We here in the US are an industrious folk. Give us a lot of spare time, and a lot of spare beer, and we will take a beautiful piece of engineering, and hack it into an unspeakable horror. I pointed out this farm-engineered mini-bike made from the unholy union of a Lambretta and a hacksaw a few weeks ago. Now, I see on my local Craigslist that someone else had the same bright idea to somehow stuff a Lambretta motor into a Honda trail motorcycle. Huh? Why?
Take a close look at the photos. I'm not really sure what is going on there. Clearly, they attached a pulley on the end of the crank where the flywheel fan is supposed to go. However, note that a whole portion of the normal Lambretta motor case is missing. They just cut the motor on the kickstart side just behind the crank. Wow. That is just something I would have never thought to do, even at my drunkest.
Kudos to you crazy drunk guy, kudos to you...
Full text of the seller's description of this motor below the jump
Continue reading How You Find Them: Wait, You Did What?!!.
She's probably not wearing the most effective clothing for crash protection... but she sure does look good! What's not to like - no helmet, Sicilian coast, fun scooter, leering middle-aged man... The headband is very 80's, but otherwise, the photo is timeless.
You can purchase this photo here.
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This 57 Allstate is available for sale right now in Massachusetts through ebay. This scooter looks to be a perfect candidate for restoration. It looks really straight, and there is no rust evident in the photos. It looks like the classic story of a scooter that was painted with housepaint at some point, which did a nice rust-prevention job. The original green paint is evident under the scratches and on the flywheel cover. All the parts look like they are there, including the very hard to find aluminum floor strips. This would be a straightforward restoration... or just get it running well and drive it as-is (which is probably what I would do). This is an interesting and fun ride for not much money. Just don't expect to go very far or very fast on it!
Piaggio decided a few years ago to drop the venerable Vespa PX from production. This didn't have much of an effect on us here in the US, since the one and only year that we could get a PX was 2005. They must not have sold very many of them, because there was no attempt to sell them here again. The market in Europe must have been fairly small as well, and that, coupled with impending strict emissions laws, meant that Piaggio shelved the PX which had been in continuous production in one form or another since 1977. It had a good run, from '77 to '07.
Of course, even though Piaggio wasn't making the PX, that didn't mean that it was not still being made. Production was still going on in India by LML. Those scooters are being sold in the US as the "Stella" by Genuine Scooter. In order to meet strict emissions laws in Europe (and California), LML has recently designed a four stroke motor to fit in the old Vespa chassis.
The LML is currently sold in Europe, and it appears that even though it is a niche market, Piaggio is taking notice. I find it hard to believe, but this article notes that LML has sold about 2,500 Vespa clones in Italy - versus Piaggio selling 5000 of the new automatic LX and GTS models. With that kind of market share, Piaggio seems poised to re-introduce the PX into production. The article seems to say that they will build the standard two stroke motor (presumably only in 125cc trim), and also offer a four stroke version. I hope they do!
This is a pretty rare promotional 45 rpm record which was produced by Piaggio to get the kids to buy their mopeds. Yes, there was a time when kids liked to play singles on their record players! I'd have to guess that this was only given out in Italy, and I can not comment on the quality (or lack thereof) of the music. The record sleeve is nice though! I know this is not technically a scooter, but we here at Scooterlounge like all two-wheeled vehicles, including mopeds. Plus, there is a Vespa 50 in the background, so there's even something for the haters...
Here is something you don't see for sale every day in the US... a restorable sidecar body. I'm not sure who manufactured this one, but it looks pretty similar to the ones that Sears sold. The tub on this car looks pretty good, and I'm sure it would be pretty easy to clean this one up. The mounting bracket on it looks a bit strange, I have no idea what this was mounted to. However, it looks like it could be very easy to fabricate a different bracket to fit this hack up to either a Vespa or Lambretta. Neat!
This is a great photo for a lot of reasons which I probably don't have to point out to you... however, there is one detail that you probably missed. Check out the side of the scooter, did you notice that pedal sticking out there? I bet you didn't... probably because your eyes were looking elsewhere. This just happens to be one of the rare French market Vespa 50's which had a pedal-start mechanism. I guess French laws made them cheaper or easier to get a license or something if they were classified as a moped. They look strange, and I'll see if I can dig up a photo of what the mechanism looks like.
Oh man, I totally want to find that road. In a world where there is a town named "Jazzville", where sexy ladies ride their Lambrettas with low-cut shirts, where the road is filled with scooters, where people wave to you as you ride by... yeah, where is it? I want to go now!
This scooter is up for sale right now on Ebay. This is exactly how you want to find them. All original paint, just a little surface rust here and there, running, and complete. This scooter looks really straight with no major dents or even dings. The floorboards even look ok. This will make a great ride for someone. If you are near Ohio, I suggest you make a play for it. The bidding is starting at $2500, which is just a bit on the high side for a 125, so I'll be curious to see if it sells. If not, it would be worth emailing or calling the seller to make an offer on it.
This is a cool art installation based upon a Vespa 50, which by the looks of it, has been pretty heavily tuned for speed. Here are the notes for the project:
»Spleen« is a freeze-frame explosion, an autopsy on motor and chassis that encapsulates the utopian fantasy of the overhauled scooter, driving off into the sunset.
You can see more art by this group of artists here. Hat tip to Newcaferacersociety blog for finding this.
This scooter is for sale right now on Ebay. This looks like the kind of scooter that used to be fairly commonplace, but is increasingly hard to find. It has fairly nice original paint and does not appear to have been modified or messed with. I really like this blue color that these came in.
This is not the kind of scooter which will rip down the street, but it will certainly turn heads at the local corner coffee shop. I used to have a scooter exactly like this one, and I regret selling it. I'd keep this one totally stock, and lose the sticker on the legsheild. It is a nice scooter, and someone on the East Coast will be happy with this one...
There is a crazy Italian couple who are riding their 70's Vespa 50 Special across the US. I don't read Italian, but I can look at the photos. So can you!
