Vespa Fully-Hydraulic Disc Brake Upgrade

I posted last week that I have been suffering through the first few weeks of 2011 with the semi-hydraulic Grimeca disc on my ’85 Vespa PX failing to bring any bite to the front brake. Making the decision to upgrade the system to fully hydraulic, this weekend – with a ScootRS combination master cylinder / brake lever in hand – I set about the task. Read on for how it’s done.

The job is a full day’s work but with patience and the right tools at hand it’s relatively easy. Remember, I already have a disc brake on my front hub, so this was just a matter of hooking it up to a brake line and installing the new brake lever and hydraulic fluid master cylinder in place of the old cable lever.

First, let’s take a look at the ScootRS solution:

The image above shows three of the four combined components that make up the solution (the fourth is below the unit out of site.) Central to the design is a stock Nissin master cylinder (MC) that contain the brake fluid. This is solidly cast by a Japanese brake company with a solid reputation. The unit also includes a threaded recess for a 10mm wing mirror which you will need if you want a throttle-side mirror, given the installation will partially obscure your regular mounting point.

The second part of the set up is where ScootRS comes in with their proprietary cast bracket that bolts to the back of the Nissin MC with two hex bolts. This is designed to plug into your handle-bar and set the brake at the correct angle for use following some cutting to make it fit. Scooterists who are more enterprising than me could make one of these brackets themselves, but it sure is nice to have it ready to go.

The third part of the set up is a cast brake lever that also includes a cast lip that in addition to pumping the master cylinder operates the fourth part of the set up, a small electrical brake switch bolted to the bottom of the MC. The lever is one of my only small niggles with the set up. I found it a little loose for my taste in up and down play on the bolt. Nothing a thin spacer washer won’t resolve.

Here’s a look at the back of the unit, and in particular the ScootRS bracket. The hole on the far-right is designed to accept your existing brake lever pivot bolt. The hole on the left of the bracket is threaded and requires a new hole to be drilled from the underside of your handlebars to help lock the bracket in place. It’s actually a pretty elegant solution because once it’s done it’s not visible from the top of the scooter. In addition, the bracket is angled to cosmetically fit the existing form of the lower headset on your bike.

Again, only one small niggle here, and that is that the unit didn’t come with a bolt and lock washer for the new hole that needs to be drilled. A trip to the hardware store fixed that, but it would have been nice to have it out of the box. Niggles aside, it’s a nice set up, that you’ll see below it works very well on the bike once everything is in place.

On to installation. ScootRS claims on their website that the bracket requires a small cut to the existing headset on your bike. In reality, that’s a little generous. It requires a size-able cut followed by plenty of filing and finishing and a hole for the new bolt. A Dremel is handy to help remove material if you have one but not critical.

At the very least you’ll need a junior hacksaw, a 1/8″ or so drill-bit and a flat file. Fortunately the metal you’ll be working with is relatively soft and once the set up is complete it looks tidy. It took me about three hours to get the cut I wanted, with a snug fit and a clean finish.

When you order from ScootRS they include a link to a web page that gives decent installation instructions including a clear photograph of what will need to be cut. In retrospect, I recommend that like a plastic surgeon, you reference the photograph they provide and use a felt pen to mark on the bike the area you will be cutting away before making an incision.

Here’s the area you’ll be dealing with and the old brake lever removed. I’ve also removed the top of the headset to get more access but all cuts will be made to the visible bottom of the headset only. That existing brake lever pivot hole will be used as one of the securing bolts for the new bracket so hang on to the bolt and nut you removed from the old lever, you’ll be using it again later:

In the photograph below I’ve made the first cuts. The point of no return so to speak. The metal cuts easily along the existing cast lines with a junior hacksaw. Also, thankfully the angles of the cuts you need are easy to get at without contortion. At this point, take it from me, cover the front-end of your scooter with a shop cloth, or plastic. The metal shavings get everywhere. Here, I’m working on the NYC sidewalk – Vietnam style:

In the photograph below you can see the entire area that needs to be removed. It’s partially filed but not yet cleaned up. Some wet and dry paper will help with the final clean-up.

The yellow line marks where I made a mistake, and should have cut for a tidier finish. It’s something I could have avoided if I had marked on the bike with a pen where to cut which is why I mentioned this above. Instead I kept glancing back and forth at the photograph supplied by the ScootRS tech help.

