Hey guys and gals, I had to make a comment on this. Last night a member posted a pic of a Lambretta TV 175 supermonza scooter in a attempt to mock my ride. I actually thought it was cool. Anyone who has ridden a Italian scooter will tell you that scoot is no joke. Doing 70+ mph on a scooter is quite a ride. My father had a Vespa growing up and he loved it and that enthusiasm transferred to me as well. So thanks for posting the pic. I'm sure some of you have stories about your scooters as well. Let's hear em
I have fond memories of my grandfather taking me for rides up his road with me standing on the floor boards of his Vespa holding onto the bars. I felt like we were flying back then....... Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
About 1955 I had just turned 12. I bought a 1949 Cushman to deliver the L.A. Examiner newspaper. I would get up at 4.30 to start my route. One morning I got my papers folded and put them into my bags. I was well into my route. It was still dark when I woke up on the trunk of a 1956 Buick. I had fallen asleep, rear ending the parked Buick. I was glad nobody saw me go over the handlebars.
My Junior High School was about 1/2 mile from home (as the crow flies, about 1 1/2 mile by school bus, which my Dad drove), so when the weather was good I would take a shortcut through pastures to and from. One nice spring day as I was walking home, I could see something blue in front of our white garage door as I got about 1/2 way there. As I got to the road-end of our loooong driveway, I recognized a Cushman scooter that (had) belonged to an older neighbor kid (he had moved up to a '50 Merc). WTF? ran through my mind, until I realized..... my sneaky Dad had bought it for me!!! How cool was that?!? I was 13 years, 9 months old, going on 18, and I loved anything motorized, and my Dad was feeding my hobby/habit/addiction/wish list. I had a blast with that thing for the next two years, illegal as hell on the public roads, but we weren't very closely monitored by the cops, so I logged many happy hours on that blue Cushman. Looking back, even though my Dad (and Mom) weren't "car people", they sure indulged me! Yup, I was a lucky little S.O.B.!!! My siblings (except my oldest inspirational mentor/best friend/oldest brother) thought I was being spoiled..... Can you imagine that? My oldest brother was a Harley rider, so he understood and thought it was cool. Thanks Mom and Dad!!
Thanks for the stories guys. Makes me want to find a scoot to rebuild. It would be great for getting back and forth to work in the summer.
I myself have been into scooters for about 26 years! I have had several Vespas and a Cushman Eagle. I currently have 3 complete and one to still restore. I know the feeling of hauling butt on 10” wheels! No joke, I have a small frame Vespa that is 140cc’s with mucho work done to it. I have had it up to 85 mph on PCH. Life is good on a high-revving two-stroke!
I have been building and riding Scooters since I was 14. Actually hopping up Vespas was what brought me to HotRodding and the old car scene and amazingly until today I meet a lot of old scooterists from back in the day at Car Shows. Scooter runs in the 90s were some of the best parties! I´m down to 3 Vespas now. First photo is from aroung 1994 or 95, the green PX was my fastes scooter in a later version, 225 CC, 41 hp, best topspeed was 93 mph This is a milder and more reliable version of the green one. Never drive it anymore, it´s just parked in my house, haha the light blue PX is a ´79 200 I restored a while ago, 12000 original kms and my daily driver PX 150, ( a little hopped up to 177 cc ) dead reliable and fun to scoot around on I had a very nice Super 150 in the 90s, and would like to have one again... it´s a large frame Vespa, but on 8" wheels and smallframe handlebars. Oh well, the good old times
93 mph that is crazy. I thought 72 was crazy fast. I'm surprised you don't have a side car on that thing to carry your big balls. That is impressive speed on a scoot.
Actually it´s not that bad at 90, I had better shocks and better brakes, and there´s way better stuff available today than some 20 years ago. Acutally my 94 Sportster was handling worse at 90 mph, hahaha A friend of mine, Christian Mühlbauer , an impressive engineer by trade , designs things like a rachtet shifters for Vespas to avoid trans damage during powershifting , dual disc brake kits and , hold on, a dual cylinder engine based on Vespa PX. Check the link to his homepage: http://www.motorino-diavolo.de/GALERIE/ He made a second crankcase that mates to the clutch side of the existing enginehousing. It´s been half a year since I talked to him about the details of his 2 cyl Vespa PX, but I think it is running on two 244 cc BGM cylinders and made around 60 hp on the dyno just plug and play, which means there´s a lot more in there, but Christian said he never dared to go full tilt on his test rides, it´s too scary. 80 hp and more should be easily achievable, but he was fighting ripped off flywheelstuds and other weak spots.. He even made a centerbearing and support for the outputshaft. They tend to bend away from the gears under ecessive loads ( we are talking about a trans that was made for 10-12 hp ) and usually splits the engine housing once gears start to jump. Christian also built a beautiful Model A HotRod and is now building a 50 Merc. Both are very trad lookin but you can imagine his approach is extremely leaning towards modern high performance. Here´s a dyno run, the humble guy with the straw hat is Christian
That is some great content. I never thought people were pushing the envelope so far. It's like any transportation hobby. If it has a motor it will be hot rodded. Thanks for sharing the videos.
Heres my Mitsubishi Silver Pigeon. Rated at 42 MPH but me being 82 years old and it has only one rear brake I havent had the nerve to try it since I finished it. Loosing my nerve I guess, never would have happened when I was young
That's a good looking scoot. I'm thinking you should take it for a spin when it warms up again. RELLY COOL
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