Modern Vespa

Hey Scooters.
I just bought a 2002 ET50 with 2600km on the clock, it was used as a holiday beach house toy. As its mid winter in NZ its a good time for vespa bargains. It is fairly mint and stock standard, just gave it a full service and new back tyre. Its got two problems, corrosion and a bent forward stand. Has anyone any experience with repairing bent stands? I don't want to replace as it's just dumb steel and not going to make the bike any faster. Also any tips on rust vulnerable components I need to check? Can I peel the vespa badges of and clean them up? Thanks

That "dumb steel " just keeps your scooter upright.... not important.... put a new stand on it!

If your Kiwi ET is anything like those over here, the center stands are a snatch because they are riveted on by a monstrous rod type rivet. I have had moderate success drilling off this rod and replacing with a suitable bolt with the proper locking hardware.

As far as removing the badges, ET badges are attached with clips from behind, so you'll need to remove those before they'll come off. I've personally found that the exposed metal parts are far more susceptible to various types of corrosion than the painted surfaces.