Really save on gas

A while back my friend and fellow Chetak owner, Dave Cicco, told me about these guys in Asia that were mounting lawnmower engines onto their bicycles.
I looked into it for the fun of it and found out that you can buy these kits for a standard bicycle for well under $1,000.  Seems like the perfect vehicle for college students living in a college town, like my college experience at Humboldt State University.

I love the miles per gallon I get on my Bajaj Chetak, but without a doubt something with a small displacement like this would give even more bang for the buck at the pump.
I was quite intrigued when I finally saw one these bike with a engine kit mounted to it and made sure to take a lot of pictures so you guys could check it out too.  Though it's nothing to do with Bajaj, it's pretty damn interesting.

Photos taken from the Nihonmachi Festival in Japantown (San Francisco) 2008.

San Francisco commuter

My wife commuted to work in San Francisco on her scooter (or mine pictured here). She felt pretty darn safe scooting in SF and was very happy with the convenience of it, especially with parking. Without a doubt, in a city it's best to ride a utilitarian bike or a beater, because others will not care for your baby. For my and wife and me, our Chetaks are our utilitarian vehicles. Our other scoots are for "special occasions".

Scooter Camping Stove

Note: The stove top fits over the fuel/burner section and is the size of a large soup can in your scooter. You can see how it slips over the top of itself.
Unless your a hardcore backpacker, you probably don't have a hardcore backpack stove and you probably don't want to shell out the cash for a super high-end one, but you should enough to get one that will last and also runs on multiple fuels -- even the gas from your scooter. My dad owns the stove picture above. It's a "Optimus SVEA 1-2-3". He is a backpacker and his college buddy who backpacks with him bought the same stove back in 1970 and the stove still works perfectly and the design has changed very little. It's a solid little stove. You can buy it for under $80 brand new and under $50 used.
If you want to live the high life while camping, you can also buy an espresso maker, like this one pictured above.

In my scooter camping slideshows you will see that I have a different stove and espresso maker. My maker is cheaper and less hardy. You can buy mine fore a few bucks at Ross or Marshalls. My stove is more complicated than my dads and costs me about $70, but I also had to buy a fuel tank to use with and it takes up more space; therefore I recommend the Optius SVEA 1-2-3. If you have a Coleman Outlet store or similar you may luck out -- I once saw a similar stove to the Optimus for $20 refurbished there and picked it up for a friend. That was a bargain.

Moving your scooter with your house

I'm a huge fan of Penske trucks when I make a move and I used one each time my family and I moved from coast to coast. On our move back West we rented a 26 ft truck (largest available) and a trailer for a car. We had to put all of our belongings in the truck, including three fully assembled scooters and my Lambretta in boxes. We had to leave a lot behind, some of value, but the scoots were priority. While I felt safer having the scooters in a covered truck for the 2,800 mile drive my big concern was the fact that there are NO tie down straps in these trucks. You are not allowed to change the truck in any way without it co$ting you.
Above, we're unloading the scooters in San Francisco. My original thought was to use three skids and strap the scooters to them and then strap them in place, but my father-in-law had a far superior idea.
He suggested that we buy a star wrench (like an allen wrench) and remove the screws from the floor and replace them with eye hooks, washers, a lock washer, and a nut -- all of which is a hair smaller than the threaded hole in the frame of the truck. It was so easy.

My father-in-law also built rear wheel chucks out of the scrap 2x4s from Home Depot. The idea being that there would be no forward/side movement of the rear end. We strapped down the scooters using Canyon Dancers around all three handle bars (my preferred method). This method worked very well.

Being anal, I kept the cowls and glove box of the SS180 wrapped up the cab of the truck with me for added safety.

This truck was the Vespa's home for nearly a week. Sadly, I forgot the camera to take a picture of the scooter our 10x25 ft storage unit as that was her temporary home for a few months.

Congrats to the blog . . . over 26,000 visits in one years ten months.

Scooter locks for Bajaj, Stella, Vespa Ps

When you live in an urban area there isn't much you can do to fully prevent your scoot from being stolen. All you can do is make it such a pain in the butt for the thief that he passes it up and moves on to the next scoot.

