Found Speedo!

This is what I expected my restored speedo to look like. I like the white on white. I found this speedo picture in the Yahoo! GS/SS photo library so I have no idea if restored or original. It is the MPH version and I really like this version as opposed to my Grey / White version. I hope to find a shop that has this part. 

Speedo Restoration

Before restoration

After restoration done by Speedo King. 

I thought the restoration was going to be more white on white. I was surprised to see it so grey but I think the MPH version of this speedo is this color. I will need to do more investigation. Notice below is my exact speedo that is the KPH version and it is much more white on white. While I do like this restoration I just want my restoration to be as original as possible.

Painting a Vespa

This is what my brothers Nate's scooter looked like before. It is a 1979 P125 with a new LML engine and performance pipe. 

This is the latest images of his Vespa that we are painting. This is the second coat of primer and we hope to paint it black next week. We had a horrible time with the first coat of primer being too thick and clogging the gun up and going onto the bike very rough. We doubled the reducer mix and this worked. For the most part the primer went on smooth. 

The First Time

Getting into Vespa's for me was a gradual process that started in the early 80's with my older brother listen to Madness. Growing up in Tempe, Arizona did not leave me any opportunities to see Vespa or if they were around I never noticed them. It was in 1995 that I started attending Ska concerts and started seeing these mods and their scooters. Around 1996 I was able to drive my first Vespa and it was 1973 Rally sidecar. It belong to my brothers Girlfriends dad. It was a rush to kick over the bike and shift for my first time in the handlebar unlike a motorcycle. To feel the rush of wind in my face was thrilling. Turning with a sidecar is a experience and likely not ideal for a first time driver. From the first twist I was thrilled and knew one day I was going to own a Vespa. Looking back 13 years ago I have owned over 8 Vespa's and never knew I would enjoy this hobby this much. Here's to another 13 years and more.

Shipping a Vespa - What a pain

So I called Forward Air to ask a few questions and I found out I need to have my vespa fully enclosed. What does that mean? I found out that if I can see the scooter then it is not fully enclosed. I spent most of last Saturday making a crate that was not correct. I then spent last night buying wood at home depot and then with my dad we "enclosed" our crate. 

This morning I dropped off the scooter to Forward Air and their customer service is less than desirable. I was told over the phone that they did not have any containers that I could use to ship my scooter. I then went thru this pain of making my own crate. Lesson learned is you can rent these crates but they need a 2 week notice. Then I could of easily brought my scooter to them and simply loaded it into the crate and strapped it down and been done. It was a pain to ship but I got a fair price for my scooter and I would hope in the future someone will do this for me when I buy my dream scooter on the east coast.

Crated and shipped

On Saturday my Dad and I made this crate to ship this Vespa to Alabama. The buyer made arrangement thru Forward Air to ship from Phoenix to Birmingham at a cost around $575. My dad and I used an old crate from another P200 we imported from Germany back in 2003. It took way longer than it should of but it only got 108 degrees and my 67 year old dad had to stop and rest to catch his breath every 30 min. This is another motivation to sell locally and avoid eBay. 

For Sale

Both bikes are sold but it was not as easy as I had thought. I first posted the yellow for sale on ebay with a reserve for $2150. It ended at $1500. I then relisted it and it only got as high as $1100. Meanwhile I had been posted it on craigslist with very few calls. I then listed my original silver one on ebay and it met my reserve for $2000 the first day. All I needed was $2000 plus interest to pay back my loan from my brother for the GS. The ebay auction ended and immediatly I recieve an email from the buyer saying that he talked to his wife and he could not buy this auction because of financial reasons. The auction ended at $2600. I sent a second offer the 2nd highest bidder. I got no response. I had both bikes on craigslist for the past few weeks with only email contact from potential buyers. Once people heard I was WAY OUT in queen creek it was too far. Another favorite call was a women very interested in a vinage vespa but once she found out it was a manual transmission she backed out. She still wants a classic vintage but automatic. Good luck with that. With memorial weekend approaching I was very overwelmed with calls and emails. I finally sold the yellow one for $2000 locally to a cool local scooterist named Christian. The silver was almost sold 4 times between local buyers but everytime someone would say they wanted to see the scooter they would never show up. Eventually I got a call from the 2nd highest bidder from ebay saying he had been out of town but saw my 2nd offer and wanted to buy my scooter. I attempted to send a 2nd offer again but you can not do that in ebay. So I had to create a buy it now auction and he bought it. eBay really screwed me with all its fees. With all my auctions ending and not selling you still lose and then buyers backing out I still loose fees. All in all I am out around $250 in eBay fees. I was so stressed to sell these scooters because I made a deal with my brother to pay him $100 in interest fees per month. I thought it would be easy to sell these bikes and pay him back. I paid my brother back on August 31. Just in time before new interest occurred. He only accepted $20 in interest. Next time have the money before you buy. It is not worth going into debt for fun and hobby projects. Also it is so much easier to buy than sell. 

