Finally a Title!

So finally after a year I have a legal title for my scooter. When I originally purchased my 1961 Vespa GS it came with a CA title. The engine number was the VIN number on the title and the manufacturing year said 1962. The last year it was registered was 1977. Long story short I had been to the DMV four previous times and four different locations and for one reason or another I was sent on a rabbit chase for additional paperwork. The confusion is my CA title has the engine number as the VIN (which was common in those days) and most inspectors would find the frame number and would require me to get a bond to successfully get a title. Finally after a year of this today was sweet success. The inspector came out in clean white pants and asked me where the VIN number was. I got under the engine and read it to her. She processed the paperwork and I was done! I even got a license plate. Apparently in Arizona, 1966 and older bikes do not require an emissions test and are exempt. So a non-running bike like mine has a legal license. My only goal was to get the title in my name. I had heard that once a person bought a bike with a title and the scooter was a fixer upper. After spending many hours and money getting the scooter running and restored he went to register the bike and found out the bike was stolen. The previous owner was happy to get their non-runner scooter bike back in running and restored condition. I was not going to make this mistake. Even though I had a title it was not in my name and legally it was not my bike. Heaven knows how much it is going to cost to restore this scooter and I don't plan on having paperwork stop me from driving this legally on the street. If you ever buy a scooter without a title you need to use a service like this. Now all I need is a 1961 Arizona License Plate. Anyone have one for sale?

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.