Modern Vespa

After my buddy took an interest in my GS project he decided to get a Vespa himself. He wanted to ride to the San Francisco Classic on scoots starting from Ventura. I went on vacation and when I came home he had purchased this P200. It lived by the beach in Carpinteria and had a rubber floor mat with lots of corrosion underneath. He rode this scooter at least twice from Camarillo to his office in Ventura in a suit and tie! He was 23 years older than me so in his early 60s. He didn't know but the Malossi 210 kit it had punched a hole in the piston and then he decided take the whole scooter apart. I put his engine all back together for him with new stock parts and did body work and primered the frame. He decided to move to Arizona to be closer to his grandson. Not too long after he passed away. He had left all his scooter parts with me to finish when he moved. Been sitting in my garage for some time but I'm going to finish it and plan on riding to Cabo San Lucas with it and back. My wife calls me pickle so I decided to paint it green. The scoot had chrome cowls and horncast when he bought it and they were trashed. I'm putting my Malossi V1 cased 221 in it which is just about ready to run. I miss you Brian.

I love stories like this. Kudos and you'll make Brian proud when it's done.

What a fantastic way to honor your friend and keep him close. Very cool!

Cool project

He'd be happy to hear it's getting ready for the road…

The malossi engine looks great, plenty of port timing measuring by the looks of it…

Not a super fan of the SIP ultra strong clutch… built 2 and I don't think they're the smoothest… might just have been the ones I've worked on… would've went with a inverted clutch if it was my personal project… different folks different strokes…

Looking forward to seeing the build.

Story's like this remind me how awesome the scootering world is just fucking awesome!

Look forward to watching this build.

Rad. Good on ya.

Being an old fart, your story made me feel so good, yet a bit sad too... Here's to you Brian, I know you'll be along on that ride. You're gonna love all the fresh new power!


Right now I'm kinda doing you in reverse, older than your friend rehabbing a long dead PX200 for a friend closer to your age who has no time. DeLuxe model here, auto lube & electric start - both unusual in Greece

I had intended to put the VMC Molle in this one till I decided on resurrecting the GS engine. Got the Ultrastrong before I knew about the Molle. The GS needed a clutch and crank so I purchased the newer style crank with bearing instead of crank bushing and without the taper so I can pop the Molle on with some softer springs. The Ultrastrong is heavier so I'll use it for awhile in the 221.

I have some intel on both clutches. After disassembling both I noticed lots of grit possibly from the steel plates and or the fiber plates. The edges on the steels had a nasty bur from the laser cutting. I dressed all of them, cleaned and prelubed the fibers and reassembled. The instructions on the Molle said to run more lube in the case and run a longer breather to combat spitting. I'm going to run a tube up higher with a loose overhand knot and a little filter on the end. I found the knot works great for keeping the juice where it belongs. Had an issue with a fuel cell vent on my old dunebuggy and that cured it.

After I sort out the paperwork buffoonery with the DMV I'll be selling the old stock oiler 200 engine. I have a set of new Piaggio cases I might do an O Mod engine with later too.

Nice story about your friend Rob. Following this one!

I've been running the clutch breather tube for a few years. I just hang it around the manifold or something, I don't ever find anything leaking from it.

I use an M7 cable adjuster in the clutch cover as a nipple for the hose... Polini do make an actual M7 nipple for some purpose (but not this).

solid. I love it and super delighted you decided on a direction with it, I know there was some hard decisions to make.

holler if you need anything on the build and I'll root around in the shop for ya!

Brian would be happy to know that his scooter is in the best hands that it could be. Riding down to Cabo sounds totally epic. I'd highly recommend to keep the 200 oiler cases....just in case you ever want to build an all stock oil injected 200 engine sometime in the future. I'm looking forward to watching this thread.

Thanks everyone! If Brian saw all the cool stuff you've done with your builds he would've been unstoppable online making ridiculous purchases on parts and accessories. His wife truly would've blown her gasket. He definitely would've made the Frisco and Cabo trip!

I've already decided on the disc brake conversion for the front end. Should I go the anti dive route as well and can I mod the P fork or does it need something else for that? I have access to an English Wheel and plannishing hammer for the bulge.

