Modern Vespa

Hey guys, especially Eric!

I have a wonderful opportunity unexpectedly present itself. Gonna be making a trip this weekend to have a look and hopefully everything works out.

When I get there, besides the usual inspection, test ride and kicking the tires, is there anything about a 160 GS in particular I should be aware of to check out in detail? Supposedly garaged and rarely run since restore 5 years ago. When I asked about the price, I was told "gimme a fair offer, I have no time for riding and I hate to see it sit". So what would be a fair offer?

All I have to go by right now are these pics, the owner is somewhat of a photo buff so I can't really make out the details in the pretty pics. ULMA wheelcovers on it, a repop saddle but other than that everything is supposed to be stock or NOS except for the repaint. From what I can see, the stand looks odd and some bits are too shiny for comfort.

I'm hoping your expert eyes will pick out anything that doesn't seem right on her. Pick her apart please!

From the pictures, I only see cosmetic differences (parts the wrong color), but the stand is also wrong in some way (aside from the chrome).

Otherwise, looks all GS to me.

- (a different) Eric

Did AdamPX take these pictures?

I doubt it, the light doesn't have the right color until September.

two things strike me :

1) lots of WHITE... incorrect. Front wheel drum, backplate, fork link, spare tire cover, centerstand...that stuff should all be aluminum color

2) The aluminum parts ( lever blocks, front fender trim, etc ) have been chromed

That's basically it. Everything looks legit...i think someone just did their own thing when "restoring" it.

-Eric

Please ditch the hub caps if you get it

The GS 160 is my all time fav scoot period.

How much are they asking for it?

also theres no seat strap, it should have a shell type horn, black stand rubbers, silver/grey flywheel cover, grey petrol tap rubbers ... and on and on , its still quite tidy - even if it isnt factory spec. 8)


The front fork etc should be silver on the mk2, but on the mk1 the fork stem only should white - there were however a few crossover models, i had one early 64 original cond mk2 with white fork 8)

i really like the stock hubs on all vespas and can't understand why the wheel covers

the gs160 is THE vespa. after seeing rover eric's ss resto, i cannot wait to see his gs come together. the gs is iconic. it is like an exaggerated fat booty version of everything before it.

I don't think so
I really like wheel cover... can beautifying your scoot
my all vespa has wheel cover
ahh ulma, that very rare stuff... but you have different spinner, senkun can you zoom it on the spinner look like vigano spinner on it

those covers are rare?

nino i have wheel cover too which is come with the bike when i bought my vewspa's, if u want its ur as i didnt enjoy wearing it and just keep it in my room (last time i cheek it were 12 years ago i dunno if its rare type or not)

I guess so especially in here... if many there I want some

we don't see many around these parts.

thats not to say that i don't like them, i just havenot seen many.

with that said, i do like the stock hubs on all vespa models.

thats one reason why i don't care for the disc set up, it has a different hub than the rear

i like my hubs to match perfectly

Yep! we Indonesian have a thing of rare parts, doesn't matter how it would look on the scoot. I guess that is Indonesian style (influenced a lot from MOD style IMHO at least). Brand such Ulma, Vigano, Cuppini, Brevettata, Bologna etc are a must have item, which of course for those who doesn't have a problem economically , cuz lately to me the price of those brand are ridiculous IMHO

now i dig US style, simple, straight, "all there for business"

in case you wondering I just finish removing the paint of my P200, like Nino its a slow project, cuz I'm an amateur it will be a lot slower than Nino's sprint v project

Time out time out.

You're correct IF you're referring to the EURO model of the GS160. There was a big difference. The Euro GS's had a key on the headset, a different switch on the handlebars ( it was round with just a 3 position thumbswitch at the bottom and a button in the middle for the horn ). The US bike, because it was AC, DID NOT have the shell horn that has become so iconic and celebrated as part of the GS. The US horn was much less blingy - this is the proper horn for the US model. Remember the Euro model had a battery ( both the SS180 and GS160 ) and thus necessitated a key to disable it, as well as both the battery bikes had DC horns versus the non-battery GS/SS in the US market, and the fact they both had AC horns. ( and thus needed no headset key )

There's some debate about the white versus aluminum colored fork downtube, as to what color it was. I'm painting mine aluminum, but mine was one of last couple hundred GS160 mk1's made, and there was a lot of crossover part stuff going on. Like, it could have potentially had the black seat cover from a mk2 on it, rather than the grey one they put on mk1's, etc.

agreed on the seat strap... but it looks like someone had it attached and removed it on this bike, as there's holes in the cover for it.

Thanks for the insights guys, and esp. Eric you're spot on. Seat strap was indeed removed by the owner. I'm kinda iffy on the ULMA covers, easily removed though I understand the passion some have for these accessories.

So I'm all excited about this one and it looks like only some cosmetic issues that can easily be corrected. What about the center stand? Were there any original stands with those braces?

If it runs as well as it looks, I'm gonna offer 5k, fair?

your et3 with that bike will surely be the cats meow

you think he won't take less than 5k?

I could try for less but risk irking him, when I first asked about the price, I was told "it's all there all done up so come over, look it over and test it out then gimme a fair offer, I have no time for riding and I hate to see it sit".

I had a very strong feeling it's a reluctant sale and I felt he was also a no-nonsense older gentleman type. He didn't say it out loud but I swear I heard his voice in my mind saying, "don't waste my time fishing, you should know what these are worth".

staying out of this one

but maybe eric can pretend it was his and and he can come up with a # that would not insult him to hear as a "offer"

a little negotiating is not bad

just don't low ball

i think he will know that you are a scooter enthusiast and will be receptive

Haha Jimmy, that's a great idea, then again I do believe one restored by Eric would be in a different league and thus a different price. But yeah, Eric pretend this was yours, cosmetic issues and all, what could someone offer you for it without insulting you?

I'm just the kind of guy who doesn't get really excited about things unless they are a MEGA deal.

Like, i found an original paint SX200 ( which can be worth 8-10k, potentially..particularly to a brit ) about 6 months ago that i offered 4k for... and i thought that was a stellar price because there was no way i was going to lose money on that...it's only going to acrue in value.

Bikes that have been resprayed...particularly those that have been resprayed differently than stock... well, they don't have the same appeal to me, and i'm less motivated to pay money for them...particularly the price they SHOULD be worth.

Could this GS160mk2 be worth 5k? I dunno...maybe. I've seen original condition GS160's go for less, but you're overseas. Maybe that's a good price there.

Also, my perspective on buying is different than others. I can turn a wrench, and know what should and shouldn't be with a GS. Others don't / can't. For them, the price is more acceptable. I look at the bike and think "Give me a 1500 pile of GS parts and i can make it look better for less" ... but that's just my individual perspective, and i don't assume most others feel the same.

If that was in the US, the owner probably paid upwards of 800+ USD to have all that crap chromed.

-eric

don't you feel like you have to hold eric down and pull his arm behind his back to get a "offer #"

not that i want to be the guy to grapple with him

he is a big guy that rides scooters you know