I have seen people rely on their steering column locks. I have also see guys, at shops, that are 5'2 wheel barrow the scooter by lifting the front tire and rolling it into their garage when in neutral, because the owner forgot to leave his/her keys.

P-Series (Vespa, Stella, Bajaj) style scooters weigh approximately 250 lbs. With a pick-up truck and another guy in an alley you could quickly wheel barrow the scoot into the shadows and then the two of you could pick the bike up into the back of the pick-up. Will that ever happen? Probably not, but it could. And for under $150 you could probably avoid that.

A good lock for the P-Series scoot is made by On Guard called the "Beast" 5017LPT (costs $98).  It is pictured above.  You run the hammer arm between the front shock and fork.  As the bike rolls forward or backwards the chain will wrap around the wheel and lock it up -- unless of course you are lucky enough to lock it to something.  It fits the Bajaj like a glove when installed the way it is in the photos below (any other way it won't fit) and I am $1400 theft guarantee the Beast offered for scooters. I also tested the 5' Kyrptonite New York Fahgettaboudit (costs $150, but only offers $1000 for theft for scooters) in the hopes that it was long enough to wrap around the legshield and lock at the fork; unfortunately it wasn't.  In my opinion either lock is a heck of a deterant.

My research shows that On Guard is as good quality as Kryptonite and is a little less expensive.

Here's one closer. In order for it to fit, the lock must be facing upward towards the fender. From the looks of it it will be a major pain in the butt to bust up the lock without totally damaging the scooter, which I think thieves would want to avoid.

Below are pictures of how the lock looks installed on a Chetak. Remember a Vespa P or Stella would accept this lock as well.

Additionally -- as a second lock only -- it would be wise to get a long cable clock and run it tight around your legshield and lock that to the Beast lock as well so that the headset could not be turned freely without removing the cable.

Traveling with your scooter

My wife and I have traveled with our scooters a bit . . . to rallies and such. We often borrowed a trailer from a friend or rented a $25 U-Hual motorcycle trailer. I use to have to drive our scooters into Philly for tune-ups and learned quickly that it's not all that easy to tie down your scooter (NEVER USE YOUR KICK STAND -- compress the suspension & leave your kick stand up) with certain equipment. So I figured I'd tell you the equipment you need.There are two types of motorcycle tie down straps: (1) ratchet or (2) cambuckle. My preference is the cambuckle, but I must stress that you get what you pay for with either of these. I am not a fan of the Home Depot or Lowes straps as I have not had good luck with them. If I am looking for inexpensive ratchet straps I go to Costco. You want heavy duty quality.

Ratchet straps -- if you use a lower quality ratchet make sure that with the loose line you tie a knot at the base of the ratchet as it will build up a small amount of slack and then begin to slip and your scooter will start to lean in the trailer behind you over time as you cruise down the highway. Trust me on this one. The other pain in the butt is de-tangling them. It sucks. I probably have 3-4 hours invested over the years in getting the knots out.

Cambuckle straps -- my buddy Ted has a set that is about 3" wide and you give a nice pull on each side and the bike locks in place beautifully. It took us 5 minutes to have the scooter loaded and tied down in the back of his truck, whereas ratchets always took me so much longer. There was no excess in the strap. It was nice and clean and ever so sturdy. Similar to the cambuckle straps pictured above, but wider and shorter straps.

I also purchased Canyon Dancer "Handle Bar Harnesses" and feel that my scoots are so much safer and sturdier in a trailer or a truck because of the Canyon Dancer. This was a great investment. It makes traveling with your scoots easier too.

The last thing you will want is a wheel chock to lock the front tire in place, whether in a truck or a trailer. You have a ton of options. Economy ones look like these from Harbor Freight Tools:

The one above is my preference for when you are in a trailer.  Just screw it into the wood base.


These are fold-able and are small.  Great for in the back of your truck.  You can stash them under the seat when you aren't using them.
You could make something like this out of wood if you prefer.

With a Canyon Dancer, two straps, and wheel chock you will have easy installs of your scoot and super safe travels.

