Modern Vespa

I am aware this is Vespa adjacent… but just wanted to start a thread about my Ithica PD police bike. It is a Li150 Special from Serveta.

Scooter was in service in 1976/77. It was taken out of service and mothballed for a number of years before being sold at auction sometime in the 90s. Garage kept for a number of years before my fellow Texan John purchased the bike while on a ski trip in Colorado.

John had a mechanical restoration done at Casa Lambretta, remade the service decals, and kept the bike in good repair for the next 15+ years.

I'm gonna see about getting the red and blue lights working at some point and doing some minor maintenance tasks…. Otherwise it's a first kick Scooter and doesn't need much work.

The only thing top of list right now is that the kickstand is a little wonky and the Speedo drive is a little wobbly as well. Happy to be the caretaker for this one for a while! Ok…. Pics

One of the greatest crime deterrents available today

I salute you, sir.

It's a beauty. Yes, you 100% must get the lights working.

Freaking AWESOME!!!

That thing is so cool. Thanks for the backstory and pictures!

Superb machine, with interesting historic.
Just for information, do you have a center stand splash plate on this very original example ?

I love this bike so much

The flashers should be pretty straightforward to get working again. Does it have a switch for them, or just a turn signal switch?

She's a beaut, Clark.

Thanks all! Very stoked about this one. Erm.... will look and report back. Just a turn signal switch.

I'd wire the switch for the lights so they flash alternately. Maybe add a siren too. Good lord, so much potential for fun.

When you check, see if the center stand bolts have pulled and raised the crossbar piece a little. I have this issue on the Oi(l)! and keep not getting around to fixing it.

This is where I'm trying to take him. Then at some point, he will have to explain what he has going on to a REAL cop.

And a siren - gotta have a siren!

This is the plan.


….well minus the siren. My stupidity has some limits.

Amazing to think that a scooter would be a crime deterrent.
And amazing to see one in such a great condition!

He can tell 'em he's just the Hot Action Cop.

?si=PYMY7YoWC7GWwM5p

LOL!

So long as he's not out there just givin' tickets...

After playing the cop, you can also enter in the next Olympics...

#TeamUSA...

Great pics, thanks and good find!

Great get! Congratulations.

Beautiful shape and such low miles. Love the literature and history that goes along with it. Viva Serveta!

Sorry forgot to reply sooner.

No Splash Plate on this scoot. I bought reinforcement plates from Casa as a possible permanent solution.
Will report back if they do the job... (eventually).

https://www.casalambretta.us/Center-stand-reinforcement-bracket?search=center%20stand

This looks like almost exactly what I was planning to do. Tricky part is getting rid of the stretching in the metal to start. I figured I'd just cut the plates from 3mm steel plate and tack them on the back of the crossbar after I fixed the original damage.

Oh, wow. That's really cool.

Lights!

That's an Antiques Roadshow level find, with documentation and provenance. Good on you!

Thanks for your feedback

I have reinforcement plates that i welded onto my lammy. I think i used MB's stainless steel version?

Nice scoot!! These Servetas are really well-made bikes with specific little quirks that make them interesting.

Here's a colleague from NY visible from 2:33

?feature=shared&t=153

Here's something for you to aspire to, BN.

of course, you have the OG red and blue flashers/turn signals, but soemone did a gorgeous job on this one from the Euro Lambretta.

(seen here)

Thanks guys. Good stuff.

general reference material
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Fixing a center stand on a Lambretta.

What I learned.

1. Unless you have all the correct parts on hand, it will take around 30 days. (Shipping, etc.)

2. Servetta stands are different than innocenti stands. They have a rubber stop that prevents them bashing into your floorboard. (I now own an unused casa Lambretta stand… please reach out if needed.)

3. It is a fiddly job. Access to some of the screws and nuts is extremely silly.

4. Stand feet - repop feet did not come close to fitting the repop stand. The retaining peg hole was so far off one would need to drill a new hole in the stand to make things match up.

5. SLUK Clips are defo worth buying.

6. Comparative maintenance Score: 2.75 times harder than doing a Vespa stand.

You're lucky you had no issue fitting the spring. When my original Serveta spring broke (rust), I ordered a new one from Casa, and it was impossible to pull out enough to reach the peg, whether using a screwdriver as a lever or fitting coins between the coils to get it to extend that far....

I finally gave up and found a spring for a Piaggio goped that happened to be the right length.

I just dealt with this (and will deal with it again soon enough).

The trick is to loosen the left side center stand bolt a few turns. it'll let the top bar of the stand move forward a few millimeters and you can put it on with your bare hands.

That's what I'd done the first time I reinstalled the stand a few years ago with the old spring, but this spring was a different beast, with hardly any elasticity. No dice however I tried...

I had the same issue with the Casa spring that you did… thinking it was different between the Innocenti and Servetta set ups. I just cleaned up and reused the OG servetta spring. Even with Chandler's trick employed I couldn't get the new spring to pull far enough.