Modern Vespa

Hey everybody! I am in the process of buying an old scooter and thought I would document everything here. I am 53 and have been riding my whole life. I have owned everything from 5 hp mini-bikes to 1100cc street bikes. I only have one bike right now. A 1984 Yamaha RZ350 that we've resto-modded pretty heavily.



Being a kid in the sixties and seventies, I've always liked the old scooters. I saw a restored Vespa for sale at a swap meet last summer, but I wasn't ready to purchase at that point. But it did put a bug in my brain that I always wanted to own one. To cure my Jones, I bought a modern scooter from a friend, and while it was fun and reliable, it lacked any coolness or style.



I kept my eyes open on Craiglist and a vintage scooter page on Facebook, but nothing interesting ever popped up. I sold the modern scooter and kinda forgot about scooters until a month or so ago when I got the bug again. Then, this scooter popped up on the FB page.





It's a 62 (same year as me) Vespa Cushman 150. I've been in touch with the seller and he's going to deliver it to me from across the state next weekend. I've done some research on this scooter and it has an interesting background.

It was for sale here in Kansas City several years ago, and was sold and hauled across the state to St. Louis. Then it was listed on the FB page for sale about a year ago. I messaged the owner a couple of times, but I had the modern scooter, so I wasn't really looking hard for a Vespa. He traded it to another guy in STL and then he listed it a month ago on the FB page. This time I was in a place where I could finally pull the trigger. Both of these guys are members here and can chime in if they feel like it. Both are experienced Vespa guys and have eased any fears that I have about buying a used vintage scooter off of the internet. I also have a guy here in town that is very knowledgeable about vintage Vespas, who has been guiding me all along.

I plan on keeping it in an "AS IS" state and riding it. Any mods that I make will be purely cosmetic and in keeping with the back in the day theme of the scooter. I'll gather as much info as I can off of this site, and try not to make any rookie mistakes that will embarrass me in front of the vintage scooter community. My goal is to have a solid reliable scooter that looks like it could have been parked in someone's garage back in the sixties. I'll document everything here in this thread.

I'm open to any and all comments and suggestions. Feel free to chime in and tell me how I'm doing. Today, the journey begins.

Welcome to the forum

That's a great looking scooter; I love the colour and the whitewall tyres. Let us know how it rides when you get it 8)

Welcome to the forum.. I agree.. Great looking bike.

I like that RZ too!

I'll gladly take the RZ !

Thanks guys. Like every project, I have about twice what it's worth tied up in it. But I'll probably never sell it. I had always wanted a RZ since they first came out. I was in college and couldn't afford a new motorcycle. Years later, I found this RZ in St. Louis and drug it back on a trailer. It's been a labor of love.

Found out some additional info on the scooter. It has supposedly been gone through several years ago in a cheap home garage style resto. It was repainted but the paint is coming off as seen in the picture. It's been converted to 12 volts and electronic ignition, and obviously the exhaust has been changed.

The speedometer is cracked and the seller tells me that it's not working because it needs a cable. So I'll be looking for a speedo and cable.



Here's a couple of other pics. The rest will have to wait til it gets home next weekend.

nice! And welcome

Very nice RZ. You can probably get a new lens and chrome ring for the speedo and easily repair it on your own for pretty cheap. The internal plates look pretty good and it may have been restored with the low miles indicated. SpeedoKing has done 3 speedo's for me and they can provide the parts along with shops like SIP. The Cushman badge is nice is it an authentic Cushman badged scooter?

The seller is currently going through the scooter making any adjustments and checking things over. One of the things he is going to repair is the speedo. He thinks it just needs a cable to work so he's going to replace that. I'll check into getting a new lens for it.

It is being represented to me as a genuine Vespa Cushman. From what I have read, there are no differences besides the badging. I guess someone could have swapped a badge onto it over the last 53 years. Who knows?

Very nice roundtail 150! That older paint job looks like quality. A few minor battle scars only enhance it & now you won't have to sweat the first one you add.

By 1962 the Vespa versions had the squared off tail for mounting a Euro license plate. Now it seems that a lot of ppl prefer the older more streamlined roundtails. Here's the same 1962 model as yours as sold by Vespa, while Cushman scooters got the old inventory.



Maybe more practical, but I'd take a roundtail if there's a choice.


Try turning that bracket upsidedown and mounting it inside the frame.
Now, hang the plate low & show off your pretty curvaceous fanny

Thanks for that info! That's what makes a community like this so valuable.