A friend of the site sent this album cover in. I've seen quite a few jazz records with scooters on the cover, but this is one I have not seen before. Nice GS! I hope he isn't going to ride too far with that bone strapped to his hip, it sure would dent a nice horn...
If there ever was a band name which was due for a revival, it is the Gaylords. I can totally see a techno style club band with that name. They'd have to wear skin tight shiny silver suits, and have a scary looking fat dude on the turntables. I'm just sayin'...
This photo of a custom made mini-bike, which is currently for sale on Ebay, pretty much speaks for itself. This is what happens when you have too much time on your hands, too much beer in your fridge, and a very active imagination...
Here is an interesting photo which turned up on Ebay last week. It shows an ACMA Vespa in action, as it were. The reverse of the photo indicates that the photo was taken in the south of France in 1953. That would be a very early year for the ACMA. Here, the only obvious indication that it is a French-made Vespa is the headlight. The Italian Vespas would have had the headlight on the front fender at this time.
Take a look at an earlier blog post here with close up photos of an early ACMA
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May people wonder how much our vintage scooters cost when they were new. I have a lot of old price sheets, but have not had the time to scan them all. Here we have a nice photo of a display stand which had the prices all listed.
The surprising thing here is that the scooters were actually more or less comparable to today's prices. I'm guessing that these prices were listed around 1963 based upon the models offered, but I don't have the exact date. Using 1963, that GS, in today's dollars would be about $3600. Not too shabby, considering a brand new 2010 Vespa GTS will set you back about twice that, with an MSRP of $6200.
Update 06/07/10: We just got a comment from Peter S., who actually posted this picture originally. He provides some interesting background and information on these amazing Lambretta race scooters:
This is good as it displays what Innocenti was up to in 1951!! This is a photo of the 4 bitubo racers made by Innocenti, that were used in the local German series in early 1951 and were raced by the NSU factory who made Lambrettas under license from 1951. These machines had two rearward facing exhausts. It had another exhaust exiting on the other side. The carbie faced forwards into the airstream. These were fitted with 12 inch wheels. Romolo Ferri was sent to Germany to race these and in their first appearance at Drieckensrennen, Otto Daiker won the 125cc race. He was also entered into the Hockenhiem race for the World GP series, but failed to start.
Original Post 12/8/09: From Racing Retro, who seems to dig up an unending trove of sweet vintage photos, comes this great of four mid-50's Lambretta racers. There was a time in Italy where scooters really battled it out for racing wins, and both Piaggio and Innocenti built works racers. Of course, Piaggio had a much more serious factory sponsorship, but Innocenti did build some quite serious racing machines which were sold to private racers. I'm not really sure what's going on in this picture, but these look like they are factory fresh scooters.
You can see the amazing custom bodywork quite well in the photo. The gas tanks and all of these body panels were hand beaten. Such craftsmanship! You can also see the special large wheels (probably 10") and the custom wheel rims. The huge final drive/shaft drive housing is also noticeable. The massive megaphone exhaust is very interesting. It comes out over the top of the shaft drive and exits on the kickstart side. I would be very curious to see the other side of the motor to see how it clears the carburetor.
Sportique Scooters in Colorado is selling this beautiful Lambretta Li 150 Series II on Ebay right now. Here is how they describe it:
It's completely original, 100% unmolested. We purchased it from it's second owner, an antique dealer who found it in the basement of a house in the Bay area. It still has it's original dealer sticker on the legshield. The original clear-coat still sparkles. This scooter is as close to flawless as any 50 year-old scooter we have ever seen. Only the tires have been replaced.
Looking at the photos, it sure does appear to be about as good an unrestored scooter as you are likely to find. Certainly, considering it is 50 years old at this point, there just are not that many in this kind of original condition around any more.
It is unfortunate that Ebay pushes these very small photos into their listings. This is a really nice scooter, and if I were bidding the big bucks it would take to get it, I'd want some big photos to reassure me. In any case, you can see that the paint looks great. This is not my favorite color for these scooters, but heck, beggers can't be choosers. No dings, no dents, only a few minor scratches... I sure wish I could buy it.
There is the money shot. You can see the paint shining on all of the curves of the legshield. I've seen quite a few original paint Series II Lambrettas, and none of them had this kind of shine. That gray paint just gets dull with any sun exposure. This scooter is great. Also note the "Al Fergoda" dealer sticker on the left, that is a symbol of originality. I love this scooter!
Alas, I can't buy it... but YOU can! I'm curious to see how much is sells for, if it sells. With the Euro tanking, there might be less interest from abroad. And with the economy the way it is here in the US, I wonder if any serious scooter collectors here will step up to the plate. This scooter is worth every penny of (my guestimate of the asking price of) $6,000... and then some. It is possible to restore a scooter to this level, but very very difficult to find one in original condition this nice.
I did a bit of work in the garage this weekend, all of which will end up on the blog in the coming week. The first scooter I worked on was a '59 Vespa 150. The '58-59 Vespa 150's were transition scooters. These were the first of the rotary valve models. In fact, the very early VBA's used a "hybrid" piston ported motor in the new narrower frame. These didn't last very long, and I've only seen a few of them over the years.
On thing about living in Berkeley California is that there are a lot of scooters around, and no real shops in town. There are two great shops in San Francisco, but many people just can't or don't want to make the trek over the Bay Bridge with their scooter for service. I end up working on quite a few scooters owned by people in my neighborhood. This VBA was one such scoot.
It is an interesing scooter from the perspective of its status as a short time transition model. This motor is one of the first rotary valve versions. It has some interesting features which are only visible when you open up the carb airbox. I took a few photos to document it.
This scooter had several problems which together manifested themselves in hard starting and non-reliable running. The owner had taken the scooter to the a new Vespa dealer, who did some work on it. By work, I mean they took $500 of the owner's money and came nowhere near fixing the problem. Warning to all, be cautious before taking your vintage scooter to a new Vespa shop!