The brake will install fine either way but cutting along the line would have meant a cleaner looking set up from the top. Mistake or no, the job is a matter of repeatedly offering up the bracket to check your cut and fit. In addition to what you can see in the photograph, there’s a decent amount of material inside the recess that needs to be removed where the original cable outer recess sat inside the headset. I used a Dremel to do this but a file works just as well but naturally requires more elbow grease.

You can also see a scratch where I slipped with the file. Obviously I could have done more to protect the paintwork but unless you are super careful, you’re going to need some touch-up paint anyway. Thankfully much of what you see here ends up out of view once the lever is installed.

Here’s another angle of the same area. It took me about three hours to get this cut the way I wanted it using mostly hand tools. Patience is the key here, again some slips with the tools on my part could have been mitigated by covering the paintwork around the work area. No matter, I knew that I have some touch-up paint available so I knew I didn’t have to be anal about nicks or scratches. I’ll buff these out later but for now I’m keen to get this brake installed:

In the photograph below I’m offering up the bracket to the recess so you can see how the bracket is the secret to the ScootRS solution. You can also see my mistake in the cut to the left of the hex-bolt hole on the top of the bracket. No big deal, but learn from my mistake and measure twice, cut once.

The hole on the bracket just peaking out of the left-hand side will naturally line up with the hole on the headset once the bracket is fully inserted and installed. You can also see how the bracket is angled to cosmetically match the front of your bike:

In the next photograph, I’ve fully  installed the bracket and master cylinder. In the top half of the image you can see how the cast bracket fits in the recess I started with the first two hacksaw cuts:

Below, the yellow circle shows the new bolt you need to drill for and install from the bottom of the headset. On the top-left of the photo you can see the nut from the original nut and bolt you save from the old lever set up.

You can also see where the hydraulic hose feeds through into the throttle handlebar along with a wire I installed connecting to the brake switch (more on this in a moment.) I found I needed to remove yet more material from the headset to get the clearance I needed to feed both the wire and hose through, but again, it’s out of sight in the final set-up. I eyeballed where to drill the hole for the bolt, but making a quick paper template is a good idea too.

With the brake and master cylinder in place, it’s time to talk about the hose that will connect the master cylinder to the brake caliper on the front hub.

I ordered a 125cm stainless steel braided hose from ScootRS along with the lever. It’s nice quality and comes with removable banjos at either end – these are the connectors that form an air-tight seal at both the master cylinder and brake caliper. They’re banjo shaped hence the name. Removable banjos aren’t required with your hose, but given you need to feed the hose into the headset and later through the top of your front fender, they allow you to cut smaller holes just big enough to accept the diameter of the hose.

My only complaint with the hose is that while ScootRS recommend it for their disc brake set up, I found it was a centimeter or two just shy of the ideal length for my existing Grimeca set up. This is because the connection point on the Grimeca brake caliper is at the bottom of the front hub. On ScootRS’ own disc brake set up, it’s on the top of the back. My bad, not there’s. In my final installation it’s a little tighter than I’d like but it does have enough flexibility to allow the front wheel to turn without anything catching and that’s key. You may want to measure your set up before ordering a hose, and add a couple of inches to your measurement because a little slack is not a bad thing.

In the image below you can see how the hydraulic hose feeds inside the headset and down the steering column. Note – it feeds down alongside the front fork, not inside it like the old brake cable, although I suppose it could be wrangled to fit. I added some grease to the hose partly to help feed it through, and partly to keep it lubricated as it rubs whenever the steering column is turned as part of daily driving.

The yellow circle above is where I snipped the old front brake light switch that used to be in-line with the old cable set up. With a short length of lamp cord that I bought from Home Depot I extended the wiring out through the handlebar to connect to the switch under the master cylinder. After this photo was taken I used insulation tape to tidy up the job and prevent shorts. Given I just eyeballed the lamp wire as an appropriate gauge, and no less than nothing about electricity it worked a treat.

Below you can see a nice shot of the brake in place. I removed the horn-cast to help feed the hose down along the fork. You can see where it comes out at the bottom of the horn-cast just above the front fender.

And below is where I drilled a hole at the back of the fender to allow the hose to run from the bottom of the horn-cast, through the fender and down to the wheel. You can see the benefit of a removable banjo here. This is is exactly how it feeds through on the Stellas and the later disc brake PXs.

I added a rubber grommet from the hardware store. Unfortunately I found that because the hose is tight, it keeps pulling the grommet out of place. I’m going to revisit this later with a short length of rubber or something. What I’m looking for here is less about cosmetics, and more that in daily driving you don’t want the twist of the front fender to slice through the hose. Bad news.

