Project: BIG BAD VOODOO BUDDY

Kaos · Post by **Kaos** » Sat Aug 28, 2010 11:48 pm

OopsClunkThud wrote:
Kaos wrote:Heh, as far as I can tell nobody has swapped a GTS motor into ANYTHING Which is both cool in that I'm the first, and frustrating because I'm having to find all the kinks myself

We'll get it on the road though. Its nearly there...
Friend of mine swapped a GTS engine into a Skipper
http://www.modernvespa.com/forum/viewto ... per#982988

Wow, thats pretty cool. Did he end up using the injection? Does he have build pictures anywhere?

That scooter looks about the size of the Buddy, did he have any issues with it being a little bike with a huge motor? Sorry, I'm just hoping to glean absolutely every little bit of useful info I can

OopsClunkThud · Post by **OopsClunkThud** » Sun Aug 29, 2010 12:06 am

He used the injector, fuel pump, and gauges from the GTS. He road it on the cannonball in 2008. Bike was twitchy as hell and tried to kill him every time he went over 70mph. He added a second damper to the front fork and it solved that issue, after riding it 3500 miles cross country.

Kaos · Post by **Kaos** » Sun Aug 29, 2010 12:09 am

OopsClunkThud wrote:Bike was twitchy as hell and tried to kill him every time he went over 70mph.

That sounds like tons of fun

I know my front forks are likely good for it. I've done 88 with them already.

Twitchy is about what I'm expecting. Thats double the cc's it was designed for.

gearhead · Post by **gearhead** » Sun Aug 29, 2010 4:23 pm

hmm what about the flex and stress on the frame with that amount of power?

Kaos · Post by **Kaos** » Sun Aug 29, 2010 4:27 pm

gearhead wrote:hmm what about the flex and stress on the frame with that amount of power?

Its made of really thick tubing. It shouldn't be an issue. The frame tubing
Is actually thicker than the tubing of the gts swingarm I've got. Plus I could pull huge wheelies with the motor I had in it before without flex. I don't think its gonna be an issue.

bigbropgo · Post by **bigbropgo** » Sun Aug 29, 2010 6:55 pm

Would look sweet with a frame brace, not as easy to step through.

Kaos · Post by **Kaos** » Sun Aug 29, 2010 6:57 pm

bigbropgo wrote:Would look sweet with a frame brace, not as easy to step through.

They look pretty sweet on buddys too. I've even seem them with a center shock type brace.

bigbropgo · Post by **bigbropgo** » Sun Aug 29, 2010 7:05 pm

I know you have said you want it to look stock-ish. And not ultra modified. Keeping the look clean and simple.

I saw to Asian race pics of the modified frame with center shocks. Wish I could learn more about it. Very interesting.

This has definitely been fun to follow. Can't wait for the test run.

dawg onit · Post by **dawg onit** » Wed Sep 01, 2010 4:38 am

" If nobody followed the rules, there would be kaos."

gearhead · Post by **gearhead** » Thu Sep 16, 2010 4:20 am

what is the status of this build?

ScooterTrash · Post by **ScooterTrash** » Thu Sep 16, 2010 4:28 am

gearhead wrote:what is the status of this build?

x2, I think my new bobber project is going faster lol

Kaos · Post by **Kaos** » Thu Sep 16, 2010 1:27 pm

So my latest attempt to run with a generic CDI and carb to escape the evils of the immobilizer have failed due to the fact that the flywheel on the GTS motor has a whole series of pickup triggers instead of the single trigger that a GY6 has. That led to me being forced to order the insanely expensive ECU with new keys. They should be here in a couple of days, then it shouldn't be too much more work to get it started.

Thats just about the last step before I put the body panels back on and we're more or less done.

gearhead · Post by **gearhead** » Thu Sep 16, 2010 7:31 pm

couldn't find it used on ebay or something? how much was the damage $$$?

Kaos · Post by **Kaos** » Thu Sep 16, 2010 7:32 pm

gearhead wrote:couldn't find it used on ebay or something? how much was the damage $$$?

Thats the problem. used ones never come with keys. Without the keys the ECU is worthless, as it CANNOT be reprogrammed.

