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Post by lordverminaard on May 2, 2023 10:01:12 GMT -5
Hello all! Been quite a year already, my last update I was job hunting, thankfully got a new job in December, then promptly got Covid the first week, kicked my whole family's ass, started getting strange heart symptoms afterward too so seeing specialists and such, so far looks like nothing serious but just another damn thing to deal with. Bit the bullet and got my garage organized a bit better, found a local place that sells used pallet racking, with delivery, so got a set for my garage. Barely fits but adds a ton of storage:  All the stuff on the shelves was originally just in piles on the floor of my garage:   And since then, I sold the Honda Elite and another motorcycle as well which cleared up even more space. But anyway, some of you may remember I work on scooters and motorcycles on the side, a couple years ago a neighbor brought a Bajaj Chetak for me to work on, and I told her if she ever felt like selling it, let me know. Well, she contacted me the other day, said she hardly ever rides it, and she is moving and doesn't want to bring it with her, so she offered it to me for $500.... I said yes absolutely! Now it's MINE!  It's a 2006, 150cc 4T, 4-speed manual... only has 2500 miles on it. She bought it brand new in 2006. I brought it home and the battery is totally dead, (wouldn't even register on the charger) but I pulled the choke and kicked it over and it started pretty easily. Plan is to do some maintenance, get a new battery, and ride it! Tires are even decent. Future plan? I have read that a Vespa PX or Sprint or Rally200 engine (maybe even a 2T Stella?) will swap fairly easily with only minor modifications, (the Chetak is a Piaggio licensed design based off of the Vespa Sprint chassis, only it has thicker sheet metal and more rugged construction, and a slightly different, more heavy duty front suspension) So someday I'll find and build a 2T to swap in it someday. But it's been so long since I have had a bike just to ride to local gatherings and events, I'm just gonna do that for a while and enjoy it. It has 9 HP and about 9 ft-lbs of torque, combined with a true manual transmission, it's not as slow as one would think but no street ripper either. The weather has been utter SHIT for... well months, but it should be improving soon and I'll be able to put some miles on this thing. So my updates to this thread might be pretty boring for a while, lol. |
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Post by John Kiniston on May 2, 2023 12:39:59 GMT -5
Personally I’d pick up a Stella or P-Series if I wanted a 2T shifty, that Chetak looks beautiful and I wouldn’t want to separate it’s running engine from chassis.
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Post by aeroxbud on May 2, 2023 14:56:06 GMT -5
Nice purchase for that price. 👍
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Post by lordverminaard on May 2, 2023 16:55:57 GMT -5
Personally I’d pick up a Stella or P-Series if I wanted a 2T shifty, that Chetak looks beautiful and I wouldn’t want to separate it’s running engine from chassis. That was always my plan, however the prices on them are insane around here. I haven't seen a Stella for less than $2500 in a year or more, $3500 or more for a PX. I have seen a few without titles but even then they are still around $2k, which is way more than I wanna spend. Another consideration is that engine parts for the Bajaj are not easy to come by so eventually keeping the stock engine going might be a problem. |
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Post by pete130 on May 3, 2023 1:13:45 GMT -5
Hello all! Been quite a year already, my last update I was job hunting, thankfully got a new job in December, then promptly got Covid the first week, kicked my whole family's ass, started getting strange heart symptoms afterward too so seeing specialists and such, so far looks like nothing serious but just another damn thing to deal with. Bit the bullet and got my garage organized a bit better, found a local place that sells used pallet racking, with delivery, so got a set for my garage. Barely fits but adds a ton of storage: All the stuff on the shelves was originally just in piles on the floor of my garage: And since then, I sold the Honda Elite and another motorcycle as well which cleared up even more space. But anyway, some of you may remember I work on scooters and motorcycles on the side, a couple years ago a neighbor brought a Bajaj Chetak for me to work on, and I told her if she ever felt like selling it, let me know. Well, she contacted me the other