Six Cylinders Motoring Notes - a Workshop Day Today

[Slowsilver]

The problem is the battery is under the rear bodywork and not easily accessible so I set the dream team on it, yes Mrs6C and Slowsilver took it apart for me to reveal the battery.

 

Dream team???

More like your worst nightmare!

 

 

 

Now my dream team have left me and I still have a bolt to drill out to get the handle off!

 

Are you sure you didn't just wake up?

[SiC]

Just had a thought! The leads that attach to the jump pack have a block attached to it. That block contains diodes and are very important to the safety of the jump pack. If you don't have it, the alternator will try pushing power back into the jump pack. This can/will lead to the LiPo overcharging.

 

Over charging LiPo is very bad and is liable to make them explode violently.

[Slowsilver]

Very good point. Hadn't thought of that.

For ordinary charging a direct connection will probably be OK as any protection is usually built into the charger.

But for the jump pack it maybe needs a lead making up that the existing croc ciips can be clipped to, to ensure that whatever protection is in the in-line block is still in circuit.

Or cut the existing cables between the block and the croc clips and fit another plug and socket of the same type to both halves so that you can plug in either the croc clips or the lead to the fixed socket but still keep the protection block in circuit.

[SiC]

From China, so will take a couple of weeks however it's cheap.

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F201560194421

 

Or

 

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F321902025251

[Six-cylinder]

From China, so will take a couple of weeks however it's cheap.

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F201560194421

 

Or

 

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F321902025251

 

Why is the box on the red cable and my power bank has it on the black lead?

[SiC]

Why is the box on the red cable and my power bank has it on the black lead?

Shouldn't matter. If on the other lead the diode will be just connected the other way around. The important thing is that it's there.

[Six-cylinder]

I have been working on the Stag this morning and the brakes are back together with a new drum. It starts easily, runs well, moves about freely and stops. The paint looks shiny in the photos but there is micro blister so that will need sorting in time. I don't think it would need too much for an MOT, there are rust holes in the cross member under the radiator and passenger front footwell that need patching. The brakes still need going through and apart from freeing off the front brakes we have not done anything with them.

 

I have too many projects and my friend I own it with has a back problem so we have decided to sell it as a running project. I am going to advertise it at £3995 and shiters discount will be available. The car is in Buckingham and inspection is highly recommended as I am selling this as a project car. Remember the car has not been used for 10 years so I would not just book an MOT and drive it.

[mat_the_cat]

Of all the cars I have Red Raspberry is the one catching my eye at the moment!

 

I remember back in 2002, I had just finished University and had been offered a job in Cheltenham, so I drove down there one incredibly rainy evening in my Stellar, with the plan to stay over at my mate's in Bristol and go house hunting the following day.

 

Things didn't go entirely to plan.

 

(Although they did involve a T reg pink Skoda Felicia...)

 

Driving down the M5 near Worcester, I hit a patch of standing water. Before I could say "aquaplaning" the deluge of water soaked my distributor and the engine cut out. Fortunately it cut back in again once we were through the flood, but the unburnt fuel which had been sucked into the engine and was now sitting in the exhaust, ignited with a violent BANG!

 

This split the front silencer along the full length, causing some considerable loss of refinement. I pulled onto the hard shoulder and phoned the RAC, thinking that somehow the patrolman would be able to magically effect a repair. No, they said, but I could get recovered to a depot and have a loan car for my onward journey.

 

So I sat back and waited, the rain still hammering down. At one point I popped out onto the embankment for a pee, but when I got back in I half wished I'd just sat and pissed myself - I'd have been equally wet from the waist down, but at least it would have been warm!

 

Anyway, at the depot was a 3 year old Skoda in Raspberry Red. At this time by far the newest thing I had ever driven, so I was willing to forget the lack of image. I arrived at my mates in Bristol, unloaded my bag and then promptly locked the keys in the car! It was surprisingly easy to break in using a coathanger between the window glass and rubber, to pull the lock knob up.

 

So...to get to the point of the story. My boss to be had suggested I pop in before house viewings, so they could advise on which areas to look at and which to avoid. He later remarked that he'd started to wonder what kind of person they'd employed, who would choose a pink car!

 

So it would seem that even at 3 years old, they were still a shade of pink!

[Ghosty]

With a name like Raspberry I’m really not surprised!

[Six-cylinder]

After all the bad press Yodel have had I was impressed that everything went to plan. I ordered the scooter battery at 3.50pm yesterday and at 10am this morning it arrived from Abergele, North Wales.

[Mrs6C]

After all the bad press Yodel have had I was impressed that everything went to plan. I ordered the scooter battery at 3.50pm yesterday and at 10am this morning it arrived from Abergele, North Wales.

Excellent! Slowsilver and I will let you put it all back together, then!

[Six-cylinder]

Excellent! Slowsilver and I will let you put it all back together, then!

 

I have the wire, but I am still waiting for the EC5 connectors and jump clips with protector module to complete the job.

[Six-cylinder]

Excellent! Slowsilver and I will let you put it all back together, then!

 

If Slowsilver and yourself are not available I may have to ask this electrician to do the work as she seems well qualified!

