An update on James Story

An update on James' Story

I bet she gallops now James!

Regular readers of this blog will remember James' story.
(click here to read the initial story)

He fell in love with a Vespa in Bali and had to have her so he imported her back to Australia and went about his new life as a classic Vespa owner.
Sadly he had a few headaches with her initially but here's his latest update. Warms the cockles.....


"Things have been going great. The scooter is running like a top! Absolutely no issues at all. Have been on many club rides - took it to the National Classic Scooter Rally to Dalesford which was a fast and long ride with 300 scooters and she rode like a champ. Just got back form the Mods Vs' Rockers on Sunday which was a hoot. Motor wise - have done a few mods, Hotwing Vintage 226 pipe, Pinasco 177 kit, pot matched and inlet extended, 24/24 Si carb, Ducati 1.8kg Flywheel, corsa clutch and Mazzuchelli race cut crank. Body has held up fine. No suspicious bumps, cracks or blisters. Absolutely no structural concerns, I have put this scooter through alot, heavy bumps, braking as speed and if anything was going to go wrong it would have a year and a half ago. I ride this scooter every day, its my transportation to work. She never seems to missed a beat - except for the odd cable or spark plug of coarse - general scooter stuff"

Check out those mods! :)
You go James! (& now you can.....a lot faster too!)

Where's the last 12 months gone??

The SS180 Project Takes Off.....again!



Well the last 12 months have flown by, I have only just stopped to take a 'breather' and it's something I could get used to! I'm having a little holiday before I finish my Diploma in OHS as that will be full on for a while.

As the weather warms up I'm getting more excited about the prospect of getting my SS180 up and running for summer. I am also slowly coming to terms that my lifestyle doesn't allow me the time to enjoy all scooters in my collection so will downsize from 4 to 2. I will be keep the SS and my new GTS which has become my daily scoot due to the pure ease and reliability of the ride. I love it.
It is possible to enjoy both classics and twisties as they each have their own uses in my eyes.

There's so many scooter sites out there where the hardcore classic scooter owners spend a lot of time slagging off the new scooters and their riders as having 'sold out' somehow. This has always puzzled me.

Surely it's about the feeling of freedom you get from scootering, the whole experience, the rush of being on the scooter and out for a lovely ride - not about the type of engine under you?


So, personally I quite enjoy the options of having both.
The classics come out on a sunny day for a glorious ride around the bay or for a leisurely trip through the countryside for a picnic.

The GTS300 comes out for the quick trip to the shop where I know I can jump on and go with no hassles, no last minute cable checks or oil top ups, it's easier than the car for the dart up to the butcher, a drop off to the post office or my favourite, a lovely 110kph cruise on the open roads in pure comfort and safety.


So now I am trolling through the buckets of parts I have for the SS to make sure I now have all the bits I need to put the engine back in.
Higgo is going to fix up a few things for me first like the cases, there's the odd hammer and chisel gouge in there from trying to get seals in or out!



There's also a tiny little hole about 5mm in one corner of the case, Higgo will weld this up for me. This little hole in itself would have made the scooter hard to start surely? No wonder the previous owner was so frustrated with her.

We'll also fix the gear selector rod hole behind the gear selector box, this has been made wider for some reason or maybe just shagged out due to age?

I'm not sure how long this project will actually take to finish, there's no rush for it as long as it's done properly. It's been fairly easy so far to find the parts I've needed. BG at GPS Imports in Melbourne has had some ripper parts there for me. I nearly fell over when I called to ask if he had an SS180 front hub assembly in stock, (as mine had just crumbled in my hands) holding my breath with all fingers crossed....."Yep, got one here" OMG! :)
I did some shopping at SIP and Beedspeed overseas and found lots of little goodies...so it's time to get the 'explosion' drawings out and see if I do have everything for the rebuild.
The next installment will show pics of the cases and hubs etc being fixed, welded and milled. Higgo seems to think I'll be able to do the milling myself with some guidance so we'll see...gulps!
His collections of mills and lathes is amazing so there's nothing that can't be done.

Last month we did a job for a guy in Canberra, his flyside key way was well and truly flogged out and was ready to go in the bin. Others had told him to scrap it.


Higgo filled it in by welding it up, milled it all and re-cut a new key way all for under $200!
It fits like a glove with no movement at all and we think it will run better than it ever has :)