And here it is hooked up to the existing brake caliper. As you can see in my set up it’s a little tight, but it does have just enough slack so as to not inhibit any turning. I tested this by repeatedly turning the handlebars to make sure nothing was stretching. I angled the banjo at the bottom to help keep the hose away from the tire during daily riding. If you have extra slack you can add a small bracket to do likewise:

With the brake caliper in place, and the hose hooked up all the way from the master cylinder down to the brake caliper on the disc, we’re nearly done. I cleaned everything up; put the headset back together, and installed my old wing mirror in the recess on the Nissin cylinder.

What remains is something of an art: hydraulic brake bleeding. The master cylinder is a reservoir for hydraulic brake fluid (DOT3 or DOT4 compliant) that is compressed by the brake lever, and passes that compression down through the hose to the brake caliper plungers to push the brake pads on to the disc.

I won’t go into brake bleeding here because it’s been demonstrated elsewhere. Basically not only do you need to feed brake fluid into your new set up but you need to expel any air in the system in the process. Air is your enemy because it can be compressed more fully than fluid leading to spongy brakes or, at worst, brakes that do nothing.

Mostly expelling air is a matter of periodically opening the bleed nipple at the brake caliper but I actually found that repeatedly depressing the lever at the headset not only forced brake fluid into the hose and down to the caliper, but also forced air bubbles up and out of the closed system, through the master cylinder reservoir and pop-pop-pop into the New York atmosphere.

It took me about an hour of expelling air and feeding fluid into the system to get a “good brake.” It’s immediately noticeable when it happens, instead of a slack brake lever you begin to get resistance making it harder and harder to depress the lever. A few more pumps got it nice and solid as the last of the air bubbles blew out.

With the brake now operational, all that remained was to refit the top of the master cylinder and take it for a cautious test drive.

The brake works a treat. It’s like night and day compared to the semi-hydraulic set up, and far better than the original drum brake ever was.

That said, If you’ve got a decent drum brake on your bike I say leave it alone. The drum brakes on my Lambretta for example are very good even if they are old technology. But even with new shoes, I couldn’t get any stopping power so I needed to upgrade to a disc. What I can say after going semi-hydraulic and now fully-hydraulic is that yes – as many others have already advised – if you’re going to go to the trouble (and expense) of installing a disc brake don’t do things by half. Go for a fully hydraulic set up.

I’m very pleased with the ScootRS set up. It’s basically a jury-rigged Nissin brake wrangled to fit a Vespa P-series via their bracket. Once installed though it looks tidy and given the amount of Stellas and later Vespa PXs on the streets doesn’t look out of place on my bike. I’m also pleased with their hydraulic hose even if a couple more inches in length would have saved me some headaches. They also included with the order a 2011 calendar of Vietnamese girls draped over various scooters, something that’s hard to complain about.

Some scooterists recommend replacing your lower headset with one from either a Stella or a later PX when you convert to a hydraulic set up. This will give you the mounting holes needed to fit Piaggio’s Grimeca default master cylinder / lever set up if you prefer not to go down the ScootRS route. If you can find one for cheap, either new-old-stock, or an LML part I say go for it, but the ScootRS solution saved me some cash (and a good amount of time) by not needing to replace the lower headset. Plus removing the lower headset requires the removal of a good amount of bolts, cable, and wiring and is a job in itself.

I’m going to get some touch-up paint to finish the job in the next week or so, but for now off to ride, and more importantly to stop…

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Looking good but tire trouble

The Jet 200. Washed and waxed. Pre-trouble.

After a couple of busy weekends that have kept me away from the recent addition, my new (well new old) 1975 Serveta Lambretta Jet 200, this past weekend I finally got to put in some wrenching and riding time in with the bike.

Final fixes
Last Wednesday I had gotten the bike back from Robbie and Kevin at Scooter Bottega who, as always, did a fantastic job. Kevin had gotten the brake light working after discovering the previous owner had butchered the wiring inside the bike. This fix gave him a chance to right some of the wrongs of the rat’s nest of wires under the panels. Second, he’d gotten the original steering lock working again providing another layer of security in a city where bike security is key. The steering locks on any bike are far from the best level of security, especially on a bike of this age, but hey, it all helps and having it working again makes me feel better. I never ride the bike anywhere without a heavy chain and my Grip-Lock however.