[Mrs6C]

If Slowsilver and yourself are not available I may have to ask this electrician to do the work as she seems well qualified!

I hope you didn't do a Google search for her while you were at work!

[They_all_do_that_sir]

For my bike I have a small solar panel I bought on eBay wired directly into the battery using the aforementioned tamiya connectors.

 

Even on winters days it pumps out more than enough to maintain the charge. Obviously it needs to be properly charged to begin with

 

Sent from my SM-A510F using Tapatalk

[Six-cylinder]

After Work!

 

I have fitted the new battery and have lights including dash and horn but starter does not turn.

 

To start with is this the correct button, do you have to hold the brake or anything for it to start?

 

I can only see the two main wires to connect to the battery is there any I have missed?

[Slowsilver]

If Slowsilver and yourself are not available I may have to ask this electrician to do the work as she seems well qualified!

 

If she is employed for this task I would be willing to act as electrician's mate, subject to a close examination of her qualifications.

[Slowsilver]

Probably a silly question, but does it have a sprung start position on the ignition key, like a car.

Of course you would have tried that, wouldn't you?

Can't decipher the button graphic from the photo but it could be for the horn, in which case that probably isn't working either!.

Is it an automatic clutch and/or transmission?

If so there will probably be some sort of inhibitor to prevent it from being started unless either the front or rear brake is on.

 

[Six-cylinder]

The horn is on the left and works. 

 

Ok another go reveals that it is the left hand lever that has to be pulled and now the starter turns.

 

The left hand lever pulls a long way in what does it do?

 

I do feel thick now is it two stroke or four stroke? If two stroke where is the oil tank?

 

Remember I only bought it because it looked so pretty!

[Six-cylinder]

Ok reading the internet it says it is 4 stroke, where do I check the engine oil level?

[Slowsilver]

Guessing that it is a manual clutch in which case you can only start it with the clutch disenaged, which would make sense.

I think most motorcycley stuff these days is four stroke. If it has a sump with a dipstick it's four stroke, if it has an oil tank it is two stroke, if it has neither you either mix oil with the petrol or there is something horribly amiss with it.

Check out the other controls. Would guess right-hand lever is front brake, foot pedal is rear brake, but what do I know.

Suggest you check all these out BEFORE you road test it.

Maybe google the make and model number for an owner's manual. Or would that be too optimistic.

[richardmorris]

If Slowsilver and yourself are not available I may have to ask this electrician to do the work as she seems well qualified!

Are those shoes rubber soled?

[Dave_Q]

This is an auto scooter, the left hand lever is the rear brake (probably a cable operated drum) the right hand lever is the front brake.

 

It is normally either/or brake that needs to be held to operate the starter.

 

Twisty right grip to go, both levers to stop. 

 

I *think* these have the piaggio LEADER engine, in which case the oil is checked on the left hand side of the combined engine transmission case, the small black cap in this picture. 

 

[Six-cylinder]

It is an auto and the left hand lever operates the rear brake by cable, but not very much!

 

I have read it is 4 stroke so I have just added petrol and after some churning it started and runs smoothly.

 

I still can't see the dip stick to check the oil?

 

I can't find instructions or workshop manual for it. It is a 2003 Aprilia Habana 125 also know as a Mojito 125 if you fancy a try.

[Slowsilver]

Are those shoes rubber soled?

 

Don't need to be.

Nylon is a good insulator.

Why else would she be wearing those stockings.

Surely not purely for tittilation purposes.

She is qualified after all.

[Six-cylinder]

This is an auto scooter, the left hand lever is the rear brake (probably a cable operated drum) the right hand lever is the front brake.

 

It is normally either/or brake that needs to be held to operate the starter.

 

Twisty right grip to go, both levers to stop. 

 

I *think* these have the piaggio LEADER engine, in which case the oil is checked on the left hand side of the combined engine transmission case, the small black cap in this picture. 

 

Vespa ET8 LEADER Engine.jpg

 

I think Strangeangle said it was the early type and maybe pre leader. Trouble is I was to busy looking at Stranangels bikes to pay attention to the job in hand of learning about the scooter I had just bought.

[Slowsilver]

If the left hand lever was a manual clutch and pulled in a long way, that is as expected.

If it is the rear brake and pulls in a long way, it sounds like some adjustment may be required to facilitate optimum stoppage.

[Six-cylinder]

This is an auto scooter, the left hand lever is the rear brake (probably a cable operated drum) the right hand lever is the front brake.

 

It is normally either/or brake that needs to be held to operate the starter.

 

Twisty right grip to go, both levers to stop. 

 

I *think* these have the piaggio LEADER engine, in which case the oil is checked on the left hand side of the combined engine transmission case, the small black cap in this picture. 

 

Vespa ET8 LEADER Engine.jpg

 

Thanks, another visit to the garage and we are moving forward, yes oil level in the same position.

[Dave_Q]

Workshop manual:

 

http://www.motorscooterguide.net/Manuals/Aprilia_Mojito50-150_Service_Manual.pdf

 

Owners manual:

 

59f0e83432e95.pdf

[Slowsilver]

Is this the one?

See page 3-15 for oil level checking.

 

Aprilia_Mojito50-150_Service_Manual.pdf