So, in my last post, I mentioned that I was about to remove the flywheel for the purpose of replacing the condenser. Well, it’s turned out not so well. The circlip that is described in the Haynes manual as being on the shaft as a way to sort of self-extract the flywheel from the tapered shaft was not present when I took the fan off, and since I didn’t know what exactly I was looking for anyhow, I put the impact gun to the center bolt and removed it.
The manual I had mentioned that if the circlip was not there, that you could use a special Piaggio extracting tool (which I didn’t have) or a gear puller (which I do have). I reversed the jaws of the gear puller and slipped them into the view slots on the flywheel, as instructed in the manual, and put the center pin of the puller on the shaft.
I started tightening, and it was resistant at first, and then I got that telltale “slip” of tension that you get when something loosens on a tapered shaft - something I was familiar with after years as a bike mechanic - the cranks pull off the same way.
Unfortunately, the give in tension was not the flywheel pulling off the shaft, but rather the gear puller yanking a quarter-sized square chunk of metal out of the flywheel at the inspection hole rim. Wonderful.
This is my broken Vespa flywheel, after using a gear puller to try to get the flywheel off the tapered shaft
So, this flywheel is shot, and I’m now without a way to get one until Tuesday when Motorsport re-opens. I guess I’m going another weekend without the Vespa. Bummer.
Well, I will say that through my breaking things, I’m certainly learning a lot about repairing old Vespas, that’s a bonus!
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