Newbie - 1999 Gilera Runner 50 SP

Hi All!

Newbie here after just having taken delivery of a 1999 Gilera Runner 50 SP, well I should say my partners taken delivery, I'll be hot footing it home at lunchtime to see it in the flesh

I had a couple of bikes six or so years ago, an Aprilia RS125 FP followed by a Yamaha RD125 twin with Micron pipes in speed block yellow, I loved the Aprilia but it blew up and couldn't I afford to fix it, the RD125 was OK but just totally different and it never really ran right.

So I sort of called it a day after that, however I'm a huge bike racing fan so my love for bikes was never going to go away, these days I generally follow all classes in BSB,WSB, MotoGP, Road Racing and a bit of Speedway if I can, and I'm off to the TT in a couple of weeks.. its fair to say this is enough of a hobby in itself! But you can't be this much of a bike fan and not own some kind of bike right?

So I figured a scooter would be a great and easy way to get back in to bike ownership/riding at low cost. I initially decided on an Aprilia SR50, and was after an original one with some sensible mods but after missing out on three in a row I started looking further afield and have ended up with a 1999 Gilera Runner 50 SP, it's blue and yellow, and aesthetically pretty much stock, however it has a stage 6 70cc streetrace kit with a Leo Vince pipe, gear up kit and other bits and pieces, so should be fun!

I'll get some pics up as soon as I can and I have LOADS of questions to ask.. so will no doubt speak with some of you soon

Cheers,

Dan

 

Hello Dan and welcome to the scooter shack

 

And this is my bike

 

A tidy runner for a change, nice one

 

Thanks Steve, yes its nice and original bar the engine upgrades, only had three owners before me with 14,000 miles on the clock. The plan is to keep it standard externally but I will look to make some technical upgrades as I go along.

 

You've already got the cylinder kit and pipe so I'd leave it at that and enjoy it.
Maybe fit a good alarm and immobiliser to it, but other than that, leave it as is.

 

Yea won't go crazy.. but it needs a few basic bits that are looking a little tired -
1.rear numberplate, gone for a legal size one with purple border and Gilera 50 SP at the bottom,
2. Michelin Bopper rear tyre to match the front, currently has a Kings on the rear, never heard of them
3. YSS Pro-X rear shock as original is a little rusty
4. New engine mount/swinging arm - any rubber mount deserves replacing at 18 yrs old!
5. New side stand
6. Malossi Air Force crankcase as paint is flaking off original
7. Quick action throttle

 

So I've been buying bits for the bike, though somehow almost nothing on the above list!! I got a brand new headlight assembly from pedparts as figured seeing as Piaggio have discontinued it was worth grabbing one while I could. Now its fitted its made me realise how tired the original was looking and how nice the new one looks!

I also picked up some Malossi 4.3gr rollers, a new air filter, some fuel hoses, some new stickers, variator locking tool, rear brake lever and a few other bits, the new numberplate also turned up. Everything is fitted now bar the fuel lines which hopefully I can do tonight, looking forward to seeing what difference the lighter rollers make..

 

So still moving along nicely with this, see my other thread for how much better the lighter rollers have made the bike.. still got the fuel lines to sort but have now also picked up the following;

New Michelin Bopper rear tyre
NOS front wheel in the right colour (dead chuffed with this find as the paint is flaking from the original)
Genuine oil pump drive belt
Front brake lever

Thinking I might just get a new brake disc and front tyre for the new front wheel, then once it's all done I won't have to worry about it again, would also mean I'd have a ready to fit complete front wheel assembly as a spare should I ever need it.

Next up will be the side stand and shock, trying to decide between the YSS Pro-X & the YSS Mono, the latter looks a nicer unit but is twice the price..

 

right guys, so I guess we're now into more or less a full project! Mods maybe better to move this to the project section!

So I had a bit of an odd one on the way to work the other week, the bike lost all power at around 45mph when accelerating into a national speed limit, this only lasted a few seconds and then picked up again, and rode fine for the rest of the journey and all the way home. however I was also noting a different tone from the bike at idle so had a few concerns. Time for a little investigation, I also had some new variator sliders and a new oil pump belt to fit so thought I'd get them done and check for crank play whilst I was there.. long story short there is play in the crank up and down and backwards/forwards, and a light knock can be heard if you wiggle it enough, plus the variator backplate is stuck on the crank and won't budge no matter what I do.. Balls.

I'd hoped to get a bit more out of the bottom end but then again I did know it was the original and the bike has done around 15,000 miles, so its about time anyway. After finding this and fearing the hiccup the engine had may have been a soft seize and the sound at idle a sign of a bottom end on the verge of expiring, I've not ridden the bike since and have been working out the best way to go forward..

Now I was already in the middle of a few jobs, namely getting ready to buy a new Michelin tyre/front disc and pads for the NOS front wheel I picked up, and also having a second hand rear wheel refurbed (going for powdercoating it yellow as don't think I'll ever get a match on the original purple) and fitting the new rear Michelin tyre I've already bought..

However I hate having lots of jobs going on at the same time as from experience it always snowballs and before you know it you have a full on resto on your hands! My goal instead is to make sure any 'off road' periods such as this are kept to an absolute minimum, the bike needs to be working well and ready to ride as much as is possible.

So, the front wheel goes to the back of the list along with some other bits, and the engine is now number 1 with the rear wheel and tyre being done also before it's back on the road - I want this to be mid July latest.

After going through the options I've decided to remove the engine myself and strip it as best I can, then take it to a specialist to split the cases and fit the new crank, seals and piston, I'll then complete the top end rebuild and fit everything back up. My first choice was going to be Pedparts to make life easier as I generally prefer them for supplying parts, but with no workshop availability for months I've gone with Jahspeed instead, a local company with seemingly vast experience in tuning and racing Vespa's, so more than suitable for my little job.

So between pedparts and pmt I've managed to drain a few hundred quid from my account on parts, but hey in for a penny in for a pound..

The result goes something like this;

Top Performance original crankshaft
Top Performance crank bearings and seals
Stage 6 70cc Streetrace piston kit
New oil pump with new pipework
Genuine oil pump and water pump drive cogs
Genuine water pump
New exhaust studs and head nuts
Motorforce racing variator kit
Genuine rear hub bearing
Capelli in line fuel filter
and various other bits like transmission cover inspection rubber and rear wheel nut cover

I decided not to go for a particularly high spec build, but instead make sure I cover all the ancillaries so everything is brought up to a decent level, rather than an awesome crank and bearings, but knackered waterpump, variator and oil pump etc. Hopefully this will be the right way to go and I'll end up with a strong reliable little motor.

 

Hi guys,

I'm going to be reluctantly putting the Gilera up for sale soon.. I started stripping it down to do the engine rebuild and a few other bits so it's currently stripped of bodywork which is in my loft and the engine is on my workbench. I've not touched it in months now and have decided my hearts not really in it so better it goes to someone else to be rebuilt how they want.

The basics are its a 1999 SP in Giallo Sole/Purplish Blue Pearl (very rare) with 15,000 miles on the clock and only 3 prev owners, it has two keys and lots of history and some good upgrades, inc stage 6 70cc streetrace, Malossi gear up kit and Leo Vince ZX pipe It had brand new forks for its last MOT and will come with all the spares listed in this thread and other bits like the brand new headlight assembly, NOS front wheel and a genuine Gilera top box and mount.

Below is a pic of before I stripped it down, give me a shout if your interested.

 

Really sorry to see it went wrong for you is a lovley example

You didn’t say how much you’d like for it?