After a bit of checking, I think I found the sources of the problem. First, upon checking the spark with my trusty spark check tool, it appeared to be weak and somewhat intermittent. Looking at the ignition coil, it looked like it was the original HT coil fitted to the scooter at the factory 50 years ago. I sourced a new coil, and will post about the replacement when it arrives.
The other problem that I noticed was that the scooter didn't appear to be getting fuel from the carb. I checked the fuel supply to the carb from the gas tank, and that was working ok. So, it appeared that a carb clean/rebuild was in order.
I took the carb off the scooter. This carb is somewhat interesting in that it is the first series of these Del'Orto SI carbs which were used on all the later Vespas. These first SI's are different from the later ones in a couple of significant ways. The first, and most obvious is that they do not have a enrichener choke circuit. As you can see from the photos below, these early scooters used an air choke, rather than a fuel enrichener choke. I guess this system didn't work too well, because they changed to the fuel enrichener choke on the motors just after this one.
On the inside of the carb, there were also some differences. The main one is that the fuel filter bowl above the float is significantly smaller than on the later carbs. As an aside, when I took this particular carb apart, I found that the needle was toast, and the float was completely stuck. So fixing that should help the running.
Given that this carb looked a bit worn, and the owner is not a home hobbyist mechanic, I would normally simply replace the float or the entire carb to ensure reliable running. However, since this scooter is so early, and has the unique carb setup, I could not do that. After thoroughly cleaning the carb, I just replaced the needle and float, and put in some new gaskets.
Above, you see a close up of the carb and airbox interior. Very sparse and unfussy in here compared to the later scooters. Note the carb stamp "SI 20/17". Also note that the fuel line hole on the airbox is small, with no rubber grommet as on the later airboxes.
Here is a detail shot on the choke mechanism. The choke cable attaches to that little arm on the right side of the picture. The arm actuates a small flap, which you can see at the top of the picture. That flap closes off the air flow to the carb, thus richening the mixture. I'm not sure how well this system works. I guess I'll find out once I get the scooter all back together!
This Lambretta is for sale on Ebay right now in Southern California. It is a great example of exactly the kind of scooter we here at Scooterlounge are always on the lookout for. It is mostly original, but has a few nice touches to make it more practical for trouble-free riding.
We are not sure, but it looks like the same scooter we noticed for sale on Craigslist back in November. Back then, it was $2700. Now, it has a "buy it now" for $2800. Who knows if the scooter has a new owner, or if it still the original seller from six months ago. Nevertheless, if this scooter were nearby, it would certainly be worth a look.
You can see that the scooter is in pretty good condition overall. The paint is almost certainly original. The running in sticker is evident behind the legshields. The robin's egg blue on the cowls and fender are a color which was common on these scooters originally, but isn't often used on restorations. We like the color a lot. It is hard to tell from the photos, but it appears the seat is not original, but that is easy to rectify. We'd also lose the crashbars and chrome floorboard trim if it were in the Scooterlounge stable, but that is just a quibble.
As for the motor, the seller states that it is stock, except for an electronic ignition and a Mikuni carb. Those are two very practical modifications which will make this scooter an easy daily driver.
More photos below the jump.
Continue reading Marketwatch: 1963 Lambretta Li 150 Series III .
There is a guy selling a bunch of old photo negatives on ebay from what appears to be an old advertising sign company. Some of them have some good scooter photos. Here we have a Vespa Ape which was converted into a hot dog cart. Very interesting! Wouldn't it be cool to have this one now? I mean, seriously, you'd be the hit of every scooter rally in the country!
Also note, there is a small silk banner in the background for the seller. It has, what appears to be a Vespa on it, with the slogan "Get Around Better". I guess imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, because that was Lambretta's slogan in the UK.
Oh, the good ol' days, when you could slap a picture of a sexy woman and a sexy scooter on your album cover in hopes of enticing the rubes to part with their three Deutchmarks... Yup, then, once you get it home and drop the needle, you realize.... AAAHAHHHHHHHHH ACCORDION COVERS OF TOP 40 SONGS!!! Then, you stab out your ears, and move on with your life.
05/25/10 Update: This scooter was bought by a Scooterlounge reader. Hopefully he'll keep us informed of his progress!
Here is a (possibly) good project scooter which is for sale right now on Ebay with no reserve. This is a Li 125 Series III which looks to be in neglected, but original condition. There is some rust evident, but my guess would be that the rust is primarily surface, and could be fairly easily cleaned up.
More below the jump...
Continue reading Marketwatch: Lambretta Li 125 Series III Project.
This is a Lambretta advertising postcard from back in the day. Oh you Italians, trying to think of any way you can get a sexy lady in the photo... By the way, where is he looking?!
This is a very clean Lambretta LD which is for sale right now on Ebay. The seller had this scooter totally restored by West Coast Lambretta Works, which is one of the best shops in the US. His ebay listing is quite sparse, but he links to photos of the restoration on West Coast's site. As one would expect from West Coast, the quality of the build is impressive. If you ever wanted a nice LD, this is certainly one to consider.
This photo was caught by friend of the site Jon, who said that he was driving down the freeway near San Francisco airport and saw this in the slow lane. So insane, I don't even have words. I mean, what could possibly go wrong?!! In any case, the driver has good taste, that's for sure. A nice early VW squareback with the small taillights, and a mid-70's Primavera ET3. Both, rare and cool vehicles, and both look like they are in super nice condition...
As you may know, one of our bugaboos here at Scooterlounge has been the influx of crap Asian "restoration" Vespas and Lambrettas to the US. They are a trap for those new to the vintage scooter world, and can easily turn someone who would join our ranks as a vintage scooterist into someone who hates the thought of a scooter because they were burned. The unscrupulous people who sell these things should be prosecuted.
Where I live, in the San Fransicso area, we have a lively scooter scene, and a lively internet culture... the two often meet on Craigslist classifieds. There is a general internet culture here of policing Craigslist, and pointing out egregious scammers.
