Modern Vespa

Glutton for Punishment!

That's what my wife is calling me now that I found yet another project scooter. She might be right since I'm discovering a lot more issues than I anticipated when I saw the ad for this 1981 P200… or maybe a 1980, depending on who you ask. The $1300 asking price was within my budget but when I found out that CA DMV wanted $800 in back fees, I told the seller that I was going to pass, but he countered by offering to GIVE it to me just to get rid of it. I told him that I couldn't do that to a fellow Vespa Guy so I gave him $500 cash instead. I might have been a little too generous.

I've decided that I am going to make this two separate projects starting with the Engine and tackling the Frame later on. Actually, it will be three separate projects with the third, and the most difficult, being dealing with the DMV. Wish me luck.

If That's got a 200 motor in it. I'd pay $500 for it all day every day. Hopefully the DMV won't be too big of a headache. Congrats..

Likewise.

Nice score!

Who wouldn't ?!!

WOOOHOOOO

Congratulations!

Sounds similar to mine - DMV docs say 1981, but the VIN lookup says 1980?

I'm guessing the discrepancy comes from the time taken to ship, and maybe sell, the bike.

good score FoSho

Yes, it's a 200 engine and I'm going to go through it and do a complete rebuild. I haven't really had a good look at it yet so I don't know what it needs.

That's a nice specimen my advice is to handle the DMV FIRST.

Yeah, the title shows it as a 1981 but the VIN makes it a 1983 P200. What makes it more interesting is that the title lists the prefix as GM instead of VSX 1T and concludes with the letter M.

This is going to be fun!

This scooter looks like it's going to be a real beast to work on so I was thinking about calling it Quasimodo, but since it's the 4th scooter in my garage, I'm calling it QUADsimodo. It seems to fit.

tap tap tapping my fingers, waiting to see if this mighty P200 engine will run. I wouldn't be able to wait long for at least a quick initial diagnosis. First I'd wanna just kick it over a few times w/ the key off and get a feel for how the compression is doing.
.
Then probably pull the plug to see what it looks like and next kick it over some more and faster, listening for any unhappy noise. Now maybe try the gears rolling it around while onboard, again listening for bad sounds or rough shifting. I'm roughly testing the clutch as well.

Now to check for spark as long as the plug is out. If it passes all these tests I might wanna see if it might even fire up. I'll worry about the carb later, just a spoonful of gas down the venturi should get me where I wanna go - IF I haven't screwed up! I get such a thrill when something once dead can roar back to life even when there's still much work to be done.

But it's your bike so you do it your way,

and good luck w/ the DMV.
Also, I don't mind the paint job at all. Maybe somebody even paid a pro.

That's good advice Voodoo but unfortunately I couldn't actually follow it all. I couldn't check the compression as the head was off and the piston removed. Likewise, there was no spark plug and the clutch cables were disconnected so I couldn't test the clutch but I'm planning on rebuilding it anyway so that's not that big an issue. I have no idea if that stator works but I have a spare one and I have a new CDI so I can probably get some sort of spark

Right now the engine is on my workbench being disassembled so I won't be able to do any sort of testing for some time yet. When that time comes, since there is no gas tank so I'll drop a little gas down the venturi and see what happens.

I'll be following this with much interest!

Oh dear! Yeah you do have a bit of work ahead of you before you can hear it can roar. I'll be looking over your shoulder .

Holy shit!... this isn't working out the way I expected!
When I bought Quadsimodo, I knew that I was going to have to pay about $800 in back fees to the CA DMV and I factored that into my purchase price. Well, now I'm finding that the actual DMV fees are closer to $1000, and the engine is going to take more work than expected, all of which kinda busts my budget. In addition, even though I have the title there are some issues with it so I'm having second thoughts about registering it at all. That leaves me with three options:

1. I could bite the bullet and pay the fees and then restore the frame and engine and sell the completed scooter.

2. I could not register the scooter, sell the rebuilt engine and then sell the frame for next to nothing to someone who would want to restore it and then hassle with the DMV.

3. I could not register the scooter, sell the rebuilt engine and then part out the frame and then take the frame and whatever doesn't sell to the junk yard and sell it for scrap.

Right now I'm leaning towards Door Number 3. Damn, this is not how I wanted to go.

Any thoughts?

Bummed to hear about the unexpected problems. That Vespa is totally savable as it is, even with the paper and mechanical issues.

