The Fun I Had On My Vespa Motorscooter
by
Kraig J. Rice
I owned my Vespa motorscooter from 1975 to 1981. I bought it new at that time for
about $1,000 and put 25,000 miles on it in six years. I had fun with it
and hardly had any trouble with it. It only had one piston so I had to
put three sets of rings on it during that time, but I did the work myself. It was easy to work on.
I had my first introduction to a Vespa motorscooter in 1969 when my
younger brother got one. It was a Vespa 125 cc. It had some get up and
go but was not legal to drive on the freeways in California. It didn't look
like much but it had quite a bit of torque. It had a 2 stroke engine
and got great gas mileage.
Before I bought my Vespa I had a Suzuki 150 cc. motorcycle. It had looks and speed.
It was a relatively small bike and I could cruise it at 50 miles per
hour real easy. I liked the fact that it was light and not a real heavy bike.
Then my brother and I went up Kelly Road (a logging road) west of Cloverdale that had very
little traffic. He took his Vespa and I took my Suzuki. There was a near verticle hill on
the side of the road that was very steep. I tried to go up it with my street bike (my Suzuki)
but my bike would not pull it. Then my brother tried it with his Vespa and made
it. His little Vespa had out-performed my Suzuki. I was amazed at it's
performance. My brother and I studied it to find out why. It had great
torque, had the weight in back, it had a low center of gravity, and had
direct drive between the transmission and the engine (it did not have a sprocket and chain).
It was just a tough dependable little machine.
Then me and my brother drove up the California coast highway on our cycles. We rode
side by side for mile after mile but then we went single file on the
winding curvy roads. We got to lean way over on the curves that was a
lot of fun. We camped overnight in the woods west of Willits. The next
day we rode some more and came back home. His little Vespa purred like
a kitten the entire way. My Suzuki also did a great job but I had to be
careful not to get my pant's cuff caught in the engine chain. I started
developing a respect for Vespa motorscooters.
But my brother did not want to keep his because he wanted to buy a car.
So he sold it to some of the neighbor boys and they had fun with it for a long time.
In contrast, I rode my Suzuki all over Northern California and took it to Santa Cruz
with me when I went to Bible College there. Then I started having trouble
with it. I blew the seals out of the engine and had to have them fixed.
Then one day I was on a 50 mile journey when the back sprocket flew off
of it while I was driving. I had to look thru the
weeds in the ditch on the side of the highway for the parts that had flown off.
Fortunately, I found them and put them back on but developed a bad taste
for a chain and sprocket machine. So I promised myself that I would never
own another chain and sprocket machine and I never did. Later, I traded my Suzuki for a
1951 Chevy half ton pickup (plus an extra engine) to the neighbor who lived down the street.
Then in 1974 I worked a construction job and saved my money. I was a
pipeline painting foreman and was responsible for 5 men and two trucks
but it was basically a seasonal job. With my money I bought a
brand new Vespa in 1975. It was the ideal machine for me. It was a
200 cc (the one with the big engine) with 18 horse power so it was freeway
legal in Calif. It had a
glove box to keep little items in. It had a spare tire. It got great
mileage and I could cruise it at 70 miles per hour if I wanted to. I
liked it's look- it was different and distinctive, just like me...
It had a two cycle engine with fewer moving parts. That meant that
there were fewer parts to break in the engine.
My Vespa was also air cooled. Nearly everyone knows that air cooled is better
than water cooled. The allies learned this lesson real early in World War Two when the air
cooled German tanks in North Africa ran circles around their water cooled tanks.
It is difficult for hot weather to cool a hot engine so when I rode my Vespa during the summer,
when the outside temperature hit over 100 degrees F, I would temporarily change my spark plug to a
B10, the coldest spark plug in the temperature range. That made it a little harder to start
but then my Vespa ran great in really hot weather. Otherwise, if I rode it with a regular
hot plug in that hot weather it had a tendency to "retard in speed or grab slightly and
temporarily for a very short period of time."
In contrast, some of the BMW motorcycles from the 1975 time period
had air cooled engines with opposed cylinders. Some had a drive shaft
instead of a chain and sprocket. They were direct drive. It was a
quiet bike so to speak and very dependable. I talked to one such
owner one time who just loved his bike also.
My Vespa had a magnito instead of an alternator that helped keep the battery
charged- that ran the lights and horn.
My Vespa had a manual transmission that, in my opinion, is better than an automatic one.