A case in point, there was recently an ad on Craigslist for a Vespa that was clearly a Viet-deathtrap. There are times when the sellers will be honest about what they are selling. In that case, I'm ok with it. You couldn't pay me to take one off your hands, but if you are upfront about what it is, fine. However, this particular seller was clearly hiding the provenance of his crapmobile. Enter, the Craigslist scooter flamers!
Below the jump - the original ad, and the take downs...
Continue reading Marketwatch: Flame War!.
If you love scooters - and I know you do because you are reading this blog - you may love these lamps by Lamponi in Italy. The artist at Lamponi builds many interesting custom lamps. He clearly loves scooters, and some of his designs are based upon Vespa and Lambretta handlebars. Here, he's expanded to the early Lambrettas. The above is a Lambretta LD handlebar and horncasting. These lamps showcase the wonderful industrial design that Piaggio and Innocenti put into even the smallest parts of their scooters.
More below the jump...
Continue reading A Scooter in Your Office.
IN THE FUTURE: we will all be friends with impossibly beautiful leggy uber-people who will regard us sternly. IN THE FUTURE: the uber-people will ride color co-ordinated space scooters. IN THE FUTURE: all clothing will be shiny. IN THE FUTURE: we will all wear non-functional triangular sunglasses. IN THE FUTURE: everyone will re-discover their love for the hammond organ.
That future sounds awesome! If only the last prediction comes true, I'll die a happy man...
Last Sunday was the now-famous LALO ride in San Francisco. LALO stands for "Loose Association of Lambretta Owners", and the ride has become one of the best of the year. Many of the traditional scooter rallies have become inundated with new twist-n-go scooters, but the LALO keeps the vintage flag flying.
This year's ride coincided with a lot of other events, and so it was down in attendance from last year's 100 plus scooters. Nevertheless, it is hard to beat a ride with 50 Lambrettas on a clear warm day in San Francisco. In past years, the ride went over the Golden Gate Bridge into the Marin Headlands. This year changed things up, and we rode to Treasure Island, in the middle of the San Francisco bay.
Many more photos below the jump!
Continue reading Rally Review: LALO '10.
Could this be the nicest Lambretta Starstream in the US? I certainly have not seen many that are nicer. I am personally not a big fan of the J-range, but this one is crazy clean.
I can say that from experience. I used to own a Lambretta "Super" Starstream as well as a "Cento". The Super Starstream looks pretty much the same as this one, but had a turning front mudguard. It was a pretty rare scooter... but it just wasn't very great. The J-range was trying to compete with the excellent Vespa smallframes, primarily, the Vespa 50. However, the Starstream could not hold a candle to the Vespa Primavera. The J-range vibrates like crazy, is much slower than the Vespa, and honestly just doesn't look as good. Sad really, because the other Lambrettas just look fabulous even when they are standing still. The J-range just missed the mark entirely. That is probably why the Vespa 50 sold millions and the J-range only thousands.
More info and photos below the jump...
Continue reading Marketwatch: Lambretta Starstream.
This scooter comes with leering men as standard equipment!
See more regarding the wonderful Terrot scooters and motorcycles here (in French).
For some reason, there has been a flowering of ads in my local Craigslist for Vietnam-made Vespas recently. Perhaps it is the spring showers which has perked them up? Perhaps the owners took their deathtrap for a ride that one sunny day and decided that they did not want to meet their maker on this infernal machine. Whatever the case, a bunch of people have come to the conclusion that they'd like some other sucker to pay for their horrible mistake of a purchase. For educational purposes, I give you the hall of shame...
First up, we have this doozy of a bodge. The seller claims it is a "1968 VBB". Of course, the VBB ceaced production a few years before... but no matter, that's what the shop in Saigon told him it was over the internet. The photos show what appears to be a front and a back end of different scooters grafted together. The rear end is from some 50's widebody, the front, from who knows what - maybe the fabled VBB. The headset is from a 50's handlebar, though probably home made in a Saigon back alley. The front forks and fender don't match up properly. The whole thing is just a mess from top to bottom. However, it can be leaking oil in your garage for the pittance of $3750.
More Vietbodge fun below the jump:
Continue reading Nammer Invasion!.
Late Update: This scooter made it to $6000, and did not meet reserve. The six grand price is probably close (within a grand or so) to where it should be, given the fact that it isn't perfect. About $500 worth of parts and a weekend of labor would have this scooter closer to perfect, and would probably go a long way towards bumping up the bidding. Having international shipping lined up would go even further... It is now back on ebay, with a $6500 starting bid and no reserve - so here's your chance!
Here is one thing you don't see for sale very often in the U.S., a Vespa 90 Super Sprint. This is one of the more rare Vespas, and certainly a blue chip collector scooter. Not many were made, only about five thousand, and even fewer survive today. I have seen perfect examples with 100 point restorations fetch over $15,000 in Europe. This one is nowhere near that level though. Overall, it appears to be in fairly good condition, but it is missing bits here and there, and it just doesn't have the look of a scooter that has been properly done up, considering how precious it is. It is interesting to note that despite how rare these things are, most of the parts one would need to complete a full restoration are available. Things that are obviously missing from this one are the special chrome exhaust, the legshield trim, the rear seat badge, and the license plate holder.
One other thing to be aware of is that there is a company in Germany which is making very high quality replicas of the 90SS. Since you can get all the parts to make one of these from scratch for a fraction of the cost of buying a genuine one, any possible buyer of this scooter would be well advised to do their homework. Get clear photos of the VIN numbers on this scooter, and get a lot of detailed photos of the rest of the bike. You'll want to compare them with other reliable genuine 90SS's to be sure that this isn't a replica.
Back in the 50's a small car company with a funny name was trying to figure out how to market itself in the US market, which was dominated by huge car companies making huge cars. They turned to Madison Avenue, and got what is rightfully considered the best and most iconic ad campaigns ever. They had crisp photos with white backgrounds and snappy and funny copy. The ads fit the cars perfectly.
