[chanu]

Ha ha!! after a long wait the Vespa 90cc has come home, the work will start soon on it. My friend before hand expressed positive comments about he scooter, as it has been few months that I saw the scooter I was worried about the magnet wheel missing and was thinking of alternatives like adapting PL170's but to my surprise it is found below the fuel tank.

I need suggestions from experts how to begin with, I was thinking of starting the scooter first and then go for the painting however I am open for your valuable suggestions. I will post the pictures soon as it was dark when transporting the scooter. I am happy today by getting the scooter home.

[girishpv]

Congratulations Chanu, one more classic to your garage.
All the best for your restorations.

[chanu]

Originally Posted by girishpv

Congratulations Chanu, one more classic to your garage.
All the best for your restorations.

Thanks Girish, infact this is a jackpot coming real to me, I chased the owner for the past 2 plus years and have been seeing this scooter for the last 10yrs, she was kept idle all this while and for around 7 years or so it was standing on the roof top of my mechanics house, he told me they had to tie ropes and slowly slided down the wall, poor thing went through lot of slackness.


This is a 1969, 90cc Vespa, the first registration was done somewhere in I assume Ghannpur, Kolhapur bearing MMC/MNC ****.

It's a 3 owner vehicle transfered to Nizamabad, A.P from Kolhapur, MH with regd bearing APJ **** by the second owner in 1980 and then moved to Hyderabad, A.P in 1982 by the third owner who sold it to me.

I am attaching the same pictures as I did before and also hoping the out come would be as good as in the last pics.

[girishpv]

As some one said before "try try try....till you die", so chasing the owner ended with a gem in your hand.
I had same situation, chased for 6 years to get hand on 2 bikes. Patience is the main thing in this hobby.
That will be very nice and good looking scooter once done....All the best for your restoration.

[ameet_pv]

Congratulations Chanu,

Wow a great find. Your perseverance & patience paid off.

AV

[edsuede]

Well done Bala - another project to keep you busy for a while

This one looks like it'll need alot of work but judging by how rare these small frame Vespas seem to be in India, it'll be well worth it in the end.

Regards
Ed

[karlosdeville]

Originally Posted by chanu

This is a 1969, 90cc Vespa, the first registration was done somewhere in I assume Ghannpur, Kolhapur bearing MMC/MNC ****.

It's a 3 owner vehicle transfered to Nizamabad, A.P from Kolhapur, MH with regd bearing APJ **** by the second owner in 1980 and then moved to Hyderabad, A.P in 1982 by the third owner who sold it to me.

Good luck with the restoration.

The registration would probably be MMC (there was no MNx series in Maharashtra). MMC is a Bombay series in the early to mid 70s, so it must have been transfered to Kolhapur at a later date.

[chanu]

Originally Posted by girishpv

As some one said before "try try try....till you die", so chasing the owner ended with a gem in your hand.
I had same situation, chased for 6 years to get hand on 2 bikes. Patience is the main thing in this hobby.
That will be very nice and good looking scooter once done....All the best for your restoration.

You are right! I am happy that the chase ended in my favour, You have got some nice specimens in your collections Girish, I now understand the efforts you had put.

Originally Posted by ameet_pv

Congratulations Chanu,

Wow a great find. Your perseverance & patience paid off.

AV

Yes indeed a treasure and I am extremely happy to get her.

Originally Posted by edsuede

Well done Bala - another project to keep you busy for a while

This one looks like it'll need alot of work but judging by how rare these small frame Vespas seem to be in India, it'll be well worth it in the end.

Regards
Ed

Thanks Ed, you have been a great deal of inspiration to me, apart from Sidman, Hillram. For me it's indeed a dream project it is just begun have loads of work to be done, I need your help and best wishes, though there was a lot of negligence but the scooter withstood well, there are no signs of body rusting, falling apart however this peice of art will get a through restoration.

Originally Posted by karlosdeville

Good luck with the restoration.

The registration would probably be MMC (there was no MNx series in Maharashtra). MMC is a Bombay series in the early to mid 70s, so it must have been transfered to Kolhapur at a later date.

Thanks Karl for the wishes, this is a 1969 model. I coudnt get the model in the RC initially and I wanted to seek your help, when I turned to the last page where I could see this clause 'Year of Manufacture' that gave me a great sense of relief.

[chanu]

Now that the 'sparrow' is 90% complete all that is required few fitments, polishing, monograms fixing thats it she is done and done for 4-5 years to come, I have even thought about the next colour and the way it should be done now itself.

Next is going to be my Vespa 90cc/50cc I am not able to find out even the RC is not helpfull, I guess it should be 50cc. I am confused where to beging and when.

[Scarlet_Rider]

Hi Bala,

Wishing you all the very best with the restoration of your Vespa 50/90.

I just check out the Vespa Maintenance and Repair Series handbook that I have and found some details for the Vespa 90 Model V9A1 which was available from 1964 onwards. In case your scooter has a 90cc engine, you may find this information useful. The handbook has details of Vespa scooters with engines starting from 90cc onwards. I am attaching a picture for your reference.

Regards and Keep Revving,

Rahul Waghmare.

[chanu]

Thanks a ton Rahul for the wishes and the information, visually the scooter looks the same as in the pictures but there should be some concrete way to find out wheather it's 50/90 cc, this fella is 1969 model, I guess looking at the bore the size or dia will help finding the exact capacity of the engine.

[Dussey]

Originally Posted by chanu

Now that the 'sparrow' is 90% complete all that is required few fitments, polishing, monograms fixing thats it she is done and done for 4-5 years to come, I have even thought about the next colour and the way it should be done now itself.

Next is going to be my Vespa 90cc/50cc I am not able to find out even the RC is not helpfull, I guess it should be 50cc. I am confused where to beging and when.

A similar vehicle was manufactured in AP called Vespa PL170. These Vespas are known as "Small Frame Vespas".

[chanu]

Yes sir, they were made by APS (Andhra Pradesh Scooters) if I am not wrong at patancheru plant, she was called PL170 and was 50cc magnificant scooter with all the goodness. Initial models had small square handle bar and then modified to a similar handle bar like LML STAR.

[Stanher]

Originally Posted by chanu

Yes sir, they were made by APS (Andhra Pradesh Scooters) if I am not wrong at patancheru plant, she was called PL170 and was 50cc magnificant scooter with all the goodness.

Wow, the PL170 was just 50cc??! And I thought they were atleast 90cc!

I guess thats one reason why it didnt sell as well as the Chetak although it couldve attracted one segment of the market (ladies, sr. citzens) atleast with its light weight and smaller size.

[shankar.balan]

Slightly OT but I think you should read this book - Called VROOM with a View - a lovely travelogue about an Australian man who goes to Italy on holiday and buys a Vespa and rides around most of Italy on it.
Quite superb. In this book you will find references to some Vespa aficionados and restoration experts - including one called the Waspmaster who is located somewhere in Milano. Perhaps you could do a search on the web for this Waspmaster if you're looking to source trims or parts or whatever.
The books is a really enjoyable one and is written by Peter Moore.
And Im sure you would know that in Roman Holiday, Gregory Peck ferried Audrey Hepburn around on a Vespa. And Vespa in Italian means Wasp.
Cheers and have fun !