- CHAPTER FIVE -

CYLINDER HEADS
There's a lot more lo a cylinder head than jusl being the thing on top of the barrel The
cylinder head is a device that will accommodate a charge ol fuel/air, n will be ignited at a
certain point, and the burnt gases will escape out the exhaust port. How much fueVair will
be compressed will depend on how much you have reprofiled the head How successful
the exercise will be will relate to how well you have done your homework.
-
Firstly, let s look at the position of the spark plug in relation to the squish band fact, the
most successful location for a plug is in the 'central* position, although it should be remem¬
bered that many people still prefer a side plug position, and that it has not been adverse to
use that position. To modify a side pkrg head you must use a central squish head To iden¬
tify one. look lor a head that has the belt shape directly in the centre of the head Dm the
head to su* your plug and remove the area of the fins to allow access with a plug spanner.
Any alloy welding to build up the external thread for the plug, or if you are going to weld on
a thread adaptor, then now is the time to do It. Most two stroke motors use central plug
positions, but the Vespa is out in the cold m this respect, the T5 bemg the exception Most
standard Vespas use side plug location.
FueVair is not only used to run the mofor, but the introduction ol the mixture into the motor
LCI : BOTH 1984 SHOTS. WITH T»€ PRESTIGIOUS NO. I PLATE. BOTH TAKEN AT CAENELL also acts as a coolant It is xnportant that we get the compression ratio just right, failure to
«T THE BEST CIRCUIT FOR THE LITTLE 125. do so could end up in disaster The reason is simple, too high a compression could in fact
create such heat in the motor that the cool fresh charge of fuel is in fact heated before It
gets a chance to cool the piston crown, on the other hand a low compression ratio would
end up w*h a rather sluggish machine, but you could also foot a hefty Ml for bearings if the
compression was not corrected in time. You can work out the compression ratio in several
ways One item we will require is a syringe This will allow us to measure the combustion
space volume at T.D C We will require this information to complete the formula. To obtan
a measurement you should fit rings to the piston and fit the barrel and head, correctly
torque down. Through the plug hole you should mset the oil from the syringe, the syringe
will have markings which will show how much oil you have used Use a thick oil and fill Ito
the bottom of the plug threads To obtain a syringe consult a chemist, but get one that will
hold at least 20cc of fluid
-
--
By Formula: CR Compression Ratio.
HV Head Volume at T.D.C. in cc's.
SV Swept Volume of Capacity m cc's.
-
-
Geometric Ratio's How To Find The Compression Ratio
(SV
255c HV-25CC)
---
--
HV ÿ SV 25 ÿ 255 250
CR -
CR HV
101
25 25
33
If we deal with a bore size of 55mm. our head should measure 56mm across the squish
band at Is widest point. That is the only way that we wil know that the piston writ not touch
the head. II we were to bore out the 55mm bore size to 57mm. then the head should be
opened out to 58mm. therelore the head should always be 1mm larger than the bore size
One way ol making sure the head central to the barrel is to dowel the head to the barrel
*
Use long studs to bolt the head and barrel together (off the motor) and centrakse the head
SQUISH BAND CLEARANCE
The doorance between the crown ol the piston and the cyknder head should be 1mm
which you can measure tor slmpfecity with the* mutcore solder. Although this sounds a M
Heath Robbo' 4 is a que* guide and wet be checked when you fimah the job. The removal
ol metal is done by drill and Ms. or on a lathe.
IIyou use a lathe you'l need to Improvise and fabricate a tool to hold the head m the lathe
This can be done by makmg a tool which locates into the lour stud holes and then lis into
the best method Usng a Or* freehand wit take longer and the resuRs wit not be as hdy as
using the lathe. Care must be taken though to ensure that the correct volume 6 obtained
when fitlod Remember, once removed, metal will prove very difficult to replace. So make
sure that you do R a M at a lime
Each time you check the clearance make sure you nip the head down correctly The num
ber ol limes I have stripped motors and found the piston has been touching the head, sim
IIthe head was to touch the piston, the results coukJ be expensive The big end bearings
would suffer and the chances ol the piston surviving without breakage would be slim The
emery paper on top. Continue to tap m until the surface is a uniform matt finish across the
lace When you have completed your work on the heed, the only things to remember are to
seal the heed when filing A thin Mm of nstani gasket wil do the trek, or some loctrte 275
- CHAPTER SIX -
GEARING - PART ONE
At this point Ithrow my hands up In despair, as far as the Vespa is concerned The aterna-
lives are limited Harnessing the power that you w»« develop from your motor is important.
transfemng the power to the reer wheel through the gearbox « easy, dong so through I*
nght gearbox is a little more drffcuR
In aH cases, to after the gearing on a Vespa engine you need to completely strip the motor.
Even to change the primary gearing will require you to lully strip the motor Take "lor
instance" the 135cc converson The number ol primary gear sets you could use would
number at best six or seven When you compare that to the lamtxetta. with the ease ol
change, and the comtwnabons avaiabte. 4 hghhÿts the problem lor the Vespa
Experience over the years has provtoed me w4h the ritormetion that I requve to gear my
motors to my own requirements Different circuits require different gearing and likewise
motors that produce different variants of power will require different gearing to suit. The dif¬
ference between a road machine and a racing machine as lar as gearng Is concerned is
vast Most road machines will be geared to suit overall use. whereas a race machna win
be geared to toe longest strait on toe circuit, with an eye on acceleration There would
be no advantage in having a machne that was outstanding down the back strait if it took
al day to get there, because oIToo high' geamg
-
Some Basic Information:
Too Low Gear mo Good acceleration but poor top speed The machine runs out ol steam.
mainly because the gearing is not suited to the motors output. The symptoms are over
rewng in top gear as the machines power outgrows the geatbox.
