In the few weeks since I bought this truck I have been on the rollercoaster of regret and happiness. Regret of what I got into and happiness of the potential I got myself into if it works out well. Driving home I realized only the shitty aftermarket gauges work, the steering was a mess, and … [Read more…]
I started planning the cosmetic side of this project before it was even my project. After the first email to buy it the gears in my head started to turn. In the Craigslist pictures it looked to be gray rather than the minty blue it really was. The scooter had been repainted in the late … [Read more…]
New Addition: 1979 Vespa P125X Like most great stories this is a bit of a long one, grab a beer and here we go… I wasn’t looking for a scooter to add to my garage, I was just bored surfing Craigslist. Times like this I normally search “Vespa,” “KTM,” and a few variations of “Husqvarna.” … [Read more…]
1979 Vespa P200E – Engine Rebuild I have made a point to call this an engine rebuild, rather than a scooter rebuilt. As I mentioned in the last post, this engine is going to find a home in my 1976 Vespa Sprint Veloce. It has been a few months since an update, and honestly much … [Read more…]
State of the Garage Address – 1 January 2017 Today is January 1st 2017, the first day of a new year. I have always found the start of a year to be a good time to pause and take stock on the operational state of my fleet. Last year started with the smallest fleet in … [Read more…]
1979 Vespa P200E – Engine Teardown You might have noticed the title has changed, this is an engine rebuild, that will turn into an engine transplant. The 1979 Vespa P200E chassis will be fully evaluated at some point, maybe this engine will return to it’s original home at some point. The engine was always the reason … [Read more…]
1979 Vespa P200E – Engine Harvesting After a busy month at work I took last weekend to just sleep, even though I had planned on starting to dig into the P200E I dragged it home a few days before. On Labor Day I found the time to dive in. With parts already ordered from ScooterWest.com … [Read more…]
Even with my best efforts to refrain from bring more broken strays home, this 1979 Vespa P200E slipped into my garage. I think I would call this a barn find, even though it was in a garage with lots of nice, restored stuff (an early Ford Mustang, some other scooters, a sweet 1960’s outboard motor). … [Read more…]
Author’s note: This was penned a few weeks back, so forgive the incorrect timeline. The Touratech Rally West has already come and gone, I was busy and didn’t get this posted in a timely fashion… It is that time of year again, the Touratech Rally West looms on the calendar. Normally these five or six weeks … [Read more…]
Owning a vintage Vespa has been on my bucket list for at least a decade now. The reason why that is seems to be a bit fuzzy even to me. I could go with it means I have finally come full circle, as my first two wheeled internal combustion vehicle was an early 1970’s Vespa … [Read more…]