Greetings from Italy & (A Tribute to My old Happy Times Motor)

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Hi, I'm from Italy, Rome to be precise. Over here everyone uses mopeds. I used to want a moped, before I realized what a bureaucratic nightmare it was. Multiple forms had to be filled, and refilled, stamped, lost, and re-re-filled. This is OK for an the Italian who had to deal with copious red-tape an unorganized governing system (which the Italians are famous for) for all their lives, but for a foreigner like me it was like crossing the very bowels of ****. Then a few years ago my Anglo-Italian friend told me to get a motorized bicycle. He said that they were very under-utilized in this very motorcycle obsessed country (vespa, piaggio, and aprilla just to name a few Italian motorcycle manufactures), He also told me Italian Law stipulated that bicycles with engines less than 50cc were road-legal, and could be used bike lanes wherever available. I went out to the flee market a few weeks later and purchased-from this fat Italian bloke-a second hand 80cc happy time motor kit-in good condition of course, he assured me it would do a good 60 kph if I found a road straight and smooth enough to test it. (It was much later i found out that the 80cc was closer to 68cc, and that the actual to top speed was only 45 kilometers per hour). Anyways at the time I was thrilled and for 150 Euros he installed my motor, gave me an oil gas mixing container, and assured me that he would fix any mechanical problems free of charge in my bike for a year. That was 3 1/2 years ago, since then despite occasional visits to the fat mechanic, whenever the engine backfired as a result of my exuberant driving, and every once in a while when I screwed up the gas oil, mixture. And despite my discovering of the motors inflated specs, I loved the thing, I polished and greased it weekly. I rode 10 km to work every day and back for years and years, and I took for city cruises during the weekend. Then one day i began to notice problems, engine stalls during red lights, increased amount of smoke from the exhaust, and most disturbingly of a strange rattling sound from the innards of my machine. I took it to my fat mechanic who prodded my machine with his salami fingers, then he looked at me and shook his head, I took it as a sign that my bike was doomed-he poured out a string of Italian jargon that i didn't understand-he was saying something about the wear on the crank shaft, and how the carburetor was messed up. He asked me how many kilometers I did on the motor. I replied that I didn't know but because of my constant riding of the it I guessed 3,000 kilometers. He shook his head again and to took it as a cue and left. I guessed from the good condition in which i bought my 2nd hand motor that it had at least 500km on it. That bought the total of millage on the motor to a whopping 3,500 km. It's time was up and the mechanical grim reaper bore down upon my motor with full force. I did not attempt to start the motor ever again (although I still greased it regularly), and started a search for a new engine. The search eventually lead me here, and the rest of it as they say, is history... :cry: :cry:

PS: I attached a picture of my bike. One of my few most treasured possessions.
 

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Have you thought about rebuilding it, if it's capable?
You can get a lot of help in here with pics and all.
It may not be as hard as you think.
Welcome
Doc
 
Yes, good intro. Welcome to MBc. As Doc said, they could help you rebuild it (I'm rack mount myself).
 
welcome...you can replace the carb and motor for a new one for like 100 euros for sure!
 
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