Well Easter was mainly spent eating and drinking far too much, as compensation for not being at the Lambretta Jamboree perhaps, but I did manage to fit in a few hours in the garage. With the engine in it's time to fit the rear wheel. Thought I'd try the Scoot RS tubeless that came with this scooter when I bought it. That way I'll have the AFR ones for the GP, when it eventually goes back on the road. Nope; the Scoot RS one is oversize and won't go fully onto the Casa hub! I now remember that I did have to hammer it off the LI hub as well?! Not sure how carrying a spare on this scooter was ever supposed to work...Anyway, the AFR tubeless is a perfect fit (as tested earlier).
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Next it's time to connect the rear brake. A simple job mayhaps? Well kind of. The scoot has one of those new fangled cables fitted, with a threaded end. Definitely an improvement but I did have to move the lever one notch on the cam. Fortunately this could be done without having to remove the hub, shoes, etc...However, the brake binds slightly with the cable not quite returning. Investigation shows that the pedal return spring is missing, so the one off the GP is stolen and used!
 |  No longer floppy. |  Stolen Spring! |
New gear cables are next, and then check to see that all five gears can be selected. All is sweet, with the new fifth being just a little beyond the old fourth position.
Then a new clutch cable. All routine but time consuming stuff...
 |  Took me far too long to buy a clutch lever tool... |
Jetting next. A complete guess based upon the jetting used by Kev Brooks for a similar set-up, the jets I have available and some googling. Kev doesn't run an air filter, so this is a pretty safe starting point. In fact it'll be as rich as Branson.
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Carb on. I'm intending to run a Casa filter but it's not going to fit under the panels at the moment. I bodge up an old foam filter for now because I'm hoping that once I have offset cones I'll be able to find room for the Casa one...It's looking tight though 🤔
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More mundane stuff. Replace the Indian drain plug with an Italian magnetic one, fill up with oil, clean and fit the bleeder, plug in the wires from the BGM stator (same colours as the old one - nice) and run the CHT wire up ready to go on the handlebars...
Exhaust time! This scoot had an old school Taffspeed Mark 3 exhaust fitted but it is porked. Only been on the scoot for twenty plus years. I dunno. I've got a JL3, which is basically a Taffspeed Mark 3 copy. Taffspeed got their exhausts made by JL at some point and then didn't, and then the JL range of pipes came out...can't remember the full story but think of it as a nineties small-scale version of Scomadi v Royal Alloy...Anyway, the original Taffspeed pipes were always noticeably quieter. Looking at the mufflers it's pretty obvious why.
Being a middle-aged bugger, with easy-going neighbours that I don't want to annoy needlessly, I'm pretty keen to fit the Taffy muffler to the JL3. The first job is to repack it. Not too hard a job, although for some weird reason the circlip on at the end of the muffler has been welded on?! Nothing a bit of persuasion with a hammer and drift can't sort out.
The JL pipe lost an argument with the tight and twisty track at the Broadford Bike Bonanza in Victoria on a rather different (and fantastic) Easter weekend five years ago, so it gets a quick touch-up with cheap exhaust paint...
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And on it goes, well except for the muffler which needs a bit of head scratching. Well that's it for today. This bastard thing will start next time. Honest.
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