Modern Vespa

GL, epic! it delights me that you got all the pieces of the puzzle to make it happen!

if you skittle skatted by kajiits without a howdy-do I'd be crushed. I'd understand, but still, crushed.

Oh you know it my man! I basically planned my trip down, with work (and scooters) being the focus. The back end I left open, for just this purpose; so I can play it on scooter time

Very cool story brother! I'm glad it's finally home. And the orange crush turned out nice!

OC Scootershop is where I bought my 2002 Bajaj 4t, in 2002

Excited to see what comes next for your first scooter...

This story is truly epic, GL. It's like one of those "lost dog finds owner 1,000 miles away" stories. I love it!

MJ - That is bad ass. Good on ya! ^^^Truth!

Jesse - That has to top 3 NSM stories of the year. So damn cool! I just...can't even...story almost got me a little teary eyed... who's cutting onions in here?!?
Seriously, that is scooter righteousness of the highest order.

Also.. can't wait to watch your SS build. Woot!

nicely played, I'll put the beer on ice!

Thanks for the kind words everyone. TBH It is pretty exciting on so many levels. I have to say that I LOVE the scooterist community. Truly the best people I know


Bonus bonus: The PO's saved all of my old receipts too! Which I had sent alomg to stay with the Scoot.

GL, reading this made me so happy! I'm so glad you are reunited.

(Also, NGL, writing this so I can get to my fifth post so I can "thumbs up" posts. haha)

*waves too excitedly at Lili*

*waves too excitedly back*

This is so cool!
*adds to Pinterest board*

Gonna have to hit up Kajiit House of Wares for some supplies... and labor.

Cool story bro This kinda stuff is why we love these things and their keepers too! You just officially made my day . Gracias.

Awesome story - true scooterist heaven achieved.

@GeekLion - Amazing! Awesome that the person that owned it for the last decade continued to take care of it (receipts and all!) and that you were able to spot it from a photo. But I totally get it, I think if my '05 SV650 (my first real bike) rolled by I'd be able to spot it in a heartbeat. Looking forward to the SS build thread!

You've been busy man! A little bummed you didn't share the Rally build with us in real time, but all good. Looking forward to seeing that SS come back to life.

I am always busy. I wanted to share it, but it was the right thing to do for the new owner. I'm happy to share any and all details of the orange Rally build.

Went for a ride today on the new/old ride. It was great!!

Hope one of these beauts will be under you at ROM?

I'll be rollin hard on the new/old white P. Its a good ripper! Malossi 210, reed block, 30m carb, efl trans, etc etc

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Went riding with a friend in Phoenix on Friday. Visited the shop that's doing some work on two of my projects. Discussed the 'busa valve plan for the LX. Picked up a few bits from the other project.

Rode to Peoria to a CFMoto Demo Day at RideNow.

Missed a shop night, but burned some PTO instead of losing it. Need to burn some again soon, so those might be shop days.


Couple of freshened bits for my '64 Benly 90.

Sorted some bits to freshen up the P2 to get it ready for warm dry weather. I'll be going thru the scoot head to tail, cleaning up and tightening down. For my own peace of mind I need to know everything is tietietietie tiiiieeeegggghhhhtttttt tight tight. This is just the first batch of treats

You ever figure this out? I'm still rocking only a high beam, that also only comes on when the rocker is set to off. I'm not bothering to fix mine though.

I finally tracked it down to a bad wire between the switch and the light. I haven't bothered to fix it, but at least I'm not still wondering what's up.

I also had the brake light filament of the tail light burn out. Fortunately, I thought to start checking the bulb rather than tearing through the entire bike first for a change.

Can't participate in 60/8 yet, but I can do other dumb stuff.

61 on a Genuine Buddy 50. And I'm not a skinny dude.

Engine has a Stage6 HPC crank, a Stage6 Sport Pro Mk.II 70cc cylinder, Yasuni C10 pipe, Malossi reeds and a 21mm Arreche carb. E-start and auto-choke work; it all hides behind a stock looking airbox. P-rated 3.50-10 whitewalls. I rebuilt the forks and used a better oil, but the rest of it is stock. Brakes too. Might need a bigger rotor now.

Rear end is 9.9:1 currently. Taller gears on the way.

P.S. Arreche uses Mikuni jets, so their 92.5 is a comparable to a Keihin or Dell'Orto 100


Freeway access roads are great for testing.