Its gonna set me back about $500 for a new one

gearhead · Post by **gearhead** » Thu Sep 16, 2010 7:37 pm

cant you take it to a locksmith and have them make new keys? $60 max

Kaos · Post by **Kaos** » Thu Sep 16, 2010 7:38 pm

gearhead wrote:cant you take it to a locksmith and have them make new keys? $60 max

Nope, its a transponder key. Without a matching transponder, the ECU won't work.

gearhead · Post by **gearhead** » Fri Sep 17, 2010 5:47 am

man... that sucks! hopefully it will all work now with the new parts

jasondavis48108 · Post by **jasondavis48108** » Fri Sep 17, 2010 12:50 pm

Kaos wrote: Its gonna set me back about $500 for a new one

ouch!

well at least you know once its completed you'll have one badass custom ride that noone else is likely to try and immiate

I give you all due respect for your ability to do this sort of thing. I was proud of myself for installing my stage 1 kit

I really need to learn more about this stuff.

Kaos · Post by **Kaos** » Fri Sep 17, 2010 2:25 pm

jasondavis48108 wrote:
Kaos wrote: Its gonna set me back about $500 for a new one
ouch!

well at least you know once its completed you'll have one badass custom ride that noone else is likely to try and immiate

I give you all due respect for your ability to do this sort of thing. I was proud of myself for installing my stage 1 kit I really need to learn more about this stuff.

Yeah, its reached the point of "I don't care what it costs, this damn thing's gonna run"

Of course my bank account and wife might disagree with that

jasondavis48108 · Post by **jasondavis48108** » Fri Sep 17, 2010 8:27 pm

yeah, its good to have a loving tolerant spouse when it comes to scooter addiction for sure. I got so excited when I got the sh150 that I forgot to call my wife before signing the papers. I felt horrible but she only ribbed me about it in good fun. If I had been married to any other woman I would have been a dead man

The amazing thing is she's also way supportive of me keeping the Buddy so I have something to tinker with. Man I love my wife!

Kaos · Post by **Kaos** » Fri Sep 17, 2010 8:30 pm

jasondavis48108 wrote:yeah, its good to have a loving tolerant spouse when it comes to scooter addiction for sure. I got so excited when I got the sh150 that I forgot to call my wife before signing the papers. I felt horrible but she only ribbed me about it in good fun. If I had been married to any other woman I would have been a dead man The amazing thing is she's also way supportive of me keeping the Buddy so I have something to tinker with. Man I love my wife!

Seriously. She graciously tolerates my addiction, though I can't say she's super happy with it right now, since my brand new(to me) '74 Super just blew a motor after owning it for a month :/

But as soon as I get it running and sidecar it, she'll be happy. She wants a family bike bad

jasondavis48108 · Post by **jasondavis48108** » Fri Sep 17, 2010 8:38 pm

a side car family bike would be awesome!

As of now I just put the kid on the back of my sh150 and she rides her ruckus.

Kaos · Post by **Kaos** » Fri Sep 17, 2010 8:42 pm

jasondavis48108 wrote:a side car family bike would be awesome! As of now I just put the kid on the back of my sh150 and she rides her ruckus.

My wife is tiny at 4'8" and hasn't felt comfortable enough to ride by herself.
My son is 4, and while we DO ride together, I'm currently using a seatbelt taken from one of my cars to belt him to me, and neither of us is comfortable with more than a mile or so like that even though he's actually a FANTASTIC passenger.

jasondavis48108 · Post by **jasondavis48108** » Fri Sep 17, 2010 8:48 pm

yeah, 4 might be a bit difficult wihtout one of those special little kid harness seat belt them to you type things. My son is almost 12 so its a whole different situation. He's learned how to be a great co-pilot

Kaos · Post by **Kaos** » Fri Sep 17, 2010 8:58 pm

jasondavis48108 wrote:yeah, 4 might be a bit difficult wihtout one of those special little kid harness seat belt them to you type things. My son is almost 12 so its a whole different situation. He's learned how to be a great co-pilot

Yeah, but a sidecar with a seatbelt should work out just fine, which is why we want one

jasondavis48108 · Post by **jasondavis48108** » Fri Sep 17, 2010 10:01 pm

I never thought about putting a seat belt in a sidcar. Thats pretty cool!

ScooterTrash · Post by **ScooterTrash** » Fri Sep 17, 2010 11:05 pm

Kaos wrote:
jasondavis48108 wrote:yeah, 4 might be a bit difficult wihtout one of those special little kid harness seat belt them to you type things. My son is almost 12 so its a whole different situation. He's learned how to be a great co-pilot
Yeah, but a sidecar with a seatbelt should work out just fine, which is why we want one

No seatbelt. Imagine what would happen if you flipped. Getting tossed is the better option

bigbropgo · Post by **bigbropgo** » Thu Sep 30, 2010 1:09 am

What up with this sucka?