Anti dive?

What's the original fork? P200 drum brake?

Yes and just the stock drum setup right now. I have the master cylinder adapter for the headset already, going full hydraulic no linkage.

I love my hydro disc brakes! The P series came with a 16mm fork. The PX came with a 20mm fork. Overall the PX fork is just WAY more stout. If you can swing it, i'd buy a new PX 20mm fork. You'll have to drill a new hole in the PX fork stem so that the P column lock with work with it.

As for anti-dive. Faco used to make an anti-dive kit back in the early 90's. It adds complexity and weight. I raced 4 or 4 seasons on my P series and never felt as though i would have benefited from anti dive. A quality from shock with the adjustable damper clicker worked perfectly for me.

That sounds like a great way to go. I'll look into the PX fork first then get the goodies for the bigger axle. Definitely putting some good shocks on. Also looking at a comfortable seat. My tailbone broke awhile back and every time the dirtbike gets ridden I seem to injure it again. Didn't think I would be able to ride the chopper anymore till I modded the seat foam. I like the looks of the stock seat but my ass might not. We'll see.

I'm surprised no one has asked, but - what type of green are you thinking? Got a picture of something in the color you have in mind?

Here's a pick of the guts before I buttoned it up. Going to mod the stand next so I can run it. Whodatschrome I saw your post about the weld on sealed exhaust flange and got one for my Road 3, thanks. Seems there are 2 different diameters, yep I have both now.🤣

I'll find a link and post it. I'm still between shades at the moment for the overall color. Not real dark but not crazy bright either. I enjoy doing metal flake so want to incorporate some but not in a West Coast Low Rider Style. It'll be small flakes with a kandy green over it and I will try to subdue it a little with kandy black over the green. Right now the side of the cowls and mudguard. Maybe the sides of the horn cast too. I need to plan it out on paper first.

My wife donated this emoji of herself for the legshield badge. Surprised she's letting me post this cause she hates pics of herself online.😂 I'm going to do a water slide transfer decal with it under the clearcoat.

The wheel bearings are also larger inside the hydro brake hubs as well. The caliper carrier is also more reinforced.

Yeah, the tailbone takes a loooong time to heal. I broke mine skating about 4 years ago. It hurt so sit down for a full year. It probably didn't help that i went on a week long dirtbike camping trip 2 months after i got the injury. I definitely in pain during the whole week.

My buddy had a VERY nicely painted green P frame for sale about 10 years ago. It was a gorgeous color. Kind of a little bit darker, but it has plenty of metallic in it! No idea where the front ended up. All it needed was an means a fork.

In Scion sold a green Xb way back. 2006 xB Release Series 3.0. The official name of the color was "Green Envy". I meet a guy who had a RS3.0 and he had a custom license plate that spelled, "NVMYBX". I immediately knew it was a play on the color code and was oblivious to any other meaning. It was is everyday driver. He then explained that he's giving the xB to his daughter, and now he wants to remove the license plate....it took me a couple seconds to figure out why...and ahhh, now i get it.

🤣🤣🤣😂 The combo of staring at the plate and the mention of the daughter brought it together. Hilarious!! Definitely wouldn't want my daughter rockin that plate.🙂

You really threw me a curve ball. I was planning on doing a solid color with flake accents in a couple spots but now I have to consider a metallic base instead of solid.🤔🤪 That green on the box looks cool and would go nicely with the flake. House of Kolor has a million different shades of green too. Of course the metallic is more expensive!

There's a Dodge Hellcat in the parking lot that has a pretty bitchin green on it. Just a thought

google pic

I was thinking of the pea green metallic of my grandmother's Plymouth duster. Just picturing it, I can smell the beige vinyl seats off gassing in the hot summer sun.

Don't think that's what you had for n mind though.

Hey Rob,
I've been riding with this mod on three bikes for a while enough to say you won't need a knot. Oil spit dribbles back down before the bend.
Scroll down somewhere here:
Random tricks, share your best little tips & shortcuts (Page 17)

When you finish the build are you going to put together a group to ride to Cabo San Lucas?

