Modern Vespa

Back in 1992 i was chatting to a farmer that came into the petrol station i worked at, is a wee country town (Pirongia, New Zealand, population about 900) & we were chatting, & somehow it came up that his sun went on his honeymoon up Coromandel way (lots o gravel roads) on a Vespa, which was in his barn... I kept bugging him & some time in 1993 I got my first Vespa, a N.Z. Built 1969 VBC 150 Super.... & the rest is history...
Its in need of another resto due to my only ever "accident" & I'm buimding it for the Mille (1000km in 2-days), & long distance speed events.

All my friends were from farms & they had farm/dirt bikes, so wherever they went i (attempted) to follow

My first ride EVER...
A few "laps" late i did a mono into the letterbox & bent the guard further! Clutch plates were gummed together, & i rode it for many years without a clutch (i didnt know how to fix it, & the interweb didn't really exist to help me).
My best friend Stu tried to show me how to ride, till the hole got too deep.

In about 1998 i figured it was time for a pains, the seat was shot, i had left it outside in the rain for a few years, it was starting to look rough, so time to restore

I did learnt & paint basics from the old painter at the petrol station & was pretty good with a spray can.
Panels pretty good, & i intentionally left some of the damage in the front guard

Just after i primered it, i took a new job in Australia, so i borrowed a friends dads spray gear, & paimted it (i could not export the paint), & into a box Speedy went (for the next year or so)

Once in Aus, th build was slow, but careful, with the final pieces being the ohh so soft seat, & Speedy grafix.... Speedy was born

That's a great story. So where is it now and what does it look like?

Aah man, That's fantastic! I love the fact that you still have it after all of these years.

There were a few good years, a good era (error).
With the 'odd' breakdown (or 2)... The flywheel sure makes funny noises when it parts way with the crank at full revs! once at the bottom of a long hill, on a 40degree day, & I had to push it home (again)!
At the Perth National Rally the next day the Clutch tore apart, Petrol leaked & Tyre exploded in great fashion, while on a Petrol Station Forecourt, Ive never seen Mods run so fast to move their scooters!
I will try to find a few more pics

Sometime during these years I noticed a few rust spots so decided to investigate... & 'repair' (or was that bodge?)

One day I went out for a quiet ride with Il Ginchi, & hit some gravel (from a pothole), both wheels went out from onder me, & while i managed to straighten up, I was on the road edge/grass, so it was too late, I jumped off & went over the bank & a fallen tree & its stump gracefully Stopped Speedy (yes the beer can held it together!)

High-tech chassis straightening device (car, plank of wood & big pole)... Ohh, & a hammer.

Off to the stripper it Sped (eventually).
All patched up (no more beer can) where the wheel smashed into the frame

Great story so far, but back up some ... when and how did Speedy manage to get that 10" rear wheel?

Ohhh... THAT wheel... The original VBC motor with 8" would only get to 108km/h, & I stripped it to get a 3rd port added, & do a bit more blueprinting to the ports etc (for a modified Polini 177), but STILL have not ground down the faces of the head, so put the (now heavily modified & blueprinted) motor out of a 2009 150 LML NV in it for a while "for testing purposes". It was interesting to ride with different wheels, kinda like the early '80s fad of raised rear end on cars.
After the crash, I took whatever I could off Speedy & built "AnaKey" (like Speedy, '& a key'), so I could build (& long term test) a motor (for Speedy), & its pretty much ready to go back into Speedy, so I need to get my butt into gear & do the body.
But I prefer the 8" wheels, they are just soo much more agile.

This is a good one.

This is a great story. So is that you in the older pictures on the scooter and then in the more recent pictures. Looks like two different people. Imam honored you included me in your story

The big guy in the green pants is Stu... My bestie (from NZ) mechanically minded friend that taught me most things mechanically & refused to let me buy anything powerful, & im sure he saved my life. The rest is me, the tall skinny one.
Im pretty sure you will become Folklore around these parts.

