P200E Engine Project By Kaveman (Read 3,735 times)

[Kaveman]

Now that I have had my Stella 2T for almost 9 months. I have decided to do a complete engine build up. This time I am thinking way out of the box . 200CC !! The Rally 200, P200E and PX200 engines were the largest engines Piaggio made for their Vespa 2 cycle scoots. Original production started in the early 70's and ended with the PX200 Series in the 80's . Funny thing is that they used the same crankcase model markings ( VSE1M) for all 3 series engines . The crankcase serial numbers were varied aswell between the 3 200cc engine series . The frame markings that the engines went into was VSX marked . The original Rally 200 engines used a set of points. Later on they were upgraded to a ducati style electronic ignition system . So far I have the crankcase and some of the smaller parts . I hope to have this completed by next spring (or as funds permit) . My crankcase is a late 70's Rally 200 according to the markings on it . It doesn't have the auto oil injection feature . Piaggio made both an injected and a non injected crankcase for the Rally 200 Series . The later P200E and PX200E went with the oil injection system if I am correct (I could be wrong ) . The crankcases have what looks like 3 ports .On the stock crankcases only the top port is used (see my added diagram ) . The Rally 200 crankcase mold was originally made from a stock Vespa 150cc engine mold with the upper part of the mold modified for the 200cc cylinder and additional port .That may explain why there are 3 ports and only one used on the stock 200cc crankcases. Tho I am doing this the hardway I am doing it to learn . Thats all for the moment . Updates will be posted as my project progresses.
Cheers !
Will c.













shows clutch plates


These go inside the cluster gear seen below.

[Kaveman]

One more quick note : the 2 cycle Vespa's and Stella 2T's (made by LML in India) don't have a twist and go transmission like the Chinese scooters have . The original Vespa scooters in the late 50's initially had a 3 speed manual transmission. Piaggio later went to a 4 speed manual transmission that was carried into the PX and later on the LML made Stella 2t's.There are no belts or weights in the transmssion like the chinese scoots have . Everything is gear ratios . It took me close to 2 months just to get used to the shifting patern that my Stella 2T has . What was my rear brake lever on my old Roketa is now the clutch and the shifting is done with the left wrist. The rear brake is now on the right floorboard. One last note : (My opinion )The Vespa and LML parts quality are far more superior than what the chinese scoots have. They last much longer !! will c.

[jct842]

The rear brake has been on the floor boards with most scooters for a long long time. Even the twist a go scooters. It was just the last few years that they went to a left hand brake lever. I think right up the the last honda helix they had the floor brake. I am thinking the feds may have had some thing to do with the hand brake lever over the floor brake. I think the hand brake might just be a tad quicker to apply is the reasoning. I had a wards branded mitsubishi silver pigeon in 1958, twist and go and a foot brake. It takes some thinking when I ride my riva after a majesty or my 150 chinese as it is foot brake.

There are some who have grafted a vespa straight into a stella with no problems at all so you are on the right track possibly swapping internals.

john

[Bashan]

Wow, very nice and informative thread already Will, thanks for taking the time to put that together. I look forward to future additions on your project. We finally got somebody around here that knows what the hell their talking about with two strokes. Rich

[Kaveman]

Here is one more picture that shows the difference of cylinder bolts holes on the Vespa P200 crankcase when compared to a Vespa VLB1M ( Sprint 150)crankcase . The bolt holes are digonal instead of horizontal like on the VLB1M crankcase (left picture) .

[Kaveman]

This is my first posting here in a very long time. So here is an update on my project. The engine has been running relatively well since being built. The cylinder head had to be replaced 2 seasons ago. Last spring I decided to try a Cosa type clutch. This type of clutch was an upgrade from the standard clutch basket and has 8 smaller springs but uses similar cork clutch plates. Using the stock clutch was getting to be a bit of a pain when riding about Boise. Having had 2 standard type clutches in row come apart inside the clutch area, I decided after digging on the issue online that I needed something that would be a bit more rigid and durable. The outer edges on the standard clutch baskets I was using that held the retaining circlip were opening out,causing the clutch to come apart. This was most likely due to the high centrifugal forces during high speed operation @ 50+mph. The cosa type clutches are built a bit differently but interchangeable with the large frame clutch's I had previously been using. After getting it installed I noticed a huge difference concerning the clutch. The clutch is actually a bit easier to activate and less tiring to use compared to the stock 7 spring clutch I previously used. Also I don't have to use the old castle type nut that bolts the clutch to the crankshaft. The cosa clutch uses a flange type nut instead that uses a standard metric socket instead of a special tool to tighten or remove the castle nut commonly used on the older vespa scooters. One less special tool to pack around in my scooters glove box. The scooters frame now has 11,000 + miles on the odometer . Not a pretty as she was when I got her but still putting along with maintenance when needed. What I am hoping with the cosa clutch I am now using is that I won't have to replace the clutch cable as much like I used to with the older style clutch I was using.They were snapping every so often due to the high tension on them. There is less tension on the cable now with the cosa installed. More as thing scoot along. willc. One other note : The cats still run the house!

[geh3333]

I just bought a couple new scoots 5he "spark 150's" and I'm really impressed with these scoots compared to the one I had back in 2014. It has the 14 inch wheels and even has Bluetooth with a charging port , sd port and controls for volume ,track change and a small speaker which I can surprisingly hear, lol. I bought a few cvt and engine upgrades .

[geh3333]