Modern Vespa

Taking a page out of oopsclunkthud's book and reserving a space to document the progression of my project GTS250.

Current status: Have had it since 8/23/19 so almost a month. Title came last Saturday 9/24 and on the 17th I ordered a bunch of parts.

Here it is on the day I picked it up

It's in pretty darn good shape with the only problems being a DIY repair job on the left side, a broken brake cylinder cover on the right, mismatched tires (Bridgestone on the back and City Grip on the front), and it looks like something ate the finish off a small section of the exhaust (right under the water pump)

Here's where it came to rest on day 1

Busted brake cylinder cover...

Funky spot on the exhaust..

And the DIY repair...

I really wish I knew how to or if it's possible to post more than one picture at a time. I see the question asked all the time but it's never answered. I only use my phone for the convenience but maybe things work differently on a PC???

Anyway, what spurred me to start all this was my boxes started arriving today. Amazingly the ones that came from Germany beat the local orders. If anyone has concerns about ordering from SIP don't worry. My order got here in 3 days...and would have been here yesterday if it weren't for TS Imelda dumping feet of rain here.

Time to start the mods on this bike. Wheels and tires came so I will get them swapped out with the stock ones today

The black wheel changed this bikes whole personality.

Next the rear...

And it's on.

Old stock exhaust meet your replacement!

The stock exhaust weighs over 14 pounds and that's the weight without the header. I haven't removed that from the bike yet

And the PM68 weighs 7.6 pounds WITH the long curved header attached. I may weigh it again without the header when I have time to get back and finish this part of the project. Busy weekend ahead so I won't get much more done for a bit.

Happy with the progress so far. Still waiting on one order that contains the:
black mirrors
black brake levers
black leg shield trim
black passenger pegs
grips
solo seat
4v head and big bore cylinder kit

When you get your 4V head, be sure to do a test fit with the PM exhaust before everything is mounted. I had issues with the PM-80 and OEM exhaust nuts not having enough clearance.

Thanks AnnDee444. I followed your story and picked these items up.

I spent the better part of an hour last night trying to get the header attached to the original head. There's so little space it's killing me to get the nuts started on the studs. Do you have a trick? I'm trying to be patient but my next idea is to just take the engine out to get this thing bolted on.

I won't put on the head for a bit more time. It's going off to AF1 for some work.

When I am able to finally get them started by hand, I am able to use a 1/4" drive with a 6" extension, and a 1" extension. The 1" extension goes closer to the socket, and allows for just enough mis-alignment to get the nuts tightened properly. (This is with the ARP 12-point nuts also).

The best tip I can give is to loosely bolt the header to the motor while the engine is out of the bike, then tighten everything when the motor is in. Installing the motor with the exhaust attached is not much harder, but does require the body to be lowered over the motor (I use a transmission jack). Hell, it's almost easier to pull the motor just for the header than it is to get the PM header attached with the motor in the bike.

Also, check your exhaust port diameter on the V4 head vs. the header. I ended up port matching both the head and header to the diameter of the copper gasket. There is a slight taper on the header that is could be restriction, even with the unmodified V4 head.

I was afraid of that. I'll try a little longer and then it's OUT with the motor!

I was trying to only pull it once but my head won't be going out until November and I MUST hear this pipe now.

Yep. The frustration level peaked trying to get that header on. Engines gonna have to come out. Time to build a stand to make working on this project a bit easier.

Very cool project. I just joined the forums and haven't gone through much as of yet, but I am also curious about your other scooters. Do you have a thread for each one? Definitely following progress of this thread to see the before/after progress with the cylinder kit.

I fully intend to keep this thread running until I've completely gotten this bike to where I want it. By the time I'm finished it will have a more powerful motor and it will be sporting a new color. I'm not fond of red. My very personal opinion is that red is for girls and firemen.

So here's the plan. I've got the head and cylinder kit in-hand but after following a thread over on another site I want to mod the head before I install it and the guy doing the cleaning up/porting/polishing can't accommodate me until next month.

