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.

For all my dirt bike ninjas

The best thing about Xbox Live is the indie game section. There are some really fun and innovative games out there, and they all cost a buck. The other day I was perusing the new releases, and happened upon a game called Toy Stunt Bike. After one demo play through I was hooked and plunked down my four quarters to own it. It's super addictive gameplay. Think Toy Story meets Excite Bike. The game is gorgeous, and makes me wish I could get a helmet and Evel Knievel costume for my avatar. Now if only there was a moped skin for your stunt bike...

And that was going to be it for the post. I had no intentions of talking about mopeds this week. Which, apparently angered the moped gods. Here's my punishment.

Two weeks ago, leading a Moped Monday ride, we shot down a big hill toward the end of the ride. Somehow I didn't feel the bike seize, but at the next stoplight, the Ciao sputtered out. I thought I was just out of gas. I flipped to reserve, and started the bike again. Only to die a couple of blocks later. I ended up pushing it to the bar we were meeting at.

I had no reason to suspect a seize, so several times over the next ten or so days I tinkered with it, obviously to no avail. Eventually, I nailed it down to a compression issue. I dropping the engine to check for a blown head gasket or blown seal, finding nothing wrong. Bolted everything back on. Bike still wouldn't start. The only thing I hadn't checked was the cylinder and piston.

As you can see the needle bearing failed. Taking the cylinder and piston with it, and leaving bits of metal throughout my case. That's two kits ruined in two weeks (don't ask about the metrakit).

Big pile of fail. Treats will be seeing a big order from me when I get paid.

A week in review

Not really much to report for the week. I finished Fallout: New Vegas last night. I put about fifty hours into the game. About half the time I spent on my first play through on the previous, Fallout 3. There's an unfathomable amount of side jobs and quests in the game, and I spent the majority of my time playing through quite a few of those. Overall, I really enjoyed the game. I think Fallout 3 was a better ride, but this one didn't disappoint either. I miss the vast subway systems and epic views from the crumbling highways of '3, but this one offered a wider variety of options for game play. The ability to align with different factions throughout the game was far more interesting and satisfying than the very black and white morality of the karma system in the Fallout 3. The ending didn't disappoint either. I won't give away any spoilers, but the ending (which I get the feeling is different for every play though) really showcases how vast the game is. You interact with a hell of a lot of people and groups throughout the game, and they all have their own story going on. It's nicely tied up at the end. It's also got Matthew Perry and Wayne Newton, two of the most unlikely people to do voice acting for a post-apocalyptic video game, and that counts for something in my book.

As I was pulling the Puch out of the garage this morning, I realized that it had been almost a week since I had ridden a moped. Ouch. I can't remember the last time I went that long. Snow at the beginning of last week put the kibosh on Moped Monday, the following two days I drove the car to work, and during the four-day weekend, I didn't really go anywhere that didn't involve the grocery store, or going places with Steph.

The other night I discovered the varied nuances of Vespa gears. I have three different transmission main gears and all of them are the wrong size for the rest of my gears. What the hell? I had no idea. Isaac has a set of gears that he pulled from his Bravo. I'm going to try those and see if they line up properly. If not, I suppose I'll be switching over to the race gears.

The Hobbit continues to move along slowly, but surely. Digging through my crate o' Hobbit, I was able to assemble a starting clutch set up, most of the rear pulley, and a variator that is soaking in carb cleaner as we speak. Once I notch it, it should be ready to go on the bike. I need to take some time this evening before Moped Monday and cut a squish band into the head. I spent a little time last night chamfering the ports on the Athena with a file while I watched The Walking Dead. I still need to gap the piston ring, and widen the exhaust port a half millimeter on each side. By the end of the week I should have a full-operational death star engine.