Here's some metallic greens. Last one seems too bright, leaning more towards the first one.

Thanks Ginch and Ray, I'll mod the stock breather fitting and turn it down on the lathe for the hose.

Everyone feel free to comment on the greens I posted. Your opinions matter to me. The solid green is definitely out after I showed my wife and she was right of course. She's the one who introduced me to Brian, been cutting his hair for years. She didn't like the gold hue in the second green that much.

Whodatschrome, she liked the green on your Box pic!

it's hard because it seems like the background changes brightness, making it harder to judge the difference of the greens

but it looks like it's going to be killer, based on those samples

It's never the same till you have it in hand and see those samples in the sun. Those test pieces try to give multiple different angles to help with the educated guess at least. The website pics look a little different from this posting too.

How about the original P-series olive green (1982 bikes I believe)?





Regarding the front brake set-up, I have the regular historic 20mm Grimeca full hub on one of my P2s and my T5. Fully hydraulic, with the original caliper. Both work fine. Then I have the BGM anti-dive kit on my Series 3 Lambretta, with radial GS caliper, and that is by far the best working one. The anti-dive makes hitting road bumps a little harsher, but it also enhances the "riding on rails" feel typical of Lammies.

Based on my experience with the Lambretta, I'm considering changing the setup on one of my vespas for a Grimeca, but ditching the original "backplate" for one made for radial calipers (AF and BGM make those on the same basis) and using a GS caliper (again, plenty of brands make similar calipers: Adelin, BGM, S6R/T).

If I were to build a setup from scratch like you, I'd get the Grimeca hub (for 20mm forks), a Malossi disc, an AF or BGM backplate (caliper holder), and a GS caliper. At the end, It'll be more expensive than the off-the-shelf Grimeca kit, but you avoid paying for the useless parts (cable-to-hydro module), and start off with the best parts. In any case, the fork, brake lines, and master cylinder will be extra.

I love the blinkerless P2 in the background!!

That 82 olive green is awesome

The 1993-94 Honda Del Sol was offered in a Samba Green pearl. It's kind of a bright color, and probably wouldn't look that good on something small like a scooter. There was a guy in the paint shop that painted his personal truck (late 80's toyota lowrider) with that same green...except that he decided it would be a good idea to use something like 1.5 bottles of extra PPG green pearl powder in his paint blend. It was around 10 ounces of pearl that he used, which is an ENORMOUS amount! You could paint 10 cars with that much of it. I remember looking at just how thick his cup of paint was. Needless to say the paint didn't come out that great. Mainly because he wasn't a very good painter.

the samples above are way more to the flashy than the stock P olive green, it's really about how flashy was your friend? what would he pick? keep that in mind and you won't go wrong.

🤣🤣 Brian was a plastic surgeon and didn't like anything OEM! If he could Gucci something out his credit card was smokin. I would tell him sometimes if it didn't improve performance or user friendliness maybe you should pass on that. Sometimes he'd do it anyways, regret it, remove it and we'd laugh about it. He wanted to do an outrageous red paint scheme on it. I'm not the all red type of guy but he'd love the Pickle and the flake. He would've also put the huge Bfa 306 in it if he knew that existed!

Whodat, love the pearl story! I could totally picture that. I had a friend named John who had a Del Sol like that and it seemed almost neon. He was a lumberjack sized guy and made that Honda look like a clown car.

sounds like you know the flash is the right direction, it will be an awesome tribute

Got the breather sorted.

If I were to build a setup from scratch like you, I'd get the Grimeca hub (for 20mm forks), a Malossi disc, an AF or BGM backplate (caliper holder), and a GS caliper. At the end, It'll be more expensive than the off-the-shelf Grimeca kit, but you avoid paying for the useless parts (cable-to-hydro module), and start off with the best parts. In any case, the fork, brake lines, and master cylinder will be extra.
[/quote]

I've never seen that color before. It really looks unique. Thanks for sharing that, I love it.

I looked at getting the kit and I'm with you, going to piece it out with the parts I like best instead of having extra stuff I don't need. Definitely going with the 20mm outfit. More money but makes more sense. Don't think I'll do the anti dive.