Modern Buddy

I'm dropping the fork of my Stella to have the windshield painted. Any advice? Any potential issues to look out for?

ryanhennessy wrote:I'm dropping the fork of my Stella to have the windshield painted. Any advice? Any potential issues to look out for?

You'll have to disconnect the brake line and fish it through the headset.

I think the biggest gap between the inner clamp and the headset body will be on the left, closest to the clutch. Remove the headset bolt fully, lift the headset up off the steering column, and route the wires through the clamp slot and poll them free via the space the column fits in, in order to get the connectors free of the headset. Get the wires out, as the brake line is the largest bit going through the headset and needs to be "last out, first in".

Try to drain the brake out first and put a cloth or plastic sheet over the painted parts to keep the brake fluid off of it. If you get brake fluid on the paint, clean it off as soon as possible.

Thank you - very helpful

I have successfully dropped the fork but haven't removed the headset completely. I'm a bit worried I may have trouble getting all these tightly packed wires back into the headset when I reassemble.

Here is what i have left to disconnect:
Red arrow - I removed the clutch arm but the white wire won't come through the handle. I tried removing the metal thing on the end of the cable but had trouble with all the tension on the wires - not sure I'm going about this right. Also there is a black wire going through next to the white one

Green arrow: horn/brights wires I think. Not sure how to remove

Yellow arrow: gear select cables. Seem easy enough to pop out of the plastic thing

Orange arrow: turn signal/kill switch/start cables - not sure how to remove

Blue arrow: throttle cable

White arrow: brake cable / wire - do I twist that metal cylinder just to the right of the blue arrow to get this free? How to I free up the black wire?

Are there any other tricky parts I should be aware of?


Thanks for any help with this as this is my first scooter and I'm the type that likes to learn how to fix my own stuff

Let's go back to the beginning. why would you paint a windshield and why drop the fork to paint it?

I think there is some confusion here...at least on my part! What are you really trying to paint? maybe we can save you some work!

ha - my fault. I need to drop the fork because I'm repairing and painting the legshield and mudgaurd (plus cowls).

ryanhennessy wrote:ha - my fault. I need to drop the fork because I'm repairing and painting the legshield and mudgaurd (plus cowls).

Oooohhhh.... LEGSHIELD! I get it now. Carry on, you're on the right track then.

Thanks for clearing that up. Had me wondering too.

OK gotcha!

First are you having it painted or doing it yourself. If doing yourself I would be tempted to just mask off the entire headset.

I can get you started but others will chime in also.

I am more familiar with a P series Vespa that the Stella is based on.

Green arrow - these wires are for the left grip switches. I have always removed the horn cast and disconnected there then fished them back in.

Yellow arrow - yep...gear selectors. Go to the gear selector box on the motor and remove the cover. You will see the ends of the cables in the "bat wing" with pinch bolts. Loosen the pinch bolts and get enough slack to pop them out of the headset. You might want to label them so you rember which one goes where.

Orange arrow: turn signal/kill switch/start cables - remove the switch and record ALL the connections...take photos too!. Disconnect from the switch and pull through. Will need to fish back in later

Blue arrow: throttle cable - disconnect at the carb to get enough slack to remove

White arrow: brake cable / wire - this looks like your brake line coming off the master cylinder and the brake light wire. Others can help you here more than I can. Be careful with the brake fluid...nasty stuff that will eat paint. You will need to flush and bleed the brake line upon reassembly.