If you really don't want to deal with all these issues, sell the Vespa as is to a buyer out of state. CA DMV back fee's wont transfer to another state.

Or...if you want to work the system a bit... you could "sell" it to a friend out of state, they register it; then they "sell" it back to you to re-register in CA. Although this could end up being about the same or more than just paying the fees...

Oof that $500 would've come in handy.

4. Start a "Save Quadsimodo" GoFundMe and see how many NSM readers will contribute a few $ to the cause!

I like it! Best suggestion I've heard so far.

I need a new spark plug lead for this P 200. Do I need something special or can I pick up something from my local auto parts store. What gauge would I need or are they all pretty much standard?

7mm wire

https://a.co/d/e5D6xBs

Thanks

Sounds like this engine is ready to rock'n roll
What did you do to it ?

Yes, I ve finished rebuilding the engine (almost) and I think I'll post it for sale later today…. But for two days only.

I'm going to be in Pasadena this Friday and Saturday and if someone in SoCal wants to buy it then without my having to ship it from Fresno, I'll do a deal. I'm missing the bracket that holds the CDI and if I don't sell it this weekend, I'll order one and then repost it but adding shipping from Fresno…. Which will probably be pretty expensive

Rebuild includes seals, cruciform, carb, and truing crank

I'll be posting it for $1500

so you're gonna break the bike because of the back fees? it seems like it deserves a better fate than that.

Yeah but the back fees are $900 and it doesn't make sense to pay those. Besides, it was kinda fun tearing this apart. I had never done that before

You could sell it to someone out of state. Or at least try.

Yes, I explored that option, but found that for the new buyer to register in their home state they would very likely need the California documentation… Which includes the back fees.

I hated to have to go that way, because I wanted to restore this scooter for myself, but this seems to be the most realistic way to go.

Hopefully I will have the parts that some other forum members will need for their project. It's always good to help another scooterist.

Good luck with that. I would see if you could find a trade maybe with an out of state MV member? I would totally do it but I'm in CA.

I'm afraid I m pretty much committed to following this path as I have now totally stripped the scooter and have a buyer for the frame. The other parts are listed in the For Sale/Wanted section of the Forum. On Scootner2 and on Craig's List

I haven't listed the engine yet but will go that tomorrow

I'm missing a carb box rubber, the spark plug wire and the CDI bracket but I'm going to take the engine with me when I visit family this Friday and Saturday in Pasadena. If someone wants to buy it "unfinished" they will save shipping from Fresno. I'm thinking there are more potential buyers in SoCal than in Fresno
I've posted it on Scootnet2 for $1500

Is there a trick to this??

I need to replace the O-Ring that is in the hole for the kickstart quadrant... #7 in the diagram?

I bought a new one and I can't figure out how to get it into the slot. I'm assuming it it the correct size although it looks big to me.

Can someone help please?

Pinch it together, get one side started in the notch it sits in with a small flat screwdriver, then work both sides around until it's in the notch all the way around, if you go too far come at it from the other side.

This.

The real fun will come when you're trying to get the kickstart return spring back onto the quadrant.

I finally got all the various miscellaneous pieces I needed to finish rebuilding the P200 engine out of Quadsimoto and now I'm ready to sell it. The rebuild includes new seals, cruciform, rings, CDI and brakes plus various bits and pieces including a bracket, rubber and nuts & bolts. The carb has been rebuilt and Hotrod Al trued up the crank for me. The only non-stock item is the carb box cover which has been modified to accept a Hotrod Al Vortex carb. That's not included but I have one around someplace if anyone is interested. (I also found a spare crankshaft if anyone is interested in that.) I'm going to list the engine on Shootnet2, on Craigslist and here on the Forum for $1500 and see what happens. That will be the price for pickup in Fresno. Otherwise shipping and/or delivery will have to be negotiated.

I also have the shroud but forgot to put it on before I took the pics.

Text me at 559-240-6562 if interested.

Can you start it on the stand?

I have spark but No, I'm not able to start it on the stand. I'm not set up for that.

Well, that's disappointing!

I thought someone would jump on this engine I'm selling but I've had only a couple of inquiries, some with really low-ball offers, but no serious buyers.

I think I'll keep it listed for about another week and then maybe drop the price (a little)

My 2 cents: I'm sure it was carefully rebuilt, but I think people naturally may be hesitant to buy an engine that hasn't been started or run.

If you can borrow a stand from someone and shoot a video of it running I bet you'll get plenty of offers.