Subject: RE: Vintage Vespa (no loop content)
Author: Lannis
Date: Jan 1, 2005, 11:15 PM
Post ID: 1718139924
Cam Conklin wrote:
I have a chance to buy a 1961(or 1962) Vespa buried in some old ladies shed a few miles away from my house. Met the owner's son (HD guy) one day riding the Eldo and got to BS'ing. He said the scooter was all that's left of his dead father's vintage collection of bikes. He says everything was rebuilt, and the body primered, before it's storage almost 20 years ago! The wife (mine)is looking for an Italian ride too, and this may be the ticket. Are Vespas easy to wrench, and parts readily available? Fully restored Vespas are bring in $3-4K. Sounds like it's ready for paint. I'll be checking it out tomorrow, any input is much appreciated. Cam in NJ '74 Eldo Police |
My dad had a '61 150cc Vespa, and I bought a new '78 P200E Vespa as my
full-time ride, put quite a few miles on it in lots of conditions, rode
it from Georgia to Virginia once.
They're Italian through and through, anybody who fools with Italian
motorcycles or my Italian "BCS" brand garden tiller will instantly
recognize the technology and the techniques they used in designing and
assembling them.
If your wife treats it like an antique with poor brakes and vile
handling (which they all had), as if it were a Villiers-engined James or
a BSA Beagle or a Motobecane moped, she can have a lot of fun with it.
But the 150cc motor will push those 10" wheels, that stamped sheet-metal
frame, and those single-sided wheel mounts WAY faster than those
components can handle the pavement, in my opinion after some years of
riding one (in between an RD400C Yamaha and an R65 BMW). A nice ride in
town at 45 MPH or less, or on unpainted country roads with no traffic.
Don't get caught on an urban interstate with one, it'll turn your hair
white.....
Lannis