December 2010 Archives

This is what happens when you have an advertising agency that does not have any imagination.  Stock images that have no relation to the thing you are selling end up being the focus of your ad. 

Here's how I envision this exchange...

(him): "Happy anniversary dear, now open your present!"

(her): "Oh honey, just what I ALWAYS WANTED, a Vespa commercial three wheeler!"

Here is another scooter that is up for sale at auction in Las Vegas. It is listed as a 1965 Heinkel Tourist. I believe it is a Tourist model 103 A2. These scooters are great, and I have always wanted one in the stable. There are actually quite a few of these things kicking around in the San Francsico area, despite their overall rarity in the US. That fact is probably a result of the US West Coast distributor for Heinkel being located in the area. However, total US sales for Heinkel was less than 400... though a quarter of that total was in the San Francisco area. Judging from the photo, this one was not originally sold in the US, but is a European import. I say that because the photo background just looks like it is in Europe, we don't normally do brickwork on the ground like that in the US.

The styling on them is just so great, they look like a jet-age hovercraft... something from outer-space. They must have been pretty crazy looking to 1950's eyes, but surely even more so today. Luckily for their owners, there is a huge following for them in their homeland of Germany, and just about every part you need to keep one going is currently available. When they are set up right, they are utterly rock solid scooters. I can attest to that fact because I followed a friend of mine on his while we did a grueling 1,000 mile ride over three days... and I was on a BMW motorcycle! Now, since I won't be in Las Vegas, who wants to sell me theirs?

Yesterday, we started our coverage of the upcoming Mid-America motorcycle auction in Las Vegas. Here is another scooter that will be sold at the auction. This appears to be the worst type of Vietnam bodge "restoration" that have been coming in to the US. The fact that it made it into a big-time motorcycle auction is pretty scary. It is listed as a "1953 Vespa Twin", whatever that means. It is a Vespa widebody handlebar style frame, Frankensteined in with a 10" wheel fork, probably from a Bajaj, and a 10" wheel rear hub. The listing has the motor with a "VBB1M" prefix, which if it is to be believed as original (which I doubt) would add another level of bodgery. The VBB would have had an 8" wheel, and putting the 10" wheel on it would completely alter the gearing. It also looks like there is some sort of home-made handlebar setup on this thing. I'll give it bonus points for the notorious yellow centerstand boots that scream Vietnam disaster, and the chrome P-series centerstand.

This thing is a disaster all the way around. At best, it could be an interesting display at someone's Italian restaurant or army surplus store. At worst, someone will lose a lot of money if they buy it because it will likely never run, and possibly explode.

With the rise in blue chip car collecting in the last 30 years or so, there has also been a lesser corollary in big time motorcycle collection.  Naturally the prices for motorcycles are not up to the crazy level of some of the cars, but it is pretty serious nonetheless.  Once of the biggest auctions happens every January in Las Vegas.  Since it is getting pretty close, the list of bikes for sale is now online for your perusal.  There are a lot of cool bikes this year... and, as usual, quite a few more pedestrian models.  Not only are there motorcycles, but there are also a few scooters thrown in for good measure.  I'll highlight a few of them, mainly for fun.  I'm not going to the auction, but if I was, I'd probably try to low-ball several of these scooters and more than a few motorcycles to see what happens...

First up, a Vespa GS

This looks like a pretty good straight-up restoration. I would say that it is up to "nice driver" quality. The main thing that I notice that is wrong have to do with the seat. It looks like a standard bench seat, not the GS-specific seat. The GS had a larger gas tank with a raised center area, which necessitated a different style seat. The seat also had a special seat cover, which is different from the normal bench seat. This does not have that seat, and I suspect does not have the large GS-specific gas tank. Other things I notice from this photo are that the tail light appears to be a plastic aftermarket item, and the metal spare tire cover is missing. I'm sure I could nit-pick a few other things if I saw the bike in person... however, this looks like a pretty nice scooter. I'd be happy to own it. I'll be curious to see what this goes for at auction.

12/16/10 Update: The listing for this scooter has been updated, and now lists the restorer of this scooter as Tim Stafford. If that's the case, then I would say that this is a scooter I'd buy without reservation, and take back my assumption that it was a "nice driver"... I'm sure it is up to a much higher standard. He was the best restorer in the US, and sadly has stopped working on scooters and moved on to motorcycles. Every restoration that I've seen of his was just excellent. Still, I'm not sure what's going on with the seat...

This is one of the better toys that one sees come up for sale fairly often. In fact, there's one for sale on ebay right now. This model has a lot of detail, and a lot of parts. You often see them with one, or both of the riders missing. The cowls come off the model, and you often see those gone too. All in all, a very neat toy.

A friend of mine has a 60's Allstate Vespa that is largely original.  It still has the non-dampened "springer" front fork on it.  Anyone who has ridden one of these can tell you that this set-up is laughable at best, and dangerous at worst.  Many people who own one of these Allstates, and ride it regularly, will update the fork to the Vespa version. 

On this one, it resides in a collection and isn't ridden much.  However, my friend noticed that the front end was a bit funky and asked me to take a look.  I quickly determined that the bottom of the front spring had somehow become detached from its mounting on the front hub assembly.

You can see how the spring is hanging loose from the front assembly.  The bit of brass color peaking through in the photo is where the spring should be attached.  Whoa!  This is very dangerous, to say the least.

This Lambretta TV175 is for sale right now on ebay in Alabama. This one is a somewhat weathered survivor. It is certainly getting harder and harder to find a TV in un-restored condition like this one. I'm guessing that it wouldn't take too much to get this thing running again. It would make a fun runabout as-is with some freshening... however, if I owned it, I'd probably opt for a restoration, mainly because I love this color. This would make an easy job of it. It looks like everything is there, it just needs new paint, rubber, and cables. I really like this special blue metalic color that the TV's came in. This one will have the color matched rear frame badge that came only on this color, which is a neat touch. Right now, the bidding is still pretty reasonable. I expect that it will go higher. Is it worth it over $2000? Probably not, when you factor in restoration and shipping costs.

The scooter in the foreground has some very nice accessories.