What to do? By randy (Read 588 times)

[randy]

I recently bought a Vespa after years of wanting and searching. That said what I bought is a 1964 Allstate 125 made by Vespa.
Here is where the the dilemma is. the scoot is 100% complete and after 3 hours tinkering I got it running very good. It needs a paint job which I have all the tools and ability to do myself and some misc. trim but I don't know if I should do it original or make it in to hot rod with a flame paint job ,chrome it out ,big bore kit exhaust,etc. I must be getting old because I usually would go the hot rod route but the darn thing is so original with 3500 miles it is almost a shame not keep it original. Rock or stock what ya think?

[madcollie]

First of all, WELCOME!

Randy, that has to be one of the toughest "opinion" questions I seen here, at least for me.

Great scoot with really low mileage, hummm...

I gotta go with Hot Rod.
Show everyone your not the Vespa "Snob" type of person.
You are your own man!
Let the world know you have taste but know how to party!
Shrug off the chains of conformity and GO WILD!

LET THE BEAST WITHIN BURST FORTH!!!

Sorry, got a little carried away there.

M/C

[Cruiser]

Welcome to Scooter Doc, randy. The first scooter I ever tinkered with was probably the same model that you have. It belonged to a neighbor and he asked me if I could tune it for him. I had never worked on any scoots before, but this scoot was so simple that I had no problems. It ran great especially after doing a carbon removal job. If you plan to keep it only a short while, it might be best to keep it original to retain its maximum value. I would lean towards the hot rod theme if I was keeping it for myself, but it might decrease its value at sale time. Have fun and let us know what you decide.

[snakedoctor]

Welcome. I had a 1955 Allstate Cruisair in 1958. I wish I had it now. I restored British roadsters to original condition and showed then over the southeastern USA. So you know my opinion.

The scooter is a piece of history and deserves to be made whole in its original form...but thats just me. I will say restoring to orginal is harder than hot rodding.

Follow your heart. ;D

snakedoctor


1957 Cushman Eagle I restored to original specs...



1957 Harley side car I restored to original, with the exception of a conversion to hydraulic brakes..

[LUKE]

i'll go for stock...vespa is a collector's item type of scooter...the more original it is the better...

[Bashan]

Hey Randy, glad to have you as a member of our, and now your, forum. Is this the scooter you're talking about:

There asking $1,200.00 which is way less than what I expected. I don't know, it's kind of a toss up. It wouldn't be worth a fortune restored so you wouldn't be gaining anything of extreme value if you restored it. But like you say, it would be fun to juice it up and freak everybody out. I say go with the hot rod. You'd spend a fortune in parts if you could find them so it would be a very frustrating restoration project. Rich

[jake aka:ventoscoot]

Randy, I'm with snakedoc. I am clearly a hotrod/custom kind of guy, but with that specific scooter, I would go with all classic, maybe some oem chrome bling, but other than that, stock.

[ccprof]

I'd go for classic. Welcome to the forum!

[randy]

Thanks for the warm welcoming. I have been a member at Scoot Dawg for several years and recognize alot of famailar names on here also so this should be good. Bashan that scoot is very similar to my Allstate. The tailight and some of the custom trim being the major difference. As far as being a snob with a Vespa I don't see that happening. I still like my RC Moto Hot Rod 150 much better.The Vespa seems so primitive but i will see how it works out when it's done.