Modern Vespa

http://www.cycletrader.com/find/listing/1977-vespa-200-rally-93032292/?zmc=cfem1

Since I am a total newbie, I have no idea if this is a good deal or not.
What do you guys think?

Thanks,
Rick

Eh. Not bad. I'd be more drooling if it was original paint.... You never know how good a restoration this is until you buy it. At least with an original condition bike you know the thing hasn't been messed with too much.

Chroming a set of cowls is a pretty expensive thing to do, though. Those are expensive cowls to begin with.

I guess it's probably worth 3500... but i'm not jumping for my wallet at that price.

Not a good deal. I would spend a lot of time looking around before you purchase anything. I think you can get a decent Rally for under $2500 if you watch Craigslist, probaby even less than that.

If you are new to scooters, unless you want to spend a lot of time fixing things, I'd stay away from vintage bikes.

If you're willing to spend that much money your can get a lightly used Vespa GT or GTS and have a far better and more reliable bike. If you still have the bug after that you can buy vintage.

If you really need a geared scooter I would look at Stellas, they're basically Indain Vespas but you can get a lot of parts and still get them serviced by dealers.

yeah, thats what i was thinking. I actually dont like the chrome and would probably repaint those if I got it.

I think it has been for sale a while, so I might be able to get him down a bit. Whats a good deal for something like this? Or should I pass and continue my search?

Also, it would be my 1st vespa. I read that the Rally's arent as reliable as the P's. Is that true and do you think I shouldn't get a rally as my 1st one then?

beat me to the punch.

I think Gatekeep or DannyW would tell you that Rally 200's are fine first bikes... but they're going to take more work than a P200 will, if for no other reason than they are older and will have a few more years of wear on them. The electrical system is kinda wonky on them in the '74-76 timeframe, too ...as they had Femsatronic based ignition systems which were more wonky than the 12v ducati electrical systems.

That shop is about 5 miles from me. They had a Rally 180 a few years back that I was thinking about buying but it was missing both cowls. I didn't want to have that hunt. The price is a little high on the Rally 200.

I'm just not a fan of the chrome rear cowls look.

Yeah +1

I agree also that $3500.00 seems too expensive as I pick mine up for $1600.00 w/ the engine disassembled.

It looks like too much BLING! I would find out what has been done to it over the years. I have found the more its been kept stock the better.

Its got 10k plus miles on it has it been overhauled?

If your looking for a cool factor a Rally is a bit cooler then a P200. (IMO)

I have not had any major problems with my Rally other then old age type stuff. If you don't have much experience with scoots beware older ones will make you want work on them .Its easier if you have some sort of Scoot knowledge unlike myself who just had 2T motorcycles.

Not knowing what was done to it I'd say $2800

while I am new to scooters (never had one), i am not afraid of having to do some work here and there if I have to. I have had 2 cyl motocross dirtbikes and I am pretty mechanically incliened, so I am not worried about having to do some work.

That being said, i dont want to be working on something more then I am riding it either.

Well, i'll say this, ricky... you're doing alright by asking folks here whether a bike is a good deal or not. You seem to be educating yourself well before your purchase... which is something i think many folks don't do sufficiently.

-Eric

Thanks. I always find it is best to try and learn as much as possible before doing/buying something that is new to you.

But, If it wasnt for the help I received from you guys, I would have bought a crappy import.

"This the most powerfull Vespa scooter" ............... i think not

$3500 for a good condition Rally 200 is fair for sure. Have to see it in person to know how fair.

Well, to be fair, the Euro-spec Rally 200 with the high compression head was the highest compression / highest bhp vespa engine they ever made.

Now, that said, people over here with US-spec rally engines always say this of their engine as well... but it's no more powerful than your bog standard P200 with the lower-compression head.

They had to reduce the compression over here because our gas isn't as good as the UK gas, IIRC.... to compensate for detonation issues.

Some people say fastest vintage Vespa and then some people just take some of those words out.

interesting, I just assumed it was the same reason as the 20/20 carb thing with the P-200.

Well, they did the 20/20 thing only in 1980/81, to meet emissions laws. The 1979 Vespa P200 had a 24/24 on it, as did every single rally 200. I don't think emissions figured into ANYTHING in the 70's

yeah, that was one of the first things I did was to remove the spacer between the carb and air box. And install a 24/24.it feels like it should have been in there from the get go...
Oh by the way my Stock Rally w/95000 mi. is faster then my stock P with 1000 original miles on it.It's just tired but not for
long...Brian

While I also don't care for the chrome cowls, if it is complete and straight with no rust, and the electric system is sound, that is a fair price IMHO. That assumes there has been no serious damage to the internals of the engine.

one nice thing about chrome cowls: you can be sure there's no bondo.

and chrome can be removed....

when i got my first scooter, everyone would drool over chrome cowls. (that was 1986).

Yea they never saw my 300.