I like the roundtail look better too. I've found several references to the squared off rear starting in 62 but never knew what they were referring to. Now I know.

The repaint is older and appears to be sprayed at home. It's coming off the body on the right under the seat. I agree on the battle scars, it's what gives it character. Everything has a story to tell.

I'll look into the license mount when I get it home.

The seller also has a saddle seat and package tray that I'm going to purchase. The tray is red but it matches the grips and exhaust.

keep the rd whip out the lump n pop it in a lammy ..... alot better than any scmodi thing

welcome


**edited due to shite spelling**

My brother in-law had a Yamaha RD-350 with the red and black paint theme and rectangular shape headlight, it was probably a late 80s because he had it for a few years and I started riding it around 93 when I visited them in the Canary Island.

The RZ(or RD) is a beast, specially at 7000rpms when the YVPZ opens up. They even made a 500cc that also sold in Europe but that was for people nuts. You have a beautiful ride.

Okay, one last post about the RZ and then this thread is about the scooter. The engine was built by my friend Bill over at www.wilsonperformance.net It's bored and stroked, ported to the hilt, bigger carbs, better reeds, custom expansion chambers and runs like a striped ass ape. You can read all about it in this thread over on the RZ forums if you're interested.

http://www.rzrd500.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=7343

Bill also has a RZ500 that he built as a full on custom and it will debut at the local World of Wheels show in February. I don't have any pictures of Bill's bike yet, but he has been building RZ engines and shipping them around the world for years. He took everything that he's learned and put it into his personal bike. It has the best of everything and should blow them away at the show.

naaaa one last post on the rd .......

Oh, now that's just mean. Bill has already suggested sticking a RZ engine in the VBB instead of going through the 150 with a kit. I would leave the outside looking as stock as possible. Something scares me about going 100 mph on 8 inch wheels though?

Nice scooter. If you don't already know about it, there is a great group of riders in KC. The group is on Facebook and called Kansas City Scooter Riders. They do group rides often with all types of scooters. Vintage ones, maxi-scooter, modern etc. I found the group about 2 years ago and it has been fantastic. Hope to meet up on a ride sometime!

I'm a member. I joined when I rode the modern Honda 250. Nice group of people but I'm not the type to ride for ice cream and site seeing. Maybe a couple of beers and a game of pool. I ride with some independent guys who have custom scooters and pieces of crap. We generally ride around the Plaza/Westport/Midtown/P&L areas. I'm the old man of the group so I thought I'd buy a fitting scooter and show them what old guys can do.

I recently joined the Mayhem group too. Some of my friends are members. I'm sure I'll run into you next summer, come up and say hello.

I'd certainly be up for a beer!

There was a problem with the title that's being resolved so things have kind of hit a snag for the past month, but I still plan on buying the scooter as soon as I can get a clear title. In the meantime, the seller has been going through the scooter as promised. The new speedo cable is in and he just needs to finish buttoning the headlight up. Here's a short video that he sent me last night.

http://s21.photobucket.com/user/bdtunks/media/Scooter%20Pics/Running%20Video_zpsyqmjsicz.mp4.html?sort=4&o=5

I found a picture of the scooter from back in 2010. It has a mirror on it that I kinda like. I asked the seller and he said he had it but the chrome was peeling. Patina is one thing, but peeling chrome won't work. I guess I'm on the search for a mirror as shown.

Legshield mirrors might not provide great rear view. In the above photo's there is an accessory mirror mount bracket attached to the under side of the headset. That bracket would allow you to mount mirrors for both sides.

It's coming off soon. I don't intend on running mirrors up high.

It's been over a month but there has been some things going on. The seller sent the registration to the state of Vermont and has received that paperwork back. He has applied to the state of Missouri for a title and as soon as that's received we are going to meet in the middle and do the deal.

In the meantime, he's been doing a little customization for me. I bought the solo saddle, package tray and spare tire from him. He replaced the speedometer cable which fixed the speedo. It's ready to go. In fact he rode it around last weekend and took some pictures for me.



Here's a short video he sent of it running.

http://vid21.photobucket.com/albums/b253/bdtunks/Scooter%20Pics/IMG_0213_zpsmczpzfzy.mp4

Nice ride, bet you are stoked. 8)

it's really nice

so hard to wait for a ride you have already agreed to buy. congrats on a nice looking scoot. spring will be here soon!

Wow, BrianT, that's a great looking RZ350 Kennny Robets replica!! Haven't seen a yellow version in a loooong while... Wow. And 2-stroke fun!!

