Modern Vespa

Finally had a clear day and time to take some photos. Actually, the occasion was fixing a flat tire from my last outing, and I had a camera handy.

Keep in mind that this is a former basket case, so lots of things are probably incorrect. The front fender bears little resemblance to its original shape, the engine cowl has incorrect fins, and the whole thing needs a repaint. The gas cap is the only solid piece of original paint on the bike, near as I can tell.

Oh Aye! Cool mate.

I really like that seat, like the button heads too.

Is this your next cannonball scooter?

Cheers

I believe it's the original cover, but on a new frame. It's pretty much hell to sit on at the moment, lacking some of the internal padding. You mean on the flywheel? Didn't know if that was correct or not. Patrick thinks it is. I'm quite a bit more dubious.

Patrick is right then mate

Aye, those button heads are not original, but do the trick.

Cheers

Looks good.

I too think Patrick is on the mark, that looks like a perfect cannonball ride. 8)

Foamtastic: BTW, I just found some memory foam (temperpedic type stuff) that is about 2" thick. Cut it to shape for my Primarvera seat. A notoriously uncomfortable seat is now heaven on the hind quarters. Glorious improvement over the stock set up... FWIW.

Dude...what a total bodge

Seriously, very nice looking and I don't know enough to tell what's "right" and don't really care as long as it still has integrity and is solid. Very nice! 8)

As for cannonball...I had dinner with Starr in December and she tells me the endurance required to pull it off on an antique is a somewhat different from attempting it on a 4T modern. That may be obvious to most of us and I know this is NSM but just sayin'....I feel like I could ride all day on the Aprilia but my butt starts hurting after more than an hour on the Stella. So - good luck with that!

That's a good tip. I'll check it out. Repro SS seats are a bit on the dear side.

Oh, no doubt. Though I really do enjoy endurance riding, doing it on this bike might be a bit ambitious. Even doing it on a P (with its overstuffed seat and luxurious turn signals) would probably be quite a bit more manageable.

The buttonheads are not "correct" to original but they are the right fastener for the job.

The GS/SS/Rally used standard hex head bolts on the flywheel with lovely tab washers to keep them snug. They also had a nasty habit of ripping all the vents in the cowl out the first time it fell on that side while running.

The buttonheads will not catch and destroy the cowl.

Mighty comfy looking seat you got there...

Mine wasn't quite that bad. I had some 2" memory foam, but someone threw it away for me. I cut up the lid to a rubbermaid bin to put between the springs and the foam, and managed to get three more layers of egg crate foam between that and the seat cover. The center bar is way uncomfortable before I added the foam. If I had longer legs and arms, I could sit behind it. It's tolerable now.

Nice ride, no rust.

I love it. So many people think a clean bike + a dozen cans of flat black spraypaint makes it a rat bike.

If you want to do a full "restoration" thats your call, but at least take it to a couple rallies and win some "best rat bike" awards first.

That seat is the bees knees..

Agreed -- that seat rocks! Comfort aside, I think it's just the colour that makes it look like one of those ancient leather sofas you could just drop onto and fall fast asleep.

It looks well loved (or loved on!).

I added the button-head hex bolts. The seat was sourced from P-Town (yes, correct SS180 frame) as were the center-split rims (since media-blasted and powder coated a Chevy silver - close enuff for jazz).

The bike came to me w/ P200 seat and offset-split trims!

Nice to see Jess taking the bike to the next level!

i like the colour its so polish

cheer mate

Cool! Torquey beast, isn't it?

Nice that you have the spare. Didn't have it when you got the flat? Mine has a cover for the spare, but I can't use it (or a spare if I had one) due to the Ken Cobbing exhaust pipe being on that side of the rear wheel. No glovebox is too bad. Real replacements are pricy!

Have fun!
Steve

Well, I haven't wheelied it yet (intentionally or otherwise), so not sure. I had the spare, but didn't have any tools and it was just about dark. In its current configuration, I don't really have any place for the tools, even if I had grabbed the roll out of my GTS. And it turns out I didn't even have the right size socket in my roll (since the GTS doesn't have any fasteners in that size) so it would have done me no good.

Plus, I was only ten minutes from home, and my truck and my wife were a phone call away. I have a gen-u-ine Rally glovebox for it (the inside is even painted that classic Rally burgandy) but still need rubber, a new lock, and some mounting hardware (on order).

And so the bodge begins

Let me know if you need bits and bobs. I just gave away the glovebox lock.

But i have a spare glovebox you can have.

Cheers

Bodge perhaps, but definitely not the beginning. This particular glovebox came on the bike when Scott got it, and was painted (on the outside, at least) at the same time the rest of the bike got a paint job. So it's an original bodge job.

And this is one of many places where my knowledge falls flat: did the SS180 ever have a factory glovebox?

Yes on the factory glovebox.

Cheers

Sure did!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/culturesponge/210663775/

Thanks much, guys.

Think they differed much from the Rally glovebox? From the profile in that linked picture, I can't tell the difference.