Well, for those ad companies which were not nearly as creative, imitation was the sincerest form of flattery. If you had a European scooter company come to your door asking to create a marketing campaign, why not just pitch an ad which "feels just like the Volkswagen ads!" And that is just what Piaggio got. Above is a good example the genre. This is probably the best Vespa ad from the period, funny, but making the point that the best quality of the Vespa is that it isn't trying to be a Harley.
Late update: This scooter ended up selling last week for $5500 with only one bid. Someone walked away with a great deal. Obviously the general economy didn't help the seller, but the sold price was quite low for this scooter. My guess is that the fact that the seller did not offer to help with shipping and was looking for a local sale hurt the final price quite a bit. In any case, well bought, and hopefully this scooter will be out on the scooter runs soon.
This is a scooter that you just don't see for sale very often in the US. It is the DL/GP200, certainly among the best scooters ever made, and among the most valuable to collectors. This is an Italian version, and looks very tidy. It is for sale right now on Ebay.
These were not imported to the US (perhaps a few slipped through for police use), and so are very rare here. Heck, they are quite rare even in Europe, and large demand from collectors have pushed prices for them way way up. This auction should be one to watch. Expect the final price to end up somewhere between $8-10,000 for this scooter. It will be interesting to see if the Great Recession does anything to the value. The main question is going to be shipping. If the seller had international shipping lined up, this thing would fetch closer to $10k, and likely be on the slow boat to the UK at the end of the auction.
This is a neat photo of a 50's Allstate Vespa. It appears to be taken on a military base, probably Air Force. I love the 50's look that the mom has, and the kid looks straight out of Leave it to Beaver. Also, I just can't imagine any scene like this happening today's hyper-safety conscious society. A mom riding her kid on the back of her scooter - no shirt, no helmet, shorts... what could possibly go wrong? Oh the 50's were a golden era of foolishness.
Even 50 years on, sweet original scooters are still floating around. Case in point is this very clean Lambretta Li 150. We here at Scooterlounge get really excited when seeing original paint scooters which have been well preserved, and this is one that would stop us for a closer look at any scooter rally. It is nice, but not too nice to ride. It just has the patina of careful use over the years. The color combo is the best for those years. The Li150 isn't the most collectible of scooters, but it certainly is among the most usable. For an around town scooter, if kept in stock configuration, this could be a nice reliable daily ride. The price is on the higher end, but very fair for the great condition and the scooter's location. If this scooter were anywhere near us, this would be in consideration for the Scooterlounge stable.
The seller describes it thusly:
It's in incredible original condition. All we did was clean the tank and carb, put on new tubes and tires and progressive front springs. The motor purrs like a kitten, it rides factory tight. Bike is titled and good to go. Hooray for original paint! $3000 - email with questions. Located in Brooklyn, NY.
As we noted last week, there have been several Vespa Apes for sale recently in the US. Here's an ad for a 60's version. They do have a certain visual appeal. Strange, but appealing. One wonders why they didn't go the full monty and throw the fourth wheel in there to add stability.
Via Filminas.
Hot on the heels of the American Pickers TV show, every doofus with a back shed is looking to find some junk they can sell for millions. Here we have a guy who is at least honest about the hack job "farm engineering" which was done to this Ape. You can see the huge gash in the floorboard where he cut it open for cable access. He also cut the rear breaks and added some home made manifold to take a carb from something else. The headlight on these in the US market was mounted to the horncasting, and that is missing. Good luck finding another one. That said, this thing looks reasonably complete, but clearly will need a ton of work and money to get it going. There is no way that anyone would recoup the investment in this Ape, even if it was free.
Compare that with this '65 Ape which is being sold by a friend of mine. You can see the difference in styles, with the 60's Ape having an enclosed cab. The '65 is also going to need a lot of work, but at least it is running. The 60's parts are a lot easier to find, since they are similar to the Bajaj-made three wheeler, which was made by the millions in India. This Ape is also only for the very ambitious restorer. It clearly needs a lot of work.
If you love the Ape, there are some options, that's for sure. Both of these scooters will have you dumping piles of money into them with little financial upside. There is not a lot of a market for even perfect Apes in the US. However, for everything, there is a niche collector. I'm sure there is someone out there with a yard full of Apes. If that is you, or you aspire to be that guy, step up!
We here at Scooterlounge are nerds. We freely admit it. And one thing nerds do is get overly excited about very odd things. For example, we go totally weak in the knees when we see pristine NOS parts that are very seldom for sale... just like the carburetor above. It is for sale right now on Ebay with a buy it now of $475. Ouch! That is certainly a lot of money, but these carbs for GS's are pretty hard to find even in used condition, and we have to say that we've never ever seen an NOS one. I doubt we'll see another NOS one for sale any time soon.
More nerding out, below the jump
Continue reading Marketwatch: The Carb from Heaven.
The 2011 Vespa Vintage G.S. is faithful to the original in many ways. The concept vehicle, as seen here, differs from the production model only in that turn signals will be added in the production version.
ROME - Piaggio SpA have announced a brand new scooter model to their line up for the 2011 model year. The "Vespa Vintage G.S." (pictured above) will be positioned to capture the niche market of people worldwide who fondly remember the original Vespa, as popularized by such films as "Roman Holiday". The scooter will be a fairly faithful re-creation of Piaggio's most iconic iteration of the classic Vespa scooter, the Gran Sport. However, in a major nod to today's environmental concerns, the Vespa Vintage will be powered by an all new four stroke 200cc motor utilizing Piaggio's LEADER technology and a four-way catalytic converter. Further, Piaggio spokesmen noted that if the Vespa Vintage is successful, as expected, a gas/electric hybrid model for 2012 is in the works. Piaggio expect that the new Vespa Vintage will become a "halo" model, which will draw customers to its dealers, even if they end up buying one of the manufacturer's more utilitarian models. Pricing on the Vespa Vintage was not immediately available, but most industry insiders expect it to be in line with Piaggio's other high-end offerings such as the MP3 three-wheel scooter.