This weekend I will be doing Bogging & Paneling, Hopefully there will not be too much bog overall, my guess will be 200gm or less of bog (with the majority to cover up the patches) & bash the rest back into shape
So I will take lots of pics & try to explain how to bog, just in case you are starting out with this part of your rebuild.

The finish I am going for is... well... its a 45year old scooter, so has gained character over the time & I respect that, so am not going for a 'Monit' quality of finish, & I know it will get 'ridden like its stolen' from the day it is back on the road, so finish quality is more the '20foot resto', which means "ohh that scoot over there looks good" with the hope they dont ride Lambrettas & look too closely. I am not looking for the nice flat (at whatever cost) Bodge style of finish, & am not making a bog filled P.O.S.

If someone does diss my paint or finish quality, then I don't care (as mine will cost a few hundred & is not intended to be a professional job), but I'll challenge them to a race & flip them the bird as I leave them in my mirror.
I suppose it will be a 'Sleeper' in the end.

My paintjob style & colour is T.B.A. but past vehicles I have painted have been:
"Twirl": a road registered Toyota Starlet KP60 racecar (which used to stretch head-studs!), painted purple & yellow in the shades of a Cadbury Twirl,
"Speedy" which was Purple with 7 layers of differing clear coats, which changed colour depending on the type of light & sparkled!
"KP61": a white Toyota Starlet, repainted Rattle-Can Blue & sold to a mechanic for his daughter!
"The Tangerine Dream": a 95 Honda Civic, was red, now... well... Orange, with far too much Tangerine Pearl in the clear (& sparkles), ohh... & it glows in the dark, & has a different pattern on each side as 'it is impossible to see both sides at the same time'!
"AnaKey": it was silver, then silver/orange, then purple/orange... it too sparkles & glows in the dark, the horncast looks awesome at night, as the lines are enhanced due to thicker glow paint there.
I have found the Glow-in-the-Dark seems to fade or go milky after a few years (yet it still glows just the same), so I will give it a miss this time. but I have found 'an alternative product' for night riding.

So what colour/s will "Speedy" be??? can you guess?

Well, you have to start somewhere... The front guard was the most damaged panel, so may as well start there
Its had a smack front LH before i got it, & on the side a heavy impact from th accident, it was almost tossed out, but i smacked it a bit & got back it to ok before it went to the blaster.
Its starting to look better.

Side panels are pretty mint, body needed a bit & had rust damage, plus welded repairs (existing & new)

What a great story!!

The next step was to dig out the grinder & deal with the rough welds from the repairs, rhis time i main.y used a flappy wheel sander.
Note; if buying a grinder (or any tool), get it with ADJUSTABLE SPEED.
Mine goes to 6-7 & for most of this i was on 2... Nice & slow, & easy to handle, finesse says the guy with a sledgehammer & blowtorch!

I use the masking tape is a reminder to help keep me online (its easy to see when you touch it with the grinder)& i can get nice & close to it, without going too far

Well, the front guard was rather damaged & split (the original photos kinds show how bad it was, but it was worse!).

I have not welded for over 20 years, & remember using an ARC on this guard as my first ever (making more holes than weld) welding job. This time i used MIG, with much the same success, its a wee bit thin to make for easy welding.

Then grind off the excess, to get it all flat as possible, then bogging & finishing will be easier. As bog is softer than steel its difficult to grind them both at the same time, & NewTech (the grey fibre filler) is often harder than steel to grind... So 3 different tensiles need to be treated individually.

I LOVE NewTech (http://www.chemspec.co.nz/?page_id=185) which is a steel/fidee filler/bog... Hard to get under control, but so so so strong & i have done some HUGE patches with it. I use it as the first layer of bog & to cover holes, & anything that needs strangth. When Speedy came back from the sandblaster there was still some patches to NewTech left (under floor & inside guard, you should be able to spot them in the pics), even though everything else had been removed back to bare metal

