Modern Vespa

Hi everyone

I am looking for opinions, advice and tales of success (or woe) from those who have done it..

Currently doing a full nut and bolt restoration on my Mk1 PX. I am going through the parts list (extensive) and have come to rear lights. I love the P frame but the rear lights IMO are bulky, a bit ugly and take away from the rest of the scooter.

Although I want it be a PX through and through, the light is bugging me a bit. I was thinking of swapping it out for a GL style light, as they're slightly slimmer profile and to me, more attractive, whilst still being square enough to sit on the P frame. A GS light is beautiful, but possibly too curvaceous for the frame.

Has anyone else done this or know whether it definitely will or definitely won't fit? Or have any other suggestions? Seen a couple on Ron Daley which look nice. Bit of a traditionalist, so nothing too lary or modern!

Thanks in advance
H

If you're doing a full restoration, just about any light can be made to fit. My advice is learn to love the original light. It's part of the design. It's your scoot of course, but IMO a GS or GL tail light on a P series will look out of place.

Older tail lights look weird cause of the different angle. Here's a ratty PX I had bought a few years back that came with a Sprint tail light and my blue P with the 2011 PX tail light...

Thanks for your responses - I do agree loving the original light is the best option and from a little research/photos posted I can see what you mean about the angle!

Perhaps a chrome surround will sharpen it up a bit.

Thanks!

Dude, you have a series 1 PX; probably the best design and the most no-nonsense one ever made, with basic albeit harmonious shapes, black or gray plastics and lenses the color they're supposed to be. With the EFL, they were the last ones to be designed according to their era, instead of desperately trying to look like a model from the past, with chrome-painted plastics and cursive badges. Why try to disguise yours as something else, when it is already just about perfect?

And seriously, maybe tape a gt or gl light on the back of your px, take a look at it, and then look down at the comparatively gigantic boxy turn signals, and dare say the ancient tail light isn't out of place... Then put the px light back on, and admire how proportionate everything looks again.
My $0.02

A good point well made! It's a non indicator model, so the only plastics really is the rear lights - having seen the photos of older style lights fitted, I'm not a fan as it turns out. I'll try chrome surrounds for the rear light just to break it up, but will deffo consider the black plastics as well.

Thanks again!

The best! I guess the absence of indicators gives you a little more leeway, but still, I'm a big fan of the original stepped rear light that came with these models.

Mine's a modified DS 200, as when I was looking for a blinkerless P200 I found out these base models were only available in 125cc versions in France, and were only imported in 1977 and available until mid-1978, so basically unobtainium even in 125 form.

Very cool glove box cowl not often seen.

Thanks, I'm a big fan of this setup, and the handy storage it provides.

Another view from an angle:

Ah THE glovebox.

The DS is cool! I love the headset too.

Yes stick with stepped. They are made for the lines of the P indicators or not. I dunno about chrome either, but your scoot.

Yes, I love the bare legshield look, and the absence of blinkers and wiring was the perfect excuse to remove the original glovebox.

It occurs to me that HMScoot95 is in England, so he's already aware of the stepped taillight
So here's another popular option:

Jan: love that light gray. Was that the original color, or was it repainted at some point? The vast majority of these DSs came in white from the factory.

Ah yes, the US-spec tractor light is an option. It looks equally ugly on every scoot.

love that light gray

Thanks. It's original. It was silver, but its the one that flakes/ degrades. I've thought about painting at least once, but I've used Ankor Wax about once a year for the last 15 years which has kept the rust at bay as the paint flakes, and I think that has dulled it. Its a '78.

The black headset top not original as the original silver one smashed. It had the green jewel light, but not the blue one… it had a blank that was drilled, and a side to side switch was mounted for outboard indicators…

I do also really like those tractor lights and agree they work on everything because they are so wrong they end up looking right.

mk.I light is the top.

One of the best colors, and certainly one of the most iconic. Mine's a 1980, and although it's been relatively well preserved, the clear coat has lost a lot of its sheen, and I love the patina now. I've been wanting to paint the DS the same (or a few shades darker) color, but it will likely never be the same. Maybe an as-flat (not too flaky/sparkly) base coat, and a satin clear coat would do the trick...