Modern Vespa

much to my wife's chagrin ...

Thursday night at our weekly club meeting, a buddy who also has a GS160mk1 squaretail, who also just had his painted and has been ready for assembly for like 8 months, asked me for help.

He just had a baby like 3 weeks ago, and needs me to build his GS160 mk1. Fine with me.

He also has a GS160 mk2... a rusty, beat up, drilled full of holes but still complete, that he picked up for like $400. I told him i would build his Mk1 for him, if he gave me the mk2 as payment. He agreed.

So, now i'm the proud owner of this poor farmer bodge GS160.

I have been daydreaming about it since Friday. I've already pulled off the glovebox, did some rudimentary body work on it, and started disassembling. I'm restoring this thing...the body is surprisingly straight... it just needs a good amount of small, random holes filled.... and for me to source out a part or two. The cowls on it are straighter than the one on my bike. How you manage to drill 3" holes in the legshield but keep the cowls intact is beyond me.

you need to work overtime, holmes.

How 'bout a pic of the beasty?

what the hell was the 3 inch hole in the legshield for?

You lucky SOB. Pictures when you can. And how's the newly painted GS going together? Haven't seen any updates on that one.

It has a 3" hole chopped in the center channel, sorta behind the brake pedal area, on the top. Presumably to run cables through.

It also has a 3" hole drilled where the fuel petcock would normally go, presumably because the fuel tap lever probably broke on the guy.

It also has a number of other small holes about it ... 2 above the taillight, and two right below the back of the seat on either side ... maybe to mount some sort of chrome something?

And i removed ...no joke ... a 1" thick bolt from the legshield. It had a hole drilled through the shaft to accommodate a mirror stem. I had to use a 1" socket on an impact wrench to get it off. It was probably worth 50cents in scrap metal it was so heavy.

I'll take some pics tonight. My garage is pretty awesome right now ... 3 GS's, an SS, 2 lambrettas and a smallframe in it currently.

You make me sick 8)

you need to take your wife out to dinner dude.

She's not very cool with me picking up another bike ...because it means lots of money being injected into it ..and she says she was just beginning to see the end of the tunnel when it came to scooter restoration costs.

So...what we did is split off a separate bank account for just scooter stuff. I get an allowance of a couple hundred a month for scooter stuff. If i sell parts or whatever, the account fills up.

This is why i need to rebuild that P200 engine and sell it ...to pad up the account for what this new GS160 is going to cost me to paint and such.

Marriage is the beginning of the end.

j/k - I love my wife.

you could put off restoring the mk2. or, you could sell the jet 200 to restore the mk2. the ochre paint looks like throw up.

The Jet200 is getting sold ...to Mod Mike, i think. I've gotta button a few things up on it, and he's gotta get the money.

That money will pay for the GS160mk1 resto.

Going lammie-less eh? Deep down, that bugs you.

Well, i still have my wife's.

But yeah, it totally bugs me. I had plans for that Jet200.

mod mike is the nicest guy. i think i will scoot over to his house on friday if he is going to be working on sparky's bike.

No, she still has hers.

you suck

Weirder still, is that i let my wife ride the SS180 the other day .... which is at the absolute epitome of what a bike SHOULD feel like. The cables are all perfect... it shifts like butter, the engine just purrs - no vibration, etc. It's how i remember her Lambretta feeling when i first built it.

She got on my SS180 for the first time the other day ...rode it around ... and was like "eh, i like my lammy better".

I think that particular bike ...both for what it is intrinsically and also due to the fact it just had a total frame-off resto ... is possibly the finest running bike i've ever owned.... and she's still got her lambretta elitism.


It's going to be funny when there's 2 GS160's and an SS180 to pick from for her, and she's still going to walk past them to get on her LI150.

don't worry eric, you will find an sx200 to replace the jet200 and it wont be ochre. i like the light blue jet200 color.

*shakes head*

But as smallstate said, there will be other lambrettas in your future, and 2 GS160s is nothing to hang a head about!

I know that there's an SX200 or TV200 in my future ... i'm going to trip over it somewhere and get it for pennies. You'll see. I have faith.

her LI150 is a really nice bike.

Pure addiction...that's awesome Eric.

I believe that these things makes us a bit "crazy" in other peoples eyes that don't share the passion/obsession (like my wife) as we do.

You seem to stumble on great shit for no money so I wouldn't be too worried about finding the Lammy you want.

Keep us posted on the GS dos

I'm lucky enough to have a wife who's as into scooters as i am.... she loves them. She just also likes having money in our bank accounts, and is way better at managing that stuff, so i frustrate her with my spending of money on parts and bikes.

I tell my better half, "Hey, it's better than spending money on booze and strippers." She concurs. 8)

This made me chuckle - because I have a very similar arrangement with my wife! Nice to know that I'm not alone.

Yup, my wife does the finances as well so we don't go broke. I seriously have a 2nd job just so I can spend $$$ on my addiction. She's starting to learn not to give me shit anymore when she see's another cardboard box with Motorsport packaging tape all over it.

I think you're lucky too

Seriously, she has an incredibly smart head on her shoulders. Send her my love.

Incidentally, I just picked up an SS180.

Andrea

the motorsport tape gets me in trouble every time. i wish they would quit using it.

I used to like the Casa Lambretta tape that said "here's your damn parts" printed on it.

I haven't ordered from them in a while, though ... not sure if they still use it.

Great Winter Project Eric!

I hope to do a big overhaul one of these when I get more experience.

crap man ur sick.. u always have the best project with u.. and u also have the money to rebuild it and restored it better then anyone i know

for truth i am jealousy and u have a supported wife too
but i will keep my eyes in all ur projects

wish u the best
ebeth

i wish i had at least half his scooter knowledge

Sick bastard....must be nice!

Want me to stop by and see if I can get a roll from them?

NICE!!!

Eric, what's the steps to fill those big holes? Weld grind or ?

Yeah ..probably cut a plate to fit the hole, then weld around it, then grind off + smooth down.

The center channel is easy because it's flat. Under the seat is curved, though, so it will be harder to make invisible.

Most other damage can be easily bent back and straightened.

who does your bodywork, eric? rodney the painter?