Picked up the Scooter, did some work on it

Sunday morning I picked up the scooter with the help of a friend and his family's truck. We took it back to his place where his father in law is letting me use one of his barns to work on it and store it when needed. 

Since the Vespa is not insured or registered yet I did not want to drive it on the roads,  so we tinkered around with the carburetor settings and I rode it around the driveway. It was running rich in the fuel mixture and the spark plug was covered with black oily soot. After adjustments it ran better but was harder to start. I may be starting it wrong, I am going to try to get more info on starting procedures.

I also removed the P series horn cast/cover which revealed the old VLB horn cast had been cut away for the modification. It seems this was a type of modification done in Italy durning the 80s to make an older scooter seem more stylish like the P-Series Vespas with out buying a new one.

The leg shield glove box and the left cowl were also part of that 80s modification. I'm going to get a replacement left cowl/glovebox and probably remove the P-Series leg shield one. Replacing the horn cast will be much more difficult to find a replacement part as no one carries that as a part and they are welded to the leg shield. I think my best option will be to find a wrecked beyond repair frame and take the horn casting from that. If I can't find a wrecked frame, then I may need to ask at Asian 'restoration' shops to see if they can sell me one.

I also changed the gear oil, ran the engine then changed it again, flushed out the remaining oil then topped it off. The engine requires very little oil, all of the oil I drained only filled a Coke bottle halfway. There were metal bits in the oil, most of them were metal filing size but there were a few larger ones. I hope the larger ones are parts of the clutch pressure pads and not broken gear bits.

I'm getting the insurance and registration Wednesday, I plan on riding the scooter to work on Friday. 

Saturday I am taking it in to San Francisco to have it inspected by a scooter mechanic to make sure everything is working ok and it is safe to drive. I still intend on rebuilding the engine this winter and possibly restoring the body. The cable housings are are worn and the electrical can stand to be upgraded to 12 volts with a new wiring harness.

Interest and Research

Buying the Vespa is something I did not do lightly. Ever since I saw Vespas in a visit to Costa Rica in the early 80's, I wanted to own one.

So, one day I was browsing Ebay for something unrelated and stumbled across this great looking Vespa for a decent price. I started looking at all the Vespas available and there were quite a few good looking machines. Then I noticed most of them were from Vietnam or other Asian countries. So I thought to myself this made sense and it was not a problem except for shipping since there are a great number of Vespas in Asia. 

Two things stopped me from bidding right then. Second hand items coming from another country (especially Asian countries) are subject to fraud. Then there was the fact I did not have enough money to bid at the time, but I was expecting extra cash the next month.

So I spent the next few days looking at the models available and ran across an Ebay item boldly stating it was not a Vietnam restoration. I found the guides in Ebay explaining the problems with Vietnam restorations, and then I found the Scooterbbs forums. So I was pretty much warned off importing a scooter.

So I started looking more locally for a Vespa. I did find scootrs.com and decided if I did not find a suitable scooter by the end of August I would order one from them. Though they are from Vietnam, they were the only Asian restorations that had decent marks.

Per advice already posted on the scooterbbs, I started looking for a P or PX series Vespa. I wanted the classic style and an older machine, these were recommended for a first time buyer. I thought I had found one at a shop in Portland, Oregon, but it turns out it was already sold some time ago and they had not updated their webpage in several months.

I found the scoot.net classifieds and inquired on a couple there, but they also were already sold. I posted there I was looking for a P-Series Vespa and received one reply, but the scooter had way too much chrome for my taste. (I'm a minimalist when it come to chrome.)

I was also looking in the west coast Craigslist classifieds. There I saw a couple prospects for a good price on the SF Craigslist, but by the time I was heading to look at them, they were already sold. I started checking the SF Craigslist and Scoot.net classifieds every 20 to 30 minutes everyday.

During this time I continued to research Vespas and bought several books for reference.

Then I saw a VLB Sprint 1966 for $2k in the SF Craigslist and immediately replied to the ad asking to inspect the scooter as soon as possible. I got a reply saying the sellers were going out of town and would let me see it when they returned. I also was heading out of town coming back a day later that the sellers. I asked (begged) them to let me see it first, explaining I had several scooters sold before I could see them. They agreed and we set up an appointment for the day after I returned.

The sellers got several emails inquiring about the scooter and one offering $300 more. The sellers contacted me asking if I was still interested and told me about the higher offer. I told them I was still interested and would match the offer if I decided to buy it after inspection. They were very nice and agreed to let me have first refusal.

When I saw the scooter, it I was able to recognize it had a few non standard body parts, but it ran fine after a few kicks. They mentioned that the spark plug needed to be replaced often and sometime was hard to start on a cold engine with an older plug. The engine seemed to be quite powerful once started and the body was in decent shape, so I put down a deposit. The sellers wanted to keep it until the end of the month, since they used it as a daily commuter.

I decided to buy this one instead of the newer P models due to frustration of not finding a good P and I knew I should be able to care for this one from my experience of working on cars earlier in my life. I also have a co-worker/friend who offered a space in his barn to work on the scooter.

I will be picking up the scooter the last sunday in July from the sellers. They seemed very honest and were very nice in working with me to let me have first dibs. They loved the scooter and wanted to see it go to a good home.

Just Bought

Just purchased a vintage Vespa, a unrestored 1966 VLB Spirit for $2300. Now the insanity can begin.

I bought the vespa from a couple who are grad students moving to upstate New York and they can not take the scooter with them. They had been using it as a commuter to Be

rkeley from their home.

I put down a deposit but won't take delivery until the 27th since they are still using it.

Pictures below.