Team-BHP - Let's talk ITALIANO!! My vespa 1964.

Quote:

Originally Posted by chanu (Post 2329299)

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.

Hi Bala

Check out the frame number.

If it starts V9A1T it's a 90cc,

If it starts V5 A1T it's a 50cc.

Regards
Ed

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stanher (Post 2329604)

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

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.

absolutely right Shyam PL170 were 50CC and were excellent piece of machines, when TVS, Luna's were doing good at that time I wonder why PL170 were not appreciated and that too when they had the option of gears as well.

Quote:

Originally Posted by shankar.balan (Post 2329700)

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 !

Thanks Shanker for the info, I will try to find out that on the internet and would love to read anything related to cars and bikes. Once again thanks for the Information.

Quote:

Originally Posted by edsuede (Post 2329951)

Hi Bala

Check out the frame number.

If it starts V9A1T it's a 90cc,

If it starts V5 A1T it's a 50cc.

Regards
Ed

Thanks Ed, I will check soon. How far have your restorations come up brother.

Quote:

Originally Posted by chanu (Post 2405680)

Chanu: The PL170 is a ~96cc scooter. Engine and frame based on the Vespa 90. The target segment for this scooter was women. Apart from being riddled with electric problems, this was geared, and women preferred their gearless mopeds and a less difficult one to start. The same fate was faced by the Cento, both being in the market for ~3 odd years.

PL170 stood for payload 170 kgs.

I would be wrong, it the PL170 came in both the 50 and 90 cc variations. The one that I have owned for a few years now says 96cc.

Hi folks, extremely sorry to be away from this thread for so long, I have been not keeping well till feb this year.

Since the scooter was last restored the sparrow was idle for more than 1 year which even I couldn't believe myself just because of accelerator parts, ha..ha isn't that funny, yes sometimes just for mere small thing we get so lazy and I was advised not to drive two wheelers and was very unhappy. Inspite of that I still drive 2 wheeler and that lucky day has come, was at home feeling bored, looked at sparrow and went near her and couldn't take it anymore, I don't believe even now the briskness I got, just took her out from the place and cleaned the dust, gave her a nice wash and put into my jeep and took it over to the mechanic within an hour and now my sparrow started flying again, yippee! my joy ride is back :Cheering: and my happiness is back.

There are few thing to be done on her, since painted it never turned back to the painter hence needs nice polishing, new seat covers, front brake servicing, monogram to be fixed, floor mat to be replaced, and many more.

yet another day of disappointment, painter as promised to complete the polishing work did not turn up and the mechanic who committed to complete the front brake work was also missing. Decided to take up the paint DIY polishing work myself and brought BOSCH paint polisher and completed the task, result is awesome.

New seats done, rear seat plate had to be made, used 14mm ply for that and since the foam is of chetak which is not as wide as vespa had to reconstruct that, now the scooter looks pretty decent, I'm lovin it!.

Next task is to fix the Monograms, front bumper needs to be fixed, since the number plate is removed from the front mudguard the number plate to be made through sticker on the body.

Quote:

Originally Posted by drk_411 (Post 3121254)

A thread to arouse pretty nostalgic moments. We bought a vespa in 1967 for Rs. 1900/-. It was a huge sum at that time. Vespa was not that popular since people thought it had some balance problems due to engine mount, but the pickup was like a jet plane !!!

You are right drk sir, my dad used to say the same, vespa was not that popular compared to Lambrettas since the engine is mounted one side however it took time for people to understand.

I remember scooter was more valuable like a car those days, till 80's scooters were the 1st demand for bridegrooms. I like them because of the zippy performance, short turning radius etc.

And when it got some popularity. The booking craze started. People would book a Bajaj by paying 500 rupees and would wait for 7-8 years to get delivery. There was joke doing circles that if a girl was born, better book a scooter for her marriage. The black money that was charged for immediate delivery some times ran as much as 4000-5000 rupees in seventies.
Another phenomenon that crept in social psyche was the use of the word "Gadi". Usually this was reserved for car prior to the arrival of scooters, but with the arrival of scooters on the scene, even common folks used to say with a finesse "Maine apni gaadi service ko di hai".

Quote:

Originally Posted by drk_411 (Post 3126425)

And when it got some popularity. The booking craze started. People would book a Bajaj by paying 500 rupees and would wait for 7-8 years to get delivery.

Marriages were held on a promise to give scooter as dowry, scooters were in demand Chetak was popular amongst it and you would not find a second hand for sale and in case you find one it is no cheap.

Scooters used to be for lifetime those days, repainting was a big deal in those days, my dad used to take sometimes to the mechanic where it got painted and overhauled. Seats used to have 2'' thick foam under the cover. I still find doing scooter more fun than my bikes and Jeeps.

Superior technology won people's hearts. There was no chain, the power was transmitted directly by a rod resulting in better pickup and no latency.

There were no nuts and bolts on panels. The body chassis was all welded resulting in less rattling body noise.

and a number of other tech features.

That is how it won over the Lambretta fans.

There was no looking back.

Even the typical tilt given to the scooter to get the petrol move into carburettor to get the engine started became a hearty joke. It was symbolic joke for Bajaj. Almost a signature.