With the brake light now working, the Jet was finally eligible for its inspection sticker. It’s first in years (the previous owner had never bothered to have it inspected.) I felt like a proud parent. Finally the bike was legitimately back on the road.

Believe it or not, this is after the wiring clean up! Kevin added the regulator stop the bulbs blowing.

One thing still bothered me however – the tires. I have had a set of Michelin S1s on order now for over a month from West Coast Lambretta Works, but due to some delays in the shop getting their hands on some other parts on the order sheet, the tires had still not come through. I’d put a set of these babies on my PX earlier in the year and the difference it made to handling and especially wet weather riding was like night and day.

Robbie also pointed out that the tires had seen better days, were showing some visible cracks, and needed to be replaced ASAP. With this in mind I rode the bike carefully home and nursed it for the remainder of the week.

These tires are old. O.L.D. old.

Saturday
Come Saturday I finally had a chance to give the bike a wash, something that it hadn’t had in who knows how long. Given it had passed inspection, it felt like the right thing to do as a sort of celebration after the past few weeks of mechanical and electrical fixes. The entire bike was covered in greasy soot from sitting out on the streets of New York City. In particular, I wanted to clean up the residue left by a couple of past persistent stickers.

The bike has a great patina and has all the dings and scratches one would expect of a bike of this age so a full soap down can only do so much. Having said that, following it with a wax, while feeling a little like overkill, gave the bike a much needed layer of protection against future scuffs and brought out a nice shine particularly in the legshields which are in great shape and now free of sticker gum.

With the bike (and sun) shining, I finally got the chance to take some decent photographs of the bike for the first time since purchase, and I’ve included several of them here. You can also see the only cosmetic issue with the bike that I want to address as a winter project – the damaged, and then hastily repaired headset that I’ve mentioned before.

One side of the hastily repaired headset. A blemish on an otherwise good looking vintage scoot.

Following the clean up I had an errand to run in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, a steady hour’s ride from home base in the East Village. Knowing the tires are at the end of their life, I decided to take the risk all the same and take it steady.

In short, a success. I had a great ride out and back without issue, and finally felt like I’d had a chance to open the bike up somewhat having really only had the chance to putt-putt back to work each day for a few blocks in Manhattan. The engine felt a little “gravelly” at speed, but I found that once the oil had worked it’s way into the gasoline mix more thoroughly the bike really started to shine. Not bad for an engine with 14,000 miles on the clock and who knows how many “off.”

Sunday
Sunday morning, and time for my weekly ride to Chelsea for my weekend classes at the World Seido Karate Organization (I’m proud to be a black belt there – a story for another time.) With a successful Brooklyn run behind me any thought of the state of the tires on the bike fell immediately to the back of my mind.

With the streets relatively quiet and the engine running really smoothly, I finally decided to punch the gas at the end of my run on West 22nd Street. She felt and sounded fantastic with great torque, smooth gearing and a buttery piston, but then… “Pop. Psssst.” Just as I’m braking down to pull over and park, there goes the rear tire.

Wow. Was I fortunate? Had I gotten a flat the day before on the Brooklyn Bridge riding too or from Brooklyn or out in Park Slope or Sunset Park it would have sucked. Better yet, thank god the flat happened as I slowed to a crawl and not at speed. It was an important lesson that I should have known better. The tires are literally where the rubber meets the road and not an area to overlook or underestimate. A flat like this at speed can be frightening at best, devastating at worst.

Fortunately I had a spare on the bike. During class I figured when I finished up karate, rather than push the bike home, if I could pick up a cheap 13mm wrench at the hardware store around the corner, I could just lie the bike down and do the tire change right there at the side of the street.

Sure enough the store had a cheap wrench (one I can now keep on the bike) and minutes later I was wrenching the spare off the back of the bike. And then… problem numero dos. The spare was flat. Damn it.

So that was that, I needed to get the bike off the street, and knowing that I would be out of town on Monday and Tuesday I knew I couldn’t leave the bike in the 20s. I had to get it home. A twenty or so block push back to the East Village.

Have you ever tried to push a bike with a flat? You need the strength of a thousand gorillas. The grip of the tire offers massive friction to movement. Thankfully, I was able to start her up and nurse the bike along in first gear with a steady hand on the clutch and a little throttle. It’s not great to move a bike any further than necessary on a flat. I didn’t want to damage the rims or the rear hub, so riding it no matter how slowly was out of the question so I pushed her by walking alongside and keeping both hands in control on the handlebars.

