Shameless ...

"Darkbrador" (darkbrador) 09/30/2020 at 13:32 • Filed to: None

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... use of the positelock, here. I saw many of you advertising their beloved vehicle for sale, so I’ll surf that wave too.

I’m hereby selling a glorious piece of Italian engineering (by “ glorious ” I mean “ designed on the back of a napkin at lunch after a bottle of wine or three, by the side of Lake Como ”. Also probably built on a Friday afternoon.)

Behold the 1979 Vespa P125X :

I purchased it at an estate sale in Houston about 8 years ago, in a poor shape, peeling paint, flat & rotten tires , engine not running, broken everything. Also, being a Vespa, the level of attention it regularly needs is somewhat similar to those of an helicopter : one hour of flight, four hours of maintenance. Therefore, I didn’t just refresh the consumables but rebuilt the poor thing about entirely, in and out.

Don’t be fooled by the 125 moniker, it now displaces a whopping 166 cc, thanks to a freshly installed new “big bore” kit. Nothing means business like a two stroke 166 cc single cylinder air cooled pre-WW2 designed engine. Move aside, Ninjas and LS swaps !

It runs like a scalded cat, the race numbers themselves provide at least half a horsepower each, and there are three of them ... See, no details were left ignored, you’ll be the meanest and fastest hipster on this side of the Atlantic Ocean, or at least on that side of your favorite coffee shop.

New clutch, seals & gaskets everywhere, new tires, brake shoes, professional paint, electronic ignition, cables (@#$%& cables, routed inside the pressed steel body of the god forsaken thing). Did I mention electronic ignition ? No points to set, peace of mind and cold morning starts galore. The separate oiling system means no chemistry to be done by the side of the fuel pump. Better mpg than your neighbor’s Prius, you’re the most environment-friendly hipster on the block !

There is always room for improvement. First of all, pain & misery be brought upon the Italian electrical engineer, he and his descendant up to the 17th generation, who designed the electrical system. Headlight, taillight and brake lights work great, but not the blinkers. (I gave up after many alternators/generators and upgrade kits were purchased from the cool kids @ Vespa Motorsports in San Diego). You don’t need no blinkers, you’re too fast, too cool, too stylish, too handsome/pretty, nobody would see the blinkers anyway.

It does sweat horsepower, one drop at a time. I should replace the copper crush seal. Mark your territory at the above mentioned coffee shop.

Title, what title ? (Errr, as you read above it came from an estate sale, the old lady had passed away, no paperwork to be found). A bill of sale will do, that or the Vermont trick. See, now you’re the fastest, cleanest, most stylish and the smartest hipster in town !

I mentioned Houston, San Diego and Lake Como, but it’s located in Minnepolis, MN. Sorry for the confusion. No need for this urban-assault vehicle anymore, as I’m moving out of my most-oppo house ever in the city, to a even more oppo-house on the outskirts of town, but that’s a story for another time.

Any interest feel free to shoot me a note.

jminer > Darkbrador 09/30/2020 at 14:35

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That’s a pretty slick looking scooter!

shop-teacher > Darkbrador 09/30/2020 at 14:42

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Wow, that is very tempting. It looks gorgeous.

415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) > Darkbrador 09/30/2020 at 14:58

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Why didn’t you put an LML reed valve engine in it or a normal P200 motor, more power than a small kit. I have had almost every model Vespa/Lambretta, never a 125. Any P I had was a kitted up 200, I had a 90 in college and the rest were 150s. We had the only ones in Hawaii, cops had no idea what they were, I rode them on the 50cc permit for years. I have a 1966 150 Super with no engine in storage, trapezoid headlight originally sold in Japan, the last one I have. I am keeping it in case I ever get a garage, it would look good in there and I could fix it pretty easily.

Darkbrador > 415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) 09/30/2020 at 15:07

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“ Why didn’t you put an LML reed valve engine in it or a normal P200 motor”

because I already had the 125 engine running. Smokey, low compression and whatnot, but running. No reason to go hunt for another engine. Also, s ince I had to get deep into the engine to replace the clutch seal, it was the right time to not just replace parts but upgrade it.

Now g et yourself a garage, will you ?!?

415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) > Darkbrador 09/30/2020 at 15:12

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It’s too expensive to find a place with a garage here in the Bay Area or back home. I lived with three people in a house in Hawaii for the amount of space we had, there were at least ten scooters in the port at any given time. Working on them is a bitch, I stopped doing it haha. There is a company in the UK that makes EV kits that fit in them, some battery where the glove box is and then they built the rest to fit where the engine and tank are with a custom swing arm rear end. Someday I might try that if they are still around. 

vondon302 > Darkbrador 09/30/2020 at 15:16

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Tempting but too far away.

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > Darkbrador 09/30/2020 at 15:27

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166cc called a 125. Kinda like BMW’s 800cc F650. Lol 

Darkbrador > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles 09/30/2020 at 15:30

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it was originally a 125 cc. I installed a 166 cc kit. Endless power now ... ahem.

Darkbrador > shop-teacher 09/30/2020 at 15:37

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HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > Darkbrador 09/30/2020 at 15:55

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Ooooh okay that makes sense. I did the same with my Tomos. It’s a 70cc now. Much more noise than the stock  50. I still haven’t put it back together enough to find out if it’s faster lol

MUSASHI66 > Darkbrador 09/30/2020 at 16:26

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Too bad our resident Vespa lover with money to buy this ain’t around no’mo’.

onlytwowheels > Darkbrador 09/30/2020 at 16:27

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Sounds good with a pipe.  

Darkbrador > onlytwowheels 09/30/2020 at 16:43

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uh ... sounds about the same ... ?

11.93 BHP ! Powaaaaaah ! 

onlytwowheels > Darkbrador 09/30/2020 at 16:44

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Almost broke the dyno.

shop-teacher > Darkbrador 09/30/2020 at 22:35

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Lol. I'm close enough to be conceivable, but far enough for it to be unlikely. How much are you looking to get?

mhr555 > Darkbrador 10/01/2020 at 06:14

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Go visit my good friend Matt at Scooterville, tell him mykr sent ya . :) Ask him about our days road racing these damn things.
I need a running scooter back in my life. My kitted Serveta is down and out and I’m too lazy to work on it. Maybe this winter...

Darkbrador > shop-teacher 10/01/2020 at 08:27

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Make me an offer I can’t refuse.

shop-teacher > Darkbrador 10/01/2020 at 09:12

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LOL! I’m afraid my offers are quite refusa ble.

Darkbrador > shop-teacher 10/01/2020 at 10:43

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You can email me at darkbrador@gmail.com