I do not have threads for my other bikes. The 150 I don't mess with. The new GTS I don't mess with. I did a lot of cosmetic things to the GT 200 and took lots of pictures so if you're interested in before/after cosmetic shots I can start a thread to show that. The GT turned out really nice after blacking all the controls, legshield trim, mirrors, and wheels. I added stripes and stickers and it has a "fast" look now.

This GTS250 is intended to be my hot rod and I want it to be stunning when finished. The engine work will be completed and dialed in before I strip everything and do a frame up color change. Stick around, this will not happen quickly!!

This thread looks the goods to me! Can't wait to see what you do. My old Beo 250 destroyed the drive shaft, I'm in the middle of deciding to just replace the drive shaft or do I do the Malossi 275cc and V4 head upgrade too on it.

In the mean time I'm riding around on a 250GTS which has made me want to keep the Vespa. So maybe I'll fix the driveshaft on the Scarabeo - then sell it, and do the engine upgrades to my Vespa! Hmmm decisions - but your plans look very very exciting!

Platform is complete.

I am definitely interested in seeing progress from the other scoot. I will keep my eyes on this thread as well to see progress unfold. If you don't mind me asking, do you already have a color in mind that you plan on? Will it be a factory Vespa color or something custom?

I've had my mind set on some shade of orange. Not a light one but darker. Like this.

But I also like deep blood reds like this Brandywine I'm showing here. It's all up in the air though because I'm really digging the colors I'm seeing on the newer Vespas and I saw a Porsche the other day and the color was amazing. I looked it up and almost positive it's called Chalk.

Paints a ways off with the engine work I've yet to start on so I have time to decide. Here's the Brandywine. It would kick off awesome with everything blacked out.

With everything obtained and my workstand built, today was the day to install the exhaust. Working with the bike elevated and also jacked up I had enough room to get my head under there and see. It also helped that this time I took the side skirts off. That made a huge difference. Instead of 15 minutes X a few tries of frustration and failure this time I had both nuts on in less than 10 minutes.

Here's the finished job so for those following this thread I'm halfway finished with Phase 1 with the wheel/tires, seat, and exhaust on. The rest will be new grips and bar end weights, black mirrors, black foot rests, and black leg shield trim. I'll also replace that broken brake reservoir cover. At some point I must lose that chrome rack on the back but I haven't decided what to replace it with.

Phase 2 will be the engine work and I have no idea how long that's gonna take.

I learned something that I can maybe pass along. When you jack these bike up there is no way to get the jack back far enough so that you only life the rear. To keep the front from coming up you've got to tie it down somehow. I put 2 u-bolts lateral to my 2x4 homemade wheel chock. A strap through the wheel and u-bolts held the front end down nicely.

A little farther along and at a stopping point now before moving onto the engine mods. Mirrors and controls as well as leg shield trim all black now and the horn cover was updated to the current decade

Your carpentry kung fu is better than mine...

Also took that chrome springy rack off the back and added something a little more retro and sporty

What're you talkin about? I think your platform is great!

Wish I'd built this thing a year ago. Makes a huge difference not having to get down on the ground.

Thanks.

Yeah, I hear ya on getting down on the floor. Concrete is not getting any softer, and my inner ear tumbles when I'm at odd angles these days. I put wheels on it because I have to tuck it in against the side of the garage to get everything to fit. Two cars and two bikes (three if you count the Schwinn) in a smallish garage is a squeeze, but I don't like leaving anything outside any more.

Those wheels are awesome. Wheels would be a nice addition but if I do that I might have to cut the legs a bit.

I made it a little lower than the plans called for so I could put the wheels on (Harbor Freight, by the way) but it's still a bit too tall to reach over the side and pull the carburetor. I have to use a step stool. Everything else is easier, though.

That is a transformation! Looks awesome! Black looks so much better than the chrome! Nicely done.

is that the alibaba rack?

Thanks! I like it a lot better and I'm less put off by the red now.

No not alibaba. I actually got from SIP. It's number MV655829MB there. ScooterPartsCo also sells it here locally but since I was already getting something I could only get from Germany I just added it to the order.

Nice job Rob