being as ciaociao is currently my only running bike that would be rally worthy (green ciao runs great and is super pretty, but it goes 25mph), i decided to take it to the portland rally.
other than another shredded belt (which was expected, i even brought a spare) it ran great the entire rally!
of course ciaociao is never jetted right, and i still haven’t really messed with the variator after porting it to get all of my low end back, but it was fun, fast and super reliable all weekend long!
i was still running low air pressure in my tires from atwater, so it handled super good in the corners. this rally was filled with corners!
and i got paced by a friend on his yamaha motorcycle at 63mph. i’d like to gps confirm that one day, but he swears his speedo is accurate.
now i am ready to tear the motor apart again and finish porting it. once i do that i will tune the variator and i should get my take off back. don’t get me wrong, it still takes off pretty quick, but not as quick as it did before i did the exhaust port.
there miiiiiight be a motomatic pipe in store for ciaociao in the future.. nate said if i were to join the motomatic race team i would get a free pipe, but i don’t know if he was being serious. besides, i’m not giving up on hry just because i moved to sacramento! if those guys up in seattle stay serious and want to keep going to races, i’ll stick with them!
anyway, that’s it for now. atwater is in a few weeks, so i have to get busy!
so this weekend was a total bust. none of the other hry kids could go racing, and it left me with no ride. it was a little too last minute for me to cobble something together, so i decided to have a drunk weekend at the shop in seattle hating atwater. it was a shitty weekend.
on top of not getting to go, i some how misplaced/dropped in the street my wallet, containing $300 cash, my id and both my debit cards.
but hey! this isn’t a blog about my life, it’s a blog about ciaociao! so enough of that shit!
poor ciaociao did not see the race track this weekend like it really wanted to. i did, however, take it for a few rides!
now, i haven’t really ridden ciaociao in the street since la rally, just on the track, and i was riding around with slow bikes rather than race bikes, so it’s really hard for me to judge what kind of performance gains i might have obtained with my exhaust porting. i was really hoping to get a feel for that on the track. ah well!
however, now that racing is done until september, i think it is time for me to pull that cylinder back off and finish up my porting. larger transfers, two new transfers, and more work on the exhaust. plus i still need to mill the other 1mm off the top of the cylinder and build the 2mm spacer to lift the whole thing up. and i really want to work the head, the pinasco head seems kinda crappy for how rad that kit can be.
so yeah! hopefully after i do all of this the thing will still run and will be competitive next atwater!
in the meantime, my actual race bike build is now underway, but that has nothing to do with anything here, so i’ll not talk about it much. you can catch pictures of it every now and again on my mopedsmofun tumblr photo blog if you’re interested!
oh boy, back to the dremmel!
well, firstly, the 2nd race went really well. i chopped two seconds off my lap time, and while i placed 6th in both races, i was faster and rode much better than the first race and i’m stoked on that!
if you want to read a better write up, check out the hry website. it’s still being worked on a lot, so it doesn’t really look all that great, but there’s rad photos and stuff over there.
on to ciaociao.
i decided to start playing with the porting in my pinasco. i haven’t really jumped into hacking at it just yet, but cuffs and i made a port map of it and did some measurements and i think i have a plan.
my map only shows one of the transfer ports because i’m going to focus on the exhaust port for now.
i’ve always known the exhaust port in this kit was pretty weak, so i’m going to be opening it up some and probably lifting the whole cylinder a bit and mill the difference off the top.
i’m still trying to work out what i’m going to do exactly, and the next race is coming up pretty quick so i gotta get on it. once the math is over and i start milling and hacking at it i’ll be sure to get a bunch of pictures for yous guys.
until then!
well, i don’t think there is any way i could write up how awesome the first polini cup weekend was even half as well as fellow hry racing teammate columbus josh (aka cuffs) did in his blog, so i’m going to go ahead and send you guys there instead!
check out the rest of his blog while you’re at it, tons of rad info on all sorts of awesome two-strokey things!
team nerdspeed
he is also documenting our “plan b” build, a cobbled together vespa si racer! some of you may remember the si i picked up forever ago for the wheels and other random bits, well that bike is finally going to good use!
in the world of ciaociao, it looks like old boy is going to be my dedicated racer until i can get my actual race bike build off the ground. since pretty much all i think about these days is racing anyway, i think this is a good turn of events for ciaociao. it’ll get way more attention than it was before!
i’m pretty happy with the performance, but i’d like to do something about my pipe. it’s still all dented and banged up from when ciaociao v1 got ran over by that moving truck at the creature rally forever ago. dents are not an expansion chamber’s best friend, that’s for sure.
