Modern Vespa

Need some advice on dealing with rust. I've got a '05 PX150 with surface rust on the fork and front rim. Also, the paint on the lower headset is starting to bubble up and show clear indications of rust below the paint.

1. My question is whether the front end can be disassembled, and more importantly reassembled by a novice mechanic with basic tools or is it something that should be left to someone with a garage full of tools and mechanical talent?

2. Do you think it would be cheaper to order replacement parts (fork and rim) compared to having it repainted?

3. I was also considering removing the front fork and sending it to a reputable shop to disassemble, paint, and reassemble if it's beyond my abilities. Any recommendations for shops on the west coast?

4. Anyone know a good rust treatment that I can use in the future for the minor scratches and chips?

The downside of living on a tropical island...

I don't know that dropping the front fork on a scooter is so much HARD as it is FUCKING ANNOYING.

You gotta undo the speedo + speedo cable

remove the headset bolt that clamps it to the fork

undo the front brake cable

and probablby disconnect all your weird modern-electric-harnessy stuff you got going on up in the headset. I think the new bikes have a wire clip that attaches a lot of the wires to the big round speedo, so that's nice and simple.

once you work the headset up about an inch, you can access the ring-nut that holds on the front fork. You can use a hammer + flathead screwdriver to knock this loose ... lift it up and off the fork tube, lift up the tabbed washer, knock loose the second ring-nut / bearing race.

At this point, the whole front fork will want to drop down and out of the front of the bike. Hopefully you've secured the ass-end of it or it's going to want to fall over on the engine side because the bike isn't very well balanced.


Anyways, it's not terribly difficult ... it's just a pain.

Awesome, thanks Eric. It sounds like I should be able to pull it off with a little patience!