Category: Vespa Bravo 1986

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Vespa Malossi Clutch

Just a quick warning, don’t buy the Malossi clutch for the Piaggio/Vespa engine. All the materials are very soft, there was nearly nothing left after only a few rides. Look at these pictures:

 

I used softer blue polini springs, which reduce the wear even more than the stiff black springs that it’s shipped with. Luckily i was close to home and not on a long touring ride.

The last pictures are of my new Newfren clutch that i lightened, works great so far.

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Moped USB charging

When i’m riding long trips with my phone for navigation, i drain the battery pretty fast. On my Kreidler i have a 12V 80W system, more than enough power to charge my phone. But most of my other mopeds can only provide 6V and 17-18W. I’ve found a solution to charge a USB device that is ready to buy and mount. It’s a german made bicycle dynamo adapter, the model number is M172N and it’s made by a company called Kemo.

It’s rated at 0,8A charging current and it’s able to take an input voltage of 6-70VAC.

I have it mounted on my Vespa Bravo at the moment and it works great. You obviously need to turn the lights of to charge. The stock ignition only makes 18W and i have a 15W and 4W bulb connected.

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Polini Evolution Engine

I got another engine for my Piaggio mopeds, a Polini Evolution engine. I have no plan for it yet, but since i got it for a good price, i bought it for future projects.

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I could only find an italian manual, so i used google translate to make it understandable. I only gave it a quick cleanup, so expect a few weird sentences 🙂

Download the english manual here:

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Polini Speed Engine

Next Vespa Bravo upgrade, a Polini Speed Engine. A very nice engine case with enlarged intake and bored to accept 46 mm cylinder kits. Nothing you can’t achieve on a stock engine case, but i got it for a good price from my friend Nikolaj.

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I bought a special intake manifold from Italy, made for a 15-16 mm SHA instead of the normal Piaggio SHA 13 mm carburetor.

I mounted the engine with a used original crankshaft, new bearings and seals. The intake opens 130° before TDC and closes again 51° after TDC, giving me a total duration of 181°. Good for many of the cylinders that are out there.

The setup will be:

  • 46 mm Polini cylinder kit
  • Dellorto SHA 16 mm carburettor – changed to 13 mm
  • Proma Circuit exhaust – changed to Sito
  • Polini variomatic – changed to non-variated

Stay tuned for future updates!

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Last update, the Bravo is done for now, onboard video:

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Vespa Bravo 1986

I thought i didn’t need more mopeds for now, but then a old friend messaged me. He had this Vespa Bravo that he couldn’t get done. Everything was disassembled, engine and everything. The price was ok and included delivery, so i felt it was my duty to save this (once) fine Moped.

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My first plan was to assemble everything as is, but the paintjob is just terrible . Everything is sprayed over, it needs a new paintjob.

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The engine got a quick cleanup, new bearings and seals. The crankshaft was a bit abused, i’m giving it a chance. I’m running a original cylinder, the inlet timing and restriction are modified a bit. Just enough to pull a grown man, no racing engine… yet!

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More information is found in the image descriptions, i will update the galleries with additional pictures when i get more work done.