(ed. note: before you head to your local Piaggio Center to get on the waiting list, observe the publish date of this posting)
Here we have a really great (or really horrible, depending on how you look at it) example of the sort of "restored" Lambretta one sees coming from Vietnam. It has all of the really bad problems that you often see, but not so often see all in the same scooter.
The most obvious things are the seat, the chrome do-dads, and the rear tire rack. Not that you don't ever see chrome on an Italian scooter, but you virtually always see over the top chrome on a Nam bike. Then there is the legshield glovebox, which was not stock on Italian Lambrettas, but always present on the Vietnam bikes. Then you have the cowls. All I can say is wow. Someone really spent some time hand forming these things. They are the TV style, but the middle flash is way too far towards the back... definitely wrong. Then there is the GP style louvers in the middle of the cowl - I have no idea what they were going for with that, other than finding a way to add more chrome. My guess is that they started with GP cowls, and modified them to look more like TV cowls, but who knows... You also have the legshields, which look like they are from a shorter GP model, yet they fit, hmmmm. Coupled with that, we have what appears to be a "chrome ring" frame, which would be a lot longer at the fork than the GP. How do the legshields fit? Did the saw the frame and re-weld it to make it shorter? Did they somehow attach the chrome ring to a GP frame? You could find the answer to these questions out if the frame cracks in half while you are riding down the road! That is, if the scooter actually ran, which it doesn't. I would not take this scooter if someone paid me money to haul it away.
I'm not sure that there was ever a time when anyone got overly excited about socks... however, if it did happen, you can bet it was during the 50's. Let's face it, even I could probably get excited about some "clean white socks" if I had a pipe in my mouth, a brand new Lambretta, and a cute lady in formal wear and bouffant hair on the back!
This hearkens from a time when Innocenti actually had some competent people running their US operations. In the late 50's, Lambrettas sold well in the US, and they had creative Americans running their operations. One of the things they did was get Lambrettas into the hands of lots of Madison Avenue advertising firms for use in photo shoots. At some point around 1960, they sacked the Americans, and sent over a bunch of Italians for a plum assignment to live in New York. The Italians promptly ran the US distributor into the ground, and Piaggio ate them for lunch. Sad.
I've been working on scooters for a lot of years, but I recently attempted my first speedometer repair last weekend. It wasn't that I felt I couldn't do it before, but I just never had occasion to. Normally, I just don't care if the speedometer was working or not. Since this was a friend's scooter, I figured I'd try to delve into the speedo to get it working correctly. No time like the present!
So this particular speedometer exhibited some of the typical speedo problems that you see on old scooters. It was sort of working, but was making a loud screeching noise, and sometimes the needle would bounce around wildly. That is the death spiral for a speedometer. Normally after doing that for awhile, the needle stops working entirely. I decided to try to fix this one before it imploded...
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Continue reading Garage Time: Speedometer Repair.
I've been out of town, and out of interwebz access for about a week. I'm back now, and postings will resume this week. For the time being, I'll leave you with this wonder of a scooter.
Yes indeed, the unfortunately named Dayton "Albatross". I have no idea what genius decided to name a scooter after an ungangly bird, but it somehow got through. Still when you look at the horrible styling, I guess the name starts to make more sense. As you may have guessed, this scooter did not sell well. Let's face it, if you had to choose between this monstrosity, and an elegant Italian model... the choice makes itself.
While putting around the interwebz looking for something else, I came across this photo of a US military airman on the Air Force base in Okinawa Japan circa 1956. A lot of scooters moved around the world with US servicemen. It seems that scooters were a convenient way to get around the base, and were also easily portable with personal effects. Many an odd-ball scooter made it back to the US this way. Check out the site to get a glimpse of what like was life was like in the military in the golden years just before Vietnam.
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"Alan Otter, a patrolman with the Royal Automobile Club, on patrol in
London with the scooter sidecar combination he has been given for
coping with congested streets."
This sidehack was created by the RAC (equivalent to the AAA in the US) to assist troubled motorists. I can't imagine that it was much easier to get around on than a small car like a Mini. It sure can't have been fun riding around on it all day, every day, in the London winter...
From: Corbis
I have to say, SIP in Germany are totally maniacal about pushing the edge with creating amazing products for our wacky Italian put puts. This has got to be the best thing they've made so far, or at least the most broadly useful.
(I would put a picture of the speedo in here, but SIP don't want anyone to use their pictures)
As those of us who have 70's Vespas (and any year Italian scooter) know, the Italian speedometers leave a lot to be desired. They mostly don't work. And when they do work, the needle position is more to be used as a general guide to your approximate speed. Coupled with the noise from the motor, my speedo's needle usually indicates "going slow", "going a bit faster", and "that's about all she's got"... rather than telling me the exact MPH at any given moment.
Well,friends, that era is pretty much over. This thing has got a digital speedometer, trip meter, driving time, average speed... and what is really really cool... an integrated cylinder head temp gauge AND a tachometer. Oh Nelly! The complete package!
The only down side I see is that it needs 12v power to operate. So you need to have a P motor in your jalopy , or figure out some other power source.
This is so cool. I need to figure out what I can mount this puppy on...
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This picture is all kinds of awesome. It is certainly from the 60's, just look at her outfit, and the scooter itself looks brand new. The fact that the flyscreen has her name on it tells you it is her scooter, and not one she just posed on. Wow, she must have really gotten the scooter guys ga-ga in '66! Well played Jane, well played...
Found on Flickr.
This is a fun poster which was forwarded to one of the scooter forums I visit. I have no idea where it came from, or who made it. However, it sure is fun!
Now if you are in San Francisco, and want to get some coffee, you should go to one of the "Lambretta Cafes". Some well known local scooterists have set up several coffee shops/stands throughout the city, and all have a Lambretta theme. If that were not enough to entice you, I can tell you from personal experience that the coffee is excellent. Get a cup, and support some good people!