day, said she hardly ever rides it, and she is moving and doesn't want to bring it with her, so she offered it to me for $500.... I said yes absolutely! Now it's MINE! It's a 2006, 150cc 4T, 4-speed manual... only has 2500 miles on it. She bought it brand new in 2006. I brought it home and the battery is totally dead, (wouldn't even register on the charger) but I pulled the choke and kicked it over and it started pretty easily. Plan is to do some maintenance, get a new battery, and ride it! Tires are even decent. Future plan? I have read that a Vespa PX or Sprint or Rally200 engine (maybe even a 2T Stella?) will swap fairly easily with only minor modifications, (the Chetak is a Piaggio licensed design based off of the Vespa Sprint chassis, only it has thicker sheet metal and more rugged construction, and a slightly different, more heavy duty front suspension) So someday I'll find and build a 2T to swap in it someday. But it's been so long since I have had a bike just to ride to local gatherings and events, I'm just gonna do that for a while and enjoy it. It has 9 HP and about 9 ft-lbs of torque, combined with a true manual transmission, it's not as slow as one would think but no street ripper either. The weather has been utter SHIT for... well months, but it should be improving soon and I'll be able to put some miles on this thing. So my updates to this thread might be pretty boring for a while, lol. Go the 2t Stella, But im a 2t man lol |
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Post by lordverminaard on May 6, 2023 9:36:15 GMT -5
Minor update, gave it a bath, an oil change, new battery, and a new plug and a bit of carb tuning and ripped it around the block a few times, all good! Starts in one kick and runs like a champ.  Gotta do the dreaded visit to the BMV for title and registration, which around here takes an entire day usually. That will be next week. I was also provided the original seat and I think I am going to swap out this saddle seat, it looks cool but I don't like the riding position with it, you can't really move around on the seat and I feel like I am sitting up too high. I am not sure how this one is attached but I am sure I can figure it out. Musing about future plans. I'd like some modern 2-piece aluminum tubeless wheels eventually, and it will need more power and perhaps some different gearing too, and maybe keep it 4-stroke but use the LML 150 or import a LML 200 engine, Polini also makes cylinder kits for those engines too. It looks like they would fit, externally they look exactly the same as the Bajaj engine. Which means that maybe the Polini kit fits the Bajaj engine too? I have no idea. Again, none of that is pressing right now, I am trying to get my Scirocco thrown together and that is taking all of my time and money at the moment, lol. |
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Post by John Kiniston on May 6, 2023 11:03:32 GMT -5
The Bajaj and LML designs are different internally, I don’t think anything bolts up.
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Post by lordverminaard on May 18, 2023 12:36:51 GMT -5
Minor update! Actually, it was a lot of farting around and ordering parts- part of the problem, is that which this scooter it's "kinda" a Vespa, but kinda not. So trying to figure out what will fit or not without having a Vespa sitting here to look at has been a challenge. I was originally going to put the stock seat back on, but the front bracket was missing and the previous owner couldn't find it, and of course it's different than a PX front bracket (I ordered one to test and it came with an adapter plate and PX style "spike") and ordering a whole Bajaj seat (there were none anywhere I could find during this time) was impossible. The PX seat rear "spike" will fit in a threaded hole that held the original Bajaj rear seat latch and is very close to the stock location of a PX, a PX front seat hinge will bolt to the Bajaj body, (but the part that bolts to the seat won't fit on the Bajaj seat) so I said screw it, and ordered a fancy seat from SIP. I modified the bracket I had purchased earlier to reposition the spike, it's not perfect but I ordered a new PX spike (which is longer than the one I got) and I will clearance the hinge bracket on the SIP a tad and it should all fit perfectly after that. But right now it's usable and looks really good!  