Modern Vespa

I was recently given a Vespa as payment for work I performed. I was hoping someone could give me an opinion as to what they think I have.

Also where are the typical places to locate an ID number ?

I posted some expandable thumb nails. Not very good photos but hopefully will shed some light for those, unlike myself, who know what they are looking at.
Looks like a great forum and I appreciate any help . Thank you , Mark

A moderator will be along in a minute and move this over to the Not So Modern forum where the shifty experts are.

You have a gem there. The matching sidecar rig is pretty desirable if it is a reasonably original scooter or good quality rebuild.

Sorry was not sure which forum to post in.

Thank you for your feedback.

Moved to NSM.

Hard to say. Has some odd parts. Maybe an early 60s VBB? Some more photos would be helpful,

Best way to tell is look underneath the left cowl(the one with the door on top) at the bottom of the frame you see a serial number starting with VB...

go here and type in the number: http://www.scooterhelp.com/serial/ves.frame.serial.numbers.html

How much would you have charged him?

The reason I ask is, that vespa has all the tells of a SE Asian Restoration. Read this: http://scooterlounge.com/vespa/buyers-guide/asian-restoration.shtml . If you plan on riding it or selling it, first take it to a vespa mechanic to see if it is safe to ride, as some of these can be 2 or three frames poorly welded together, and you would not want to sell someone something that by design would maim or kill them. Sorry to be the potential bearer of bad news. If it is a bodge (a crap Asian resto), then I'm guessing the guy knew it was worthless, and ripped you off. I hope I'm wrong.

This is from Indonesia. But you may be right .. I don't take offense to it but the guy will take it back if I want him too. It is not an issue but all that being said if this is not safe I want to let him know as well.

appreciate your insight and the link

No prob. sounds like the guy was honest with you. If it is not safe, permanent disable it and sell it to a pizza place or an ice cream parlor as a display only piece. At least that way you or he can get some of your money back.

I am going to take detailed photos and post them here. I am going to try and get some of the underneath as well.

The serial number says it is a 1965 Vespa 150.

This is what I was thinking but didn't want to say above. My reason for the "good quality rebuild" remark. When an oldie looks that good we all get suspicious.

Perhaps some of the other members more familiar with vb's and asian restos can point out some things. I can't really tell you too much from the pics, beside it has all the marks of an asian restoration, and a couple minor things. Someone realy has to look at, and lay hands on it in person. Who knows what lies under filler and paint, and inside the cases

Yikes that front hub looks scary. I would hate to see what a side car does when the front end locks up.

Hard to really see anything. The pics are so tiny. I can be certain it has a a side car, it's a scooter, and definitely red

The photos are clickable thumb nails, just click on a photo and it opens in full size.. just trying to be respectful and not overload site with large photos.

Asian rebuilt, need a total safetyrebuilt.

Guys
I am considering taking this scooter to a shop and having the mechanicals gone through. Is there a shop in the San Francisco Bay Area that someone can recommend me to ?
Also , when the shop is finished making sure this scooter is mechanically perfect what would be a fair value?
Appreciate everyone's continued input and help.

Sorry I can't comment on value but you can have my 2 cents for free.

I'd first get a little magnet and check all over the body for signs of filler. You can also gently tap on it all over and it should sound metallic, while filler will deaden the sound somewhat.

If it has lots of filler, the only way you can tell if it's safe is to strip it back to bare metal.

Likewise with the engine. The only way you know it's not bodged inside is with a complete engine stripdown and rebuild, which won't be real cheap.


So basically, if you find a lot of filler I'd say don't even think about taking it. if not, you're still going to have to spend quite a bit of money on it if you want to sell it with a clear conscience.

If you haven't looked through the bodge thread, do so and you'll know what I'm on about.

It depends on what you consider "that good".

In all seriousness, if it was payment for a job you did, and you're
not going to ride it yourself, I'd give it back and get money you can
use to pay the bills.









Rob

The magnet test comes up a lot and I just want to add that most of the bodge frames that you see pictures of stripped down don't have big holes that are filled but are more of a patchwork of sheet metal grafted together with big sloppy welds... so keep in mind the magnet isn't gonna reveal that.

A SpotRot (now Progauge) might. It measures paint thickness at the micron level. I imagine anyone capable of finishing bare metal patches to be invisible, and not require ANY filler or significant high build is probably capable of doing good work anyhow.

What I've seen is that the patchwork frames are basically frosted like cakes over every inch with 2 or 3mm of filler. this covers the thousands of dents and welds. Makes the scooter feel like it is made of plastic when you tap on it. The filler and paint crack and chip off at the slightest impact in big chunks.

Thanks for all the response guys.. a little insight is that I do know how to check for filler etc. I have a racing background and though I don't go there often I still have my long time shop at Sears Point/Infineon Raceway that I could take this scooter to and really give it a once over. However I would still want to find a well respected shop in the San Francisco Bay Area so if anyone has a suggestion on a good shop please let me know.
Has anyone ever used oil analysis to see what is going on inside the motor? Cheap way to get some insight without taking the motor apart. I have been doing this on my race motors for years

SFVsr on here runs a shop - try sending him a pm - I gotta make my way up to the city at some point myself to get a timing/jetting/something issue looked at by someone more knowledgeable than myself

I might be wrong, but I believe out of principle SFvsr does not work on scooters with sidecars attached. You might have to remove that. And burn it.

Gear oil plug, is on the on the underside of the gear selector, on the bottom of the engine.

I'm not familiar with oil analysis, but keep in mind that there are two different oils in there. The piston and cylinders are lubricated by the two-stroke pre-mixed fuel and the gears are lubricated by the oil in the gear box. Even though the crankcase and gearbox share a casting, they shouldn't share any fluids.

Did that make any sense?

Oil analysis? Can you drop the scooter off at JPL nuclear testing facility in Livermore?

If the scooter is indeed a Nammer (please note: This IS a derogatory term.) spending any money on it is probably going to be foolish. I recommend taking it back to the guy and get cash for your labor. Or at least get a chicken or a cow, you know, something that is worth something.

As a matter of policy: My goofy little co-op NO LONGER will offer shop space, tools, expertise, or work on vintage scooters bought last week on a whim - regardless of origin of scooter. SFvsr is a scooterists shop space for scooterists. If you do not fit the description I cannot assist you in any way, shape or form.

That is HARDCORE I like it...

What about the sidecar issue allowed or no...

I've got no problem with sidecars. Scooters tend to fall over when you take the sidecar off...

And a bit about my policy:
I offer a lot of stuff for very little cost or even free. I was recently taken advantage of when I worked on a bike and then saw it for sale on CL. No more. SFvsr exists solely to keep scooterists on their scooters. If you aren't a scooterist then I don't want to have a three hour conversation about adding performance shit to your scooter so you can bump the price up and sell it. If this is the sort of thing you can't give a "thumbs up" rating to, then I'm probably not interested in meeting you and I'm surely not going to help you with your scooter.

Finally! something I agree with and admire.

" I worked on a bike and then saw it for sale on CL"

File that under major fuckery.

i know now why i like u more and more mate

Or some magic beans, Jack.