Modern Vespa

WOW, someone got burned on that one! $7150.00! That thing is fffffffffffugly

Yes, actually, there is. ScootDawg.

Dave Ramsey?

Believe me, my wife and I are very much this way. We own four cars (plus the Chinese scoot), all paid for. Except for the airline tickets that we purchased this past week (which will be paid off immediately after the trip) we have no credit card debt. Our only outstanding debt is the mortgage that we have refinanced twice to pay off early. We have a great credit score and enough cash in our checking account that I could realistically write a check for the row of Vespas at the dealership. We both have healthy 401Ks and really no worries.

This isn't bragging; it's the result of hard work and frugality over a long period of time. Perhaps that's why I originally posed the question.

One thing that I have learned to appreciate over the years is how passionate people are abut things that they love. I felt that in the VW Bus community when I was part of it, I feel that amongst the Volvo crowd, musicians, artists and anyone who really takes a serious interest in something. There's certainly no lacking of that at MV, and I really get that, and I appreciate it.

Being new to the scooter world I was testing the waters, so to speak, with the Chinese scooter. The one thing that I can tell you is that there is a subset of Chinese scooter owners who are equally passionate about their bikes in their own way, and I love that, too.

Just like my first car was not a Mercedes, my first bike was not a Vespa. I am leaning in that direction because of what I've read here and because of the passion that I see Vespa owners have for their machines. I'm sure that there are exceptions, but I don't see a lot of ego here (much) or people riding their bikes simply for bragging rights. You guys (and girls) really love what you ride, and that's what it's all about. That's what I'm looking for.

We just had a meet here in Grand Rapids at GR Scooter. It was their 2nd annual BBQ Rib Cookoff. It wasn't a lot of people, but out of the twenty odd bikes I saw a Genuine, a Buddy, several Chineese bikes, a Burgman, an old Honda Elite and even a Ruckus fatty conversion. The common denominator was that everyone there loved their bike and wanted to share that. And good ribs.

I'm still learning a lot, but I learn quickly. Thanks for all the info.

WOW, someone got burned on that one! $7150.00! That thing is fffffffffffugly

Wonder if he'll show up around here?

Hey, everybody! I'm new to the forum and I just got a great deal through Barrett Jackson for this all original Vespa in a beautiful two tone paint scheme. I know Barrett Jackson only sells the best of the best, so I'm sure you are all super-jealous ...

That scoot fetched $7,150 due to overwhelming sentimental reasons.

It was a consortium of 10 Vietnamese fellows that bought it so they could have a piece of their 20 grandfathers' original old Vespas.

I stand corrected!

One other comment -- concerning Chinese quality. There are lots of quality products made in China. For a long time, the Apple iPod was made in Shanghai (I've been the factory and seen pallets of iPod's stacked up, and took a peek at the assembly line.

Just a few QA issues here and there:

http://www.macrumors.com/2013/04/22/apple-returns-5-8-million-defective-iphones-to-foxconn/

This is the 1966 (I had the year wrong) 150 Super I mentioned. I went back to look at it today with my wife. They want $4K for it, completely restored with 300 miles. It has everything including the manual and rain cover.

Comments?

Just a few QA issues here and there:

http://www.macrumors.com/2013/04/22/apple-returns-5-8-million-defective-iphones-to-foxconn/

I just bought my 300 from this dealer and saw this scoot. Not sure if it a bodge or not but the problem with this is lets say it is a real Vespa, you would not want to ride it too much as putting wear and tear on a restored scooter that would harm its value. Get yourself a scooter that has some pitina and ride the hell out of it. You can find them all over the place. It can be just as dependable but it will be more fun to ride as you won't cry if you get a scratch on it.

It all comes down to how the business wants to spec out the quality of the products. If you want junk, then the Chinese company can do that. If you want quality, they can do that too. Just comes down to how expensive do you want your end product to be. I bet Piaggio could go over to China and have them make a Vespa that is every bit as good as the Italian scooters but it will not be as inexpensive as the Chinese scooters. Would probably cost just about as much as the Italian version.

That was kind of my intention. I was going to more or less replace the 928 with the Vespa (and hopefully have money left over). It wouldn't be a daily driver, but it sure would be a great weekend cruiser.

I'm leaning toward a used PX150 or something of that flavor.

No offense but ....

...Look at the TV shows, people eat chicken from the floor, the butchers cut the meet on the floor while the ash from their cigarrete falls on the food, they don't wash their hands and factory workers work 12-14 hours a day rushing their job. Go ahead and ban me for telling the truth but Chinese products SUCKS!!!, maybe they are good at making egg rolls and steamed rice or to make copies of Nike T-shirts.

...I hope that I convinced you by now .

Comments?

That 66 is just a disaster looking for a place to happen. Underneath that shiny coat of paint, layers and layers of bondo. and poorly chromed bits, there are the carcasses of multiple scooters cobbled together. Those scooters have had a hard life, driven to their limits of metal fatigue in SEA. If you really want an older Vespa, look around on scoot.net. FB has a scooter community classified section. There is a whole world of heartache and wallet fatigue resting on that shiny turd from SEA.

But it was owned by a guy named Guiseppe!

killed mine within 4 months as I got a BB Kit installed but the jets were not re set so I blew it up/threw a rod

- God help America. I mean, I've seen all those TV programmes and they must be true, right? There's a man from Orc, living in Boulder, balancing on some football posts, corrupting our women with his wiggly fingers, and just waiting to signal the start of the Alien Invasion. And then there's that Mr Burns guy with the nuclear plant. He's pure EVIL!

look familiar?



it's the honda Joker, the original all the Chinese knock off's are based on...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_Joker

http://hondajoker.wordpress.com/honda_joker/

"A separate investigation earlier this year found that the donkey meat sold at some Wal-Mart stores in China contained the DNA of foxes. The company was forced to recall the meat, which came from a local supplier."

Well, that could never happen in America! When we buy donkey meat at the Wal-Mart here, we can be sure that they haven't slipped any fox meat into it. (I think)

Best of all, it was a 50 or 90cc 2 Stroke.