Let me tell you – that was twenty slow blocks. The first ten or so went relatively smoothly and the bike was able to roll at a nice speed with me jogging beside her. But after that as the rear tire worked its way loose from the rim, the bike became more and more unruly, eventually fishtailing as I tried to move her. Kind of like trying to push a shopping cart at the supermarket with a bum wheel. The final few blocks were very slow and very frustrating.

So that’s that. Tire trouble, I learned first-hand four important things, and was very, very lucky to learn them on a nice sunny day, and not traveling at speed.

1. Regularly, and I mean regularly inspect your tires. Don’t just kick ‘em. Look at them closely. Inspect for cracking and the depth of the tread, particularly if the bike has been left outside over the winter as this bike has been.
2. If you have any doubt about the age or condition of the tires and inner tubes on a used bike you have just purchased. Replace them. Your life depends on them.
3. Doh. If you ride a bike such as a P-series Vespa that carries a spare. Make sure it is regularly checked for air. Pump it up to the highest PSI required by your rear wheel. It’s easy to let a little air out at the side of the road if you need to fit the spare on the front.
4. Carry a wheel suitable wrench with you. Always.

What’s the bet my next Jet post will be about changing tires? Until next time…

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Scooter Newbie: Center-stand Blues

The hardest thing about riding my brand new Vespa S150 was not taught on my Basic Rider Course – getting the damn thing on its center-stand.

I’ve spent the first few days of modern scooter ownership working on a hernia until I found out that lugging a 250lb metal body dead-weight onto its center stand is, like many things in life, more about technique than brute strength.

Not only could I not get the damn thing to rock back onto it’s stand, but worse, was getting close to dropping the bike onto either myself of the concrete. I was pulling the bike so hard that I was lifting the front wheel a good foot or so off the ground and thoroughly unbalancing both myself and the bike.

Fortunately there are some good folks out there on the web who are ready to provide some sanity to the situation.

Turns out I was making three classic mistakes:

First, I wasn’t centering the bike vertically so that as the stand touched the ground it was distributing the weight evenly across both feet.

Second? I was standing in entirely the wrong location, and trying to do more work pulling with my arms that pushing down on the stand with my foot.

Third. I was trying to bring the stand directly down from the scoot, onto the ground, and into a parking position in one foul swoop.

What should I have been doing?

Thanks to a little research, so you don’t have to, here’s how:

First – stand to the immediate left side of the bike. Place your left hand on the left handlebar grip and grip the brake and your right on top of the seat to steady the bike. At this point you are facing the side of the bikerather than facing toward the handle bars.

Second, and this was my biggest mistake – slowly bring the stand down with your right foot until it makes contact with the ground. Now stop. The task here is not to immediately hop it onto the stand but rather to steady the bike and bring it upright. Once the stand has reached the ground, carefully rock the bike gently toward and away from you while pushing gently on the stand until you feel both feet bite the ground. This means that the bike has secure footing and is standing exactly perpendicular to the ground.

Now, in one swift movement, release the brake with your left hand as you step down on the center-stand foot pedal with your right foot as if stepping up onto a stair. While doing so, keep your left hand on the left grip and your right hand on the seat but only for the purpose of steadying the bike. It’s the step-down that does all the work, and releasing the brake even on a flat surface should give you enough momentum to initiate the roll. My mistake prior to learning this was to waste all my energy heaving with my arms rather than pushing with my foot.

Ker-clunk, and voila. The scoot should snap back a few inches onto its center-stand. If you need a little extra oomph, a slight tug on the grip with your left hand will initiate a slight roll back as you push down on the stand.

Need to see how this plays out? Check out this video on YouTube that shows even a 110lb woman can do this with ease:

Notice the brief pause where she rocks ever so slightly to ensure it’s exactly perpendicular with both stand feet hitting the ground evenly. She does it swiftly but it’s there. And from the reverse angle:

For the purpose of safety I found stepping completely off the ground as this woman does a bit nerve-wracking but she’s obviously doing this to completely leverage her entire body-weight.

Lesson learned. I’m now popping onto that center-stand bad boy with ease.

Scooter newbie … making mistakes so you don’t have to. ‘Till next time.

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Do you look like your scooter

Local Photographer Beau States has been working on a portrait project, consisting of scooters and their owners.  I ran into Beau when he approached me on the street in Greenpoint, asking if I would be interested in participating in his project.  Turns out, he was at the OddScoot rally at Tom & Anna’s place, and had set up a tent in which to photograph any owner who wanted a nice shot with their scooter.  I missed him up there, but look forward to getting a great shot of my bike, down here in the city.