If I had a hard time getting it started any other way I could always
push it, pop the clutch, and get it started that way. I never wore out a
clutch plate even though I bought an extra one just in case.
It had direct drive with no sprocket and chain. I hate a sprocket and
chain or a rubber belt and pulley. In my opinion, you are just asking for trouble if
you buy a machine that has a set-up like that.
It had a low center of gravity that helped me keep it upright. This also
helped me in the dirt. I could take the back tire off of it (the street tire) and
put on a nobby tire and take it to the dirt. With it's high torque it
could really climb and that nobby tire really helped it dig in to get up
some pretty steep hills.
It was easy to go shopping with it. I had bought a special rack that
mounted on the back of it to hold cargo. All I had to do was to strap
the cargo to it real good.
It was great to ride a passenger in back of me. The person could hold
onto me and fit his or her feet easily onto the floorboards. We could
lean together into the curves for easier handling.
It was light enough that I could control it on the street or in
the dirt with ease. I hate a heavy motorcycle where there is always the danger
of the thing falling over while at rest. And then it is always so heavy
that it takes two people to lift the thing back up again once it falls
over. That takes the fun out of it. So for me, that Vespa was just the perfect weight for me.
Security was no problem. The steering wheel locked. Plus I mounted two
extra eye bolts on the front of it to which I padlocked a chain that I
carried in the glove box.
Well, the opportunity came for me to put it to the test. I got laid off
(because of lack of work) in the Spring of 1975 where I was driving a
fork lift at a local winery. I decided to drive my
Vespa from California to Texas so I could see both of my grandmothers
and work on my hobby of tracing my family tree.
It was a long trip. I put 6,000 miles on it in 6 weeks. It performed
just great and I was delighted with it. I saved a fortune on gasoline
because it really got great mileage. I got tired of sitting on it and
some folks in Texas were skeptical that I had really come on it all the
way from Calif. so they had to look at my Calif. license plate for proof. I enjoyed that.
I created some fond memories for myself with my Vespa. In 1980 I placed a young lady on the
back of it and took her up into the mountains west of Cloverdale, California. I sat her down on
a large rock with a view overlooking a beautiful valley. I took a rose out
of the Vespa's glove box. I put the flower in my mouth and got down (on
one knee) in front of her and asked her to marry me. Guess what- she said yes.
The color of my Vespa was white. I worked for the Cloverdale School
District at that time as a school teacher and also as a custodian.
My boss suggested that I lock my Vespa in the boiler room at school to keep kids
from messing around with it. That was a good idea. But I was a religious
man and when my fellow worker would see me riding up on my Vespa
at the school to go to work he would say, "Here comes the White
Knight." Not a bad title if I do say so myself...
Vespa put out a terrific machine in those days. I am glad that I bought
mine and had a lot of fun with it. Then in 1981 I fell on hard
financial times and had to sell it. But I still have good memories...
What does Vespa have to offer at present?
If you live in the USA and want to ride your Vespa legally on the freeway you will need one with
at least a 18 horsepower engine- one with a 200 cc engine qualifies for that so you can ride at
freeway speeds without getting run over. The top speed of a Vespa depends on its engine size
and weight. The 300 cc scooter can go up to 80 mph. My Vespa 200 cc had one piston that I
could cruise at 70 miles per hour but Vespa now makes a Vespa PX 200 cc with three pistons.
Also the Vespa GTS 300 is the fastest, most powerful Vespa of all time. Its single-cylinder,
4-stroke, 4-valve, liquid-cooled 300 cc engine with electronic injection cranks out
23.8 horse power. Pesonally, I prefer an air cooled engine.
Vespa sells eleven different models in the USA. 2-cycle engines are being phased out due to
emissions standards. The 2-cycle engine produces a little more emissions than a 4-cycle engine
but there are fewer moving parts to eventually break down with a 2-cycle engine. My Vespa
had a 2-cycle engine that I prefer.
Want one with direct drive? Some models have belt drive. Choose carefully when buying one.
Why? Many of the belts used will shred apart and self-destruct at about 6,000 miles.
If this happens to you while you are crossing the desert, good luck to you in finding a
replacement close by. All belts should be replaced at the 6000 mile service that will cost
you more money. My Vespa had direct drive.
It is important to know where you can get parts if you need them.
So, in conclusion I had fun on my Vespa and you can have fun on yours as well.
Choose wisely when you buy one.
www.7-star-admiral.com
Take A Look
OR
Home
As of August 3, 2005
