Modern Vespa

This is a very long and boring podcast but it features the guy who rode 100,000 miles in 100 days.

I have to say I am in awe of this guy. I'm not sure he's human.

I never thought the Shovels were crap, I owned several of them and there several improvements under AMF: Carburetion (Keihan), Alternators with solid state CDI, Front forks (Showa), Front disc brakes, etc.... Now I still liked the Pans and Knuckles, but the Shovel was easier to get parts for at the time and much easier to get as a whole, that is, not all screwed up by shade tree mechanics. Much of the problems then is the same as some of the problems now: Owners with little knowledge modifying their machines because someone said it's a good idea to mod them "to unlock the power". Example: until recently, I worked on motorcycles on the side. At least twice a year someone would come by with a bike that had drag pipes installed for a tune up. Most of the time, I could hear them coming from a mile away. The bike would be running terribly and could I jet it right? I would try to explain about back pressure, harmonics, etc... most did not care - just fix it. Sometimes lollypops would help, sometimes not. It got to the place that I would again explain that drag pipes are just that - meant for the drag strip. There was no good way to get the idle, mid range and top range to all run right. And even if a compromise worked out, most of the time it ran better and had more power in stock trim. But you could not tell the owners that because it was louder and "felt" better. I just work on my own stuff now, not worth the hassle anymore. I now send them to another guy I know that charges four times as much, but he is more patient than me and specializes in this.

More thoughts: In the Shovel era and even more so in the Pre- Shovel era (Pans, Knuckles, Flats), these bikes were built with the ability to be easily worked on. Flat tires were a challenge, of course, but setting up a carb, rebuilding magnetos or generators, setting the timing, valve adjustments, etc... all do-able by the owner with a small amount of tools and the desire to learn. This is not the same now. Some things are better for it, some not.
Last comment - Caschnd1 : I retired after 47 years of plastering at the end of last year. My advice: do it as soon as you can. I actually stayed on 6 more months to help out my boss because the amount of work scheduled. No More! I'm loving it, spending way more time with my wife, taking on house projects way overdue and working on my scooters. Do it and don't look back.

His patience and pain threshold are off the charts.