Mask off the area where no bog is to go (keeps things cleaner & easier to sand)
Mask carefully along seams to give a nice straight edge when building up mayers... If only the bodge-builders left 'seams' on Vespas their work wouls look soo much better.
Masking also means you can apply , then scrape back to the original level (or maski tape thicker than it), so you can keep a track of how proud you bog is.
With fibre filler try to keep it flat or below the finished level, if you have ever tried to sand off a 5mm proud patch & get a nice finish then you will know what i mean.
Grind it while it is still green... ie no longer tacky to touch (as this would gum up the sand paper), but not in a few weeks time (as it will be rock hard).
Use a grinder (on slow/med speed), as its too hard to sand by hand.
If you are 'slipping' with the grinder, slow it down... Put 5 layers of tape on the bit you want to protect (this will ensure you can see when you have hit it, well before you do more damage.
Keep arms/elbows tight against the torso, move body rather than arms. Set feet wide apart so you are stable (so if you get kickback you are stable... I learnt this from my stepfather, when he taught me to use a chainsaw when i was 14 - he was a logger!).
Move from below the waist as much as possible (keep above waist like a riverdancer).
Adjust position or object often to keep comfortable, no need to be in awkward positions, that is when things go wrong.

Use/make about the same amount of bog each time, i do a mound about 3" x 4". Get your mound of bog & put a "V" of red across the 3"side... That is about a good start point.
Keep an eye on the colour once mixed, i tried to mix a wee bit for the guard, it came out far redder than the rest (which was greyish) & i knew i needed to work quickly, as it went off in about 4-5 mins!

I have big feet & very long legs, & prefer to ride without floor rails, as i fit better. Last time i used industrial non-slip matting (like 60grit sandpaper, with industrial adhesive backing), which was used on steps on farming & fishing implements, but was always was concerned about moisture under it, so this time wanted to use something different, but the same result (ie a very grippy floor, then feet never slip)... So out came the MIG.
I worked out while writing "Speedy" under the body (i did it so if it got nicked, it would be easy to identify & hard to cover up) that if i went quick enough with the MIG that it would make balls, rather than melting at it would if it was thicker. But i could not see where i was going with the welds, as the mash is so dark... So i masked to make light surface everywhere besides where i wanted to weld, as it needed to be kept to tidy lines.
The tape also held up enough to stop any splatter from sticking, but it did catch fire a bit (as to be expected)... Here are the results

Where there is pitting (from age) i will carefully apply finishing bog to fix them up later.

As the scoot is not at my place it will be a while till i get back to finishing the sanding of this layer & doing the finishing bog, so to keep me going, Ive brought back the side panels, which are in pretty good condition, & the front guard, so will spend a few (or many) hours tapping away, till I'm satisfied that i cant make them flatter.
Im sure there is more i can do with the front guard.

Amazing diary!
I wish I kept memories and pics of mine over the years.
So many friends, places and adventures ...

You have an incredible asset thru this. Protect it and celebrate it.
You won't regret it!

Cheers, these are about the only photos i can currently find.
It is sad that there is a generation that believe seeing a photo on a phone is the same as an actual photo, bet they won't have photos on the walls!

Also I hope someone here finds it useful to see the "simple" bits of how to restore, I am no expert, but I am sure many of us are not, but mixing a bit of bog, trying to paint, threading cables thru the frame, swearing a lot, making a wiring loom from (5 & 7-core) trailer flex, hurting oneselves knuckles & having too much grog before picking up the welder/grinder/hammer/paintgun are ALL things hopefully someone else can enjoy as well. hopefully someone here will end up giving it a try & seeing what they can create on their own, rather than simply shipping the scoot off, throwing a ton of (non-recoverable) cash at it, then get it back, without having experienced doing it themselves.
There is nothing too hard to do, far easier than a car, far less to spend, & less to screw up.

Ohh... & I MUST have it running before November, as the Mille is on then! & I still only have a frame!

The chronicles of Speedy! great to get the full story, with photos too!

Ha - I thought you were that tubby kid in the early photos, I just thought you'd later hit a vertical growth spurt.

Ive always been a beanpole, i was taking the photos. That camera got smashed when i crashed Speedy... It did me well, including getting a smashed flash from a stone while photographing a Rally Car (my other passion), im happy it hit the camera, & not my eye!

