Modern Vespa

I saw this ad on CL a few months back and contacted the seller. No title and 5 hrs away though, so kind of a deal breaker for me.

I stayed in touch with the seller once a week or so, and he got paperwork from Washington where it was last registered and drove it down to my garage!

So now I have a Vespa VBB2T to join my Allstate VNB2T.

I'm so stoked!

It runs - thanks Sabitinos - but needs refurbishing before being road worthy.

It's in amazing shape. I'm excited to dig in over the winter...

First ride - wooohoooo
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Walk-around
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Lucky bugger strikes gold. Congrats!!!

I know this is gonna be good and I believe I'ma learn all about some detail I dint know before! Carry on.

Great score and nice addition to the stable. This VBB is in good hands

Great find !! Incredible condition, looks all original
Congrats !!

Beauty!!!

Could just be an Allstate cowl (VBB or VNB) as they didn't have trim. That is a great crustoration cowl candidate like the one on my shitbox VNB. Can't wait to watch your progress.

What a great score.

Nice score!

Great looking bike for a resto. How much -mod you throw in is up to you, of course.

I love it when my peeps run into deals like this! 🫡

If you are looking for an original VBB engine-side cowl, I have one. It has spray-can red on top of it but can absolutely be removed to its original blue. In decent shape and will be very presentable.

Ohhh, I'm interested. I'll be in touch - thank you!!

I'd honestly do a high mileage service and Ajax and Turtle Wax. I really would. Great to know gems still exist.

She's definitely going to get the spa treatment 😁

Are you looking for something like this or another kinda Vespa? You seem to know something about them, and do I recall you started an ambitious VB1 project long ago, was that you? If you are shopping, we could talk...

But good luck matching Scott's ability to sniff out best deals on prime unmolested bikes and sorting them properly, he's a level 10 Grand Master now.

Awesome scott! I text you pièce de résistance items for when you go to register it as a "special interest vehicle" in oregon.

And whose 2005/06 tundra access cab with the lumber rack (in the first video)? It's a sweet looking truck.

Like my location suggests, I'm in a proverbial House Arrest, I started a project 12 years ago that isn't complete yet. And more recently I was tasked with an even larger project, which seems under control now. Some days I feel like a Siamese Fighting fish, other days well I'll not get into it. When I'm ready I'll make it known, thanks for asking.
The forum has been good at doing a double blind study on areas of my psyche that haven't got much use in the last 12 years.

The VB1 project was ripped from me, hardy ambitious for my skill set. More like mediation.

I started the spa treatment. It's giving me a chance to look her over and make a list for Mercato.

Interesting electrical ground - a big spring - pics below.

And it has obviously been down on its right side. The trim is flattened out (but not the legshild), and a few minor dents in the legshild and floorboard area at the base of the legshild.

Anybody have an idea on how I can reshape the legtrim on the right side?

Springs keep bulbs from blowing perhaps,

Thanks JohnnyG! And that was the sellers truck. He drove down from The Dalles to deliver. Very cool dude!

Thank you everyone for the kind comments. I'm super excited to start riding and dialing this beauty in.

60 on 8s will be in the future for this one, or maybe not. Time will tell

Ohh, you may be into something. An old hack to keep the voltage spikes down by grounding with a spring.. hmmm....

Off to a good start already!

Spring theory for blowing bulbs sounds like it could be on the right track. Something to track down and eliminate for sure.

I'd love to see this thing going plaid! Also, something to be said for having one bomber (B62) and one cruiser. Time will tell

You may be on to something!

I took my first ride through the neighborhood today. It ran great! I need to replace the fuel tab or should I say petcock, heh, heh, I said petcock ...

It only runs on reserve, but does shut off in the off position. And the shifter cables need to be adjusted because fourth gear is in a position like if there was an eighth gear! Ha

But it just felt ... Refined .... All beebeebeebeebeebee, not bwaaahhhhhhhahahahahhh. I felt like Sting in that song Englishman in New York!.

A couple more trips around the neighborhood, and then across the bridge I go. That's the next step. I may pull off the shifter tube and clean everything up first though. Depends on the weather and my time. We shall see

Don't fix what's not broke!

So hard to do!

