Goodbye Beautiful Lola

See ya later Lola, it's been a hoot of a scoot!

Well the time had finally come to clear out the shed, a couple of my scooters just had to go. Being self employed is great but not having the time to get the scooters out was starting to get me down, just seeing them sitting there was making it worse.

The decision of what to keep and what to sell was fairly easy. The GTS is my main mode of transport these days, for the short trips to the shop, the long trips into the country and every other trip in between. My SS180 is still very much a work in progress and my favourite old scooter & therefore 'Sophia' just had to stay. So that leaves Francesca and Lola.

Lola was my first classic Vespa and it was kind of sad to have to let her go. Francesca (or Fat Franki as I often call her) is on the market too, she's been fun to play with over the last few years but she's just not getting used and I am so sure someone will love her.

So...Lola went to her new owners today, Sue and Darren are going to take her to Western Australia for her new life. I am sure she'll be loved and looked after but I have to admit, I felt a bit sad this afternoon to watch her loaded up and driven away. 

Sellers remorse? 

Maybe.

What's the ONLY thing to do in this situation? 

Yep...go for a good long scoot!

I came back with a smile on my face and I feel a whole lot better about it.

Thanks Bella ;)

Fat Franki up for Sale

Time to clear out the shed, I have decided it's fun to have the Vespa collection but not so much fun with no time to dedicate to them so am flogging 2 off.
First to go, on ebay as we speak...
Fat Franki, I'll miss you but someone else will love you!

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 :)

What do we have here?

I've had an email from a mate in Indonesia who has come across these old girls in a shop workshop/shed and wants to know if I want them??? Hmmmm?? What to do? ;)

Looks like a couple of old GS150's to me, and the gold handlebar model with farro basso lamp..? Not sure??

I'm awaiting prices on stripping, crating and shipping first before deciding what to do but not much known on their history so that can be hard.

Another barn find story, my mate who does my machine work and welding etc is also a pilot. He met up with a guy recently who is in rural victoria for summer as a water bomber pilot but his summer project between fire calls is to get an old Rally 200 going, one he found recently in a shed down here and bought for $100. Yes, that's right. one hundred dollars!! :0 He changed the sparkplug, added fuel and kicked her over, off she went!! I've been helping him out with parts so maybe he'll be kind to me when summer is over and I might get a cheap Rally.

Which brings me to the next thing, time to get rid of some old Vespas I think! I'll probably flog the 150 Supers, keep the SS180 and GTS300 and just go back to the buying and selling rather than buying and keeping! :)

MERRY CHRISTMAS ALL, Safe Scootin' for 2010.

More new scooter pics

....SUMMER SCOOTER PICS...

I just can't get enough of this new scooter.

I had a great summer cruising the South West in the sunshine and thankfully we had a good long scooter season which just ended on the 22nd April. My scooter season 'guage' here in the SW is when the day temps drop to around 15-16 and the rains start. (Which is a shock from the mid 20's-mid 30's we had been used to for the previous few months)

BRIDGEWATER BEACH.....Another of our 'best kept secrets'...sshhhh!!

BRIDEWATER LAKES & DUNES IN THE BACKGROUND

One of our "best kept secrets" Shhhhh!!!

PORTLAND South West Victoria.

Victoria's Birthplace! ;)

THE LONG AND....well,...STRAIGHT ROAD TO NOWHERE

Vespa GTS300ie......It's Scooter-licious!!

Meet Arabella.

I took the plunge and bought myself a brand spanking new scooter this week. I have been eyeing off the new 2009 Vespa 3oo Super for a few months and decided to just go buy one! :) Life is waaaay to short to not reward yourself from time to time. Gotta say...she is absolutely gorgeous and a complete pleasure to ride. She has way more pick up and power than I imagined and it is very easy to look down at the speedo and see it at 80 without even trying...

I called Warren at Peter Stevens in Geelong and assumed I'd be choosing from white or black, after reading somewhere that the red models would be limited and hard to find. ..so when he said..."or would you like a red one?"..I nearly fell off my chair! So it was meant to be :)

This morning was particularly windy and I went for ride around the coast to test her out. I was being knocked around quite a bit by the strong coast winds but managed to keep a fairly good even line in very difficult conditions, I was very impressed with this as if I was on one of my old scooters I would have been in the dirt. She climbed very steep hills with ease and never missed a beat, actually feels more 'zippy' to me that some of the big road bikes I've had.