Kaos · Post by **Kaos** » Thu Sep 30, 2010 1:18 am

bigbropgo wrote:What up with this sucka?

Im waiting for a cdi from piaggio. The wait is killing me too.

bigbropgo · Post by **bigbropgo** » Thu Sep 30, 2010 1:23 am

I can imagine. You were cruzin along with the build. I'm sure you'll keep us up to date. I just think this is a really cool project.

Kaos · Post by **Kaos** » Thu Sep 30, 2010 2:02 am

bigbropgo wrote:I can imagine. You were cruzin along with the build. I'm sure you'll keep us up to date. I just think this is a really cool project.

Thanks

I'm hoping it turns out as awesome as it has been so far.

gearhead · Post by **gearhead** » Sat Oct 02, 2010 4:06 pm

still waiting on the parts?! man piaggio is slow lol

Kaos · Post by **Kaos** » Sat Oct 02, 2010 4:09 pm

gearhead wrote:still waiting on the parts?! man piaggio is slow lol

Seriously. Like the shop thats ordering them told me, you'll get them.... Eventually...

Apparently they've got 4 LX-150's in the shop with bad stators that have been there over 3 months.

gearhead · Post by **gearhead** » Sat Oct 02, 2010 4:11 pm

did you try scooterworks? or someone else besides that shop? lol 3 months is ridiculous

Kaos · Post by **Kaos** » Sat Oct 02, 2010 4:30 pm

gearhead wrote:

did you try scooterworks? or someone else besides that shop? lol 3 months is ridiculous

Yep, basically everywhere said thats the way Piaggio is this time of year.

gearhead · Post by **gearhead** » Sat Oct 02, 2010 4:33 pm

that blows! well hopefully they will pull through. you are paying a lot of $$$ and that stuff should be expedited to you lol

Kaos · Post by **Kaos** » Sat Oct 02, 2010 4:35 pm

gearhead wrote:that blows! well hopefully they will pull through. you are paying a lot of $$$ and that stuff should be expedited to you lol

Seriously. I'm tired of not being able to ride it, I want it back on the road!

Kaos · Post by **Kaos** » Tue Mar 08, 2011 2:31 pm

So a bunch of big life events got in the way recently(Buying a house, my job growing explosively, several siblings getting married...)
but I'm back on the Voodoo wagon.

I've been working on two different tracks for the Voodoo Buddy.
First: I've found someone who can cut and program keys for my GTS motor!
That was the #1 biggest reason its not running yet. I don't have transponders for the ECU on that motor.

The down side? They want $250 to cut the key since I don't have the original redkey. And I'm still a buncha parts away from making it run.

While researching how to get that GTS motor going, I've found two alternatives that I may go with.

#1: I've been offered a set of custom GY6 long-cases that can apparently be bored all the way to 72mm. That combined with the 8.2mm stroker crank that I can get my hands on would net me a 270cc GY6 that would be an absolute MONSTER. And as a bonus its compatible with all my current Buddy parts. They also want next to nothing for them.

#2: Linhai makes a 300cc engine thats mount compatible with a GY6(Though not a GY6 itself) Though its bigger displacement than the super big GY6, its likely actually less power.

I hate to drop the GTS engine now that I've got almost a year into scrounging parts and modifying things to make it fit, but the GTS is EXPENSIVE and hard to source parts for.

Post by **ericalm** » Tue Mar 08, 2011 2:50 pm

Kaos wrote:…but the GTS is EXPENSIVE and hard to source parts for.

Did you somehow miss the Piaggio/Vespa stamps all over it and the parts?

As far as the keys:
Do you just need the CDI and a brown key? Programming the keys is easy with these two.

Alternately, because so many dealers have gone belly up, eBay has been flooded with OEM Vespa parts lately. I've been stocking up on a few and getting some for as much as 80% off MSRP.

Kaos · Post by **Kaos** » Tue Mar 08, 2011 2:52 pm

ericalm wrote:
Kaos wrote:…but the GTS is EXPENSIVE and hard to source parts for.
Did you somehow miss the Piaggio/Vespa stamps all over it and the parts?

As far as the keys:
Do you just need the CDI and a brown key? Programming the keys is easy with these two.

