Vespatude - A Vespa Blog: Discouragement

Here you can see the rear end of the wasp. It seems to have stung me quite a few times here lately. This evening was no exception. If I'm not able to get out there soon and ride the thing, I am going to start thinking about the classifieds!

So, why did Heebie have his rearend in the air? Well, I noticed that the clutch handle was closing too freely and that the clutch was simply not engaging. I hiked up the rear of the bike and detached the shock. This allowed the engine to drop enough for me to get the rear wheel off and remove the clutch cover. This is what I found:

I'm still dealing with gear problems. I can adjust it enough to get the bike into all four gears. However, fourth gear is still giving me problems. As I am crusing in fourth, the bike begins to lurch as though it is dropping out of gear. I have driven with the cable connector cover off and I can see the selector jerking back and forth. I can't seem to adjust the cables enough to hold it.

My fear is that it is the cruciform. Does anyone out there have some advice on this one? Does this sound like something that happens because of the cable adjustments or does it sound like something in the gears themselves.

If only I had the cash right now to just get a new engine. That will be awhile. Oh, well, maybe I need to take some time off and back away from it.