Scooter in the Sticks

Exploring life on a Vespa Scooter and Royal Enfield Himalayan motorcycle.

No Vespa Riding

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No Vespa riding while scooter awaits rust repairsAwaiting Tender Loving Care

Stopped by the body shop today to see how things were coming along on my Vespa scooter.  I didn’t expect anything yet and was not disappointed.  The scooter sat among other parts, pieces and vehicles awaiting transformation, much like droids in the original Star Wars where we first met R2D2.

As I looked around the shop I could see that body work is nothing like mechanical repair.  It’s more of an art where the craftsman must find the path that best suits the situation.  It’s sort of inspiring to see all the custom metal work, fabrication, welding and other activities going on to restore old vehicles.  And brand new ones too.

I was told that they have a plan to do the work without pulling the steering column.  The scooter would be hoisted into the air on the lift and they think they can access everything without any disassembly.  That would save a few dollars.

Not being able to ride has led me to surf Craigslist and eBay for a used scooter.  Found one exactly like mine with less than 3000 miles on the clock for $3000.oo.  Same color too.  As much as I daydream about motorcycles I should probably just buy a backup machine.  With that in place maybe I can entertain some repair and maintenance myself when I retire.

Right now though, wish I could ride…

Rusty Vespa Scooter

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Vespa GTS along rural road in snowWinter riding means salt and rust

After many winters of snow, salt and slush the underside of the Vespa was beginning to show signs of distress — namely rust.  And the body seam behind the front wheel  was showing rust coming through the paint.  From a distance you can really see much wrong, but up close, there’s ample evidence of hard use.

Since my back has continued to limit my riding and my tolerance for cold has changed, I thought it might be a good time to drop the scooter off with a local body shop for some restoration work.

The ride from home to the shop wasn’t long — just six miles — but the 24F air just reinforced the decision to take a break from riding.  With the Christmas holiday bearing down there’s a lot of things to distract me from the painful reality that I’m not riding.

Vespa GTS scooter at Roan's Body ShopRoan’s Body Shop — State College, Pennsylvania

Not sure how long the Vespa will be out of commission.  The early estimate was a couple weeks but the first icy roads of the season brought a windfall of bodywork to the shop so I’m not sure when I’ll be riding again.

The repair request was pretty simple — get rid of the rust and repaint in some color that sort of matches.  I’m not worried about a perfect match or if they use paint from Piaggio.  Just slow down the rust so I have a few more years of riding.

An unexpected bonus — they’ll have to pull the entire front wheel and steering column assembly to do the job.  When they reassemble they’ll be able to straighten out the bars which got twisted out of alignment when I made an unfortunate (stupid) move during a ride that led to me dumping the scooter in some steep, loose shale.  Pulling the scooter up off the ground twisted the handlebars out of alignment and I’ve been riding it that way since last summer.

Not riding and posting new material will give me a chance to work on some of the ideas that have been rattling around my head.

The rattling noise is getting pretty loud…