These could be things like getting thrown in jail for speeding or having your scooter or bike stolen I guess. Or having a dead scooter that is entirely the result of your actions. I raise my hand and accept responsibility for what has become “Dead Scooter in the Sticks”. So I apologize to all of you who visit here looking for writing about riding through the sticks or seeing pictures of the Vespa in whatever landscape I happen to be in. Believe me – I miss it too.
I received the diagnosis from Casey at Kisselmotorsports yesterday concerning the starting problem I had. It appears I was barking up the wrong tree and what’s worse I caused the problem. When I replaced the drive belt I misaligned a washer when I reassembled the variator assembly and that allowed for enough play on the drive shaft to have the driven half pulley wobble itself and the splines on the drive shaft in oblivion. You can see how the center is smooth instead of being splined. And the evident grinding as it worked its way off the shaft and into the transmission cover. Don’t ask me how I didn’t hear this happening.
The adventure continues as I consider my non-riding adventure options:
1. Have the crankshaft replaced along with the other pieces and gaskets necessary. This is a complicated job and will run $1200 -$1500. That’s around half the value of the scooter. Think about the value of your car and spending half of that to repair it. Sounds like a total loss with no insurance.
2. Abandon repair, part out the scooter on eBay or other places and hope I have enough money to buy another scooter.
3. See if I can make a trade-in deal with the Vespa dealer since their cost to repair the scooter will be considerably less than what they would charge me perhaps I can recover some value towards a new machine.
4. Find and install a “new” engine from a scooter that has been in some collision or other unfortunate mishap.
Right now I am pursuing option 4. Time and patience will reveal the feasibility of this course.
Again, sorry you can’t be reading about a fine ride through the winter landscape. It was snowing last night and I would have loved to ride through the snowflakes. The current situation is another adventure though. It’s the sort of thing that I used to rail against. Today I am better able to see it as just something that happens. No amount of railing will change it so I’ll move on to the next thing I can do.
I still have ideas for things to post. I have a riding video in production from last summer that I never finished. Stay tuned.
wow. that isn’t a very great way to start off the new year. : / I vote that you should try to fix your current scooter somehow. I think it would be sad to sell it for a new one.
Steve — Sooooo sorry to hear the price tag on the Vespa repairs. Nothing like trying to do something right and actually making things worse. (On a much, much smaller scale, I once decided to finally put all of my clothes away — every last sweater or pair of slacks that was scattered all over the bedroom — and when I put the last sweater on the top shelf of the closet, the whole closet assembly collapsed and all of the clothes ended up in a big messy heap.) Anyway, if I were in your shoes I might be half-tempted to turn lemons into lemonade and shop for a shiny new Vespa. I’ll be interested to hear what you end up deciding.
Sorry to read of your misfortune. However, it may be a good learning experience, and could lead to bigger and better things.
John
Good luck Steve.
Really sorry to hear about this. REALLY, really sorry you are having to sit a chunk of the winter out, I was quite looking forward to reading your winter scooting meditations.
Hope you are back on the road soon.
Good for you Steve! I think with all the people on board with this blog you could write your next one about finding leads to used engines and parts. A huge advantage you have is the already established Leader 150 engine carried over from the ET4 to our LX’s. Should make what you need a little easier to locate. And what better time to begin the new adventure than during a weather trend when the season is about to deal us its first legitimate blast of cold and wind.
The first time you fix a bike yourself and everything turns out right, well you appreciate the ride that much more. It takes time to learn to “wrench” haha. Its all in the details. But confidence grows and you start to develop a new relationship to that thing… in the garage.
I am very much looking forward to your future posts about the steps of learning to fix one’s own machine. At the very least people who will read here are going to have a better understanding of what’s under the seat and cowls. You know something else? I would love to see the smiles on your face as things begin to come together in the long run. Call me Once you begin the hunt for parts. I’ll do what I can to help.
Harv aka The Roadbum
Steve, this is the reason that I come here almost every day. Your reservoir of cool in the face of adversity is astounding.
