Carburettor, stubborn fuel hose & some electrical...

The investigation continues. First off today was to have a look at the cylinder for leakages.

Cylinder cowling was removed, got some issues with the old, hard petrol tube, but managed to get it off in one piece.

Cylinder head was removed without any problems, visible oil stains around.

Same with cylinder. Some petrol was used to clean surfaces.

Cylinder walls feel OK. Due to the state of the cylinder, I did not feel it was neccessary to remove the cylinder completely.

The tank was removed for access to the petrol hose, which turned out to be tampered with. Previous owner obviously used what he had inhouse to fix the scooter. The old hose going to the carburettor was very stiff and was squeezed between the chassis and the cylinder cowling. Hose was removed completely, will be replaced with new.

When removing the carburettor, the complete inlet housing felt wobbly. And bingo: the screw for fastening the hosing to the motor wasn't tight. This could definetely cause the oil leakage, but can it also be the reason the scooter fails on high revs?

When removing the housing completely it is pretty apparent where the leakages have come from. (Screw attached for reference)

Thick layer of oily gravel on the carb housing, only one thing to do: Degrease & clean.

Surfaces after cleaning, now I need new gaskets.

The carb was splitted as well and given a clean in a petrol bath.

BE3 venturi and 118 jet. Bog standard.

Well, I need to order some gaskets before I get on with the mechanical side. As the gaskets need renewal and the carb is out anyway, I might as well do the gaskets on the carb too.

Electrical investigation continues. Headlamp connectors seem original, apart from the yellow fix.

According to the el schematics found on Scooterhelp the ignition lock should feature 8 different connectors. Mine only has 4. But as far as I can tell, the cabling has not been tampered with.

Which leaves me to suspect the panel to be tampered with. The part looks new, but I am not sure whether it has been replaced. I need the bike running for investigating further on this.

Good night.

Carburettor and ignition check.

Time for carburettor check and ignition check. First off, spark plug.

Brown and dry, good. Here's a link to spark plug visual inspection.

0.4mm spark gap, probably OK.

Opening the carb housing revealed a pretty clean SI 24/24 carb. 

I pretty much suspect that the carb setup is 100% original. I found the spec for original jetting on Scooterlounge, and also pictures of the SI24/24 on SIP Scootershop.  

Air jet 160. Standard. (Below this the venturi and main jet sits, did not take these out). 

Idle jet (slow running jet) says 50. Standard.

The only suspect thing I could find was a hardened rubber petrol hose. The hose was jammed between the chassis and the cylinder cowling, making it impossible to take off the cowling. The petrol hose will be replaced when the new tank is in place. 

As far as leakage goes, the carb housing, on the back side, there is a hole with a rubber plug. Beneath the rubber plug is a screw for adjusting mixture. Seems the leakage causing at least part of the motor sweating comes from here, perhaps from a flooded carb. This brings us back to the home made new crane installed on the tank, which again possibly means that the floater device / floater needle is defect. Very common problem. I'll keep an eye open. I might just need to clean and open the carb.

As far as ignition and cables, I've just done a visual inspection of the connectors. 

Cabling seems original, and untampered with luckily. I was a bit suspicious with the connection box mounted on the engine, as it seems like cables should pass out on both sides. 

Turns out the cables go down into stator instead. 

OK, no surprises. But still no cure for the full throttle issue. Next on list to check: Cylinder and exhaust. 

Investigation continues...

After installing a new garage door opener which hopefully provides safer parking for my Vespas, I had some time to inspect the Rally further. First off: Speedometer.

First surprise: The speedo doesn't work. I'd seen it dance around, but obviously that was only because of the road bumps. Second surprise: When taking the speedo out from the headset to check the speedometer cable, I notice the damaged chrome rim, hidden under red tape (not on picture) The speed has been tampered with - severly. Severly, as in beyond repair. Beyond repair, like in FUBAR. Look it up.

Although the speedometer cable did turn around, I wasn't too impressed with the quick fix at the front wheel. Think it's safe to say I need to order both cable and a new speedo. 

Well, at least I know the speedo was damaged at 14000km. Question remains however: How many kms has it run afterwards... 

I've ordered a new tank already, but haven't ordered a new lid. On second thought; I might as well change the lid as well, the air vents to the tank through the lid seemed pretty rusted. 

