Ahem, hands-up those that have heated a set of casings up in their state of the art fan oven, whilst the missus has been out? If this is the case, you’ll almost certainly have ensured the main bearings to go in them have been chilling nicely in the equally state of the art American Fridge Freezer.
The ingenuity of Scooterists never ceases to amaze, particularly when the use of domestic every day items are freely available to use. Well, I say freely, it usually means waiting for the wife to Bugger Off to Bingo.
From fitting oil seals with a hairdryer we now take a look at retrieving a speedo collar nut with a Vacuum Cleaner and contributor Leif-Svante Niestaedt has won himself a SLUK Tee shirt for his trouble.
Evaporated
You know the drill, removing the headset top from a Lambretta and indeed some of the earlier Vespa P Ranges, you undo the speedo cable collar nut at the base of the speedo fork tube. Of course, there should be a rubber O Ring which prevents this from happening, but unfortunately these have a tendancy to evaporate quicker than a gallon of Buckfast at a Glaswegian Vagrants Society Meeting.
Upside Down
So let’s have a look at your options right now, do you swear? (Probably) curse the so called designers for their massive oversight here and swear some more, (probably) curse yourself for not putting a zip tie under the Collar Nut the last time this happened (probably) Consider getting your mate out to help you turn the scooter upside down and retrieve the wandering part (probably). In fairness these are all probable thoughts and considerations however, the best thing to do here, right now, is get the Hoover out.
Henry the Hoover
Now, most modern Cyclone style Vacuum Cleaners have a fair amount of sucking power. I’m pretty much convinced that a lower powered bag-equipped cleaner just ain’t gonna cut the mustard here. So with this in mind and with the hoover nozzle over the speedo cable and fork tube (see pic) , turn on the suction and the relatively light collar nut should be drawn back up to where it needs to be. You’ll have to quick with the fingers on your other hand to grab it, but within two or three tries you should have it.
Back under the Stairs
With the collar nut in place once more, place some either some tape around the cable, underneath the collar as Leif-Svante has done, or use a zip tie, as suggested earlier. Then simply return the Vacuum Cleaner to it’s usual place under the stairs and act like nothing has happened when the wife gets home……..You did get that casing out of the oven Didn’t You?
Top Tip and Photos from Leif-Svante Niestaedt.
Win a SLUK T-Shirt
To be in with a chance of winning one of our fine SLUK T-shirts, send in your Scooterist Tip, along with how and why it’s used and enough decent photos, or a video of it being used. If we publish yours you’ll get a T-Shirt, simple.
Send them in to Editorial@ScooterLab.UK and title the email ‘Scooterist Tip’.