Alternately, because so many dealers have gone belly up, eBay has been flooded with OEM Vespa parts lately. I've been stocking up on a few and getting some for as much as 80% off MSRP.

Yeah, I shoulda known that it woulda been a spendy motor to swap to

Yeah, I need a working CDI and brownkey. the problem I've been running into is that Piaggio wants $600 for them, and all the eBay ones are missing the key.

I'll do the eBay crawl here today and see what I can find.
I've also been keeping an eye out for a wrecked GTS.

Syd · Post by **Syd** » Wed Mar 09, 2011 1:12 am

Kaos wrote:270cc GY6 that would be an absolute MONSTER. And as a bonus its compatible with all my current Buddy parts. They also want next to nothing for them.

#2: Linhai makes a 300cc engine thats mount compatible with a GY6(Though not a GY6 itself) Though its bigger displacement than the super big GY6, its likely actually less power.

It's the long awaited Genuine Cruiser! Yippee!

Post by **jrsjr** » Wed Mar 09, 2011 3:33 am

Kaos wrote:#2: Linhai makes a 300cc engine thats mount compatible with a GY6(Though not a GY6 itself) Though its bigger displacement than the super big GY6, its likely actually less power.

Does that mean it could be shoehorned into a Blur?!?

Kaos · Post by **Kaos** » Wed Mar 09, 2011 3:35 am

jrsjr wrote:
Kaos wrote:#2: Linhai makes a 300cc engine thats mount compatible with a GY6(Though not a GY6 itself) Though its bigger displacement than the super big GY6, its likely actually less power.
Does that mean it could be shoehorned into a Blur?!?

Shoehorned nothing, it'll bolt right in

gearhead · Post by **gearhead** » Wed Mar 09, 2011 4:14 am

ahhah! kaos is back and the updates will more frequent i hope!

Keys · Post by **Keys** » Wed Mar 09, 2011 4:34 am

...and with a little modification, probably bolt into my Rattler. Next time the top end goes on the 2-stroker...here I come!

--Keys

Kaos · Post by **Kaos** » Wed Mar 09, 2011 4:36 am

Keys wrote:...and with a little modification, probably bolt into my Rattler. Next time the top end goes on the 2-stroker...here I come!

--Keys

Yep, both engine options would likely fit the rat too. That answers the question of what's crazier than a 300cc Buddy

Post by **jrsjr** » Thu Mar 10, 2011 1:56 am

Kaos wrote:
jrsjr wrote:
Kaos wrote:#2: Linhai makes a 300cc engine thats mount compatible with a GY6(Though not a GY6 itself) Though its bigger displacement than the super big GY6, its likely actually less power.
Does that mean it could be shoehorned into a Blur?!?
Shoehorned nothing, it'll bolt right in

I think you could make money doing that convert and reselling them. I'll be happy to do a long term test and review to get the ball rolling.

Is that guy who did the write up on the Blur that threw it's rod still around? That'd be a great bike to start with.

Post by **ericalm** » Thu Mar 10, 2011 2:04 am

jrsjr wrote:
Kaos wrote:
jrsjr wrote: Does that mean it could be shoehorned into a Blur?!?
Shoehorned nothing, it'll bolt right in
I think you could make money doing that convert and reselling them. I'll be happy to do a long term test and review to get the ball rolling. Is that guy who did the write up on the Blur that threw it's rod still around? That'd be a great bike to start with.

Wonder if it'd be that much faster than a 220i…

Kaos · Post by **Kaos** » Thu Mar 10, 2011 2:05 am

jrsjr wrote:
Kaos wrote:
jrsjr wrote: Does that mean it could be shoehorned into a Blur?!?
Shoehorned nothing, it'll bolt right in
I think you could make money doing that convert and reselling them. I'll be happy to do a long term test and review to get the ball rolling. Is that guy who did the write up on the Blur that threw it's rod still around? That'd be a great bike to start with.

Ohh, now there's an idea worth thinking about >:)

Post by **jrsjr** » Thu Mar 10, 2011 2:27 am

Kaos wrote:
jrsjr wrote:
Kaos wrote: Shoehorned nothing, it'll bolt right in
I think you could make money doing that convert and reselling them. I'll be happy to do a long term test and review to get the ball rolling. Is that guy who did the write up on the Blur that threw it's rod still around? That'd be a great bike to start with.
Ohh, now there's an idea worth thinking about >:)

Seriously! The Blur's suspension and brakes rock. The bike just needs to be able to back it up with a kick-ass motor.