Well, I'm finally happy with the front guard.
It was damaged when i go it (see first pic) plus had a massive impact on the fork/shock when i crashed (the pics on the side of the road show this damage, you could see where the fork & shock were in the metal!). I had panelled it, welded patches & newtech bogged it, but i was still not happy, so did a bit more work tonight.

If buying a grinder (or any spinning tool for that matter) get one with adjustable speed... I use 2, it goes to 8... On 2 its nice & slow, & far more controllable, plus less likely to jump or grind outside the lines. & remember the earmuffs & eye protection! PPE is essential.

To get both sides even it is often easiest to manipulate with a bit of force (hands, squash between knees etc)

To straighten the edge lip i used pliers & adjustable spanner (set with about 1.5mm gap, so it was nice & tight onto the lip.

To maintain the seam (down the middle of the guard) i first carefully ground off most of the bog/weld, then finished with a knife blade & small/fine file.

Always get someone to look at the finished job to critique it & mark where it needs work (in pencil), then get them to recheck once redone... A 2nd pair of fresh eyes will spot lots you miss..

It still needs finishing bog, especially by the forks (still lots of ripples) & to build up the seam (while irs a good solid its damn ugly). But thats for another day

Remember that my goal is to have the least bog possible (unlike bodges), & i am not intending to make it perfect, as it is over 45years old (& none of us look that great at that age!) & Speedy is going to be thrashed once complete, plus i respect the 'character lines' that it has & accept its had a real life, no need for botox here! I'm not a Lambretta rider!
Maintaining the original seams is important, well... Essential actually in my eyes. Next time you go to see a bodge or other resto you are considering buying, check out the seams, especially on the floor... If there are none, then its full of nasty bog & not something i would consider buying.

This is a great thread. I always admire a bike that was built to be ridden! Your commitment to the long-term care and resurrection(s) of this bike is commendable. It's refreshing to see someone fix things that are a little less than perfect. I'm also on-board with doing everything yourself even if the result is not quite professional. Keep it up.

This is a great thread. I always admire a bike that was built to be ridden! Your commitment to the long-term care and resurrection(s) of this bike is commendable. It's refreshing to see someone fix things that are a little less than perfect. I'm also on-board with doing everything yourself even if the result is not quite professional. Keep it up.

Love what you're doing, Sub. Great write-up, great pointers (am currently struggling with a mudguard myself, didn't think about taping it).

Carry on!

Remember to remove tape within a few days, else it goes gummy or hard, then is difficult to remove cleanly.. I forgot!

After the blasting the panels have minor surface rust, plus some lines on the LH of body from when it was dripped on. So out with the "rust convertor".
I did a bit of grinding (flexi sand wheel), but remembered the convertor works best on rust rather than shiny metal, so i just got out the paintbrush & went for it.
Remember to do th inside of panels FIRST, that way the drips/runs all end up on the outside, ready to be cleaned off when you get to the outside... Same with painting, as its devistating to turn th panel over 10min later only to see a run, who cares if it on the inside.

Instructions said to "use a damp cloth to remove", but it went kinda crappy & i was not happy, so i got out the steel wool & scrubbed with that, then dried it off... Resulting in a Far better result.

If sanding or cleaning or rubbing, THROW AWAY THE SOLID SANDING BLOCK! Its not a car, with lots of big flat surfaces, a Vespa is curves at their best.
If anything use a flexible pad on the paper.
Reason: i found numerous imperfections ( that i still need to fix) simply by feeling the metal as i cleaned

Glad to see it taking shape! A bit of sun always helps.

Hey Callum. This is a pretty complete history of Speedy. Its Looking good.
Pete

Hey lurker, welcome (finally)... I decided here is a good place to pass on knowledge. Your resto looks great to

Here is my other post on the motor

modify VBC1. 2-port - Fuel... Gimme MORE FUEL !


Heres some light reading about a resto... to get you thru the night

1979 P125X Rebuild. First Ride

Hey thanks. Do you like my Avatar. Neat huh? Im thinking of doing a thread for the VBB. Im stuck as to what washers/ spacers/ guides I need for the VBB headset.