finger-out-and-do-something' attitude) decided to simply paint a good coat of waxoyl over the complete inside surface (the propriety waxoyl hand sprayer is bloody hopeless) - I figured that it was perfectly good enough for my needs and this 'resuscitation' project
I havent taken any photos of the rebuild thus far as its not particularly interesting, and the garage is so cramped that I can hardly move to get a picture in there.... Actually I should say, that my cramped garage has been a source of frustration today.  Kids! I thoroughly recommend you working hard at school so you can get good qualifications, so you can get a good job, so you can get a big house with a big garage space, so you can work in comfort all around your chosen project.  PS if you do get yourself a good job and a big house with a big garage, and you are the sort of person who thinks a garage is for storing cardboard boxes or your executive BMW in, then I despair.

The rebuilding begins

Ive been waiting a long time for this moment.  The moment of starting to build the scooter up again.  But I was a little worried about how I might thread the wiring loom back through the tight gap between the headstock and leg-shield without damaging the old (and brittle?) wiring - note, I haven't done any renovation of the wiring loom.  However, as it turned out it was easy peasy.  I wrapped the loom and all its flying ends in a tube of polythene shopping bag, tied it to a length of 3-core electrical cable and simply pulled it through!  So easy was it, I threaded all the new brake, clutch, gear and throttle cables too - and then I was at a bit of a loss what to do.... i hadnt planned to get that much done in such a short space of time.  Will it all be this simple?

I have also put a good spray of waxoyl down through the box section of the frame in an attempt to keep water away from the joints and seams (though I suspect I shall rarely take it out in the rain, and even if I did it would take years and years to rot through the powder coating and then the metal - but it made me feel good all the same)

I am very pleased to have taken the dozens of photos of the strip down - to help me work out which cable threads through which hole with which grommet

Painted but not disguised

I finally got round to taking the bubble wrap off the frame (I still haven't even looked at all the ancillary bits yet) and I must say I am very pleased with it.  I love the colour (which incidentally is BS16C33 Blue), and it looks clean and solid.
My welding is there, warts and all, for the world to to see - but I'm not beating myself up over it.
I should have spent more time flatting the bumps and dinks - but, again,  Im not beating myself up over it.
I reckon if I go fast enough, not one will ever notice ;-)

This frame looks like its got a history, a story to tell.  A few scars and a couple of rough edges, its got character.  Its a rough diamond.

Im loving it more and more :-)

Powder coating

Ive been purposely holding back from writing my next blog post because i was afraid that I might have said something i would regret.  I'd been getting a bit pissed off with the powder coaters - Redditch Shot Blasting.  But before I go on - I am over that now and am now delighted with Redditch Shot Blasting :-)
Remember that I had tried to get the painting done way back in July but they couldnt get it done before I went away on holiday, so on my return I got it into them as soon as I could where I was told it would probably take about 10 days.  10 days turned into 2 weeks.  Then it was going to be Friday, then Next tuesday etc etc.  In the end it took 3 weeks to turn around - time in which I could have finished the rebuild.
It wasnt so much the time it was taking (though I was desperate to get it back) but more the messing with my expectations and logistical arrangements.
The Job cost £270 +VAT and I was a little taken aback at what initially felt like a lot of money to me, especially as it was taking so long to get done!
On reflection - I think I had been unfair to the chaps.  When I did finally get to collect it from them, they had done a marvelous job.  Everything had been thoroughly masked and plugged and some of the pitted areas they had actually layed 3 coats of powder on to buildup the surface.  I am guessing that cost of materials aside, there is probably quite a lot of labour in getting these bits coated.
The only trouble now was - I had only just enough time to get the bits home and in the garage before I had to turn round and dash away for 5 days leaving all those lovely painted bits behind me still wrapped and tantalizingly close to starting the rebuild

Rusty Italian Scooters

2 fiat 500s, an Ape, a Dyane and a Renault 12?

I read a fascinating article in a magazine recently that talked about the reputation of Italian vehicles of a decade or so ago being total “rust-buckets”.  In the late ’70’s / early ’80’s - when I was buying my first car, i was advised to steer well away from any Fiat as they would invariably be riddled with rust - so I bought a 1967 Renault 4 for £60..... which was itself riddled with rust! but thats a story for another time.
Anyway, this article;  Apparently, at the end of the cold war, Russia had very difficult trading restrictions forced upon them, and one consequence of this was that there was some sharp dealing going on between countries and Italy did a ‘great deal’ on a shed load of steel.  Everyone was happy.
Turns out that this cheap steel - thousands of tons of it, tens of thousands of cars, hundreds of thousands of scooters? (millions of washing machines?????) - had a nickel content that was just perfect for cultivating rust!
And so for the sake of a good deal, Italy suffered decades of reputation of poor quality vehicles.
As I think back on the rust I chopped out of my own scooter I wonder now if it is made from  imported Russian steel

Piaggio Museum

Back into italy.  yes we are doing a lot of back and forward. 
As a reward for a long days drive (Croatia, through Slovinia, and across italy from east to west) I was allowed to stop off at the Piaggio museum (just outside the port town of Lovorno) It is a lovely little museum that is predominantly Vespa related, but does also have examples of the earlier Piaggio machines including an aeroplane, a train carriage, and a pair of cable car cabins!
Ive read a little bit about all the variants of Piaggio scooters, but to see them all in one room was both impressive and suffocating - i shudder at the thought of being the stores-man in the Piaggio factory - it must have driven him nuts with so many changes and unique model bits.
Naturally most of the exhibits are the older and so rarer machines - I only saw one PX - and I have to say that they did whet my appetite for perhaps an older more curvey vespa :-)
I was keen to buy a souvenir from the little museum shop - just to show that i’d been there - but i really think that they were over-egging the privilage of being THE piaggio museum by charging those sorts of prices for a t-shirt, and so I shall have to make do with the cheap vespa t-shirt that I bought at a market in Croatia

European helmets

We’ve been traveling around Europe a bit this holiday and spent a week in Rovinj in Croatia (lovely place.  Thoroughly recommend it)  Once again, the place is heaving with modern scooters (with a sprinkling of PXs and interestingly a generous helping of Renault 4s in remarkably good condition!)  However, what makes these scooter riders seem cooler than Ive noticed elsewhere is that they nearly all wear those tiny ‘skid-lid’ type helmets (you know the sort that look no more substantial than a tortoise shell).
I was quite excited by these helmets, particularly as you seem to be able to buy them just about anywhere - clothes shops, supermarkets, souvenir boutiques.  Despite the fact that these sorts of helmets are illegal in the UK, i thought that perhaps it might look cool to have one just hanging from the helmet hook on my own scooter, and so I went to look at some in a road-side market stall.  The stall-holder was very helpful;
Him:  “very good quality”
Me: “Yes they are great”
Him: “I do you a good deal.  Normally 250 kunas” (thats about £30)
Me:  “Thanks, but they are illegal in the UK”
Him: “For you, 200 Kunas” (23 quid)
Me:  “Thats great but we cant use them in the UK.  It is against the law”
Him:  “Yes, its the same everywhere in Europe”
Me: “Oh really?  All Europe?
Him:  “Oh yes.  Here in Croatia too!”
How cool is that - they just refuse to comply with the law and seem to get away with it!
Mind you, I really couldnt bear to even think about what it might feel like to come off a bike with nothing more than one of those and a bikini to protect you!