I'm all for the 'if it aint broke dont fix it' philosophy. Leave well enough alone, as a general rule; just not when it comes to bodgey bandaids. My 1/2 a penny

And an ounce of prevention saves something I think, my ass usually. Well informed preventive maintenance has you fixing some things BEFORE they break. But you're right, leave it alone coz you don't know what damage you will likely cause, you know your own limits.

My three cents (inflation 🙄)

This is great advice. I plan on going over everything but in little chunks so it mainly rideable. Front end, headset, rear hub, etc. This will let us become accustomed to each other.

I went for a couple rides on my VBB before tearing it down. Jumpy gears from a worn out cruciform. But it was a really fun ride even though the engine was bone stock. I have considered rebuilding the engine even though I have a faster 187 LML engine for it.

Some things about the original engine that I would lose by going with the newer engine. I liked the agricultural sound of the gears and the no frills simplicity of the whole bike. It's about as basic as transportation can get and somehow is perfection. It has character worth keeping which can be more valuable than speed.

I'm more of a "If it ain't broken, fix it 'til it is" kind of guy myself, but I know Scott is looking for a more balanced build, with a preference for reliability in general.

That being said, if you can find one of the 2-port Pinasco 177's (people seem to be reporting they're out of stock everywhere), combine that with a 60mm crank so you can up the port timings, then square and raise the exhaust a millimeter or so, you can get that to Plaid pretty easily.

Tricky part will be porting the two port cases, which have almost no meat on them, but can still be mostly done if you're just super careful.

Bonus plan would replace points with a CDI, along with the large cone crank option so you can use a PX ignition. The large cone crank may be a bit of an evolutionary dead end, though, since SIP now make small cone Vapes, too, but it does let you standardize your stators & flywheels if you want to have the option of keeping spares on hand (or easily stolen off other bikes in a pinch).

That's kind of my philosophy. If it ain't broke, try to fix it anyway until it really is without a doubt broken. Then you can fix it or replace it with something better (or just more expensive).

I know a guy who has 177 on the shelf, waiting to be put to use

We've gotten spoilt. It used to be "I know a guy" was pretty much the only way to get parts for these things. Now, it's, "Wha'dya mean out of stock??? That's BS!"

I'm hoping to get to a place where I can have the Ferrari of scoots just built for me, all I have to do is ride it and maintain it. And not have drag it across lava gravel to keep it from getting lifted. I can only imagine what it would be like to spend the equivalent of Rolls Royce money on a bitchen scoot and then need a part only the dealer has. My auto pilot needs air.

Thats so true. I love the hunt! But I also enjoy the modern age of "I can just order it right now" Makes things much easier

I had a super rare low mileage scoot that I sold because before the internet there was nothing I could do but sit on it. Meaning I couldn't afford for it to breakdown. I spent hours making a legitimate key for it and repairing the ignition switch. Nobody knew anything about it or cared, I rode it trouble free a number of times. But couldn't risk having it turn into a lawn ornament. Years later there was quite brisk sales on eBay for everything for it, now not so much as a knock off fake anything for it. I hope it made it to a museum.

The chase is always better than the kill! Well... almost always.

2 ports and a dream.. it's all you need. (and a box exhaust).

Vespas have been a welcome change for me from my VW bus Type 4 engine. The aftermarket parts available are either Chinese or super expensive performance parts for the Porsche crowd that are complete overkill for a bus. You wouldn't build a high performance engine for a Vespa if was shaped like an office filing cabinet full of nuts and bolts.

Buying multiple sets of bearings to make a set that fits as well as lots of measuring, filing and hand fitting…Ugh. I do enjoy the hunt though, my best find being a set of new Kolbenschmidt p&c's from the 70's for the price of new Chinese.

Good info Chandlerman - Thank you.

I like the idea of swapping CDIs and keeping things similar, for that reason. But I'd probably put a VAPE ignition on it like I did on the Blue Bomber (62 Allstate). That has a Pinasco 177 kit, and the VAPE system is rock solid.

Time will tell....

Man, I saw this one for sale as well! Are you in the PNW? It was about a 5 hr drive for me from central Oregon

Yes, I'm on the Oregon Coast in Florence. I worked with the seller to get a title for it in Washington, and he delivered it to me! Very cool dude for doing so. He knew I wanted it and I'd do it up right, so he went the extra mile.