I wanna rider her...

Have fun with your '62 Vespa project!

The plan is to ride it around this summer and enjoy it as is. After I'm comfortable with it, I will look into modding the engine next winter. I'm not opposed to sticking another $1k or so into the engine. I don't expect it to pull wheelies but would like to keep up with traffic. I live out in the burbs and the good places to ride are in the city 30 minutes away.

Tell us more about that RZ350! It's in my fantasy file. Anyways, have fun with your scooter.

I want to ride with you!
What have to done to get that speed?

The worst bit would have to be having 80mph tyres

Check out the link above. There's a whole thread that tells you everything that was done to the RZ. I was just kidding around, I don't plan on going 100 on the scooter, that's what the RZ is for. I imagine going 60 mph on 8 inch wheels with drum brakes in rush hour traffic is going to be scary enough.

I got word yesterday that the seller has a title for the scooter! Unfortunately, I have to work this weekend and it's frigid cold, so we have decided to meet half way between us next Saturday. It's supposed to be sunny and 60 degrees. I might even be able to go for a ride if I make it back at a decent hour. 8)

The weather was beautiful yesterday so we jumped in my buddy's truck and met the seller half way to make the exchange. The bike looked just as it had been represented. We started it up and rode around the parking lot for a minute just to make sure there was nothing wonky going on. The seller mentioned three small parts that were missing, so he ordered them right there in the parking lot and is having them drop shipped to my house. Everything with the paper work was in order so we loaded her up and headed back.



When we got it home, the first thing I did was put on my old scooter plate so that I wouldn't get hassled by the man. I took the suggestion above and mounted the bracket inside the frame and I agree it looks awesome.



I rode around town for about twenty minutes but that got too boring and the day was too nice, so against my better judgement I loaded up and took off to join a scooter ride that started 30 miles away. When I arrived, the scooter was like a magnet, everyone came to check it out. Most everyone was riding modern scoots and even a couple of ratty looking 49cc guys (who ended up being the coolest guys there) but there was an older guy riding a 83 Stella that he had done a lot of work to. I didn't get a picture but here's one of the whole group. Notice the smile on my face.



I put 75 miles on it yesterday and even broke her cherry by riding home through some light rain. I'm making a list of things that are wrong and need to be addressed. I'll post them all later and you all can help me prioritize them into the most important to least important order. Now the fun and work can begin.

Congratulations! Love the style, even the peeling paint. So - my 2 cents - You may want to pick up a engine rather than mod the one that's in there now. It may be better and cheaper in the long run. Unless you are going to go for, say, a Pinasco 177 kit, 20/20 carb (jetted right) and a mild exhaust upgrade. That might be all you want or need. Either way, enjoy - that's a sweet looking ride.

Nice scoot

That's actually the plan for next winter. I'd like to do some things that need to be addressed right now. The brakes are marginal at best. I can feel a pulsation in the brake pedal at slow speeds that makes me think the drum is warped or just out of round. It needs tires because they are weather cracked. So I'll knock those two projects out at once.

There seems to be some looseness in the steering head, so the bearings may need to be addressed in there also. I'm doing searches trying to figure out what all is involved in replacing them now.

Did another 70 mile ride on her yesterday and I'm getting used to the quirks of riding a vintage scooter. The seat foam being worn out is the biggest complaint. I'm gonna pull the cover off, sew up a rip and then see if I can't add some new foam.

The rear brake still pulsated at low speed, but is capable of locking up the tire if necessary. I did a few controlled skids and it is capable. The kill switch quit working last week, so I've just been killing it will the clutch. The horn button has always been missing, so I ordered a new switch. Hopefully that will take care of those two problems.

Now the headlight has stopped working, but I remembered that the seller included a new bulb holder so I guess I replace it while I'm in there working on wiring.



Here's a pic over the Kaw river where Missouri turns into Kansas.

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That had to be Vespa Jeffs old bike. I remember when he bought that pipe.
Then he did a deal with Myke and horse trading ensued. Always with Myke.
Still looks good, the 30 Days Scooter gang sure misses that bike!!
Enjoy it!!

It's nice to see a good scoot end up in happy hands. Re your lites - make sure you have ALL working bulbs installed w/ correct wattage, front & back, as these things have a goofy self-regulating system that requires full load to avoid blowing remaining bulbs.

Yep, that's how it went down. I'll be bringing back to STL for the rally in September.