What is the expected engine life of Vespa like scooter before overhall, if done?
I had a couple of Vespa scooters back in the day. One ran like new until the day I sold it a few years later. I bought another one a couple of years newer and it ran perfectly until the drive shaft broke. It was a royal pain to replace and I sold it after it was repaired. The engines could run for many years without trouble. A friend of mine is restoring a Cushman and a Vespa from the mid-sixties. The engines on both were still running but they did smoke. Since scooters don’t accumulate the mileage that cars and trucks do then their expected engine life could run into decades.
There are some Chinese replicas of Vespas and other scooters and cycles that are lacking in every category.
And before buying any scooter it should be understood that the smaller wheels result in a significant reduction in stability compared to Mopeds and motorcycles.
missleman,
so did you grow out of scooters or some other reason?
@longprime…riding a scooter in my area is tantamount to attempted suicide. I gave up motorcycles for the same reason. I also owned Cushman Eagle scooters which were my favorite. I converted the automatic/manual clutch to manual only on mine. It made them faster and they shifted like a motorcycle instead of a scooter.
I still ride a scooter a lot. They will last a long time with minimal maintenance, but you do need to change the oil. I takes about a quart and that’s not a lot of money, and it’s easy enough to do. Most scooters in the US die a long and ugly death, ignored in the back of a garage, because a repair will cost more than what the owner thinks a scooter is worth. We’re all so rich, they are disposable.
A Japanese or European Scooter will go on and on, but it will need maintenance, just like everything else. Tires, brakes, a belt once in a while, valve adjustments, replace a fuel filter, new battery, etc.
If you live in a crowded urban area, with at least decent weather most of the time, there is nothing to get you through traffic and where you want to go like a scooter.
@missileman–When I was in junior high school, the service station half a mile down the road from where I lived had a running Cushman motor scooter for sale for $25. I rode my bicycle down to the station and rode back on the Cushman. My dad said “no” and it went back and I retrieved my bicycle. When I was 16, I drove home in a LaSalle that I was going to purchase. My dad again said “no”. He said that no 16 year old needed a car and I was to save money for college. The LaSalle went right back to the dealer.
I reasoned that when I was earning my own money and supporting myself I could buy all the toys I wanted. Unfortunately, now Mrs. Triedaq says “no”.
If you can get 30-40K miles out of one you did well…If you run it wide open all the time, then maybe 20K…Are the new scooters 2-stroke or 4-stroke?
@Triedaq…I know you mean. Mrs. Missileman and her “no” is still standing between me and any old car or truck that I want to restore. I’m real good at finding them but restoration seems to fall by the wayside.
@missileman
I’ll let Triedaq buy a new lawnmower even one with an electric start to replace the one he uses that puts out more blue smoke than a mosquito fogger. Shouldn’t a new mower be a good enough toy?
Mrs. Triedaq
Thanks for the idea Mrs. Triedaq. I’ll run it by Mrs. Missileman since I have my eye on a new Craftsman riding mower with a bigger engine.
@Caddyman, most scooters and bikes are now 4 cycle. The emission rules are just too strict to allow 2 cycle engines. Most decent quality scooters are capable of 30,000 miles, with enough oil changes. The variator drive system really keeps the engine from over-revving. If you buy one that’s too small you will ride it at wide open throttle a lot, but they can usually take it.
As for the problem of too many toys, you guys are on your own with that one. I like my scooters and I get a lot of use out of them, here in Northern California.
“Shouldn’t a new mower be a good enough toy?”
Only if it is twin-turbocharged and fuel injected.
We need a car called the Mower. “Lamborghini Mower” has a nice ring to it. They started as just a tractor company so should be able to make a supercar with a removable mowing deck. Or maybe just sharpen the splitter on the front. It’s low enough to cut grass.
I wonder what would happen if Lamborghini decided to try and revive it’s old LM002 model, or whatever that SUV thing they made was called
They’d have to stuff the Aventador engine into the Cayenne platform to really bring it back. A dealer near seattle sells any LM002 they get within a few days to eager customers from all over the world
There have been proposals/mockups of a new Lambo SUVZ. Hideous, but plausible, given the ready availability of the Cayenne/Touareg platform. The SUV Bentley showed off to general disdain may appear first. Either one is very marketable, especially in the Middle East. It’s surprising we haven’t had any exotic SUV since the Lambo (the Mercedes G monstrosity is close). And the Lambo was, like the Merc, really a rather crude military project poorly converted to civilian use.
Hey, a Lambo SUV would be (due to the LM002) more true to its brand than, say, a Porsche Cayenne. @MarkM It is ugly, I agree.
Yes, a Lambo SUV would make some historic sense, though so would many other practical, unglamorous vehicles. It would be easier for them to justify than it would for Ferrari to. Even the FF got complaints for not being enough of a pure sports car. Which is silly. Ferrari made plenty of spacious, rather boxy cars once upon a time. Enzo didn’t like them, but they sold a few and helped pay for his racing.
I used to ride a motorcycle for a while and tried a friends scooter. Yikes! Maybe it’s where we lived with lots of potholes but small wheels give me the willies just thinking what could happen if you hit one. The bigger bikes are so much more forgiving I wouldn’t think of owning or letting my kids have one. Besides, there are no such thing as a minor accident or fender bender with a scooter.