Vespa head-scratcher

A pile of parts showed up this week from Treats. Enough to get some bikes back on the road. I decided to start with a non-runner: the Ciao. I pulled the engine apart to clean out all the bits of needle bearing left in there from the seize. Installed a new crank bearing since more metal found there way into it.

I put everything back together, went to install a brand new needle bearing that was in said pile o' Treats, and it didn't fit. Huh? I have a 10mm crank, and this was a 10mm bearing, but it was about a millimeter too wide to fit. Well, enough had gone wrong in the garage up to that point that I was done for the night.

I came back fresh the next morning, did some work space cleaning, and organizing, and lo and behold, found the proper size bearing in a box of parts. Here are the two, side by side.

On the left is the bearing that fits in my Top crank. On the right is the Malossi replacement. The Malossi is a perfect fit for a 10mm DMP Vespa crank I had laying around, but is the wrong size for the odd-ball Top crank I have. The left one is a 10x13x14, the right one is a 10x14x13. Wrist pin fits in both.

More comparisons.

I dug around the Treats and 1977 websites, and my crank looks slightly different than the other Top cranks being sold. This is the second Vespa Top crank I've run in the past four years and they have both been the same style. Anyone encountered this?

It's been sunny in Seattle for days now, which reminds me that I wanted to make a post about rain-riding. I don't particularly enjoy riding in the rain, but I don't hate it either. Along with good rain gear, and warm clothing, I always keep these two items nearby: Rain-X and anti-fogger.

Rain-X works amazingly well on a face shield. The rain beads up nicely so you can still see, and if you turn your head to the left or right while riding, the rain slides right off. I re-apply about once a week during the rainy season(s).

Anti-fogger is just as awesome. Face shields fogging up on cold, rainy nights sucks. Again, I re-apply about once a week. I like stuff that keeps me from dying on a moped.