The following are a few of the photos Beau has taken so far.  If you’d like to be a part of his project (and have a really nice photo for yourself), contact him through his website.

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How to change a Vespa tire

Just gotten your hands on a vintage Vespa, Genuine Scooter Company Stella or similar machine? You may need to change out the tires for something with sufficient tread and stickiness, particularly given we’re getting into the rainy season.

Spare parts and accessories provider Scooter Mercato have a nice photographic slide show of the steps involved in removing your wheels, disassembling the rims, replacing the tubes and tires and putting them back on your bike.

A picture, as they say, is worth a thousand words. What are a thousand pictures worth? See below:

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Viet-bodge 101

Photograph by fra-avo, Flickr.

At NYCS we thought it was high time we addressed the subject of the infamous “Viet-bodge.” A term commonly used to describe a poorly (and sometimes dangerously) restored scooter that has typically originated from Vietnam and increasingly more and more from India and made it’s way to the US either through Stateside dealers or mail-order and eBay direct from Asia.

Asian born
Scooters have longtime been a primary mode of transportation in many Asian countries, and as such these markets have a long established network of repair shops and fabricators designed to keep vintage bikes on the road long past their typical life span. Over recent years a market has developed in restoring classic models with the express purpose of shipping them overseas. Vespa VBBs are a typical example because were imported to Asia en mass during their original life-span and so are readily available in various states of disrepair after living hard-working lives.

Asian scooter restorers are able to put these bikes back together much cheaper than a State-side restoration from an award-winning shop like Jersey’s Scooters Originali not just because of the drastically lower cost of labor but, of much greater concern, their restoration practices.

Safety concerns
Central to the design philosophy, strength and stability of the original scooter – the Vespa – is it’s uni-bodymonocoque steel frame, a direct descendant of Piaggio’s aircraft past. The reason many scooterists are concerned about the influx of Asian bikes is that many of them have proven to be in fact two, three and sometimes more scooter bodies welded together to form one frame, and then generously covered in filler to give the aesthetic appearance of one bike without the structural integrity.

Sydney S.C.'s Posneg Asian restored Lambretta TV175 3 folded along the foot board. Click the image for the full story.

Of course, to be fair, this isn’t going to be the case with every imported restoration, but the fact is with a sight unseen bike it’s impossible to tell. Even in the cases where you have full access to viewing the bike, often nothing short of shot-blasting the bike down to bare-metal will reveal what lies beneath.

Click the image to read the story of what shot-blasting revealed on this Vespa VBB.

Bodywork aside, there are other concerns about Asian restored bikes: Many of the replacement parts are made locally by after-market supplies and don’t match the quality of the original hardware. In some cases these are locally cast from the original parts and end up ill-fitting into the final assembly. Horror stories abound of tin-can shims being used inside the engine and front and rear wheel hubs to line-up mis-matches in an ad-hoc manner.

Viet-bodges in NYC?
The only local dealer who openly sells Asian restored bikes in New York (in this case sourced from India) is Manhattan’s RetroVespa. To be fair to the folks at RetroVespa, they have been very open about the source of their bikes and have worked directly with their Indian supplier to up the quality of the parts used. Further, the bikes are sold with a six-month guarantee.

Kevin, the owner of RetroVespa caused quite a stir towards the end of last year on the International Scooterist’s BBS when he bravely joined a debate over the quality of his bikes. Standing by his product (and rising to a challenge posted on the board,) Kevin shipped out a Vespa VBA at his own expense to Mike Zorn the editor of Scoot! Magazine giving Mike full grace to disassemble the bike as he saw fit and test as necessary.

Mike finally released his review to the public after several months of testing in the June 2009 50th issue of Scoot! magazine. The bike turned out to be a mixed-bag. On the one-hand tastefully restored with some nice upgrades compared to other Asian imports and (on it’s good days) a reliable runner. However he did encounter two points of concern, one minor one not so minor. Upon arrival the fuel line was leaky but this was an easy fix (for someone scoot experienced.) A few weeks later a “squirrely” back wheel led to the discovery that the back hub was coming loose and the nut holding it in place had stripped – a potentially very dangerous situation.

