Modern Vespa

Straighten the body, a coat of primer, and get it on the road. Engine running, supposedly, other than that I'm only going on appearance. Those of you who have experience on a bike in this condition, what are the chances it could be put on the road for $2000.00? Thanks.

https://nanaimo.craigslist.org/mcy/d/parksville-72-vespa-piaggio/7799402446.html

NO.

Ad says 72, 1st year of PX production is 77, something is wrong here.
Seeing the amount of surface rust, the underside is a crispy rust bucket imo.
No commodos, striped wires to start ? Electrical issues and missing parts.
Even if starting, the engine needs a complete rebuilt.
The body needs a lot of work, cutting and welding a new floor as I expect a rust festival. Bodywork + paint.

Forget it within your budget, especially if you don't do the work yourself. Plus what is the point ? I would understand the will for an older model, not worth it for a px. You can find way better scoot within a 2k total budget.

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If you don't do the work yourself, there's not a chance in the world of pulling that off for $2k CAD/$1500 USD (you seem to be in Canada, but I only know US prices).

If you *do* do the work yourself, you're going to need to be able to do EVERYTHING: motor rebuild, electrical, plus a LOT of hammer & dolly work, paint prep, probably some welding and fabrication.

Assuming all that, you can get it on the road for about $2k USD IN PARTS & SUPPLIES:
- Tires ($200)
- Electrical bits (harness, switches, bulbs, maybe a fixture or two; $200)
- Paint & supplies ($200-$300, depending on if you need a new floorboard)
- Motor (ignition, rebuild parts, exhaust; $600)
- Other Schtuff (cables, shocks, chrome bits, oil, etc.: $500)

That's $1,700 off the top of my head. As soon as you need a new or rebuilt speedo, centerstand, etc., you're hitting the limits of your budget.

So the budget is blown before you even start getting into all the other stuff you're going to find or any upgrades you might decide you want.

Agreed. Way easier to find one in better condition. I would only put it in my garage if it was free and only for spare parts.

You will be ahead of yourself finding a straight, original paint bike for $3500. that being said, price is great for parts.

Honestly I didn't think the floor looks as bad as you all are saying. I was thinking you can get by with one of those polish and rust treat kind of deals.

As noted, there will be a lot of parts expense even if you get to skip paint by use of elbow grease and polishing. You've got signal lenses and wiring issues at a minimum. I'd definitely bank on an engine refresh, so bearings and seals and then whatever you find in there. Tires, tubes. Brakes front and rear, maybe a cable set. Tank could be gummed up, probably needs a tap.

But if you do your own work, you can't go wrong with that bike at that price. The motor alone is worth more than that price, so at worst you could part it but I just don't think it would need to come to that. I would be prepared to be spending the $2k, and know that whatever you prepare to spend, you will need another $500 once that money is gone .

As noted - you can get a better starting point bike and end up doing less work and at the same total - but where's the fun in that?

Totally agree with sdjohn on this one.

Note OP Claude is way up there in Canadaland. It's not like straight original paint P200's are crawling out of the woodwork up there.

For $700 to buy it, $750 in paint and supplies, another $550 for mechanical stuff, and some love and affection, I think he's in decent scoot territory.

I'd run and take a loan out on my car, and buy it, if it drove down the street and stopped, with most of the lights working.
Caveat; make sure it is cold when it starts for you the first time, that way when you check it's starting ability when warm you have good data.
Put a few miles on it for the test ride, if he's confident in his product he will have no issues with that, check local helmet laws, etc etc
If you do buy it, treat it like an old lawn mower for a while, drive and enjoy as is. Pliers and hammer the bad dents yourself. Wax the exposed metal for the time being. Learn to trust it before dumping anything into it,
All that being said, a clerical error on his part isn't a red flag.
Invest in precious metals, they ain't making them anymore and you can recoup all that $700 later, 4k miles can't be faked.

I agree with last four posts, it's in better shape than my first P which I did w/ minimum $ and plenty of time to run well and be presentable while I had to keep it running as main transport for many years and hundreds of kilometers. It was called Snake Eyes and I even made money when I upgraded to pristine low mileage P.

I did a VT title to that VB1T and went smooth as Avocado Mayo, thanks MV perps, I hope it worked for the guy who scored from me before I bailed OR.

Thanks, I knew you guys would know exactly what condition that bike would be in without me having to go look at it. As one poster said, Vespa are far and few between up here, and when they do pop up they are over $5000.00 CAD. One seller was asking $9,980.00 for a 2005 Vespa PX150 limited edition. It was in mint condition, but I just wouldn't... Cheers. Thanks for your time.

Just no.

You need to go look and verify it's OK best you can and THEN jump on the deal if it all checks out. Take some pics and check back if any doubt, we are only here to provide prompt accurate scooter purchase advice to the public, all else is just incidental.

The example is still lisped, although I have a tropical example of a P200 sitting about 13 miles from me, it's a bit too far off the map, the provenance is ghastly. Last I looked at it, it wasn't too far gone for an island beater, irregardless of the former monstera vines that covered the entire property house included. Id rather fly to Canada and have this one, since it's probably been sitting in cold storage all its life and bought by a humble farmer.
But I digress I'm not and never will be a P guy. I may never open a thread later than Veloce ever again!

Just goes to show, what's worth restoring depends on where you are and what you can get.