I don’t even want to think about what my reaction would be in similar circumstances. Gotta watch that blood pressure…
This will work itself out. You have correctly identified your options, and I agree with your choice on the information I have.
How close are you to GTS money? ;^)
Write well,
=gc=
I could see something like this happeniing to me too. If you HAVE to make lemonade from lemons, can you at least make BETTER lemonade? That is more or less like the 6 Million Dollar man, CAN you make it better, stronger, faster, for only $6,000,000? Or transplant a “big block” engine equivalent into the vespa?
If you can perform a heart transplant, AND make it better (whatever “better” MEANS to you), I’d say do the transplant. If it will not satisfy you after it’s all done, maybe you need to reconsider?
Hannah: I’m leaning towards repairing it somehow. It’s the somehow that’s the challenge.
tina: The dollar figure attached to the shiny new scooter just doesn’t make sense at the moment. This Vespa is like a faithful dog, can’t give up on it without a fight.
combatscoot: I’m counting on unexpected scenery on this trip!
punkelf: I’ll have to figure out some otherway to reflect and meditate this winter. Stay tuned.
harv: Despite messing up the engine a bit (ha!) I am not turned off to the idea of trying to wrench it back to life myself. The repair cost is high enough that I figure what the heck, couldn’t be any worse off than I am now right? I’ll let you know how things are going.
gary: I had to stick a pin in myself to see if I was really alive . I didn’t really react much beyond the dark moment of dread that swept over me when I realized the gravity of the situation. But that passed quickly.
The GTS is too far off, on paper anyways. Seems like a total uninsured write off of the scooter. I can get the parts for about 500 bucks. I can get a new GTS for 4100 with a trade. $500 doesn’t sound so bad. Now if I could only rebuild this in the living room….
I think if it were me, I’d lean on the repair side if it were possible. I tend to think of bikes more as old friends than inanimate machines though. Would the Lone Ranger trade Silver in for another horse if he had a broken leg.
On the other hand, practicality has to come into play somewhere, and if some good can come out of it, there’s no reason not to make the best of a bad situation.
Wow. Just… wow. That is incredibly depressing.
I’m sure you’ll be able to find the part you’re looking for, though. I bet if you ask your wife really, really nicely she’ll let you work on it in the living room.
The magic words are “If you let me, I’ll stop twitching.”
Best of luck with part-hunting.
Steve,
I have a motor!
Friends keep allerting me to your site, but I rarely have the time to surf. It’s a great site, and sorry to hear about the motor (it was this post that a friend allerted me to. Learn from the mistakes of others…). Anyway, I have an ET4 150cc motor here with I think 14,000 kms (8400 mi), I can verify that, but it runs and has been dealer maintained (by me). Email info@vespahalifax.com
Trevor Benesch
Bummer! Look on the bright side. At least it didn’t happen on the first warm days in May. You have the winter months to work out the problem. Looks like you have a good start and have mapped out several options. Now — WWPD? (What would Pirsig do?)
Steve–I’ve been waiting a few days to visit your site again, hoping to read good news. Sad to find out what happened. At least it made me feel even better about my decision to get a Stella with its manual transmission! But that’s not Schadenfreude, just personal reassurance.
Sure look forward to hearing what you decide. Pretty neat you got an offer of an engine from Trevor Benesch. Maybe that’s just the ticket.
Can’t wait to hear what you do. And really can’t wait to hear more riding adventures (after the promised cold blast that’s coming!)
It felt so good to get out on my scooter here in Michigan today, knowing it might be a little difficult next week.
Best wishes.
Sorry to read about your troubles. When you suggested that you might shop for a replacement engine, I was skeptical of availability. Then I see today you have an offer of an engine! Wow! You seem to get so much from riding that “enjoyment” simply is too faint a word. Get your ride back soonest. Riding is such good medicine.
Steve,
Sorry to hear about the engine. Good luck with the lead on the engine. At least it’s winter.
What’s a cowboy without a horse? A guy that’s going to do whatever it takes to get back in the saddle.
Good luck.
Bill