More Scooters than Kids

Vespa - 4

Kids - 3

The Purchase

Here was the craigslist ad that I saw to buy this scooter.

THIS IS A VERY, VERY RARE SCOOTER. There were only 500 produced worldwide. Made by Vespa, and imported by Cushman. 
This scoot is complete, and numbers matching. Its not running at present, but was up until last year. Has great compression. Turn this scooter into a museum piece, or as a special daily. 

With only 500 ever produced (documented serial numbers matching as authentic), you are sure to have something special for years to come. Who knows how many still exsist. My guess, if you see one in your life, this will be the only one. 

The seller was asking $2000. I emailed and asked if I could trade a 1980 restored P200E. He was not interested in a trade and needed to cash to move out of the country. I had no cash but I was ready to have a GS. I had a 1980 P200E and an original condition 1979 P200E. I knew if I could just sell one of these bikes I could have the money. But would the bike still be there? I had to get the bike as soon as I could otherwise it would be gone. In my experience I have not seen project GS scooter appear in AZ and the closest I have seen bikes for sale were a 6 hour drive to California. I wouldn't mind going to california for the right bike but typically you pay $3000 plus for even project bikes and anything under that goes too fast for me attempting to make arrangement to drive to CA for the bike. One thing to understand is I have the coolest wife in the world and as I called to explain my intentions I was pleased to hear her support. Added this scooter would be 4 scooters and 3 kids.  I called my brother and made arrangment to borrow the cash. All I needed to do was sell one of my P200 and how hard would that be? More on that later.

 

I made arrangements with the seller to see the bike. It was a Friday and he worked all weekend and said how about Monday? I have found that the best way to get what you want is to get the cash and get to the seller first. I said how about tonight? He agreed and off I went from Phoenix to Tempe to get a trailer from my Dad then home to Queen Creek to pick up the wife and kids, and then to Gilbert to pick up the cash from my brother. That is 50 miles one way. When all is said and done we easily put 150 miles on my Mini Cooper to buy a scooter locally. The Phoenix valley is very spread out. We eventually got to Scottsdale that evening. First thing to know is buying a scooter at night is different the the day. The night will hide many imperfections. I still will buy at night because I still feel first to buy is better than waiting till morning and chance it to be gone. I forgot my flashlight but the seller quickly gave me his.  My first thoughts were it was a bit rougher in person. 

With only one craigslist picture I really had no idea what to expect. Both sides of the floor boards had been bent, both legshields, the battery cowl also had a dent. The engine cowl was near perfect minus surface rust on the bike. The story he told me is that he bought the scooter in 1987 from a older gentleman who had two of them in the back of the truck. He and his friend offered him the money and bought both bikes. He said they were both GS cushman but this one was the nicest of the two. It was in original condition but later the seller painted the bike this green color. Its not a bad color but has many flaws in the paint job. Obviously I wish it was in original condition but most of the bike was there. 

Mission items were the taillight, air filter cover, air bellow, original battery, and some floor rail bits. I had a decade with P-series scooters and my first bike was 1974 Vespa 90. The engine kicked over very nice and had strong compression. He never registered the scooter and had the original CA title. There will be more about my titling process.  I was ready to move to the 60's and with a GS. I suck at negations and looking back I wish I could of offered a little less but I paid the $2000 and was on my way. Looking back you really need to leave your emotions behind. You'll make poor decisions this way. I don't regret this purchase but something inside always wonders if I could of gotten a better deal. Also I knew you will always put more into a scooter than you will get back. I estimate a complete restoration could cost $2500 to $4000 on top of my purchase price. Driving home with my wife and two boys looking in the back window of my mini cooper looked pretty awesome to see the GS classic looking back at me. 

This speedo is ready to goto SpeedoKing as soon as I get my title.