Modern Vespa

Hi guys,

Finally took the step to join the conversation. My name is Sjoerd from the Netherlands and I have been playing around with old Vespa's for about 15 years now.
Currently I'm working on a Faro Basso with pinasco tuned engine.
Before that i restored 3 small frames (all 50cc) of which I still own one. A few large frames, 2 VNBs and Sprint which are all gone now and one wide frame a 1958 Motovespa which I still own.

During the process of tuning the engine block for the Faro this forum has been a great help, so thanks for that!


Picking up the Faro in Germany, in the back of a Volkswagen Passat

In case anyone is interested the journey with the faro is so far documented here:
https://farobasta.blogspot.com/2019/12/in-beginning.html

Gorgeous bike

Thanks for posting!

Hello Sjoerdo.
Alles Goed?
Welcome.
Beautiful bike.
Look forward to more pictures.

neat!

that looks to be very complete! looking forward to the whole process.

now let's see some pics!

welcome to the asylum. it looks different from this side of the bars!

Beautiful bike!!

Welcome!!

Welcome to the forum, we need people like you here so that we can learn and share. Owning a faro baso is already a privileged status as far as I am concerned, they are so rare to see them around. You can pop some country side or city pictures, we always love that too.

Well the Faro hasnt driven as much as amile here in the netherlands so no scenery pics, but plenty of work pics:
Pic 1 complete tuned engine
Pic 2 the steering apparently broke and was welded back together
Pic 3 a glimpse of the original colour

Hoi Charlie, ja alles goed, hoe is het met jou?

And thanks for all the welcomes, guys!

This all looks so good. I'm looking forward to following along.

CM2--is speaking Dutch another one of your many hidden skills?

Welcome, I was impressed by how you put the Vespa into the VW. Nice bike! Looking forward to more progress photos.

Proceeded with taking the fork apart, see what is salvageable. Was cool to see the original paint on there under the cover 😊

I just have so many questions...

like, what's up with the multifunction for cooking a variety of items grill looking thing?

that Mona Lisa cup? what's the story? what is that?

anyway, on the fork, wtf happened? that's the oddest place to break or have a repair. just odd. the lock stop is a woodruff or shaft key that's been cut in half and welded on. just odd. I mean, maybe they came that way? but the fork tube is just a head scratcher.

The grill box actually contains the carter halves/engine cases of an original vm2T engine (back up carters)

The mona cup is a spinning ashtray

happy to clear that up

the fork is a shit storm indeed, unfortunately I can't find a replacement so I have to figure out what to do.

How they caused that damage, I have no clue...

The older forks are notoriously soft. I wouldn't trust that to hold up a restaurant display bike. You can find forks on ebay.it. You just need to be patient.

or pay...

https://www.ebay.it/itm/131722320352?hash=item1eab4319e0:g:~gcAAOSwuAVWt1yI

If that engine is built right, then that's 3k right there. . . But I do see missing the pressure plate on the kick quadrant, so I would go through it.

There were two things I paid out the nose for on my SS- fork and carb. Those were TWO things I REALLY did not want a hassle from. Months later, I am still happy I did so- I can ride down the street and not wonder when the next shoe is going to drop. Also, since they were some of the hardest bits to get, I was able to move a little quicker to completion.

Ja, alles goed!
Welkom.
Lekker scoot.

My Dutch is pitiful - but I have some significant ties there.

That fork is not a pretty sight.
Yikes.
But if they are hard to come by - that section could be cut out and replaced - with a new section and overlapping lugs.
By the looks of things - this is not your first time to the Rodeo - and it looks like you are on a first name basis with the customer service people at SIP.


That is going to be a gorgeous scoot when complete.

It almost looks like that fork has been cut and then extended? It makes me wonder if that's actually largeframe fork that's been extended to fit a widebody frame.

Yeah, that is nice set but too complete for what i need so overpriced. Would happily pay a few hundred quid for an new and improved one but thats not on the market. Ended up inserting a supporting tube on the inside, cleaned up the rust and redid the welding.

There ya go! way to get at it

She is purring! But cannot add videos 😣

Now more body work… bleegh😬

The correct pressure plate is neigh impossible to find, i ended up taking it from the original engine, so now there is 70 year old pressure plate on there

What happend to fork is probabaly that they forcefully turned the steer while the wheel was locked in some way (or the other way around), i think they basically twisted the fork. The original lock shows clearly that at one point it was jammed right through the steering lock (attempted theft?).

Started on cleaning tank, no idea what was in there almost seems like sawdust…

Also prepared an new spring for the back had to weld on a bolt and a plate.

Had to fix the rear spring again i put on a m10 bolt but it needed an m9. Unfortunately the plates are not for sale so had to salvage it from the old spring.
Some more grinding and welding…

And found a shitty repair under the bondo 😣 had to do some surgery… added plating with rivets 'facepalm'

Oh no!

Might be worth replacing the whole floorboard?

Having just gone through that, it's not too bad.

its indeed something i am condsidering... think i will try to fabricate the puzzle piece first, if unsuccesfull i will have no choice...

I have some metal tubing that is the exact diameter as the channel of the board so wanted to at least give that a try.

Having just fabricated and welded in a a (MUCH smaller) section of legshield edge, it's definitely do-able, just kind've a pain in the butt.

One rivet held!
Not sure what your budget is, but you could get a Carlucci sheet and another strut for around $150, not including shipping. Cut that segment out of it and save frustration.

https://www.sip-scootershop.com/en/product/repair-sheet-floor-board_PV152753

I'd definitely recommend the Carlucci sheet. Those are so helpful. Even if you just need a part of it. The quality of the metal they use is really nice, and the shape needed some adjustment for mine, but so much easier than fabricating.

But odds are, the rest of the floorboard is hiding some rust under the paint/bondo.


Scooter Center also has ones from three different manufacturers. The OEM quality one might be Carlucci.

https://www.scooter-center.com/en/floor-board-long-version-vespa-vespa-v30-bis-v33-vm-curved-7676638?number=7676638

What you see there is bondo on both sides of the plate. That was the build up to cover the three plates of metal that were sandwiches in there…

Just ordered two sheets of metal 1mm & 1.5mm ill give it a go first and where i end up.

In retrospect with mine, I think I removed more metal than I needed to. I just did whole sheets of it.

Turned out ok, but was more work.

Time to weld some patches…

That fits perfect. The bead must not have been easy.

Actually i cut open a piece of tube with the right diameter and folded over one side to get that beading. Seemed easier than trying to pound the bead in myself.

That's awesome.
Do you have a pic of your fold-over process? I'm stumped.

looks superb so far.
very creative solution with the tube.

I took a tube cut a slit out lenghtwise of about 3mm to create some space. Then using the vice pliers and hammer gentle folded it over after matching and measuring the amount of curvature i needed to become flat.

I know how I did it.

He split open a tube!

Amazing.

Maybe 1/2" conduit could work for us?
It's made to be malleable. Bends without folding like steel, but a bit soft.