[ilangop]

Originally Posted by Majumdarda

I am guessing this is the Select version. Back in the school days one of our teachers used to have one, I guess in cream color.

This version with the NV nose piece and rectangular headlight with a big dial speedometer is called a T5. The select comes with larger nos piece accommodating the blinkers and a pair of park lights. A long rectangular horn grille was included. In Select II, This horn grille was replaced with a fog light and the speedometer assembly included a watch inside.

[Majumdarda]

Originally Posted by ilangop

This version with the NV nose piece and rectangular headlight with a big dial speedometer is called a T5. The select comes with larger nos piece accommodating the blinkers and a pair of park lights. A long rectangular horn grille was included. In Select II, This horn grille was replaced with a fog light and the speedometer assembly included a watch inside.

Ah I remember seeing the fog light version on the streets too; but then back in those days, I guess I was more glued to my BSA Deluxe to have missed these details. Thank you for sharing these differences. By the way, would you also happen to know the Stock Red color details the Vespa XE used to come painted with? I do not have the owner's manual for reference.

[sridhu]

Couple of quick questions:

- Where can I fit a full face helmet box for the vespa? I am looking Indian manufacturers, not the Givi types. I live in Bangalore. The underseat storage does not take any full face (I even tried the RE ones) and I dont like to ride with out a full face helmet.

- I remember that the tyres are run flat. Where do I source the replacements? How much should I expect to pay for them? How do I know the tyres I am putting on are run flats?

TIA

[Seagull76]

Dear BHPians
I have a Query on Air pressure
I own VXL-125 2018 Model
As per manual, Air pressure is 20/32 PSI for Front/Back
However the tyre has specifications of 33/40 PSI for Front/Back
Pls.advice on same

[A5H15H]

Hello my fellow Vespa lovers!!
My name is Ashish and this is a short story about my late father's Vespa.

I hope to find some pictures of a rare scooter that I grew up on. Just to feed on the insatiable nostalgia of my childhood days.

The model (or should I say sub-model) was not very successful and hence very less known.
So in the year 1987, my dad bought the LML Vespa NV3 150 (yes you read that right!)
NV3 was the name given to an otherwise common Vespa NV 150 but with a 3 speed transmission instead of the popular 4 speed variant.

As much as I can remember from the foggy memories of the yore (I dont have any pictures of my scooter, sigh!). It looked visually similar to the 4 speed but had an NV3 badge on the side panel. I think it also featured a slightly reworked speedo console which had a fuel gauge too. It had electronic ignition and not the coil system.

The scooter being 3 geared was comparatively brisk at picking up speed due to the less divided gear ratios. It could smoke the extremely popular Chetak in signal to signal races.
(Yup good ol' dad was a signal dragster!!...frowned upon as that may be in today's age of woke riders and self proclaimed insta gurus)

Dad being an avid rider and due to our family's inability to buy a car (like most of 80's middle class families) we (my dad, mom and I ...triple seat...with luggage) used to travel to far away places like Surat, Udwada, Vapi, Nashik, Shirdi, Igatpuri, Pune, Panvel, Karjat, Kasara, etc, to name a few. Yes, I did write far away places, because back then due to the single highways and low powered engines, a trip to Khandala seemed like a trip to Khardungla...ok I might be exaggerating here, but you get my drift!

For a decade dad's job got transferred to a village called Tarapur in Maharashtra (Early 90's) Even in the village the scooter diligently did its duty with little to no maintenance. A fuel pump was 10Kms away and due to our fuel gauge being shot we sometimes had to add kerosene if the scooter ran dry in the middle of nowhere. (yes, kerosene could be found even in the middle of nowhere because people back then used to cook and light up their lamps using kerosene).

I learnt to ride the scooter at the age of 10. The only issue was my legs wouldn't reach the ground so dad always used to sit behind me. I started to take the scooter to school in 8th grade (how cool is that???) since there were no police check points in the 12 KM one way journey to school. Technically, I learnt to ride a scooter before I learnt to ride a bicycle.

The scooter finally gave up the ghost due to the strains of everyday wear, little to no roads, little to no money to maintain the scooter and unavailability of parts. The scooters counter-gear got damaged and we never found a replacement even though the LML dealership had ordered one from the manufacturing facility in Kanpur.

With teary eyes I bid adieu to the now hunk of junk that had slowly withered away in our backyard and our family finally moved back to Mumbai city.

Such a simple machine and an equally simple life but the memories it left behind were simply priceless.

Ah the good ol days!!

[karlosdeville]

A 1961 advertisement for Vespa scooters.