Of course, you can do all this stuff on a budget, for example, two small pieces of 2x4 will make a great wheel chock in the back of your truck.  You can buy cambuckles and straps separately and bring it to your local shoe repair shop and ask him to use his heavy industrial sewing machine to sew the straps -- usually $1 per stitched area.  This allows you to make heavy-duty straps at a fraction of the cost.

Best Buy Ramp for $50

Heads up Costco is currently selling a PAIR of awesome ramps for $99 plus tax. Find a friend to go in with you and split the set or sell the other on Craigslist. At $50 you can NOT go wrong here. A ramp is also a useful thing to have around, especially at this price.

Stapleton, Inc. aluminum bi-fold ramp.

Details:
(1) Arched design ideal for loading items with low clearance.
(2) 600 lbs weight capacity per ramp.
(3) Working length 85 & 1/2" x 11 & 1/8".
(4) Folded size 45 x 11 & 1/8" x 5 & 3/4"
(5) Heavy duty safety strap included.
(6) E-Z to handle at 15 lbs.
(7) Aluminum construction.

This is a NICE ramp. I have seen it at a local motorcycle shop in S.F. for $150. Online it costs $55 plus $25 plus for shipping for something similar.

Folded it fits in the cab of your truck.

Hot Rod Al Pipe

I paged the Bajaj Yahoo Group to see who has a Hot Rod Al pipe and how it compares to Phil's POC pipe. The Hot Rod Al pipe is a little less expensive, but both are basically in the $300 range.

I asked riders to write a review of the pipe and include photos as well as a movie showing the speedo with audio of shifting through the gears.

Chris P., of Calif., responded and told me he planned to buy a pipe. I recently checked back in with him via email and this is his response:

"hey Jeremy, I installed the pipe today and it is awsome. It is loud but not too loud and I could real feel a kick in the horse power. I was also toping out at 55mph before 60 today so I am very stoked. I didnt get any photos of the install but it is very easy. I also did the tricks mod today. Hot Rod Al will probably not be making any more of the pipes so you may want to pick on up ASAP. Al is also going to a custom made 26 carb on it in a few weeks. I will try to send you photos and a video of the pipe." -- Chris

I look forward to Chris's review, photos, and video to share with you.

The story behind Bajaj

Below you find high resolution scans from Vespa, style in motion, which documents how Bajaj, as a company came to be. It gives a good history for you to tell every time someone asks, "hey is that a Vespa?" It does not address the 1980s and 2000s attempt to sell Bajaj in the USA.

Click on the photos to enlarge to read or to print.

190cc Bajaj Mod

Roy wrote an article on how he designed and built his 190cc kit on "All things Bajaj." Comments are posted there as well.

Here's what Roy wrote:

a lot of research went into this and those so inclined may benefit from this. first i decide on the maximum size that the cyl could be sleeved to this is determined by the engine case as it can only be opened so far (70 to72mm) that sets the piston size at (63 to 67mm) working with Marvin at Kustom-Kraft.com tel 888-697-4343 (tell him roy rhodes set you) we decided on 65mm this allows for two over bores if needed and gives a displacement of 189.1cc if you went the max at 67mm you would have a full 200cc. but no room for boring. the piston i decided on is a Honda ATC200 81-86 std size 65mm this piston has a dished top and must be machined down in a lathe also the skirt must be shortened this is also done on the lathe the piston pin dia is 15mm the stock pin is 17mm i machined a sleeve on my lathe and locktited it into the rod small end. the cyl head must be mounted on the lathe and a recess cut to match the new cyl dia this is then blended into the combustion chamber and additional material removed from the chamber to bring the cr down in my case 10.75 to 1 at this cr the electric starter just will turn the engine over but if its up on compression i must jog the starter or kick it past top before it will spin the motor. Marvin supplied a custom cut copper head gasket and i used 2 stock base gaskets to seal the cyl you can only raise the cyl so much before the cam chain becomes tight. and that is how i did it doing all the lathe work and cyl head work myself, is there a better piston to be used?, or Marvin said that a custom piston could be ordered but cost is a factor. total cost for this work was $380.00 but as Marvin now has all the info on hand the next customer may do much better also if you supply your own piston they can be had for less im using a ProX2430 cast piston which Marvin supplied.

one thing i forgot is that the engine case must be opened up to accept the larger cyl liner this can be done by stripping the entire engine and having a machine shop do it but i stuffed the engine case with shop towels cotton balls more shop towels and then sealed it with modeling clay then i made a guide from 2in thick oak and used a 2 3/4in hole saw to open the engine case up a little clean up with the dremmel and then remove and clean the engine just for good measure i flushed the engine with a parts cleaner pump and cleaning fluid and then did the final assembly.

