Modern Vespa

My GTS now has a Bitubo front shock and Brembo gold calipers, and with the vintage red of the sooter, the bright red of the shock and the other black and chrome and gold bits, it looks a mish-mash! I am totally envious of Jumper John's beautiful setup, with the Zelioni shock, wheels, etc, and want to improve the looks of my front suspension.

I thought my simplest and cheapest option would be to have the Bitubo shock spring chromed, to get rid of the mismatching red colour. Does chroming affect the performance of the spring in any way?

I might also get a chromed metal suspension cover to replace the dull black plastic one.

Any other suggestions?

Mike

OK, here are some pics to show what I am talking about.

First, the Zelioni shock with the Brembo calipers. No, this isn't Jumping John's scooter. This one has the brake hose/bleeder valve the wrong way around.


Then my one which is put to shame by the above one -



See what I mean? It would help if the Bitubo side cylinder was parallel to the shock, instead of leaning out.

So aesthetically, the Zelioni is vastly superior to the Brembo, but I can't comment on their relative performance. Anyway, I am looking for a cheaper solution tan replacing my shock.

Mike

The reservoir cylinder on the BiTubo is canted outwards to prevent it from contacting/cracking the front mudguard in a hard braking situation.

Not a terribly great design IMO (I returned to OEM a couple years ago.)