Modern Vespa

Hey folks, great site here. Today I recieved shipment of my next thorn in my side, a '65 Allstate. I've been watching the threads here gleaning what information I can and I must say there's an abundance of knowledge here. Before i start pestering you with inane questions I need some advice. What would be the best shop manual for me and what oddball tools are a must for my roadside toolbox?

The scoot is a recent and imperfect resto. Nothing near concours, but really, who cares?

Very nice. Enjoy!

The Haynes manuals are a good resource to have on hand. Not perfect, but good. Add to this "How to Restore and Maintain Your Vespa Motorscooter" by Bob Darnell and Bob Golfen, as well as one of the appropriate Vespa shop manual found on the web for download, and you have a pretty good library.

Thanks for the suggestions, Aviator47. Any advice on any special tools I'm gonna need?

While I owned a 1962 VNB for 41 years, I tended to delegate the really serious work, such as a full tear down and rebuild at the 25 year mark, to a qualified mechanic. Thus, never really got to where I needed "special tools", as such. My normal, automotive tool set (including torque wrenches) was always sufficient for the tasks I attempted. I owned British roadsters all those years, and they kept me busy.

As for roadside tools, a "Fourth Hand" for cable work is a blessing. Hopefully, you won't need it often, but when you do, it's worth it's weight in gold.

And, if you are serious about doing the full spectrum of work in the lap of luxury, a lift table is delightful. My mechanic here lets me use his on occasion as a kindness to an old man!



Al

At minimum, figure out and carry the spares and tools you need to:

1) change the spare tire
2) change your spark plug
3) replace an innertube in a tire
4) replace a cable
5) replace your head lamp
6) measure proper amount of 2-stroke oil.

You will learn what you need the more you ride. A spare spark plug and spare tube is a good idea just in case. That given a spark plug wrench and the appropriate tools to remove your tyre are handy. Anything else that might occur I would just call a dear friend with a truck or van and get it to a better place to do the work.

+1 to the fourth hand tool. I always wonder where the third hand is.

Fourth hand tool, set of metric spanners and sockets, torque wrenches (0-20 and 20-80 ft-lbs), flywheel puller, clutch puller, spark plug wrench

That's all I can think of at the moment. You won't need all of that stuff unless you plan on doing your own maintenance. At the very least, the metric wrenches, spark plug wrench, and 4th hand tool are a necessity for basic operator maintenance (changing a plug, cable, or wheel.)

Go buy a set of "metric ignition wrenches" from sears. Its a small package, $14 or so, and has sizes ~4mm - 11mm. Very good thing to have when adjusting cables, in combination with your 4th hand tool. You really only need the 7mm and 8mm ones, but they are still good to have as they are small and you can store them in your glovebox.

Thanks for the advice all. It's much appreciated. When I start to create problems for myself ,you'll be the first to know. Meanwhile I'll just keep perusing the threads. Good scootin'.

13mm socket a must have...

Yup, those were the first tools I bought and turned out to be the ones I've used the most so far.