No replacement for displacement

For a long time now I have complained to my wife and other Bajaj owners that I want just a little more power and I once even, jokingly, said to my friend Christopher Markley, of Moto Rapido, that he should build a top-end kit for the Bajaj Chetak & Legend. We even laughed about "super chargin'" the engine.

I also spoke with friend and mechanic, Mike Lawless, of Philly Scooters, about "turbo chargin''" my engine -- just need to spool up some air. He didn't think it work. He also told me, "Jeremy if want to go faster buy a new bike like a TS1 or something. Remember, there is no replacement for displacement." He was referring to the top-end of the bike.

Unlike the two-strokes, which have had top-end performance upgrade kits available for years from many different manufacturers, the Bajaj has had nothing. As I restore my Lambretta TV175 I will either aid Dean S's "Deanspeed 190" or the all-new "Casa Lambretta 186". My goal has always been just to rally against a stock Vespa P200. Nothing fancy. No race machine. No rocket science.

The availability of a new top-end for a 4-stroke Bajaj made a major step forward on Thursday, January 10th, 2008 Roy posted the following on the Bajaj Yahoo Group:

"i have completed mods to my 06 chetak which include boring the engine out to 190cc,10.75 to 1 cr, fully ported and polished intake and head, custom free flow exhaust that sounds like a hot sports car not a harley, racing cdi unit, racing coil, iridium plug, free flow intake filter, 26mm carb, custom seat, cuppini full size windshield designed for a vespa LX this thing is slick (part # CUP2445), 120-90 rear and 100-90 front tires on wide rims. without running the piss out of it (3/4 throttle) i cruze at 60mph sitting straight up and feel that when the carb is dialed in and engine broken in a top end of 65 to 70mph should be no problem. i can get the racing cdi,coil,air filter,and iridium plugs if enough people are interested price will be given but first i need to know if enough people are interested to make an order."
-- roythebad

Note: I going to email Roy for permission to post his contact information here as well as photos, video of his bike running (dialed in on the speedo), and a review of his set-up for my readers. I'll keep you posted.

Follow-up: Roy emailed me that day and said . . .

Hello Jeremy i am glad to hear of your interest in my project. i will be posting on the All things Bajaj site about how i built the 190cc engine you are welcome to post this on your site. first i would like to say that i have a very well equipped shop with a metal lathe with milling attachment, drill press mill combo, plasma cutter, mig welder, and thousands of dollars worth of tools all left over from my business that due to health problems i had to close. working on my bikes gives me great satisfaction and helps to keep me out of trouble i enjoy the work as much as i do the riding and due to my health i cannot ride as much as i would like (2 disks removed from my neck and 2 more disks ruptured but not removed one in neck and one in lower back) I do not own a camera or video equipment i am more a hands on mechanical person that likes to tinker but due to the interest in my project i will be buying a camera so i can post some pics the best time to have documented the engine build would have been while i was building it i probably have well over 100 hrs in research and hands on trial and error to get to what i have now, i could photo items such as my custom exhaust and the racing ign parts, bike etc and write about my building and running experiences. people can contact me at l r h 517 30 91 at a o l (I wrote it like this to protect Roy's email address from SPAMMERS), but please be aware that due to my health sometimes i am un able to even use the computer for periods of weeks at a time. the only items that i may offer if there is enough interest would be the racing cdi, racing coil, air filter, iridium plug, and possibly the 26mm carb. i will give contact names and phone # and email for the place that did the cyl sleeve job as he has all the info for this and can supply a finished sleeved cyl, piston, and a nice copper head gasket to complete the kit.

again thank you for your interest and feel free to wright me any time. roy rhodes aka roythebad

Bajaj self-portrait contest

After seeing this amazing self-portrait of "JustinScoot" from Stella's web page it dawned on me . . . host a Bajaj & owner self-portrait contest. I love this photo, because he looks like he should be scootin' along side Mel Gibson in the movie classics "Mad Max" & "Road Warrior".