i have a few different ways i can go about this. option #1 is i could try to pull the dents out of the pipe i currently have and try to salvage it. option #2 is buying a new pipe all together, and option #3 is trying to replicate my pipe and build my own.
eventually i’d like to build my own pipes.. the more i read and learn about two stroke tuning, the less crazy building my own pipe seems to me. it’s really all just a matter of knowing what you want and doing the math.. and it helps to be good with a mig, hah.
seeing as the next race is two weeks away, i think i may bite the bullet and buy a new pipe. maybe someone will be into buying my old pipe from me at like half cost or something. it obviously still preforms really well, seeing as my ciao beat out most of the bikes on the track the first weekend, but i want everything to be perfect next time around.
i also need to fill the forks with oil, i ran them empty last race and it was super sketch at first, but i got used to it pretty quick. bravo forks are good forks, they just need to be topped off is all.
so other than a new pipe, and some fork oil in my forks i think ciaociao is ready to go! i CANNOT wait for the next race!
and, as promised, some of my favorite photos from the weekend, with some of me and ciaociao thrown in to keep everything on topic.
there are soooo many more on flickr.. just type in polinicupapril09 and you’ll get them all.
by the way, yes i was racing in jeans and a hoodie with skate knee and elbow pads. i am actually shopping around right now for some leathers, so leave me alone! haha.
oh, and number 8 in all the pictures is columbus “cuffs” josh on naz’s 50cc pug. hopefully in two weeks josh will be on plan b and naz will be on that pug!
the stock clutch springs made all the difference! i was easy on the throttle and the thing was still ripping tonight! i have the jetting pretty close at 96 main and 50 idle, my 7 needle is one down from the top (three up). i think i might go with a 97 or 98 main, though.. it’s not lean, but it could be a little more rich for a new kit.
ps, this moped vibrates the shit out of my ass!
however, with all that good news comes the bad news. i fouled out at a light and while checking the plug i noticed the motor was pretty hot.. i turn the crank over with the variator and noticed the fan didn’t turn with it. FAN BROKE AGAIN! GAH!
i haven’t had a chance to pull it a part to see what’s going on, but hey, my new spacer kept the fan from taking out my coils! yay!
while i have it apart i think i’ll pull the top end apart and just give it a look. it didn’t seize on me, but i want to make sure it didn’t take any heat damage or anything.
if i get extra brave, maybe i’ll start on a little porting on it.. but i dunno, i think i should hold off till after the rally.
SO MUCH FUN TO RIDE!
Filed under: performance
it’s been raining a bunch up here in seattle the past couple days (imagine that), so tuning on the ciao has pretty much stopped. lame. about four more days till we leave for the rally, too. super lame.
this version of ciaociao isn’t going to be any kind of speed demon, i don’t think. not for this rally. no time to get it tuned proper.. plus the kit needs some work.
still, it should be a 50mph+ ride, which will be more than enough for me for now! i just want to complete this rally in one piece. then i’ll have all winter to go nuts on this bike. so stoked.
Filed under: carb, cdi, clutch, electronics, fail!, intake, motor, performance, variator, video
so early last week we had a 90+ deg. day here in seattle, which means it probably got up to 3000+ deg. in my bed room. my computer melted down. 
i haven’t had a chance to assess the damage, i’m hoping it was only the video card.
this has made it difficult for me to keep you guys up to date. sorry!
ciaociao’s first start! sorry so dark, austin took that at 3am last thursday, the first day of the rally.
it made the first day! i was stoked.
however, i was plagued with problems. haha
about half way through the ride the clutch bell was billowing smoke. i have yet to tear into it to figure out why. my guess is that one of those malossi springs broke and i was dragging a pad the whole time.
also, i noticed the fan was ungluing itself from the spacer mikemike and i made for it.
the fan was just kind of pressed onto the spacer, and then glued.
the concept was perfect, just the execution was a little off. it fit perfectly.
and it worked great! but the glue was failing, so it’s time for something new. i think we will build another spacer like this one, but give it teeth around the out side, heat it up and press it into the fan. THEN i’ll go over it with some epoxy.
the plastic fan with the tiny rotor reaaaally made this thing rip.
you can kind of tell in the video above that the throttle response is amazing. with no weight on the crank, it would speed up and slow down super fast.. and the whole thing was super simple! well, again, the concept was simple, actually making it happen took some work.
first we made the stator plate and got the coil and everything bolted up. we used a timing light to time it.
then the fan/spacer combo slides down the shaft and rests on the rotor.
then the fan shroud gets bolted on and it’s ready to be put in the frame.
once in the frame, the variator is installed and the big nut smashes everything together.
also, as you can see, the carb fit right in there! it took some manipulation of the frame, and a razor blade to shave down a plastic phbg bowl in just the right spots, but it fits perfect.
