Modern Vespa

I originally posted to reddit but was told to come here!



New to vespas. Im a 50 year old dude who has wanted one since I was 17 jammin around in doc martens and fred perrys. I work on all of my bikes and have a garage full of cb750s, cb350s, twin cam harleys and old honda hobbits. Im not familiar with mopeds but I can figure em out.

Anyway I would like a vespa mainly to have fin and jam around the neighborhood and midtown traffic. Im located in atlanta so no interstate no country roads. Im thinking piedmont park, liquor store, target.


What are the differences in 1970s 125cc vs 150cc vs 200? I remember an old skinhead dude I knew had a p200 and the wheel went off at 55mph on the interstate. He woke up in the hospital and never got his p200 out of impound. Anyway. Im thinkung I need a steady 45 mph but would like aome umph to get me out of a bind if need be.

Things that are important
Speed
Availability of parts and forums
Resale (maybe)
Price (Im not trying to pay $6k for a moped)

Also is there an atlanta vespa forum


Also wheres the best place to find a used one. Possibly needing work.

I have a line on a 72 rally 180 not running. But dont know enough. Thinking I should just focus on finding a decent p200.

What are common fail points to look for and are they easily fixed?

P200 would be overkill for what you're after. A stock 150 will do 45mph. 125 probably could too at least a newer one. A P150 would probably be your best bet. Parts are plentiful for them too. And they swap easily into a frame as far back as 1958 (I run a px150 engine case in my 1958 Allstate)

I concur with Friday, P150 or any P series, depending on condition and deal. You can put some go fast parts on it if you are needing more acceleration. Atlanta should have plenty to choose from. Try FB marketplace as well as scootnet2.net. The Rally would be great to have as a future project - aren't many of those around for sale

They're not mopeds

Thank you. Ive already been admonished about calling them mopeds. I guess Im used to old pedal powered garellis

You can kit a 150 to be fast, but when stock i find that it's lacking big time in the torque department with acceleration and on hills (i ride mostly highways and hills, and not much inner city). My answer for everything is a bone stock P200 with a Sito+. There are other more popular box exhausts out there, but for some reason i just go with what i know.

P200

I'm the same way, my DR177 was good around town and anything around 45mph. That is very little of my use, P200 with a torque box exhaust works great for county roads where I need to maintain 55 mph not peak at 55 mph. Never tried a BGM177 or something along that line.

+1 on this, do you have the space/funds to get a working P and the Rally as well?

There are 3 options... put simply

150 (166/177 kitted) = REVS
200 (210+ kitted) = TORQUE
Unlimited Budget & a slightly crazy, Italian/German Friend-of-a-friend = delirious Insanity awaits
an immaculately restored, VBB Bodge = Depression awaits

https://www.facebook.com/reel/684039096406175?fs=e&s=m

Not to hijack the thread, but I just picked up a P200 with a Sito+ a couple of weeks ago. I'm looking forward to bringing back to life.
Good luck on the search Kylescore, if nothing else, Atlanta is a good place to be when trying to pick a project. Around up here in Charlotte, it's a bit more desperate.

The stock or maybe slightly tuned P200 is a safe bet. I have one in my Sprint with a Malossi 210 and matched ports, but otherwise stock. It's a 17 or 18 HP build. It's not particularly fast (by my extreme standards), but I kept the autolube and it definitely has nice torque for when you don't want to downshift a lot because you're in the hills (I'm in Nashville, so similar terrain to Atlanta elevation-wise). It's a great grocery getter for me.

I have an almost identically performing (17HP) VBB built on the Sprint's motor with a BGM 177. No autolube, geared down by the 8" wheel, but it'll happily run 65 MPH and likes to lift the front wheel coming off the line if I'm not careful. It's just a lot revvier doing it (peak RPM's are about 8k vs ~6500 or 7k on the P200). The downside is that I had to put a lot more engineering effort into making that motor happen than the 200, which is effectively a bolt-on until I get around to doing a crazy P200 build.

So both will work, you just need to decide which route you want to take, which is a question of both short- and long-term goals here.

And if you're ever in Nashville, give me a heads up and you're welcome to swing by and take a ride on one of mine.

Another option: a Stella 150. It already has some options like the disc front brake and electric start (if that is important to you). if I were you: grab the Rally if the price is right. If you are open to a Stella, there is one that is in great shape, rebadged as a Vespa belonging to the guy right above me.

LOL! It's true. Freshly rebuilt motor, too.

Thanks, Tierney.

My stock Stella was way faster than my stock 2005 PX150. From my perspective, the oh so restrictive 2005 PX150 absolutely sucked in the power department. It ranked down there along with a stock Serveta 150...possibly even slower...if that's even possible.

I was really on the fence with the stock Stella's power. It wasn't quite fast enough to cruise at 55 on the highway. I did install a meh cast iron DR177 kit and a Sito+. No doubt it made the scooter faster, but it still didn't have same torque and speed as any stock P200.

What i really liked about the Stella was that it was newish (at the time), hydro disc brake, fuel economy, easy to work on, parts interchangeability with a P series, and zero rust on the frame.
What i didn't like was all the cheap wiring, switches, and the 2500 mile crankshafts (i've owned two Stella's and both cranks pooped out at around an average of 2500 miles).

Thanks for all the replys! I had a vintage honda hobbit I tried to put a big bore on once and ended up snapping the bokts off in the case. It legit would go 12 mph with me on it. It had crummy carbs though.

I think my best bet is to find a decent p200 and start from there! The girl with the rally 180 is not rerurning texts so maybe she decided to keep it. I think a 200 is probably the way to go. Let me know if anyone has one in the southeast they are thinking of parting with

Obvious flatter: The Stella Chandlerman just finished up was picked up in a deal with a smallframe he was after and the seller wanted to sell both at the same time. Cosmetically it was in great shape. He just went thru the engine as he was going to sell it someone else. He knows these engines well and could probably build it up for more power for a little more cheddah if you asked. Best deal I know anywhere close to you now. Just sayin....