Actually there is mate, if memory serves me right.

The rally one is a wee bit smaller.

Cheers

BTW - it's hard to say for sure because it is so misshapen, but that does not look like an SS180 seat to me just judging from the underside pic of the frame.

If you don't want to shell out for an original SS180 seat, you can use a Sprint seat which looks virtually identical - most people would be hard pressed to tell the difference.

nice grip tape and the 2 Tone sticker is just right.

more seriously looks like it could be fun bike to play with on Grizzly Peak/Skyline and Canyon

Screw how it looks....how's the ride?

I think the SS180 is the best riding Vintage there is. There's just something about the piston ported when it hits the sweet spot that can't be compared to!

I don't have a lot to compare it to, as I haven't ridden a lot of vintage bikes. I do know enough to tell you that the engine is much smoother than I expected, and quite a bit quieter as well.

I think the swingarm bushings are shot, though. The rear end shimmies a bit. And of course the front end dives precipitously when I hit the front brakes (which I have been avoiding).

I'll probably be able to give you a better impression when I get a better seat on it.

That's why I said they are pricey. They only fit the one model like so many other SS and GS parts. It is smooth, but I'm contemplating swapping out the KC for a repop exhaust. Mine is nothing resembling quiet! Eager to see what you think once you get it out and about more.

Prior to getting mine, it had probably been 40 years since I'd ridden a 2-stroke bike. That's why I noticed the fun torque.

The 180SS is my favourite Vespa, loads of character, although my new 300 Super is darn close.

I bought a brand new 1968 model in mid-1969, one of the very last SS's to be sold in Australia. The Adelaide distributor in those days was Genaral Accessories Ltd. Kept it for many years and was an exceptional scooter - tons of torque and amazingly quick at the traffic lights, if you could keep the front wheel on the ground!. Cost around 5 month's wages for a second year apprentice electronic tech.

Interestingly, it definitely had the new horncast and the hexagonal Piaggio badge, but with the tapezoid headlight. Yet the 1968 model should have the hex badge and the round headlight. Perhaps, at the end of the SS production run, they were using up the trapezoid head lights?

Great to see another SS being resurrected! (yes, the seat in the photo isn't an orginal one).

Here is a pic of my SS180 (s/n VSC1T *16440*) showing the glovebox.

The windscreen and carrier are not OEM, nor the seat which was made by the assemblers in NZ (no springs; at the time-1966-Vespas were assembled under licence from Piaggio using some local manufacture to avoid high tariffs). All else, including the glovebox, were OEM.

Sorry the pic is a little fuzzy.

Wow Ken......

Very cool picture mate, do you have more?

Cheers

Excellent!

I've got my Rally glovebox right here next to me, and for the life of me I can't identify any differences from the one in your picture.

But it's probably moot. I'm not actually anorak, and the glovebox I have seems reasonable to me.

There's a quote from someone in my former hobby (vintage Mustangs) that sums up my feelings on the matter pretty well: More than anything, I think that's what I'm going for. The spirit of correctness, not the letter.

I am pretty sure they were different mate. Though this make me question my own answer.

look what rolled into my garage last night!!!!!!

Cheers

Ive tried to confirm that the glovebox is identical to rally's over the years and have been told it is by a few in the know. Never measured but I'm pretty sure it is. GS is diff of course.

Ahhhhhh!

Found it. I thought i was going mad.

Here is a quote from scooterlounge.

"Though the styling on the Rally was very similar to the Super Sport, the cowls and mudguard on the Rally were not nearly as wide as those found on the S.S. Additionally, the aluminum strips that had adorned the cowls and mudguard on the S.S., were deleted from the Rally. The glovebox on the Rally was also slightly smaller than that of the S.S. The narrower, unadorned look of the Rally gave it a more sporting and less luxurious look."

Cheers

Huh! Well, I'll be damned. If anybody has an SS glovebox to trade, I've got a flawless NOS rally one.

Jess, congrats on the scoot, very very cool.

Well that's that, then. Thanks for hunting that down.

Honestly, if it weren't for the burgundy paint on the inside, I'd never be able to tell it came from a Rally.

Here are the only ones I have with the glovebox showing.



Full size image here






Full size image here

I have the correct trim color,. I just haven't put it onyet.

All photos here if you need more.

Here is Culturesponge's SS180 Flickr set with some good links.

And here's probably the best single source worldwide on the SS and GS models.

I have 60MB of manuals, photos, tech info, etc. if you need more.

Cool! Thanks much. That glovebox does look a bit bigger than mine. Watcha got? I've got the owners manual from Scooterhelp, not sure what else is out there.

I spent a few minutes today holding my rally gb up to the SS frame, which has the outline of the old one. I'm not disputing that they might be different, but it's definitely close.

Maybe not anorak but I think it'll fool most people.

Maybe I'm just trying to make myself feel better, cause there is no way I'm embarking on a "find an SS glovebox" quest. Then again, if people are paying $250 for a Mickey mouse, I ought to be able to get twice that for my rally gb. But I'm not that guy.