Here's how it will work . . .
1) You and your Bajaj "BOTH" must be in the photograph
2) Entries must be emailed to jeremy at bassmonkey dot com no later than Mardi Gras, Feb. 5, 2008. Include your photo, full name, city, and state.
3) I will set up a survey on this blog for all Bajaj owners and blog readers to come and vote for the best entry
4) Winner will be announced on Valentine's day, Feb. 14, 2008

** Winner will have "bragging rights" and I will also email the information on to Scoot! Magazine in the hopes they publish the winner's photo. **

Another Stella owner, Gary Issac, created this 50's motif photo of his Stella, which can be found on Stella's friends web page.

I hope these photos and links provide you some inspiration (your's does not need to be like these).

I look forward to your entries!

Entry #1:
Bob Hartman
Rochester, NY

Our Chetaks

My wife's Chetak is a 2001 butter yellow and I have a 2003 black Chetak. I still need to add the chrome legshield to my wife's bike plus her Chetak emblems. We both have rear racks. She scored a good deal on alum. racks from Target on clearance for both our bikes. She has a large one and I have a small one. It is easy to attach to the rear rack -- just a quick twist of the eye screw.
My wife also owns a 1967 Vespa SS180 and I own a 1962 Lambretta TV175. Next she would like to find a Series 1 or Series 2 Lambretta for herself. I would like a Vespa GS160 or a nice "quick" P200 for a daily rider.

Need a title for your vintage Bajaj?

Many barn yard finds don't come with a title or maybe you lost your title for your vintage Chetak or other model. That's an easy fix at $80.

Look into International Title Service. They're the most frequently used service for old motorcycles and cars.

In a nutshell what you do is sell your bike to them and they resell it back to you with a clean title.

Easy as 1-2-3.

Alternative ways can be found on Scoot.net's Wiki.

Of course these approaches are for the USA.

Bodywork home repairs

BEFORE you do anything go to the following web forum and classroom at:
http://www.autobodystore.com/

Ask about "moving metal" and show them a picture of your problem area. These guys know their stuff and many are ol'schoolers that pratice the "art" of bodywork. They would be the experts I'd ask first. I was turned on to these guys by Christopher Markley of www.motorapido.net, who worked on my wife's 1967 Vespa SS180.

On the Bajaj Yahoo Group today, Mark emailed and said his scoot was dented by a hit-&-run and he wanted suggestions for repairs. His cowl was damaged.
This dent is somewhat creased and that is not a good sign for an ameteur home repair. The more it is creased the harder it will be to repair without needing to repaint.
On the flip side if he can manage to bump the dent back out he may get away without re-painting the cowl, because the paint is in decent shape currently.
For smaller dents without creases I recommend either buying or building your own Ding King from "As Seen on TV". If you visit your local Harbor Freight Tools, Home Depot, and Dollar Tree (for mini hot glue gun and glue) I am sure you could easily make your own dent remover that is even more versatile than the Ding King.
In the photo you can see it's an easy 3-step process using a Ding King.

For this dent this approach would be my first line of defense. ALWAYS use the way of least resistance and work your way up. Hammers are almost always a BAD idea.

With a friend applying hand-pressure to the back of the dent and you working your Ding King try to pull out the dent while your friend pushes you guys may get it to pop back out and look somewhat decent (not perfect). You never know. Research heating and cooling the metal too for expansion and shrinkage. You can heat it with a Harbor Freight Tool's heat gun (cost about $10 on sale) -- just check on how it will affect the paint first. This is a much better approach than a dent puller, which requires you to drill a hole into the metal and then pull it out.

Your next line of defense is hammer & dolly (costs $16 on sale at Harbor Freight Tools).