A lot has been going on since Christmas. My family was out of town for over a week and I really didn't think that much about the Vespa while we were gone. Upon returning, I tried to do as much work on it as possible to get it running before I start back to work. I start back tomorrow. Unfortunately, the Vespa is not running. My New Year resolution is to get the thing running before 2007!

Here is a list of all that I have done since I got the bike in September.

I have replaced:

- leg shield trim
- wiring harness
- all bulbs (with an upgrade to a car grade bulb in the head lamp)
- fuel tap in the fuel tank
- all gaskets and grommets
- gear cables

I have also:

- rebuilt the engine
- machined the piston pinion hole in the crankshaft
- painted the engine red :-)
- removed and improved the steering column

Things I have planned to do:

- replace the current stator system
- have a "quick release" frame designed for the sidecar

The scooter actually got started and I was able to drive it - but it would not run consistently. I chronicled some of the problems I was having in earlier posts. It was such a frustrating grimlin! I was about to put Heebie up for sale on ebay!

However, as it is with many of those types of things, you stumbled across the solution - at least what I think is the solution...

The problem was that the engine would flatline when it reached a certain rpm. I checked for air leaks, looked for fuel constrictions, had the carb rebuilt, checked the timing and who knows what else. Sometimes it seemed that things I did helped and then at other times the problem came back.

Then on Saturday, I was about to give up. Finally, I just could not get it to start period. No matter how I tried. So, I checked for spark. Nothing. Hmmmmm, now how could that have happened? So, I traced the wiring back from the spark and found that there was a break in the circuit in the condenser.

Then I remembered when I first got the scooter and we were trying to get it to run. I had pulled on the sparkplug cable on the condenser end. I didn't realize that it was one piece. The cable came out abruptly. I then pressed it back in and things seemed to work okay.

Now I realize that I had broken the sparkplug cable and I was just lucky that it was making any contact. Depending on the connection as the wire would be moved or jostled, I would run okay or not at all. I believe that the flatlining was due to the face that the cable was not connected well enough to handle the current when the rpms reached a certain point.

I am now waiting for a new electrical system from scooterworks. Because of some problems I had with the stator (a story for another day) and my unfamiliarity with the regulator currently on the bike, I think it would be best just to go ahead and make the change.

We'll see what the new year holds!