I'm not a skinny dude.

very respectable!

I know that the buddy 125/150 uses a different rotor and caliper, but I'm not sure if the rim or forks are any different.

at any rate, if you're looking to upgrade to the 125/150 stuff hit me up I know I've got a bunch of that stuff kicking around.

Lolz! That's rad.
Good on ya!

You could make yourself a "60 on 50" award and give it to yourself.

I'm good. My reward is the surprise on other driver's faces when this thing hits the pipe, rears back on it's suspension and rolls out off a traffic light.

It's like the Diet Coke mini-can version of your Smallstate.

Finally bit the bullet and bought this monster that according to my scale weighs a metric shit ton. Only dropped it on my foot and head once each!

Ffs at least my back won't hurt in the future…


Almost killed me, so that means I'm stronger now?

Good on ya

I fought getting the lift for a long time… now I wonder how I ever wrenched with out it.

Congratulations! I second this. Just today I raised mine up to work on the exhaust, back to mid level to work on the carb and carb box, then back up to put on the new exhaust.

I would've been all crunched over, sitting on the floor, laying on the ground, etc ... One of the best investments I've made. I did make a few mods to make it a little better and custom for my scene.

Well much like a Vespa this lift was one step forward three back… didn't have the release pedal in the box. Called the missing parts number and the lady told me it'd be 12-16 weeks before I could get one from them. Called every damn store around me and finally found a store that has 2 in stock… it's an hour and a half drive away.. but that's better than it being useless for 3-4 months, for a damn pedal.

Oh man, that succcckkkkkss ...

It's like M Night Shyamalan wrote this script!

The pedal grew legs and was playing hide and seek under the dinning room table… damn kids.

Crisis averted though, no need to drive for 3hrs to get one!

Nice that you caught a break there. Is that a H.F. one? Did it come with the wheel chock? If it is, I have the same and I'm super happy with it. Wish I had space for 2 more!

Sure is nice, only found it cause it was under my daughters snow pants and I needed them for her for school today (she goes to an outdoor school and it's cold and windy today). Picked them up and found the pedal. It is from harbor freight and did come with the wheel chock. I lifted the table up today and pretty stoked on it. Should come in very handy for working on the bike(s) and as a work table for other stuff. It'll be perfect to strip paint off doors. Especially this 9' one I've been slowly working on.

It will! As you know it makes jobs so much easier. It's very capable of lifting and holding lots of weight. I've had a couple of moderately heavy motorcycles on it: my 1970s BMW airhead is probably north of 450 lbs. I think it pumped up to waist level with no probs.

Spent every day for the past week packing up the garage and moving it into storage in prep for some foundation work.

The bikes will stay and roll out of whatever corner is being worked on. When everything comes back I hope to have a much more functional garage.

The GS is almost done, need to finish that up before the work starts.

Worked on my buddy's janky '05 Zuma 50.

Not thrilled with his predilection for Amazon parts from vendors who looked like they named their company by faceplanting into the keyboard

Seriously, who buys a knockoff of a Runleader? That's already the lowest tolerable spec for a tach/temp combo meter.


Engine stuck back on after fresh bearings, seals, Stage6 LPC crank and an Athena "race" top end.

Adios 14mm Teikei. Hello, 21mm Arreche. Amazing how well some of these slot in. Cable was run after picture; did a lot of dry fitting of things.

Happy Flying Monkey brand starter was pinned up backwards. Had to sort that so it wouldn't fry the harness. Friends who buy Amazon parts should be dope slapped.

More done since this pic. Needs the pipe refitted, new exhaust studs and a different plug. Don't need a resistor cap and a resistor plug.

Man - I turn my back for a few moments and y'all get all busy.
Safis is pimpin out his ride in preparation for loading more scoot parts in without damaging the bumper.
Geek Lion has somehow managed to get back his first scoot from his teens - which was probably a better decision for Facebook use then finding his girlfriend of that same era.
AZ Lynch is driving way, way, way too fast on that 50, in retribution for the boroscope late shipment.
Friday Matinee is proving that he has the single most misleading monicker of any of us - it sounds so peaceful - but there is always pain involved.
And Patric still has the single largest basement in all of San Francisco California.

A fine lot you are.

Last edited by charlieman22 on Sun, 19 Mar 2023 05:31:42 +0000; edited 1 time