Vintage scooter prices have had their ups and downs in the last ten years, but one segment of the scooter market that has gone up, and stayed up, has been the 200cc Lambrettas. I could postulate several reasons why (they are fairly rare, the English are ga-ga for them, etc.), but I will simply observe that prices for these scooters are far out of line with that for similar Vespas, or even other Lambrettas.
The case we have before us here is a TV200, which is for sale right now on Ebay out of Santa Cruz, California. This scooter is still in its original paint, but clearly is well used and somewhat beat up. On the other hand, the TV200 is really the gold standard of Lambrettas, and is likely the most desirable model. They are fast and pretty, and their rather short production run means that there is a fairly limited supply.
This scooter was previously for sale on Ebay, but somehow didn't sell. I'm thinking the seller was just trying to gauge interest, either that, or the buyer bailed. In any case, it is back on now, and has an opening bid of $8500, and a buy it now of $9200. No doubt that the TV200 in general is worth a lot, and I've seen them change hands for $10,000 before. However, this one is just in really poor shape cosmetically. If the owner wants to get that kind of money, he should just take the 3 months and restore the thing. Otherwise, he needs to get real, and drop the price. Given the market that I have seen, I think this is probably a $5,000 scooter in this condition (original, complete, tatty, but running well). What he's aiming for is probably what it is worth when totally restored to a high standard. I guess we'll get to see if someone bites at this price, but my guess is there will be no takers.
Boy, this sure makes me regret selling my TV200 in similar condition for $2500 ten years ago!
This Ebay auction just goes to show you that even in these days of good quality reproduction parts and internet searches... some parts are still made of unobtainium. This large face square speedo is one of those items. The same size speedo was mounted on some of the '50's Vespas, but only the GS speedo was calibrated to 80 mph. (I believe it was a 120 kph speedo on the Euro models) These things are very hard to find since they are not being reproduced. This one was rebuilt and has a new lens and faceplate. It brought a whopping $280 at auction!
Now to rummage through my parts boxes...
Do you like this blog, but are too enfeebled to navigate to it on a regular basis? Well then, have we got a deal for you! The technical wizards who work in the Scooterlounge.com IT development department have come up a nifty new 'Atom' feed for the blog.
Just click the orange RSS feed button at the top of your browser, and voila!, you are subscribed. New posts will fly through the interwebz tubes directly to your computer. No pesky clicking, no annoying thinking, it just magically shows up there. How, you ask? I don't know. The eggheads in IT explained it to me, but all I heard was "bleep, bloop, blorp, nerd, nerd nerd". No matter, subscribe to our new RSS and I'll promise to pet my cute and fuzzy doggie for you. My dog thanks you in advance.
There are a couple of Lambrettas on ebay right now (here and here), which are a good representation of the two ends of the scooter spectrum. By that, I mean that there is the "barn find" candidate for full restoration, and the scooter which is already done, and ready to ride.
The '61 Li 150 Series II is totally done, and looks very nice. The black paint, while not stock, is very pretty on the Series II. The other thing about black is that it shows every flaw in the bodywork, so if you go gloss black, you have to have a perfect scooter. This scooter has some nice internal motor upgrades which will make it something that is practical in today's world. Most notably, there is a 175cc top end and electronic ignition. All in all, this is a pretty nice scooter. Given the work it takes to get a Series II to this point, I'd say that the opening bid of $4000 is probably pretty fair. You could just hop on this scooter, and ride it today. Of course, the chrome and crashbars are something that would have to suit your tastes...
On the other hand, you could buy something like this mid-60's Li 150 Special. It is in pretty rough shape, but it appears to be complete. Though it looks beat up, I bet a little body work will have the legshields and cowls into shape pretty easily. Now tally up the costs for paint and body, replacing rusty parts, a motor rebuild, etc, etc... and I bet you'd be into this thing for more than the cost of the Series II above when it is all said and done. Is it worth it? That all depends on whether you like to wrench, or whether you like to ride. To someone with the knowledge and the time, the 150 Special could be a good opportunity... only if the price doesn't go too high. I would probably not pay more than $600-700 for a scooter in this condition.
Friend of the site, Olivier from Belgium sent in a few photos of his beautiful '51 ACMA Vespa. The ACMA's were Vespas which were built under license in France. As with almost all of the licensed Vespas, the ACMA's were technically somewhat behind the Italian made Vespas. They had frames and motors from the older model Vespas. (That may have been later because this one looks pretty similar to a '51 Italian Vespa). The ACMA's sourced some of the ancillary systems from French manufacturers. So things like the electrical components, carburetor, and tires were French-made. One of the most obvious differences on the ACMA's is the headlight, which was bolted onto the handlebars. On the Italian Vespas, the light was on the front fender. Though not aesthetically pleasing to my eye, I'm sure the technical function of the headlight on the ACMA was superior to that on the Italian Vespa of the same year. I'm not sure if the typical French yellow light bulb helped any though!
More photos of Olivier's scooter below the jump.
Continue reading Scooter Profile: 1951 ACMA Vespa.
With all of the Vietnam scooters floating around, I often get asked to point people in the direction of good honest vintage scooters. Here is one for sale right now on ebay. It is a '65 Vespa 125. One of the last years for this model before the Supers came along. I really like the VBB/VNB body style, it is just about as classic as you can get. They are very reliable scooters, and just about every part is available for them. This one has some good points and bad. The main bad point is that it has been repainted, from the looks of it, rather poorly. The scooter was clearly not taken apart for paint, and you can see that numerous nuts and bolts were painted over. On the other hand, someone cared enough about it to paint it, so one would hope that it has not lead a life of too much abuse. All of the parts appear to be there, and it has the neat accessory legshield basket. It also has the special US market "Mikey Mouse" tail light, which is neat. There are a few other strange things... I'm not sure what is going on with the rear seat, and I'd want to know what is hidden under the floor mat.
All in all, the buy it now price of $2300 is a bit on the high end of fair. If I were looking for a 60's Vespa, I'd keep an eye on this one. If it didn't sell, I'd email the seller with a lower offer, certainly under $2000.