so anyway, riding it. i had it jetted waaay too rich. anything past quarter throttle sounded like i was riding under water, it was four stroking so bad.
but it was fast.
man, when i found the sweet spot at 1/4 throttle, the fork would unload and off it went.. it was a little scary. i can’t wait to see what full throttle is like.. oh man.
after the smoky clutch and fan coming apart on me, i decided to put it away for the rest of the rally and to ride a less intense bike.
creature rally is in a month and a half. i was hoping to have this thing painted and finished by then, but i have some serious tuning to do before then, so we’ll see.
i need to jet it proper, need to drill out or find new weights for the variator (it was variating before the clutch would grab, yet would ride wheelies on command), make sure this clutch doesn’t blow up on me and get the fan issue tamed.
and hopefully get the fork finished and loose the heavy bravo forks.
and get the frame braced and welded up.
yay, mopeds are fun again!
Filed under: carb, dellorto, electronics, frame, intake, malossi, paint, performance, transmission
sorry to you guys that follow this. i have been lame about updating. it’s been busy around here! i feel like i need to update more mostly because other than jon’s blog, this is pretty much the only moped build blog that ever gets any updates. at least as far as i know.
well, i have paid for another set of the malossi gears, and they should be on their way soon. i’m going to be buying up a third set as soon as i can too. one set for orange ciao, another set for ciaociao. i was so impressed by the performance gain the gears gave me in la on orange ciao, that i really hate to go back to stock on that bike. that’s why i’m still running around on the broken malossi gears!
speaking of broken malossi gears, i think i should update my installation guide to inform everyone of what i think went wrong, and what i think i need to do to avoid it a second time. i’ll do that soon.
as far as the rest of ciaociao goes, i haven’t made much progress. i need to get on mikemike more about getting with me to machine the remaining electronic parts, and also to weld up the seams on the frame, and get that cross bar in there.
jeb said he has a dellorto si kicking aorund that i can check out to see if it will work for me. the carb for me is either a 20mm si, or a 21 phbg. once i figure out what i’m doing there, then i need to make an intake. that shouldn’t be hard/take long. i hope.
anyway, my goal is to have this bike done (sans powder coating) for the puddle cutter rally in june. i will be riding it in it’s rough and raw stage for that rally. i think i’ll be back in reno (at least for a bit) some time between that rally and creature rally, which means i’ll be able to strip ciaociao down and drive it to sac to have it coated by nate and rafter. save on shipping, and i’ll be able to test ride and tune the crap out of the bike before pumping more money into it for powder coating.
anyway, that’s my update for tonight. there’s more that i could go into, but i’ll save it for another post.
so, before leaving, i put the malossi geared transmission, my malossi variator and the malossi belt in orange ciao to get a feel for everything. with the stock bottom end, a polini kit, 13/13 carb and proma circuit, that thing was hauling some balls! that is, until a washer in the transmission split in two and half of said washer sucked up into the gears and tore out a few teeth.
yeah, i blew up my malossi gears. honestly, i don’t know why that washer broke. it wasn’t the one that i was told some kids leave out, but i think when i rebuild the tranny with a new set i’m going to leave out that washer for sure. also, i’m wondering if my gasket maker seal was too thin? the original paper gasket is pretty thin too, but perhaps with the torquing of the bolts, it caused too much pressure on the washers? i’m going to either make or buy a new paper gasket next time around. maybe i’ll make a thicker one, just to be safe.
at any rate, that was an expensive fuck up. that bike was ripping until i killed it, though!
i’m ordering two more sets of those gears, another variator and belt, and some clutch springs some time soon. i want orange ciao to have the higher ratio gears, and i want a set for ciaociao. they are a HUGE improvement over the stock! well, as long as they don’t blow up on you.
anyway, stock gears for orange ciao for now. i’ll take some pictures of the damage when i tear that tranny apart again.
i was able to limp to choke while in la, where i tore it apart, cleaned out all the metal shards and rebuilt it with fresh oil and a new gasket maker seal. i ran it a few times since then, but it’s kind of scary.. it makes a ton of noise, and you can feel when it hits the spot where teeth are missing. there aren’t any two or more teeth in a row gone, so i’ve been limping around on it until i get around to putting stock back in it. soon, i hope! i don’t want it to lock up on me!
sneak peek!
i was planning on a large update with lots of pics tonight, but i don’t have time to do it just yet. that’ll have to hold you over!
in other news, bought a .net for this blog. i plan to expand the domain and turn it into a place for all of my projects, but for now it belongs to ciaociao.
spacemanicecream.net! i know, right? you’ll see!
