Modern Vespa

I just can't stop looking at this thread! You are my hero! That bike must never get old to look at, or take out and ride! To bad only die hard anime fans realize the time and effort you have put into this project. Keep up the great work.....

This bike is indeed killer.
Tidwillow, I dig your rockers / patch / logo! it's really 8)

Courtesy of Jeremy Fish. Guy does sick art...

Saw this on the 'bay, thought you might like it!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vespa-Scooter-Mod-Giant-Poster-Print-B147-/310161044741?pt=UK_Arts_Posters_RL&hash=item483709f505

^^ Cool poster! Scooter West used to carry some FLCL gels. I've got one on the cabinet door in the garage.

Holy $hitballs - that is a gorgeous scooter. Great job and thanks for sharing the story!

Utterly supremendous work !

I don't know anything about the comic , but I love the bike.

very well done. respect!

The SS in FLCL was the straw that broke the camels back for me to get a scoot. I wasn't able to find an SS in my price range, but needless to say am still happy that I own a Vespa.

Gorgeous scoot. Absolutely spot on.

I had this same poster on that same weird semi-transparent material. I mailed it to a girl I was infatuated with back in college, really wish I'd kept it.

Thanks for all the kind words, guys!

The SS has been in the shop for the last three weeks awaiting new cable outers, which is just as well since it's been in the 100s here in Colorado since late June. But now it's a little cooler and I'm DYING to get it back. Ugh!

Gorgeous scooter and great story -- thanks for sharing all the pics! Now you need a pic of your wife on it in costume, pink hair and all! Great job.

-Dan

I love you, and I love this.

I freaking adore FLCL, so to see this just puts a big ol' fat grin on my face!

Also, awesome to see some one else who cosplays! Haha!

Was about a half mile from home on Friday when I noticed my engine had suddenly become much louder. Looking down to my right, I saw my cowl hanging off like some sort of giant beetle wing. The little tab must have popped off somewhere alone the way, with no warning whatsoever.

Felt pretty good to solve the problem using just the scraps of aluminum and throwaway bolts sitting in the bottom of my toolbox.

Oh man!.... I'm SO happy you didn't say it fell of, and had posted pics of a mangled cowl! Thank the jesus... nice handywork too!
I'm not even religious and I made the sign of the cross!

To honest, I've already had the left side cowl fall off and skid down the road for a few hundred feet. It's not terribly destroyed, but the paint shop said they would cut me a deal on repainting it. I'm currently debating covering the entire scooter in 3M clear-bra just to avoid the little dings and dents, ugh.

I guess it was just eager to earn its "character" as a vintage scoot. *shrug*

Early summer was pretty busy, tons of shows and even a huge comic con! The gear selector cables self-destructed in early June so the scoot had to be trucked around in the back of the Ecto and then spent a few weeks at Sportique Scooters in their intensive care shop. I got it back mid-July only for the gear selector arm (I think?) to come loose, so back in the shop it went. Getting this scooter into a reliable state after the restoration is a pain, but it's showing lots of progress.

Anyway, on to the pictures!!










Totally wrong anime scooter girl, but whatevs.



Paul Italiano's GOBATS scooter, which is like a MILLION times cooler than the SS180. Holy crap that thing is AMAZING.




Aaaaand just for fun, one last shot of me in my Alpha Beta polo and my Cobra Commander-themed helmet.


I think I'm a little too tall for a 60s scooter... ah well.

amazing photo's kidda!

We've been getting some rather incredible sunsets lately due to forest fires in Washington (I think?). I've been trying to catch one for a few days and I finally succeeded.

Unff.

I'd seen this sequence somewhere before actually joining up here on MV.

I can't even tell you. The jealousy running through my veins is nigh uncontrollable

Just so you know, I'm coming back to this once I get an SS180 of my own. I've plans in the near future to cosplay Canti, with my girlfriend as Bunny-suit Haruko at this year's Anime Los Angeles, though it's unlikely that I'll be rolling up on my little P.

I've probably read through this 3 or 4 times now, and enjoy it just as much every time. I don't suppose your next project is a left-handed Ricky or a flying V? ;D

I'm glad you're excited about it! When that day comes lemme know and I'll happily share graphics files and dimensions of the front fin, if you'd like

My next project is fixing up the Jeep and getting the Ecto ready for Halloween season. Once the Ecto is in top shape I'll be roadtripping it to San Francisco. That's my plan for disposable income right now...

After that, who knows!

That'd be excellent!

Besides the fact that my income is more despicable than disposable at the moment, I've had the hardest time tracking down an SS that I'd be able to even consider working on.

