I'm secure. But does size matter? (In old Vespas, I mean.)

[JerryH]

That scoot should be perfect for you. I have never owned a Vespa (someday) but I have a Genuine Stella 150, which is a pretty close copy, and it is great for running around locally. It does not have the reliability of a real Vespa, so I don't usually go to far away on it.


As far as drinking and riding, don't. I don't care for wine, but have been known to drink too much beer on occasion. I found out the hard way over 30 years ago that drinking and riding does not mix. Myself and several others were out in the desert riding dirt bikes and drinking. About 3 of us crashed. One had a couple of broken bones, I only had a few scrapes and a sprained ankle. Had this been on a road with traffic, we could have all been killed. Lesson learned.

[GinoXB]

If you're not sure about Vespas here is a good link that can help you with the basics.

http://scooterlounge.com/vespa/buyers-guide/index.shtml

[MOPED MEDIC]

Just because it says 125 doesn't mean it has to stay a 125. Put on a Malossi 167cc kit and a Sito exhaust, and you will increase the grin factor tenfold, especially on roads like those. And you will still have a reliable, reasonably quiet bike.

[Osadabwa]

Hey everybody,

Yes indeed, Moped Medic, my friends here have already clued me in to the possibility of swapping out the 125cc motor for the 200 cc motor. Grin factor increase is off the charts apparently. I'd definitely like to reach a switchback in the mountainside without having to hold my breath and chant "light as a feather... float like a balloon" to make it around them! And the best part is that in Spain the motor isn't checked during the biannual vehicle technical inspection, so nobody needs to know. Sshhhh!

Cheers

[conchscooter]

The 200 is completely different and you cannot easily make a 200 out of a 125/150. I have greatly enjoyed your ride reports, wine and all, and if 50 kph is enough, you don't need a 200 but if you set your sights further afield it would be a much more interesting ride on the larger bike. 50mph for the 125, 55mph for the 150 and 65 for the 200.
On the other hand if you get a 125 like the one you have been riding and then decide to get ambitious it should be easy enough to move up to a 200 with all those kids wanting 125s.

The Rally is a collectors bike and fast while earlier bikes are pretty but gutless. The P series are work horses with better brakes and suspension and suited to daily use. Luckily Indian Stars are off your radar.

Size does matter. Speaking as a man who has attained the giddy heights of 200 size.

[JerryH]

My 150cc Genuine Stella 2 stroke (made by LML in India) has a very low top speed of about 50 mph. And it cannot be ridden at full throttle for very long at the time without blowing the engine. A cruising speed of 40-45 is more like it. A 50cc Japanese scooter can do that. And my Zuma 125 and Vino 125 blow it away, hitting close to 60 top speed, and they can be ridden that way all day. The one place the Stella shines in in the mountains, where it's manual transmission allows you to keep the engine rpms up while climbing slow. It doesn't bog down, and beat up the engine. I don't know if a 150cc Vespa is any faster, but they are much higher quality, so you can run them at full throttle a lot longer.

[MOPED MEDIC]

Originally Posted by JerryH

My 150cc Genuine Stella 2 stroke (made by LML in India) has a very low top speed of about 50 mph.

If it's stock, you might want to rejet it like it's a 1978 PX150, and change out the exhaust for anything else. Even the cheap exhausts you can buy on Ebay will allow it to breathe better than the stock pipe. It should get up to 55-60 and you won't have to worry about it seizing as much.

[seraph]

Originally Posted by MOPED MEDIC

If it's stock, you might want to rejet it like it's a 1978 PX150, and change out the exhaust for anything else. Even the cheap exhausts you can buy on Ebay will allow it to breathe better than the stock pipe. It should get up to 55-60 and you won't have to worry about it seizing as much.

When I put a Sito+, Piaggio air filter, and followed with a full carb rejet on my Stella, it seriously felt like a third more power on the butt dyno and the top speed went up as well. As a former Vino 125 owner (I owned both the Stella and Vino concurrently for a while) I'd say it went from accelerating as quickly as the Vino to a lower top speed to accelerating significantly more quickly to a comparable top speed. And it's done some 100+ mile days keeping up with 200-300cc modern scooters on 45-55mph roads, so durability has not suffered.

JerryH, I'd highly suggest it. Under $150 all told and an hour or two's work and it's like a whole new bike - but really much more in-line with how it was originally designed. However it still thrives at 45mph or less, but remember, Vespas were designed for Italian cities, not American highways.

[568V8]

I owned a 1966 Vespa 150cc that I bought used in 1968 and drove it 20,000 miles and then sold it about 2 years later. I wore out tires and cables and headlight bulbs and nothing else. The 6 volt headlight was a joke. I only crashed about 3 times and just minor slides and had only two breakdowns that caused problems. Once with a flat rear tire and once with a broken throttle cable. I used to drag the aluminum belly in the corners late at night in the residential subdivision just to piss off my girlfriend's parents. I was bad and the bike loved it. I can't say enough about the durability and reliably of the simple old 2-stroke engine. On my first long distance trip I discovered that I could ride it flat out, with full throttle on major roads at its maximum speed of 55 and could get 150mpg with mixed fuel.
A totally awesome simple machine..

[wanna bECO]

Sweet ride! I would love it if my post man rode one of them. Hey, get a license ya dork, it aint hard???!?

[Osadabwa]

Hey 568V8, I like your tale of scraping corners late night to piss off the GF's parents. Hilarious that an old Vespa can cause anybody a sleepless night! And you're right, after you get the thing up and running, it's just cables and tires and bulbs from there on in. Of course, mine's newer, so it may have more issues, but I doubt it.

I actually had to pull the clutch this week to sort out a shifting issue (pulling away from stop, it wouldn't fully engage... like I was holding the clutch half way down). There was a mangled plate that needed replacing. After that, and a new cable swap just for good measure, the bike is as good as you can expect. Hope to take it out on Friday if it ever friggin stops raining/snowing/sleeting/shitting!

And no, wanna bECO, I ain't gettin' a license! And no, it ain't that easy for me! I'm from the US, live in Africa, and bought this Vespa in Spain... Every time I'm in Wyoming, I try to get a license, but the DMV is only open 3 days a week, I don't have a bike there and would have to borrow, and I'm always swamped with family time. Hence the 125 in Spain (where lawmakers are too dumb to know a small cylinder bike is still a death trap) and my XR 400 in Africa (where there's no point having a license anyway, and every vehicle is a death trap).

Fun times with red bikes.