Mike finally therefore concluded that the bike was therefore not for the uninitiated, and that a scooterist with a mechanical mindset is the best owner of a bike like this, prepared to roll up their sleeves and address issues as they come up. Unfortunately this is likely the kind of scooterist who would stay clear of an Asian restored bike.

Spotting a Viet-bodge
If a vintage bike looks too good (and cheap) to be true then the old saying may just be true in this case. Asian restored bikes are slowly bleeding through to the pages of CraigsList either due to the misrepresentation of dealers posing as sellers or sellers looking to off-load their bike after unearthing concerns.

A number of sites have put together FAQs on what to look for in an Asian restored bike. Custom seats, over-use of chroming and mis-matching of wheel-sizes and hardware to the original bike are typical signs no matter how nice the scoot ends up looking.

Is everything from Asia bad?
No. Worldwide scooter enthusiasts have been relying on Asian countries for years to keep their bikes running, with markets like India and Vietnam putting out after-market replacement parts long past the point at which the original manufacturer did the same.

Chicago’s Genuine Scooter Company for example imports its Vespa PX clone, the Stella direct from India where it was originally manufactured as a Vespa-badged bike under license from Piaggio. Similarly these new bikes are readily available as the LML Star in the UK and other parts of Europe under the Indian manufacturer’s name, LML. The Bajaj Chetak also from India was a similar Vespa spin-off from an original licensed design that had a lot of fans during its availability in the US until the company closed in 2005.

The keywords here are replacement parts, and new scooters. In these cases you are either the owner of your scoot and replacing parts yourself, or purchasing a brand new bike manufactured from the ground up.

So with all these concerns what can you do?Frankly, it’s a matter of knowing what you’re getting into. If you’re still interested in purchasing an Asian import, we recommend that you do so only when you can inspect the bike as thoroughly as possible. RetroVespa have a downtown showroom and we encourage you to see their bikes for yourself. You may also be able to have a bike inspected by a trusted local scooter mechanic before commiting to a purchase.

If you’re buying a recently restored scoot in the used market and you suspect the bike might have Asian origins, ask the owner to demonstrate provenance on the bike – photographs of it’s restoration, for example.Or again have a local service shop give the bike a once over before committing. A reasonable seller should have nothing to hide.

Finally, think about buying from a trusted local dealer who deals in vintage bikes like Scooters Originali in NJ or Scooter Bottega in Brooklyn. Sure, you’ll pay more. But you’ll be buying from a source with a proven track-record. Better yet, you’ll be purchasing a scoot that is fundamentally safe to ride.

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The perfect Vespa accessory for your kid

Courtesy of eBay

I have seen several parents toting their children around on bicycles, often tucked in front of them, in between their arms on a seat attached to the cross bar.  I’m not sure if I feel this is safe, but i know that I have never seen the same type of cartage on a Vespa.

Recently, scouring the web for Vespa parts, I came across this little gem, allowing anyone to haul a child around, in the comfort of their vintage or modern Vespa.  I have never seen this type of add-on seat before, but damn if it doesn’t make me want to have kids!  It folds down between your legs once you drop the little ones at school, but there when you need it.

Editor’s note: Here’s the official word from New York State DMV on the subject of children as two-wheeler passengers. At VespaFC  we do not condone riding with children as passengers on your scooter.

There is no age legal restriction for passengers on motorcycles in New York State.

Currently, only two states have an age restriction for motorcycle passengers. NYS crash statistics have shown that the number of child passengers in motorcycle crashes is not significant.

While there is no age restriction for passengers on a motorcycle in New York State, there are requirements for motorcycle passengers. Under Section 1251 of NYS Vehicle and Traffic Law, to carry a passenger:

• The motorcycle must be designed to carry more than one person and the passenger must ride on a permanent seat.
• The passenger must face forward, with one leg on each side of the seat.
• The passenger cannot interfere with the operation of the motorcycle or the view of the motorcycle driver.
• The passenger must wear a motorcycle helmet approved by the US Department of Transportation.

Let common sense determine if a child is old enough and big enough to safely ride a motorcycle. Also consider the additional risks faced by motorcycle passengers compared with passengers in a car protected with seat belts or child safety seats. If a child is not large enough to properly wear an approved helmet, then the child cannot legally ride on the motorcycle. If the child cannot place both feet flat on the passenger foot pegs of the motorcycles, then it is not safe for the child to ride the motorcycle.

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Vespa LX/S euro-turn signal conversion

We’ve covered this simple mod briefly ourselves based on Baksvn’s excellent step-by-step, but who better to give us a detailed step-by-step video walk-through than everyone’s favorite Florida scooter girl, Maureen.

