Modern Vespa

I picked up my 03 ET4 yesterday. Today when I was at work my younger brother took the keys, tried to drive it around the neighborhood and crashed it. He's fine, despite not wearing a helmet, but there are serious scrapes and dents along the left side, the steering column is off-kilter, the front panel became partially detached and the oil and gas lights are now permanently on. The scooter does start and seems to idle smoothly. Basically, I'm just wondering if there are any mechanics on here who would have an idea what its going to cost to get this fixed. Also, if anybody lives in the Westchester, NY area and knows of a good mechanic/nearby dealer, please let me know.

He's still alive?

Your brother is probably going to have to buy you a new scooter.
Good luck.

Yeah, surprisingly. No helmet, no gear, he claims he lost control and dropped it on someones lawn. I don't know. He's a bit cut up, but all things considered he's a lucky boy.

This is a bit worrisome: "the steering column is off-kilter"

Do you mean the handlebars got twisted (which is not a biggie) or is the column axis itself tilted from where it used to be?
If it's the latter, yeah I'm afraid the frame is bent and it's totaled--you won't be needing a mechanic

I really meant "How did you restrain yourself from killing him?" - but that seemed to have been a 'whoosh'.

I take it he wasn't insured.

He needs to learn a few unpleasant facts of life pronto by the sound of it.

I'm not sure exactly, but I'm pretty certain its just the handlebars. If you're looking down the steering column, the angle of the front wheel to the handlebars looks skewed. It may well be totaled though, despite the low speed.

No, he wasn't insured, and he survived mainly because he wasn't home when I saw the damage. I think when he sees the bill his perspective on idiotic risk-taking and destroying others property will change.

If it's just bars off-kilter then there's no problem.

From the front, grip the wheel between your feet, and give a few 'surprise' nudges to the bars to straighten them. If this just works, but with some difficulty, the steering lock (or rather its non-involvement) will be your good friend if some toe-rag decides to try to break it.

Good! That's not nearly as serious!

That's supposed to happen in a crash, to save the steering column from damage

It sounds like you have a lot of expensive-to-fix bodywork damage
The damage to the kneeshield is the next most worrisome thing

But if the frame between the wheels didn't get bent,
someone should be able to get it ride-able again
(for $1000 or so--which is a pure guess, please don't count on it)

Yeah that worked perfectly, thanks for the help. And it's getting locked and alarmed every day from now on, garage or no.

Yeah, nothing looks bent or traumatically damaged, so hopefully I'll get driving again soon. Thanks for the help.

.......ohhhh ohhhhh......I have my hand raised Jim......i knew what you meant .........I'da beat em like "a red-headed step-child"

godoggo ~

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...........INSERT: your "dumb-a--" brother has ......................

godoggo ~

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Most useful word learned on Modern Vespa.
Chav
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?db=dictionary&q=chav

Your brother may not be one but he looks like he is in training.
Good luck fixing your scoot.

Actually, if he has the slightest mechanical aptitude that might be the best long-term fix, both for him and the scoot.

You have to pay cash for the bits. He has to pay time but will gain hopefully some really good experience in spanner-wielding, which might give him some greater respect for mechanical thing-um-a-gigs.

He might even start to appreciate scooters.

Apart from birching him to within an inch of his life, getting him to fix the scooter (under supervision only!) would seem a good alternative life-lesson.

It's amazing, the number of posts about first-timers crashing because they think you can just jump on a scoot with no instruction and go...

If I were you I'd kick your brothers ass for fucking up your scooter then let him kick your ass for letting him fuck up your scooter.

Sounds like neither of you were really thinking that day eh?

whoops my bad. I take back the assholeish post. I thought I read that you let your brother ride it. Since you didn't I now only recommend you kicking his ass. And I also realize that it was only one of you that wasn't using their head :-p

Actually the OP here is being decent about it. I'm glad you are not putting your relationship with your brother at risk over a foolish error. You seem like a nice guy.

What we don't know is...how old is the younger brother. It's one thing if he's 16...quite another if he's 25.

hey L probably the opposite. The steering usually just gets off center after a drop which is a simple fix. He will just need to remove the plastic head pieces, align and re-torque the fastener for the steering.

Much more worried about your brother, glad he is o.k.

Best,
SDG

.....oh yeahhhh...my grandma would make me go pick my own "switch" off the willow tree....and like she said "it better be a good one".....of course im sure i never did anything to deserve it ...well maybe a couple things i can remember

*Climbed on the roof and had to have the Fire Dept come get me down 7yrs old
*Drove my grandfathers new Jeep into a tree in the parking lot......at 8 yrs old
*Broke my neighbors plate glass front window 5'X10' after she told me for days not to throw stones near the house 7yrs old
*Washed the Airboat off in the boathouse and forgot to put the plug back in when i put it back in the 10ft deep canal 9yrs old
*melted the creepy crawler machine on the NEW kitchen stove that almost set the kitchen on fire ? yrs old
*put a package of hot dogs in the Microwave .....made the mistake of leaving the "corn cob holders" in the ends so they would'nt be hot when they got out 6yrs old
*Driving over my Grandfathers "vintage" Browning A-5.......in our Swamp Buggy she can shoot around corners today 12yrs old

Now, im a Model citizen .....i "learnt" my lesson

godoggo ~

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DOG My dad was usually in the dog house more than me If i were to believe my parents i'm still grounded as i did a few "your grounded for life" things

He's 18, I'm 21. If anyone's being serious about me attacking him or whatever..., he's my brother, he could've been seriously hurt and I'm basically just glad he's alright. Anyway, I'm the oldest of 4 boys, so I've seen enough stupidity and disaster at this point to not be surprised by anything.

He is sort of a chav though, pretty into sportswear/cellphones/himself, and hates school and 'rules', if that's any surprise.

I'm pretty sure nobody was serious about you giving your brother a thrashing.

And it's good that he came through this without serious injury. It could have played out quite differently.

Sounds like you're a caring (and level-headed) brother, so do the kid a favor and make sure he comes away from the incident with a lesson in responsibility. He really should pay for the damage to the scooter and not be allowed to skate on this just because he's your brother and you're happy he's OK. Eighteen is considered an "adult" so he needs to step up, even if it means he's paying you back for the next year. Action has consequence...and the earlier the lesson is learned the better.

Best of luck!

Yeah he's definitely paying, I didn't mean it that way. In any case he's pretty shaken and cut up, so I think he's done with his Vespa adventures.

......You know......it is almost to the point that it needs it's own category......and of course it's going to become worse without property training.

And yes, i don't codone you pummeling your Bro' , somehow a blank check, a nuggy on the skull, and a shake of your head every time you seem him will do the trick ......he is lucky though.

godoggo ~

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