Modern Vespa

Those were made in the Racing Foot Factory. Very rare part and definitely justifies the price.

Better snag that before it's procured by the Ho-Chi-Min People's Museum of Improvised Transportation.

Yesterday I drove up to yachats to check out a 65 Sprint for sale. I called Chris to see if he wanted to go for the road trip up the coast, and he was!

What we found was lots of peeling paint, with layers of Bondo under the paint. In lots of places on the scoot. But the gasket around the glovebox and a sticker in the glovebox from Indo sealed the "walk away" deal for me.

My thought was if I just got an engine out of the deal....not that I need an engine, but one on the shelf would be sweet.

The guy was a super nice guy and wanted me to get it running for him...uhhhh, no can do man...

So we got the heck out of there and thanked our lucky stars we didn't come home with a POS project!

good gawd!

dodged a bullet I'd say.

at a benny you'd have over paid.

You'd have to pay me to take it, to a metal scrap yard.

It has the headset from a Euro Rally/Sprint, looks like.

Probably the only valuable thing on it.

That engine looks like it was pulled up from the bottom of a lake!

That sticker ain't Indo; it's Thai. Indonesian script is the Roman alphabet. That has all the signs of shit-ass Siamese "restoration."
It says it comes from a Vespa shop in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Thanks Nomad for the clarification!

From the ad I couldn't tell if it was painted locally or what. The guy had left it in a shed for eight years with the spark plug loose. It was stuck in 2nd so he pulled the plug so he could roll it around...

The oxidation in the carb box is what happens around here if left in a "shed" for years and years. And not all sheds are created equal.

I rescued a KTM 640 Duke II from oxidation death in the same manner. And the shed the Duke came out of was at least water tight. If you leave your car outside here during the winter months it's sure to grow moss and mildew...

I'm just glad Chris and I didn't drag that three legged puppy home.

Is this a bodge?

This one is advertised as Italian but seems to have MRF branded tyres on it.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/203881737731?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=JCYx5zCOTVe&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=DTM6h59dTtS&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

Sure looks like it.

10" wheels, key under the seat, 2 tone paint, no mat on top of the tunnel etc etc

Hard to say for sure, but quite possibly. I don't know the details of UK bikes well enough to say for sure.

It's a VBB with 10" wheels and the ignition under the seat, both of which are immediately suspicious. Looks like there might be some bondo cracking around the glovebox door, which would immediately give me pause.

And the center mat should be a mat, not rails.

Also, crappy legshield trim installation, plus no picture of the motor.

Also the seat looks much more modern too

Is "more modern" a euphemism for "terrible fit?"

I'd say 99%, huge telltale are the crash bars that are fixed on the cowls. Lots of bodges got and still are sold in the UK. Problem is the UK folks seem to be offended too easily if you point the obvious, so I don't bother anymore…

I always miss that detail for some reason. It's so obvious, too.

May not be a bodge, but the description is sketchy and the price is absurd.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/153924273710?chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-117182-37290-0&mkcid=2&itemid=153924273710&targetid=1645685073248&device=m&mktype=&googleloc=9030243&poi=&campaignid=16730423415&mkgroupid=135815925780&rlsatarget=pla-1645685073248&abcId=9300841&merchantid=6296724&gclid=Cj0KCQjwjN-SBhCkARIsACsrBz7b5ayR9AyJwEkS2xr0UrIE5qKArOSwml21U3VeKrBF0ChePjafJ58aAnUDEALw_wcB

Not a bodge, but damn that's a bodge paint job!

Didn't even remove the bearing races and painted right over the fork and handle bar tubes. Good luck getting that stuff to fit and work!

https://m.facebook.com/marketplace/item/268844648581083/

Subtle bodge or just a slightly off resto? Fat legshield trim, added glovebox, 10" wheels, but not overly obvious as a bodge.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/405566524736589/

This one for sure.

It doesn't look bad. It's apparently a Super with a 10" conversion. All the telltale signs. But looks nice.

I read about a restorer based in Vietnam with an Australian owner. I know I can't name names. Do any of the bodges come from there?

The thing that is confusing me is the price, that's not bodge pricing!

https://sacramento.craigslist.org/mpo/d/ivanhoe-1965-vespa/7470080543.html



It's the harbinger of Spring. Three years at least this one pops up. Price never changes.

I would buy this thing just to keep it from being posted again, and to see whats reeeeeally up with it. Seen it so long I'm so curious

I searched around and found the answer. Nuff said…

Here's a beauty.
$5,500 ( down from $8,999?) ? Meh. The chrome's worth that ! Too bad they left off the steering cap.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/3370910406470902/

The rear bumper, lol.

All that work for 372 km. (231 miles).

That yellow one is hideous.

And not in a compelling way…like Liberace's living room on 2 wheels.

You'd think that for $5,500 you'd at least get a proper leg shield glove box !

This one didn't even get that many!

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/269946602020915/

How about those sweet chrome rims ?

I like the nipples turn signals. I'll bet you can milk those puppies.

Beautifully restored or Original. Can't be both.

tsk tsk- not even a chrome kickstart. Filthy casual.

nah, that's all repop bullshittery.

but mah gawd, that yellow!

No! Say it ain't so! Now you're going to tell me that isn't even an original color.

Pure American cornfed farmbodge.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/ChicagoVespisti/posts/4978443992251418/

Wowza. I didn't even know Briggs & Stratton even MADE scooters.

that thing is insane. I'm glad he went with the wide tire option since he'd probably have trouble putting the power on the ground otherwise. Or maybe it's to keep the wheels from crushing the grass when he mows with it...