Too High Gearing = Average acceleration with reasonable mid range power. The most
noticeable feature ol over -gearing ia toe lack of power when you come to an ncine You
try to accelerate and you find there w no power You usually drop down a gear and pek up
«
the power Descendng a big Ml wan toe wend behmd you toe only tome that this particu¬
lar type of gearing comes nto 4s own Sadly, as soon as you h4 the flat or a sight indne
you're back to where you started, st rugging. You will also find 3rd gear is as good as lop.
simply because the gearing is too high.
It can be seen from toe above that gearing « vital iyou are to turn aH that hard work you
<*d on the crankcase and barrel into something. The chances are that wito a Htle help you
w* select a combnation that w4l give you good al-round reeuts that w« compiment your
hnng
Why would we alter our geamg? If we alter the power oi4put of our motor, then we should
look into a change in gearing- It you own a PK50 and tit a 105cc kit then you would require
a gear kit that allows you to harness the new power that the 105cc kit produces Likewise,
If using a 135cc kit If you owned a 8<y90/l00cc machine you would want to up gear to suit
your new found power source
37
Later *1 this Chapter lit kst moat ot the gear kits you can obtam All those kits will be prima PRIMAVERA H
ry gear kits Let me explain what a 'prmary' gear k* « 125 SUPER H
P1NASCO M
On al amal frame Vespas. that la V5OWi00/ak PK models. the primary gears consist ot 24/61-2 54 1 1524 1 8.55 1 541: 1
the amal gear on the crankshaft and the large gear fitted to the dutch baa On the large
frame models the primary gears are the small gear cog on the dutch drive una and the POt INI KITS S
large outer ring gear on the multiple gear. All standard primary gear* are helcal cut. thai ts 24/58-2 41: 1 14.46 1 8 12:1 813: 1
lo say the gears mesh at an angle. Most after-market primary gear kits have straight cm
Right, let's get down to some homework I'm going to Irst most of the avoilabio primary kits
and also Ihe standard primary drives to hoip you. The list is a long one. bul to do the job
- -
Please note H Helical Cut Teeth. S StraigN Cut Teeth
Also both Pinasco kits are available with steel and alloy cluich bell All Pollni kits for small
frame models have alloy cluich bells Straight cut gears are noisy in use, but botior for
property you must have all the xiformallon at hand. The charts will show you what the pri¬ bearing life and performance Helical cut gears have teeth cut at angle, forming, on a very
mary drive ia in ratio to the fnal drive 'For Instance", look at the left hand column. This wide gear, a spiral or helix. These have much smoother mesh, wear better, bul because of
contams all the available primary gear kits To work out the primary gear ratio you divide the 'slant' on the teeth, mpart sideways or axial thrust to the bearings The differences.
the smaller number into the larger number, i.e the 50 Special ralio is 16/68. which gves us apart from the cost and noise, are slim.
a ratio of 4 25 to 1. Mutipry the by the tndrvduel gear kited across the top. 22/47 is the The noxt chart shows the 4 speed gearbox httod to the small frame
thrd gear on a 3 speed gearbox, this ie a ratio of 2.13: tol. Mufcpiy 425 by 2.13 which although the gearboxes are the same as tar as ratios go, there are differences *i the
005 lol. tors, this means that whilst the ratios are the same the actual gears are different Make
sure your gears match the :
Note Ratios are taken to the second decimal place only. This wil mean that the
ratios are a fraction lower than shown Having actually counted all the gears ksled In these arides, one discrepancy d<J materi¬
alise the now PKSOXL Piaggio hat a different set of gearing than Iworked out II could be
ilBM 2*iil that they hovo changed tho gearing for this country, but from the facts Ihave. Iwould work
on the figures Ihave listed on th«s page
CHART 1st Gear 2nd Gear 3rd Gear
No 1 (10/60) (16/54) (22/47)
It IS worih noting that the gearing listed by Piaggio for the PKSOXL would have boon the
6.0: 10 1 3.37: 10 1 213 tol lowest gearing In the range
V50 SPECIAL H LKlilU
16/88=4.25:1 29 6: 1 14.32: 1 906 1
CHART 111 1 2nd! 3rdi
PKSOXL H No.2 1580) (3 S3) (2.77) (2 09)
15/00=4 0 1 24 0 1 1348: 1 8 52 1 1(V58 10 1 14/54 10 1 taÿO: 10 1 22/48 10 1
V50N MOPED H V50 SPECIAL H
18/87-372: 1 22 32 1 12.53: 1 732 1 16/68-4 25 1 24 65 1 16 36 1 11.17: 1 888 1
mniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimimuinii
POLINI KIT S PK50XL H
21/62-2.95: 1 17.7: 1 994: 1 6 26: 1 15/60-4.0: 1 232: 1 15.4: 1 118: 1 8 36 1
••••••••
V9GMOO/SP H V50N MOPED H
22/63-2 88 1 17.16: 1 963:1 6 09: 1 18/67-3 72 1 2157:1 14 32: 1 10.30: 1 7.77: 1
POLINI KIT S POLINI KITS S
23/60-260 1 '56 1 8 76: 1 533: 1 21/62-2.96 1 17.11: 1 11 36 1 8 17: 1 616:1
PARMA/OMEGA H V90100/SP H
PINASCO S 22/63-2 66 1 16 58 1 11.01: 1 7 92: 1 597:1
27/68=2 55: 1 163: 1 8 50 1 5 43: 1