In this video, Maureen shows us every step of the conversion which should take about an hour. The conversion kit itself is available for $59.00 direct from Motorsport Scooters. The kit allows US contemporary Vespa owners to remove the black plastic turn-signal pods that have been added as an afterthought to the scooter design to meet US road requirements.

And if you haven’t done so already, don’t forget to check out Maureen’s excellent LX/S maintenance videos here.

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Update Vespa Semi-Hydraulic

The retro-fit PX hydraulic brake from ScootRS. Time will tell, but in theory, following a small incision, this will fit my bike.

Last Spring I took the warmer weather as an opportunity to address the front brakes on my 1985 Vespa PX. At that point, the bike still had its stock drum brakes – a set up that has never had a great reputation for stopping power. Even following new brake shoes, a thorough cleaning of the inside of the hub and a generous greasing of the moving parts, the drum brakes just weren’t giving me a satisfactory (or safe) stop.

It’s no surprise then that later iterations of the PX (and similar scooters like the Stella) moved over to a hydraulic front disc brake solution and in the intervening years a number of after-market manufacturers have provided replacement disc brake solutions for Vespa owners looking for a little more stopping power.

Perhaps the most popular of these was/is the Grimeca disc brake kit, so in May last year with the kit in hand from Germany’s renown SIP Scootershop I spent a morning hooking it up to my bike.

The kit accommodates two set ups. First, what’s known as the semi-hydraulic set up which is the option I went for: The first half of the solution is a brake fluid master cylinder that’s bolted to the front fork to feed the hydraulic disc brake caliper. The second half of the solution (and what makes it semi-hydraulic) is the existing brake cable coming down from the front brake lever, through the steering column and connecting to the master cylinder. The benefit of this set up is that it doesn’t require any modification to the look or operation of your existing handle-bar set up. You pull the lever, this pulls the cable, which pulls the master cylinder actuator which depresses the brake. At least, that’s the theory.

At the time I installed the beast I declared the solution better than the stock brake set up, but not miraculous, which is the general consensus of the wrenching community.

Over the course of the last twelve months however, the stopping power has continued to nose-dive (and not in the right way.) Various wrenching sessions to keep the brake cable as tight as possible following stretching as part of natural riding, and keeping air out of the brake fluid have had me pulling my hair out on a number of occasions.

At the time I decided to plump for the semi-hydraulic set up, more than one experienced scooterist claimed that the semi-hydraulic set up can be, “the worst of both worlds.” Twelve months in, I concur.

After replacing both the cable inner and outer this weekend, and bleeding the brakes I still couldn’t get a decent brake. The problem is further compounded by the fact that my PX has an in-line front brake switch part way along the length of the brake cable which operates the brake light. This switch adds further unnecessary mushiness to the operation. Even by-passing the switch entirely (the DOT would not approve) I could only either get the brakes to lock-on but not get the brake lever to spring to return (dangerous to say the least) or I could get the brake lever nice and springy but the brakes barely braking. I’ve therefore declared mission “Semi” over and have decided to upgrade to the full-hydraulic set-up before attempting any serious riding on the wasp this year.

A full-hydraulic set up (as recommended by experienced scooterists) is the one used by contemporary scooters and motorcycles with disc brakes. A dedicated brake lever at the headset actuates a brake fluid master cylinder. This in turn feeds to the hydraulic brake caliper at the front wheel by way of a hydraulic hose running down alongside (or through) the steering column. Pull the brake lever and you pressurize the hydraulic fluid at the headset and, in turn, all the way down to the brake. No cable. No cable to stretch over time. It’s the set up that all modern Vespas have – be they PX, LX, or otherwise.

Joint owned UK/Vietnamese ScootRS.com out of good old Ho Chi Minh City have a decent reputation for after market parts in a sea of questionable ones. In particular ScootRS have built a solid following for their Lambretta (and later) Vespa disc brake kits. I’ve order two important pieces from their catalog needed to complete my fully-hydraulic set-up: A combination brake lever/master cylinder that’s designed to retro-fit to PX headsets that were never originally designed to accomodate one and a hydraulic hose to connect this to the disc brake caliper already in place on the wheel of my bike.

Providing the parts arrive before the weekend and the weather holds up, with Dremel in hand, I’ll be reporting back in a few days with how the conversion goes. Stay tuned.

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