ciaociao

ok, this little how-to will show you how to install those shiny new malossi gears.

first of all, you should know that you must have a transmission from a variated vespa to do this mod. any variated vespa will do (bravo, si, grande), but a stock ciao transmission will not work. bummer if you don’t have the proper one.

this photo shows you nearly everything you’ll need;

-variated vespa transmission
-malossi racing gear set (got mine from fred, but malossi direct has them cheap as well.)
-10mm wrench

other useful items not shown include either a transmission rebuild kit (new gasket, new bearings) or if your bearings look ok, some gasket paper to make yourself a new gasket, and some 90w gear oil.
i learned the hard way that you want to use gasket paper at least as thick as the original gasket, preferably a little thicker even. the first time i installed these gears in a transmission, i used grey gasket maker. the gasket maker junk squeezed too thin when i torqued down the tranny cover, putting too much pressure on the washers inside, causing one to split. the split washer ruined my day, to say the least.

after cleaning the transmission up real well to get all the gross off of it and draining it of its oil, you’ll want to remove the four bolts located on the front that hold the cover on. once removed, you should see something along the lines of this:

take care not to lose any of the washers. it’s no big deal if they fall out, it’s pretty obvious where they go when you start putting things back together, just don’t lose them.

once you have the transmission case split, go ahead and remove all the worthless stock gears. you could take note of where they go if you feel the need, but the point of this write up is that you don’t have to remember any of that because i will tell you what to do. dur.

now you’ll want to have a look at your needle bearings to make sure everything looks a-ok. mine looked perfect, and this made me happy. it would have sucked to have to stop now that everything’s torn apart and order a rebuild kit.


everything looks good here!

now that you’ve successively dumped the remaining oil that didn’t drain from the gearbox all over your brand new back patch by accident, you can move on and start installing the new gears.

fist, install the drive axle with the spring, large washer and set pin in the right locations. the order should go as such;
large flat washer
big springy spring
larger flatter washer
set pin

you’ll now notice that the largest of the gears in your malossi gear set has that flat notch through it, allowing it to fit perfectly over the set pin on your main drive shaft. how convenient!

you’ll notice the last of the two large flat washers goes on the shaft over the gear, as shown in the photo.
EDIT! NOTE! LOOKIT! i want to make a quick note here, in my pictures i have the large cog (only one installed so far in the above picture) in upside down. it will still work just fine this way, but clicking the transmission into bicycle mode will not work as proper, and may not work at all. i found this out after writing this write up and i never did come back and correct it.. sorry duders! everything else is a-ok! /EDIT! /NOTE! /LOOKIT!

here is where i start to wish i had used a flash for my photos. also, i should mention that you could probably do the previous steps last if you so choose. it might actually make every thing easier in the end. i’m just writing this the way i did it, which worked just fine for me.

once you have the main dive gear installed onto your main drive shaft, you’re ready to install the next gear.
the gear you’ll want is the one with the larger fine toothed cog on bottom, and the smaller course toothed cog on top. don’t forget to put one of the small flat washers between the gear and the bearing. slide a second flat washer over the top of the gear once you have it in. it should look something like this:

as you are installing these gears, you’ll notice there’s a pattern going on with the washers and gears. it’s pretty simple, really.. washer gear washer. washer gear washer.

let’s move on. it should be obvious which one comes next, but i’ll explain it anyway.
next is the gear with the smallish, fine toothed cog and a long collar. the cog goes down, and the collar goes up, frat boy style.
don’t forget your washers!

sweet action! now all you’ve got left is the clutch drive axle!
axle goes in!

now that you have everything sitting where it belongs, it is time to install your new gasket. go on, i’ll wait.

ok, now that you have your gasket in place, go ahead and slide the transmission face plate onto the clutch drive shaft and set it in place. it might take some working of the large cog to get it in right, as the spring keeps trying to push it up out of position.
slap that shit on and bolt it down!

there you have it! are you ready to haul ass? because your vespa is! well, it will be once you re-install everything on the bike. and don’t forget to refill your tranny with w90 gear oil!
have fun! show those vespa haters that we really can go fast!