Next up, grips. I had replaced the grips when the previous owner had me fix it up a few years ago, but it was a bit of a bodge since the bars are both 22mm unlike most twist throttle vehicles, and they are also usually a shorter length than a "standard" motorcycle or atv grip. I didn't really like most of the grips made for a Vespa/Stella, I have used ODI "Vans" grips in the past and they are amazing, so I wanted to make them work on this. I came up with a clever solution and designed and 3D printed some inserts in flexible TPU for the stock bars to make the length work with most aftermarket grips. Made a set for 125mm grips and 135mm MTB-style grips that are both 22mm I.D. so you don't have to purchase two sets of Motorcycle grips.    So far so good, and I really like how they look! Today I also removed the front rack, I hate chrome, lol. I like the cleaner look, especially with the smaller seat and grab bars removed, and will probably also remove the crash bars too. If I know I'm gonna need to haul something, I can stick the rack back on in about 5 minutes. A lot of people complain about the Bajaj horncast and say it's ugly and swap out a PX horncast, but I think it's a nice feature of the scooter and for now I'm gonna keep it.   Also did a little "sticker tuning" because why not, also they cover up some blemishes.  Next up is adjusting the shift cables, I keep missing 2nd, lol. Thinking about retrofitting the aluminum trim and rubber beading on the floorboards like the PX/Stella has since the kits are very cheap. Enjoying this thing a lot! |
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Post by aeroxbud on May 18, 2023 14:52:20 GMT -5
All these little jobs just make it your scooter. Worth doing.👍
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Post by lordverminaard on May 26, 2023 10:30:23 GMT -5
Another boring update, lol. The PX seat spike came, but it was a different thread than the other smaller one I had and didn't fit the Bajaj frame. It was also too "pointy" and bottomed out in the SIP seat socket and wouldn't allow the latch to close.  WTF. Guessing it wasn't an original PX spike? Whatever, time to make it fit, I'm not ordering any more stupid little parts for scooter seats! lol. Here is the temporary solution I had with the other spike and bracket.  Fired up the ol' portable hand lathe, (drill) and cut off the threaded portion, carefully drilled a new hole and tapped it to M8x1.25, which happens to be the same as a VW exhaust stud, of which I had plenty laying around and was the right fit.   Also used the same "hand lathe" to trim down the spike and make it fit in the seat receptacle. Finally that part works as it should:  Next order of business, the rubber bumpers on the seat frame were not contacting the body in the middle. The rear ones were fine now that I had a properly fitting seat latch. The PX and Stella tanks have a hump in the middle that these bumpers are supposed to seat on. I fired up the 3D printer yet again and made a set of spacers out of TPU that get the job done.   And finally, removed more chrome. I like how the bike looks without any of the accessories or the spare tire holder on the back. Also removed the silly plastic wheel covers. I designed and printed a front wheel centercap so the bare wheel nut and cotter pin isn't visible. And painted the headlight bezel black to match the trim around the legshield.  So now, the seat is rock solid and it looks great too. I brought it to a local Euro Bike night, and I was only one of two scooters there but it got a lot more attention than I expected it to. Next job, I picked up a Vespa Corsa spare wheel mount/battery tray assembly to see if I can make it fit under the left cowl of the Bajaj. I might loose some of my storage compartment space on the left cowl but as big as the glove box is, not a big deal. But right now I'm just gonna ride it as much as I can, there are lots of bike night events going on right now in Columbus. I also verified that top speed is right around 55 mph without a tuck. Seems gearing limited, as the engine produces a lot of low end torque but not a lot up high. Until next time! |
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Post by lordverminaard on Jul 19, 2023 13:40:01 GMT -5