She is Scooter-licious that's for sure!

:)

New Vespa Factory for Vietnam

SCOOTER NEWS

This from the "Vietnam Briefing" websource.....

Jun. 26

Italy’s Piaggo is opening a new US$30 million Vespa factory in Vietnam to manufacture their 125 and 150 cc scooters.

Piaggio is Europe’s biggest maker of two-wheeled vehicles and the fourth largest motorcycle manufacturer in the world. The plant is forecast to produce 100,000 scooters to be sold in the country and exported in Asia, as well as employ 350 workers.

The choice to expand in the country is only natural for a company famous for making its classically designed Vespa. Vietnamese streets are busy and full of zipping motorbikes and scooters, where it remains to be a popular mode of transportation for the masses.

“We consider Vietnam as an important market with high GDP growth, young generations and the number of scooters is one of the biggest in the world,” Roberto Colaninno, Piaggio Group president, told the AP.

A Vietnam-made Vespa is expected to cost US$1,500 less compared to the US$5,000 European made one.

According to government statistics, the country has more than 20 million motorbikes, from its population of 85 million.

Out with the old....

OUT WITH THE OLD AND IN WITH THE NEW???

So....I have been thinking about buying another scooter but wondering why I think I need 4 scooters in my shed when I can only ever ride one at a time.

It's a disease!

I started thinking about selling one of the old Supers to help with the finances for purchase but not sure I could part with either of my Supers when it comes to the crunch....

I am liking the look of the 300 Super and toying with the idea of grabbing one when this contract is over.

I am currently working in the bush on a construction site doing OHS and I think I'll need to reward myself at the end of it :)

What better way than spoiling myself with a brand new Vespa.

Is it possible to love both old geared scoots and new twisties alike?

I think so, it's a Vespa after all :)

I'll just go with white as its safer on the road. I'll be able to jazz her up with decals if I get bored.

Now all I need is a suitable name for her, any suggestions?

James' Scooter Saga Solved!!

Continued from Last Post

From last time I wrote, had some issues to resolve again, I got my RWC but the motor was smoking and behaving badly. I broke it down again and replaced the crank and seals again. I also managed to repair the rear hub (if you recall the bearing retainer was welded in). Got my dremil into it, cut it out and popped out the bits, luckily the thread was undamaged, and came up like new! I got the cases and motor looking really clean and I think that every part has been replaced/serviced and up to grade. Put it all back together, started first shot, but still had smoke issues....... very unhappy at this point, did the job twice but I guess I put in all that effort onto a set of cases that must have a warp issue internally or a crack that is not allowing a seal to happen between the gear box and rotor area.

OK, picked my self back up and kicked in plan 'B'.

Got the LML P150 motor I had as a backup, and did an inspection. This motor looks fresh, popped the head and cylinder off and inspected the inside via the clutch cover and rotor area with a micro torch (those with a bendy head look like ET ) and the guts look brand new!
Decided that I was not going to split this motor, quite frankly a bit sick of all the rebuilds and felt I needed to get some time on the road before the weather gets bad. I did change the cylinder, head and piston as there was scoring in the cylinder and the piston was a 3rd over sized and had scoring on it - and its cheaper to replace than machine a 4th oversize and also that would have been the limit as 4th is as far as you can go. Dave hand cut the ports on a new 3 port cylinder and honed it nicely. Put it all together, did the electrical conversion (this was fun, I love electronics) and mounted the CDI and regulator.

Converted the motor to a 8 inch (very simple, dust cover plate, brakes and rear hob fir straight on from the old motor) Mounted the lot - it went straight in, no issue. Fired it up - had an idle issue (would not stay on unless I opened up the throttle), did a carb rebuild and found that the mixture screw was missing - reassembled and now she is running well!

No smoke - I was worried about the seals, but they seem OK.
I am running in the motor now as I have the new rings in it, but for the last couple of weeks she has been sweet! I think she has finally in one piece - can't wait to open her up, will have to wait for another 600km for the run in to finish, but seems to have more power (it is a 3port motor and 20/20 carb!).

Have to sort out a couple of mystery vibration in the body, but I am happy with her.