The signal horn was also tested, and did provide some summing with a 6V DC supply. The rubber seal under the horn was missing, and I notice the size of the horn is larger than on the SS. New horns have been ordered just to be on the safe side. I suspect that the cabling has been tampered with, all lights function but I am unable to turn off front lights completely... When pressing the horn the lights go out. El schematics and color coding to be checked. 

The front wheel looks OK, unsure whether it has been resprayed or not. 

Brakes seem ok.

Motor hasn't sweated any more after the cleaning, so I might be lucky here.

Yesterdays test spin (a bit longer this time): The scooter is quick and responsive up to 80% RPM, after that it looses power totally, and backfires. Carburettor or ignition problem? I've probably have to check both.

Leakage investigation continues

After a couple of days with winter (again...), with slippery roads & snowy conditions, the road outside my house was perceived as safe enough for a little test spin.

No new oil stains were observed after the first cleaning, very promising. So the Rally was taken outside, and started as usual on the first kick.

Now, this bike is completely different from my SS; The choke has to be used for a longer period. On the SS, I use the choke for start, and then afterwards, I can run without choke. Here, the choke has to stay out for several minutes, and when I turn off the choke, the scooter will very soon die. Might need to something with the carburettor - later.

But back to the test drive: The scooter SMOKES a great deal on full throttle. An hour after testdrive I took these pictures:

The stain is petrol.

...and from the looks of it is comes from either between the cylinder/cylinder head or from the cylinder/exhaust port.

If I'm lucky, renewing the cylinder gaskets should cure the problem. Seems I don't have to split the casings afterall!

Rough engine cleaning

I've spent a good couple of hours in the garage today, trying to "find" the Rally motor. It's hidden somewhere under a thick layer of dirt, oil & sand.

Removed the spare tire, and found these...

Absolutely no idea what this is...

Or this... Best guess is voltage regulator and turn signal relay...

Over to motor side, the walls and engine was completely covered in thick dirt...

First suspect of the oily debris is possibly a leakyexhaust...

When studying the underneath there is a suspicius stain on the gear selector box, which could explain the stain of new oil a couple of days ago.

Both engine casings are stamped with "231", matching pair, seems to have never been split. The engine number was found, it is a VSE1M motor.

No sign of leakage through brake drum.

Unfortuneately the weather outside was freezing and extremely slippery, so I couldn't take it for a spin. Tomorrow: Check for fresh oilstains.

Initial startup

Back in Stavanger, I've enjoyed a first date with the new lady. She fires up willingly, and with some adjustments the engine feels very quick and responsive. Some WD40 loosened up the handlebars, and although my 180SS is pretty similar, this scooter feels much more "german" in its handling; Tight and firm. The brakes just need some minor adjustments.

On the other side, I have noticed some incontinence, she leaves oil stains. 

The Cuppini bars have been removed together with the bolt on mirrors, and the horrible turn signals.

The suspect tank is infact very suspect; for some reason it seems like the original top of the tank has been welded to the bottom of another tank, uncertain why. 

And the reason why the tank valve didn't respond as supposed (providing reserve, close, open) is quite obvious when lifting the tank; a household valve has been used to repair the tank valve. This will have to be fixed, new tank needs to be sourced.

The battery is infact working, but I will most likely change it due to age, just to be on the certain side. On the electric side, the turnsignals didn't work, but most of the other lights seems to work, but rather poorly. The horn was non-responsive, but this could be due to lack of power on battery?

The Femsatronic 200 Rally engine, as you can observe there is quite some oil spill from the engine, further investigations will have to be made. I changed the oil  and installed new seals on both oil screws, but a fair amount of oil was on the floor the next day. 

I might need to split the engine earlier than I thought... 

1975 Vespa 200 Rally Electronic acquired from Stockholm!

The search for a 200 Rally has ended, this specimen has been collected in person from Stockholm.

I drove Stavanger-Oslo (580km), 1 hour pause, and then Oslo - Stockholm (540km) to pick up this lady:

1975 model, 14000kms on the speedo, been out of service since 2000. 

Very straigth body, little rust, notice Cuppini bars, mirrors, turnsignals...

Side panels fairly straight, an original...

Patina...

But overall condition: Extremely good considering age!

Some suspect work done on the tank, the tank has been welded on top.

And the engine has a fair amount of oily debris attached, to be investigated... 

Picture taken on return to Oslo, where the weekend was spent at my sisters. 

Couldn't resist trying ot start her even in -12 degrees C, to the kid's joy. 

Back in Stavanger the Rally has been stuffed into my rather chaotic garage... 

As far as I understand, Vespas were only manufactured in one color?