Modern Vespa

So, overall my 1987 PK XL is in good order, its got no rot in it, mechanically excellent, a bit of surface rust, frame wise paint had held up well. My side panels are very scuffed up and my front fender too. Dent wise, its very good, knocked most of them out.

If i spray these panels, its gonna look very new compared to rest of scooter and maybe a bit odd. I dont want to lose the patina of the whole 34 year old scooter with a complete respray. Do you think i should just sticker up the panels, maybe the big circular racing number stickers, etc. Or, rub it all down, prime and blow over with a piaggio rattle can? Or, get a professional to do them? They keep catching my eye as look crappy to me, but i know some folks like them this way, ratty. Any suggestions as what i should do appreciated.

I'd keep it as is. Maybe a sticker or 2 but nothing too much. It shows its history.

I can't comment too much though, my 50 was resprayed by me before I knew about using a block to flatten the paint and my ambition definitely outweighed my talent. I love it from a distance but close up its a bit rubbish. Most of it is satin black so its a lot easier to blend in.

Stickers are for limited damage, you'd have to pave those poor panel to hide all those scuffs.

As much as I love original bikes I'd have those two panels painted. A decent rattle can job and a year or two of use should have them fitting right in.

Now how about a picture of the complete bike as I bet it a nice machine!

Yeah sure, heres some

That's great as it is.

It sounds very much like you need to get a v-range to go with it to have the shiny paint.

Leave it as is. That pup worked hard for them dings!

Nice ride, but if you want patina, you got it already - scratches are part of it. Me? I'd rock it the way it is. But if you want the panels looking better, might I suggest a different solution if you are not sure - Vinyl wrap. If you own a hair dryer, you can do it. And the colors are endless. One last piece of advice - use quality material like 3M. Good luck

Yeah thx guys for tips. Vinyl wrap sounds good. I would still have to work on filling and sorting the dinks for that as it will show pockets. I just went to a body shop and quoted 100 each for putting right . I'm tempted to just slap on a few stickers as suggested and spend the money on the engine . Just took her for spin with no wind and reached the heady speed of 48.6 mph gps , not bad for 74cc. I like the idea of the wrap though Maybe some chequered wrap?? The body shop said that there were so many dinks on panels to put right it would show up with fresh black paint if they didn't get it spot on fixing hence 100 quid a pop.

I'd fix and paint those panels. Sure, dents, dings and scratches add "character", but so do ratty, torn sneakers with stains on them. Stuff wears out. Why not make them look nice again to match the rest of the scoot. 200 quid is a fair price for a pro job.

Nice bike... thanks for the shots.

ACF 50 or Ankor wax and that's it please.

Cracking looking scooter, it's only original once.

Cheers Cgt75b.

Yes, you're right. The scoots shiny but has lots of age related marks on it. The fender needs doing too as the front bit hammerited over rust to protect it and black it up. They can't do to new year as booked solid but likely I will get panels redone as they do stand out. I found this rather nice xl trade advert , do love the xl lines , so much less boxy than the original pks

I'd just put a Specials sticker on there and call it a job well done.

I have found the factory paint to be quite durable. While getting my vbb ready for a respray, I found that I could get a lot of the dents out without disturbing the paint much without even trying to be careful with the paint. If I was trying to preserve the paint, I would put a layer of tape over the surfaces I was working on and finish up with a cut and buff. Someone with a little metal finishing experience could get those dents pretty smooth and it would look way better.