Do I need to go faster than 105KPH on 10" wheels?

210cc! That's Wicked!!

As is mentioned on the pistonported.com page....

"The SS barrel has more wall thickness than the GS160 and can be bored out to accommodate a P200 piston for a resulting capacity of 210cc"

I'd be interested to hear from people who've done this?

Big Bertha

I bought this custom VBC from Dave in Coffs Harbour. She's a bit of a beast. I couldn't believe my eyes when I first laid eyes on her.

She's W I D E R

& L O N G E R

than your average VBC 150 Super.

From what I can tell its been put together using an APE shield or something similar as the legshield is seamless all the way to the engine. Looking underneath you can see all the criss cross stamping pattern in the body although its a lot bigger than my others. There a bit of bog in the panels but all in all she's not too bad. She starts first kick and thanks to her big expansion chamber pipe, sounds pretty good too.

You can't always get what you want

The GS Super Sport

Known as the SS180 Super Sport

Piaggio came out with this robust model in 1964, read more about it here at pistonported.com

http://216.32.198.134/history180SS.htm

I've never been what you'd call a purist when it comes to the Vespa, but I did always have my poster model that I wanted. The elusive GS seemed to be the much sought after model by Vespa people everywhere dreaming of their favourite or most desired scooter. It was on my list (still is I guess) for many years but having recently purchased a '67 SS180 I think I can safely say, this is it. I love her and from what I have read over the years she will treat me to some great power and reliable performance when I finally get her up and running and tuned properly, including replacing all dodgey bits for NOS if I can find it. Luckily I have established a big network of scooter parts suppliers worldwide for my parts business so I am hoping that finding crucial bits and bobs won't be too hard. I am very lucky to have found an SS in this condition, albeit under some shitty cheapo chrome and 2 tone paintjob, but the bits I need to be working well are all fine and the work is mostly fiddling with electrics and updating things I need to be A1 for safety, like brakes, cables, lights, tyres and that's all pretty easy for this scooterchick to handle :)

more to come

A new scooter, It was meant to be.

This scooter thing is a real disease. You get the bug badly and if you are lucky enough to be able to stop yourself at one, all power to you! Hasn't worked for me. I'm hooked.

Let me introduce Sophia, a '67 SS180 in fairly good nic for an import. I'm doing a bit of a rebirth with her so expect it to take some time but was very happily surprised with the overall condition and fundamental running gear all fantastic. (note here, if the fundamentals are buggered I'd recommend that you didn't attempt a resto-too hard!)

So the price was right, the colour is my favourite in the world (that lovely cobalt blue) and its a 1967 SS just like me!! (born in 67 and my initials are SS) It was meant to be!! :)

So another project has started, great for winter and in lead up to my dream trip to Italy- planned for September or October when the weather is great and scooting through Tuscany will be a dream. I've found the Vespa Hire place, but at $66 euro a day I've been haggling! :) I have friends over there (Hi Zayney) who say they can find me an older vespa to 'borrow' for a few weeks but will see what they come up with first i think!

Stay tuned for the trip plan- will add it all here as I make decisions about where I'm staying etc

I'll be centering around this lovely quaint area of Italy, staying near here-Montalcino- as I have has dreams of riding through those avenues of pines since I was about 18! :)

Staying in agriturismo as it's cheap and gorgeous!

The SS

First step, getting rid of the inappropriate chrome!

As you can never trust what fuel mix the previous owner has used or how much they have cared for the fuel system, my first job with a new scooter (before I even try to kick it over for the first time) is to empty the fuel tank and check it out.

You may not like what you find!

This is what was left after the fuel came out! Ick!

So it's pointless cleaning the tank and renewing the fuelcock filters etc if you don't go through the entire sytem from woe to go so I renewed the old fuel line, filters and float as it was flooding the carb due to a small hole allowing fuel in making it too heavy to engage float needle, hence too much fuel and then moved on to the engine....




Systematically checking all the other crucial bits and pieces for wear and tear

Get ready for the big clean

I love a good winter project, I have to order some parts & will be spending lots of cold hours in the workshop over the next month or so but it will be a dream when I can roll her out of the shed when it's done.

Parts needed (that I know of so far)

gear sleeve washer

oil seals as is running very rich for no real reason

front wheel bearings

carb gasket set and maybe new needle?

Air filter (might put a foam pod in there yet?)

Points set

front and rear badges just to make her look right