Oh, I wanted to mention something just for people who are looking to buy an already restored scooter instead of doing it yourself.
You should already know by now not to trust Vietnam bikes. Well, there is a company out of New York City trying to front like they are providing American restorations of VBB 150's. Well, they are duping a lot of people. They came really close to having my business at one point. I wrote the owner an e-mail a few months ago to see if we could work out a deal. They had just weeks before raised their price and I offered to provide free photography for advertising (from a renowned music video director and musician photographer that is a friend of mine who is doing our engagement photos) and mention in our invitations/news paper that the scooter was provided from their company in exchange for a small discount. I let them know that if you keep your eye open on craigslist and ebay, you can find other American restorations at similar prices that they expect.
Their only response to the lengthy e-mail asking for a small discount in exchange for some killer advertising was "An American restoration similar to our prices? I'd like to see it"
So on top of deceitful, and over-priced, they're also *ahem* douche bags.
Of course, this was before I realized that they were also Viet-crap bikes in disguise. And I'm more than glad that I am doing my own bike that I will appreciate more.
Ciao.
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4 comments:
Engine talk . . .
Per the comment you left on my blog yesterday:
Piston arm? I hope you don't mean the crank rod. When you order a new piston it will comes like this:
http://www.scooterworks.com/Piston_62_0_Std_-_VSC_P64C60.cfm
The piston has a rod that connects & locks it to the crank rod. Is that what you mean?
You may require the cylinder to be bored out and have to go up a size in the piston. If so, order the piston first and then bring them both into a motorcross shop (they race 2-stroke dirt bikes) and have them match the two. That's what I had to do.
There is a post on my blog under "bearings" on my successes going local.
Let's see photos, movie, or a slideshow of pix of the entire engine disassembly and reassembly.
As a fellow blog reader I'd like to also watch your budget as you move along, i.e. price you paid for the scooter including shipping and price for parts, service, etc.
After seeing all the work and cash you pore in as a first-time restorer some readers may decide it's better for them to buy a restored vintage whereas others may be really jazzed and truly understand what they are getting themselves into; furthermore, they may even have an idea of where to start with their restoration.
VespaRos,
If you keep a parts list with official part numbers from a parts book, would you consider posting the final list after all is ordered with prices assigned to each?
I am needy reader :)
Jeremy
Eric,
Start lurking at www.lambretta.org. Read the forums and learn how they trouble shoot. There are so many helpful and good-hearted Vespa folks and there are also a lot of a-holes that talk trash and don't know crap when they don't even have a running bike. The Lambretta culture is more nuturing to getting Lammies on the road and there is NOT the BIG ego trip that some Vespa folks have.
I own a TV175 and that is the next bike to be restored. I have learned so much from the Lambretta folks about Lammies and general restoration.
Heck pay the $20 for the year and become a member and buy yourself a Lambretta project bike :)
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