Minor update, nothing too special. I've been riding the crap out of it, attending the various bike meets and such every week. It always seems to get a lot of attention, and many questions asked as well! Pretty cool! I did get new tires, but didn't bother taking any pictures as it only took 10 minutes per wheel, (split wheels are great for that) and while I wanted to wait and get a set of the nice Pinasco tubeless split wheels but as easy as it is to change the tires I can get them another time, they are a bit pricey after all. I went with Pirelli Angel Scooter tires and they seem pretty great so far, compared to the stock nylogrip tires that are almost 20 years old at this point! I ordered a PZ26 carburetor and I will attempt to replace the stock Keihin pb20, I don't know if it will work and there aren't a lot of people swapping carburetors but the PB20 is absolutely tiny even for a lazy 150cc and the throttle response is really abrupt especially in lower gears. Just holding the PZ26 in my hand, it is very similarly shaped and should only require a minimum of adaptation. And finally I did a few more cosmetic updates, ordered a side stripe decal kit for a PX, fits "close enough" for now, if it bothers me too much I will reach out to a vinyl guy and get proper ones fitted but it looks pretty good for me. I also added the PX front mudguard crest which was pretty simple, requiring some holes drilled and a couple quick 3d printed bushings and a couple screws.   I also want to start looking in to building an exhaust for this, the stock muffler is like 10 feet of tiny pipe coiled in a spiral with a giant suitcase muffler stuck in the middle of it, might not increase performance but it will drop some weight! More on that at another time. Until next time! |
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Post by lordverminaard on Aug 23, 2023 14:21:45 GMT -5
Time for an update! Actually some exciting things going on! I have been riding this thing all over Columbus, and it's just a blast every time. On days when I don't have some sort of bike night or get together planned, I've been scheming and measuring and 3d printing stuff. I got my PZ26 carburetor, and faced with the first issue, the flange that bolts to the manifold is different. The Bajaj carburetor has the holes centered with the bore of the flange, the PZ26 is offset. Took measurements and printed off a quick adapter which converts from offset to centered, and allows re-use of the sealing o-ring from the factory Bajaj spacer.   That works! Used it as a template to clearance the factory Bajaj manifold for the increased diameter which took all of 5 minutes with a Dremel.  This first iteration wasn't %100 correct fitment wise, so I did a V2 and ended up with this:   This was printed in PETG, which is good enough for me to bolt it up and tune the carburetor, but probably not good enough for daily riding. I guesstimated that since the carburetor is about %30 bigger than the stock one, I used pilot and main jets about %30 bigger than the stock Bajaj jetting, (thankfully the PZ carburetor uses the same jetting standard as a PWK, which is measured the same as the Bajaj PB carburetor so that was easy) It was a little too rich, but I also noticed the stock bowl gasket leaking on the PZ, (the gasket it came with didn't fit?  ) so I put a step smaller jet in the pilot and main and ordered a new gasket. While I waited for that, I decided to find a way to make my adapter out of something more robust. I have ordered the remaining parts to upgrade my 3d printer to make it capable of carbon-fiber nylon, but I didn't want to wait and sent my adapter file to Xometry to have it printed in glass-reinforced nylon, also using a SLS print process as well, it only cost $20.00 shipped and I was eager to get my paws on it when it arrived:  How cool is that! This is very strong and plenty heat and fuel resistant to run all day every day. So with all parts in hand, all I need is time to install and do a final tune. That will be in the next one. Also, just to brag a little with something non-scooter related, I designed and printed some carburetor to EFI-throttle body adapters for my old KZ750 twin project, I used throttles from a Ninja 650 and designed adapters allow them to bolt on to the KZ750 head. The pictures below are just the prototypes in PLA, I will take a stab at printing these out of CF-Nylon but if that doesn't work I will have them printed by Xometry as well. This is the reason I got into 3D printing, so satisfying to be able to make my own stuff.      Until next time! |
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Post by aeroxbud on Aug 23, 2023 14:45:51 GMT -5
Nice work. Those 3D printer parts can really help in a build.
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Post by oldgeek on Aug 23, 2023 18:21:07 GMT -5
Very nice work! What modeling package do you use?
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Post by rollingbender on Aug 24, 2023 0:07:58 GMT -5
Awesome work on the 3D printing. I have used mine extensively making prototype parts in the guitar world. Really should take a page out of your playbook and apply this to some ideas I have for the improvement of “scooterdom”.
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) so I put a step smaller jet in the pilot and main and ordered a new gasket.
