Modern Vespa

Vista theater here in East Hollywood opens tonight. Inside it's like an Egyptian temple. Built during the silent era. For a while it was a porn theater.
Quentin Tarantino bought it in 2001 after it went to hell during the pandemic.
Put a bunch of $ into it.

Hoping it'll be a shot in the arm for this area, that's become quite the dystopia since Covid and all that followed.

Went for a late-night hill ride with my wife after this pic (Lemarxon carb parts she hadn't experienced yet without traffic).
Me: "Are you ready to howl"?

Great pic, Ray!

There are some old movie theaters here with cool neon signs I need to get pictures with. For whatever reason, I only ever seem to pass them when I don't have time to stop.

Got out for a bit today!

Some tasty additions here recently!


I had a beauty ride on the SS yesterday but didn't stop for any snaps while out and about. I need to make more of a point to do so.

Wow, nice art on the wall. I took a rip too — it was about 60 here today.

Stopped to snap a pic of the last surviving motorcycle dealership in my town. There used to be many, including Brit bike dealers, bmw one town over, Harley, Honda etc. Now I think he mainly serves the snowmobile, jet ski and 4-wheeler clientèle.

My friend and I came across an old airstrip. Flew when parked ?

The maiden voyage for this one. The weather here in Minneapolis looks like it will be cold next week, so I quickly got enough together to take it for a ride. Fun ride!

We went on 50km breakfast run tiis morning. The PX performed very well.

For contrast to previous pic of PX in Africa

Not many of these Mission Style gas stations still standing here in New England.

Such a great classic building design… shame it's not in use.

Visit to the local Italian pasta joint…

Fitting I think…

outside dining in late November??? Where do you live?

Great looking smallie there, 100% clean... Specs? The only thing I'd change is move the curry hook down onto the frame to the more traditional location, off the front of the seat just bugs me for some reason.

That scoot looks so D*mn good.

This area is sort of like Radiator Springs from the movie Cars. From the 1920s through the 1950s, it was one of the two major automobile routes from metro-Boston to Cape Cod, and was lined with all kinds of diners, motels, gas stations, etc. Then they built some freeways and the traffic dried up. Still a little bit of the kitschy Americana left, though.

When my neighbor said he had a surprise for me after dusk, I suspected it might have to do with Christmas lights after we worked together til after dark on same yesterday evening.

Currently based in Hong Kong. That's where the white smallie is at the moment. Al fresco dining 12months a year.

Specs:
Egig 170 cylinder
Primatist 51mm 115mm rod crank
69/27 primary, Crimaz basket
Stock PK gearbox, fabbri gear selector
Egig one finger clutch
Egig Unisex exhaust
Vape 20/20 road ignition
VHSH 30 carb
90/90 Bridgestone BT39 tires

Yeah, so there's no holes in the frame where the hook can go. Want to keep the frame stock. I'm definitely a fan of having it lower, and looking at the interwebs, seems to be a place people have the hook on the seat.

I like the look of the mono seat, but damn, it's uncomfortable and it's not quite the right position for a 6'1" guy. But hey, what other Vespa can you get away with that seat?

I really really miss Hong Kong

Hong Kong misses you…!

Yesterday I wanted to change the motor oil for the winter hibernation and the mercury just kissed 40 degrees F in the afternoon, so we left the house.

Did maybe 10 quick miles and warmed up the engine for a nuts-numbing 15 mins.

Brave man… it snowed down here today. Way too frigid out there. Even with my heated jacket! Maybe if I got some heated pants too…

Such a cool looking scoot.

...And heated helmet and gloves too! I wish!

We're getting flurries here also for the last week. No way to slice it: It's sad to be putting bikes to bed for a few months.

Funny thing is, this little '64 really doesn't mind the cold. Runs very well at most temps. Has the Pinasco 177 kit and everything else was rebuilt in 2022.

Thanks GC. I love the original paint. On the one hand, these Vbbs are so small but you also can't beat the design of the early models. Hope you have some riding days left this season down there.

That's a really nice VBB. That's my next project after I paint my 200; getting the bodywork done on my VBB and putting it all back together.

Since (If?) you're going bare metal, you should replace the reinforcing bar across the top of the legshield with something more substantial while you're at it.

Good bones! I'm almost done with my 2nd vbb total resto with (mostly) original paint, but I've slacked off in recent weeks just due to life. Let me know if you have any questions during the process in case you run into any obstacles.

120-mile round trip to Wrightwood with 9 buddies on 11-25-23. No snow in SoCal yet, although they were making it at the ski area we passed.

That's a hell of a cool picture right there!

Did you not get one of all the scoots in front of the mountains? That'd be epic.

I honestly hadn't thought of that. One side of the legshield was quite battered, but the top section is perfect on mine. I would consider welding another strip behind the original rather than drilling out spot welds to fit a new one.

I'm still on the fence between a complete resto/VW orange respray or patina with original color touch ups. I'm counting on a flash of inspiration when I actually get going on the project.

Those angles are not correct, unless you're going for the Taco Hat look on your legshield.

Right. Should be curved instead of angled…because that backup piece is too thin. I will take this up again in my thread when I get to the VBB.

Although a smallframe, same thing on legshield curve...

Thank you! That was going to be my next question. Saved to my photos for future reference.

Too thin, and too short. Pretty much every vintage bike that's seen any amount of street time winds up with those legshield creases/tears as a result.

Replacing with a bigger, stronger bar is a must-do for me if I'm going to be painting the legshield. Only takes a maybe couple hours to measure, fab, remove the old one, and weld on the new one. Do it in an evening.

At Millie's Cafe for a late lunch.

Cool old mechanics shop/gas station turned restaurant with great food! Get the mahi tacos, get the pork tacos, get the flounder… But whatever you do, don't forget the cake.

Great Picture.

Mural in my neighborhood

They see me rollin'… they hatin'…

You're rolling! It's a Christmas Miracle!