Austin Marathon 2010

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Piston Cylinder Removal

This was an excellent day where I was able to take apart my scooter and look at the piston for concerns of damage. It ended up that the issue was the engine case itself. This video just shows the steps to get the Piston off of the bike so it could be inspected.

It was a fun time and it was a true learning experience

New Tool Set and Tool Chest

Until now my tools have comprised of an SAE socket set given to me by my father about 18 years ago and various other metric sockets and ratchets that I purchased at Harbor Freight. The Craftsman tool set is still as good as the day it was when purchased. However every time I use the Harbor freight tools I have noticed the sockets bending and cracking. So for my Bday which is coming up I have decided to buy myself some proper tools.

I just bought these 3 items at Sears:
1. 5 Drawer Quiet Glide Roll Away: 8,434 cu. in. of storage. All drawers are 22-3/8W x 16-1/2D in. Includes four 4-1/2 in. x 1-1/2 in. casters; exclusive I-frame® construction, internal locking system with two keys, full-width aluminum drawer pulls.

2. 6 Drawer Quiet Glide Chest: Chest with red baked enamel shell and full-extension drawers with Quiet Glide™ slides. Top row features three split drawers. The chest also features an internal locking system with two reversible over-molded keys, full-width aluminum drawer pulls, recessed aluminum side handles, and one cover support. 26in. W x 12in. D x 15-3/8in. H

3. 260 pc Mechanic Tool Set with Lift Top Lid Chest: Craftsman set features 149 sockets in 1/4, 3/8, & 1/2 in. drive sizes, 3 Quick release ratchets and 4 extensions. Includes 10 standard combination wrenches and 10 metric combination wrenches. 20 combination ignition wrenches in metric and standard sizes and 64 additional tools. Comes with durable 3-drawer lift top lid plastic chest for easy storage, organization and portability.


For items 1 and 2 above I had to choose from 3 types of Sears tool storage cabinets:
1. Homeowner Edition: base model
2. Quiet Glide: Same size as base model but has enamel coating on rails and thicker gauge steel.
3. Ball Bearing: Same size as base model but has ball bearings on rails and thicker gauge steel.

I chose Item 2 because it was a closeout model and I was able to get both pieces for what I felt was a reasonable $229.

For item 3 I had to choose from many many tools. However I limited my search to tool sets between 250 and 300. They had one 290 tool set for $349 and the one I bought for $199. This was a no brainer since the $199 tool set came with a tool chest. The tool chest has 3 pullout organizing drawers to hold all of the sockets. This will inevitably go into my bigger tool storage container and I don't have to spend extra money on organizers.

Oh yeah and I also bought a mechanic seat on Craigslist for $10.
The next item on my list is a hydraulic motorcycle lift.
I will then begin to properly do some work on my scooter.

My 1969 Vespa Super 150

This is my 1969 Vespa Super 150. I have owned it for one year and I have enjoyed riding it just as much as I have enjoyed fixing up little things here and there. Owning this scooter led me to enroll in Motorcycle Repair classes so I could really understand what I was doing when it came to regular maintenance and major and minor repairs.

Over the next few months I will be taking on different maintenance and repair tasks on this scooter. I will provide video and written instructions on the proper way to maintain this scooter. Hopefully these videos will be useful to those of you who have your own scooter and are ready to turn into a grease monkey.