When the time comes, I'd probably end up porting my P's 213cc over, since the engine mounts are the same. I'd considered gong larger, but I'm being told that it might have adverse effects on the frame and bearings. 213cc is plenty of get up and go for me on a scoot anyhow, haha.


What's up in San Fran? I'm gonna be making a road trip up thattaway for a music Festival near the beginning of October.

Nice pics !

Holy Bat-Scoot! that thing is cool, the tail-light is the shyte. I can see flames shooting out the back as Batmod takes off. It would be cool to have a headlight cover that had the batman image on it.

Geez -- How tall is that dude in the picture on the right? He is skying over everyone else.

You noticed that too... Big man.. big man. Maybe he plays for the Nuggets!

Maybe it's Jaws from James Bond

or Lurch from the Addams Family (how cool would it be to see him on an Addams-themed scoot)

I saw Andre the Giant once and he was that big.

Looks good in fall!

Yeah it does. I think this one looks good in any season.. Seriously, one of my favorites!

Finally got a picture of the Vespa with one of the newest members of Colorado Movie Cars, a real Initial D AE86!



I'm totally okay with increasing the number of anime-related vehicles in the group. Maybe an Akira bike or... the Bebop!

Sweet Hachi-Roku! Can I get some tofu delivered?

love this photo set, ...cool scoot

So, I've seen your scooter a few times, and not you! Catches my eye every time I spot it @ Denver.

What gives?

The Akira bike has been done many a time, though, rarely very well, and if I saw some Bebop, I might just cry.

I'm thinking I might go after a replica of the "Moped" that Beast Boy is always after in the animated Teen Titans.



Girlfriend wants to do a Terra cosplay, and I figure that'll fit the bill ;D

Of course, finding the scoot that most closely matches that one will be a journey in itself.[/img]

Looks like you need a Corsa with a custom handlebar and light...ugly blocky scooter and I like them.

They are pretty blocky. I think I might have a bit more luck with something that's *already* got the light in the legshield, and the handlebars as free as possible. I'm not much of a handyman, though I've slowly but surely been figuring out my little P.

Whaaaaat? Like where?

I've still never made it out for a ride, the only catastrophic failures I experienced over the summer were right before a big event...

Inconsequential update. A lot of the people in our car club have been puzzled by the Vespa for the last year, having never heard of (nor really having the inclination to watch) the series. I put this video together last night to illustrate the SS180 in action. It contain probably 95% of the shots of the scooter as they appear in the show, I know I have a few scenes missing, though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CF3lzNMr4hs

On the mechanical side of things, I got the cruciform replaced and it's like an entirely different scoot, now. I will absolutely be making it out for big rides, and my wife is about 70% done with her Haruko costume. Cool stuff to come!

Just out of curiosity, we have yet to solve the mystery of Haruko's handlebars. On the actual, physical SS180 used in the end credits of the show, the left handlebar has the little switch for horn or lights, and the barend turn signals look stock.

While I have seen SS180s with the turnkey on top of the headset, I have yet to find any photos of the barend lights, left-hand switch, AND trapezoid headlight.

I've seen all three on a 1968 Rally, but never on an SS.


Does anyone have any theories as to what's going on there?[/img]

First thing, your scoot is awesome, great job and love the FLCL theme.

My theory is the anime was created around early 2000's in Japan and the turn signal law is mandatory there, so my guess is the artist wanted to be current with the times. The bar end turn signals are also common in Germany.

These turn signals need to have additional tubes that fits inside the clutch and throttle tubes along with a cup piece at each end and a mounting bracket on top of the gear cable bracket. This allows the turn signals to remain stationary when using the shifter or throttle.

Here's a picture of a late model Japanese ET3 (a couple of Vespa models were re-released in the 90's solely for their market). I understand its not an SS180 but it's only a guess.

That's FASCINATING! Oh my god you have no idea how long this has bugged me.

I'd read somewhere that the barend signals were likely from Germany, but I didn't know about the Japanese requirements or the re-releases. Does that mean the one at the end of the show could possible be only 15 years old, or that it was a model specifically made for those countries in the 60s?

I think the SS that is shown in the credits is still a mid 60's scoot but only retro fitted with the bar end turn signals. The classic models that were re-released in Japan seem to be only smallframes: 50, 100 sport, Primavera and ET3 and all came with the bar ends. I have looked at Vespa club sites in Japan and not every old Vespa has the signals on, so I think it depends if the scoot was 'born' with them.

Changing the scooter to fit an artists interpretation of the scooter,
interesting.


I hope you are riding it.






Rob