(this is the later type rack with the larger bracket, note the straight support brackets)
There is a significant subset of scooter people who collect accessories. Now, there were a lot of companies that made ornamental accessories for the Vespa and Lambrettas back in the day. Most of it was pretty cheap junk, and therefore the bits did not last. At this point, a lot of the bits have become very rare, and thus very expensive to those who want them. I've seen some accessories sell for as much as a scooter would cost. That is pretty strange to me, but hey, who am I to judge?
The subject of this post is an accessory which is not all that rare... or was not all that rare up until a few years ago. It may be hard to believe, but in the 70's Piaggio was selling enough scooters just in the US to justify having a special accessory line just for the US market. One of the most popular of those accessories was the rear rack and backrest combination. These were added to many of the P-series scooters sold in the US. After seeing a lot of accessories, I will say without hesitation that this rack is the best quality accessory I have seen for the Vespa. After having used them on several Vespas I have owned, I will also say without equivocation that they are the most useful accessory ever for the Vespa as well.
I have sold all of the racks I collected over the years. The last racks were sold for around $40, and the backrests were around $30. There are two types of the racks. One has a spare tire mount, and bowed support bars. The other does not mount a tire, and has straight support bars. They also came with two different top mounts. One has a small mounting bracket which fits under the rear seat post. That one was sold with the pre-P scooters. The later type has a longer top mounting bracket which fits under the seat post and the two rear fuel tank bolts as well.
Right now there are two of these racks on ebay. One here, and another one here. I wonder how much they will get to!
This weekend was a busy and productive one for me in the garage. Hopefully I'll have some time to create a few posts from the work. Here's what I did:
- Finished replacing the shift cross on a Vespa G.T. and did a test ride
- Resurrected a '75 Vespa 150 Super from a 6 year hibernation.
- Got all the lights (including the turn signals) functioning on the Super
- Finished an on-and-off project troubleshooting the electrical on a '74 Rally 200. got all the lights (including the turn signals) working great
- Picked up a '54 Allstate and '60 Allstate for a friend of mine. Drove the '54 down the street! Fun!
This, my friends, is the definition of awesome... Vespa Ape three-wheelers which have been heavily modified for racing! I know, it is totally ridiculous. Why would anyone do such a thing? The only answer to that must be that these people are Italians, and Italians will race anything that has wheels. So kudos to these crazy people. I love it!
This scooter is for sale right now on Ebay out of Florida. It is a completely original looking US market Serveta, which was a Lambretta made in Spain. They imported two models, the 150 Special which you see here, and the Jet 200, which was a version of the SX200 Lambretta. Of course the 200cc models are the most desirable, but these 150's are not bad either. This one still has the special US market turn signals, and the reflectors. You can tell that this is a fairly early version, because it has the nice Italian-style switches and tail light. Later versions had big black plastic switches, and a large squar-ish "tractor style" tail light. Clean Servetas in original condition are becoming harder to find. This one is well worth the $2000 buy-it-now price.
This scooter is for sale right now on ebay. It is a very early 125 Super. The Super certainly isn't considered one at the top of the list of desirable classic Vespas, and the 125cc version is even less coveted. However, this scooter appears to be in pretty good shape, and is above all cheap. The buy it now on it is only $1250! The early Supers had the very clean looking handlebar setup. The headlight fits into the headset with two "tangs" at the top, and an adjuster at the bottom. These early models also have the elegant script badges. As far as the substance, the main advantage these versions have is that they have very simple electrical systems, as on the earlier VBB/VNB Vespas. This particular scooter also has the very rare, one-year only "Mickey Mouse" tail light made by Siem. This is a bargain entry into the classic scooter world. For another hundred dollars, you could get yourself a 150cc top end, and add a little extra speed to this thing. It will never be fast, but it will certainly be a fun cruise around the neighborhood scooter for someone. If it were closer to me, I'd buy it!
I'm not sure if this magazine cover photo was staged for the magazine, or is just a reprint of an old Piaggio advertisement. My guess is the latter. Piaggio created tons of ads which somehow managed to place scooters on the beach! I wonder why? Of course here, we have scantily-clad models on the scooter, next to a train. Ummm hunh? The train may signify something, I don't know... perhaps Mr. Frued could postulate a reason... The simple response can be found in this post.
This is the tale of the small, hidden issues which make vintage vehicles so much of a frustration to may people. My friend had a 60's Allstate Vespa (similar to a VNB) which kept breaking gear cables. After I replaced the cable the second time myself, I decided to take a closer look at what was going on. Scooters should not break gear cables but once in a great while, so something was clearly amiss.
After checking from top to bottom, I noticed that the attachment point for the cable barrel-end in the handle bars looked a bit off. When I took it off the handlebar, I saw what you see on the left side of the picture above. It was clearly bent, but what is hard to see is that the chewed-up area on the inside of the cable pulley actually has some sharp edges. Howe they got there, I do not know. But I do know that they were acting as a knife, and cutting the cable. You see a brand new pulley on the right side for comparison.
Continue reading Garage Time - Allstate Gear Cable.
Quite a few companies threw their hat into the scootering ring in the late 50's. It was a time of booming scooter sales worldwide, and it is pretty amazing to see the sheer variety of scooters which were available at that time. Of course, some scooter designs were better thought through than others. One of the best was the Maicoletta, a sturdy German scooter from a well-known motorcycle manufacturer.
The styling on the Maicoletta was very German, which is to say - big, boxy, and imposing. The mechanical parts were pretty good, with a few weak points such as the starter. Otherwise, the Maicoletta was built to be a solid touring or "executive" scooter. It was not cheap. It also suffered from the same problem that struck virtually every motorcycle manufacturer that decided to make scooters, it was too late. There was a huge boom in scootering in the mid-to-late 50's. By the time many motorcycle companies got their scooters into production, the boom had ended. People had moved on to buying cars.