Everytime I bring up the origin of my scooter I get this. I have found that most times it is someone who sells scooters here state side. I don't blame them for trying to get folks to "buy American" but it gets tiring that every time you enter a forum someone has to go into the Indonesian thing. It would be funny if it didn't become so annoying.

Thing is, I agree with him. I wouldn't buy another scooter from Indonesia. I just wish I could get a t-shirt or something that says, "I know, I know, I shouldn't have bought it from Indonesia!"

It's because 99.9% of the bikes from that part of the world are SHIT.
It's like saying you got a sweet deal on a '57 chevy from Cuba. Problem is it's got '72 toyota seats, a front wheel drive Yugo motor bolted into it, and even though from the outside it resembles a '57 chevy, it's got some hand fabricated front fenders on it with an inch of bondo to shape them to look like chevy fenders etc.

Even if it was FREE it's still a bad deal.
You could throw $10,000 at most restorations from that side of the world, and still not be able to bring them up to par.

Please please inform that guy on your page who is looking at that "bolted together out of parts from 8 different models dug out of a junk heap thing" for $2500 from purchasing it. You can buy a SWEET project bike stateside for that much that will need 1/10 the work and money put into it and will actually be worth something when it's finished.

EDIT- If he's got $2500 to throw around for a bike, have him contact me! I've got a sweet FINISHED bike close to that price range.

>> but hey that was still funny.
>
>Everytime I bring up the origin of my scooter I get this. I
>have found that most times it is someone who sells scooters
>here state side. I don't blame them for trying to get folks
>to "buy American" but it gets tiring that every time you
>enter a forum someone has to go into the Indonesian thing.
>It would be funny if it didn't become so annoying.
>
>Thing is, I agree with him. I wouldn't buy another scooter
>from Indonesia. I just wish I could get a t-shirt or
>something that says, "I know, I know, I shouldn't have
>bought it from Indonesia!"

"You want to cripple the bastard? Send him a 130-mph cafe-racer. And include some license plates, he'll think it's a streetbike. He's queer for anything fast."

That is exactly the advice I gave him. Read my response. I told him he would be better off buying stateside.

I'm not asking for help other than just trying to join in the scooter community by asking questions. I've done all the work myself. I appreciate your concern, but when I am constantly having to defend the origin of the bike (which, by the way, is actually Italy as the VIN attests), I never get to talk about the great and fun things about it.

My original post was about getting some positive vibes by collecting some scooter stories. It turns into a "why not to buy Indonesian" discussion. It might have been driven in Asia, but it is still a Vespa.

Also, I didn't know about you, so I couldn't give him the advice to buy from you However, you can feel free to leave him the message yourself by dropping a comment.

They suck, They suck, They suck, They suck, They suck, They suck.

If you are giving even a glimmer of hope to some unsuspescting potential buyer state side you are just feeding into the fraud. If we stop buying them, maybe they will ACTAULLY restore them. I have no problem with Vespas in Indonesia, have a problem with the fraud of saying they are "restored"... etc.... Your job as a victim of this fraud should be to scream from the roof tops:

"They suck, They suck, They suck, They suck, They suck, They suck.!!!!"

consider it therapy.

-Scott

Come to the happy little sidecar place:

http://www.scooter-sidecars.com

_ (_\ / \ `== / /\=,_ ;--==\\ \\o /____//__/__\ @=`(0) (0)

>I have found that most times it is someone who sells scooters here state >side. I don't blame them for trying to get folks to "buy American"

I was replying to that. Which is a false assumption that I'm sick of hearing.

I don't sell scooters, well actually all us scooter folk sell scooters at one time or another, I go through up to a dozen bikes a year between scooters and motorcycles, but not for profit, as a hobby, I'm always looking for a fun new ride. If you know someone who wants to spend close to $3k, though I have a nice Vespa I would sell.

The reason that people dis on those bikes is not because they are trying to sell something else, it's because they are trying to HELP people from making the same mistake you did. But people always assume there has to be some reason for personal gain behind it.

>You stated
>
>>I have found that most times it is someone who sells scooters here state >side. I don't blame them for trying to get folks to "buy American"
>
>I was replying to that. Which is a false assumption that I'm
>sick of hearing.
>
>I don't sell scooters, well actually all us scooter folk
>sell scooters at one time or another, I go through up to a
>dozen bikes a year between scooters and motorcycles, but not
>for profit, as a hobby, I'm always looking for a fun new
>ride. If you know someone who wants to spend close to $3k,
>though I have a nice Vespa I would sell.
>
>The reason that people dis on those bikes is not because
>they are trying to sell something else, it's because they
>are trying to HELP people from making the same mistake you
>did. But people always assume there has to be some reason
>for personal gain behind it.

"You want to cripple the bastard? Send him a 130-mph cafe-racer. And include some license plates, he'll think it's a streetbike. He's queer for anything fast."

Yeah, ok then.

-Scott

Come to the happy little sidecar place:

http://www.scooter-sidecars.com

_ (_\ / \ `== / /\=,_ ;--==\\ \\o /____//__/__\ @=`(0) (0)

Nice of you to put words in my mouth. The love of scooters should cause us to not put down the people who made the mistake and were ripped off but are trying to make the best of it with what they have. Sure, the bums who sell them should be pointed out -- but I'm not selling them, so why take it out on me?

Again, I didn't start this thread to talk about my own bike. I started it because I wanted to participate in the experiences others have had with their own scooters.

I made a mistake, but I'm a big enough boy to admit it and move on. I wish everyone else could!

OK, now that we got that out of the way, the frame seems to be OK. And I'm pit-bull like in my tenacity, and don't like to say when I'm done. I probably should have cut bait on this scooter and I probably will replace the front fork. When I'm done with that, the only part left from Vietnam will be the wires and the frame.

So spray me with buckshot Cheney-style. It's from Vietnam! And hell no vespatude doesn't tell people to buy scooters from Indonesia, and I sure as hell don't tell people to buy scooters from Vietnam,.

The only positive thing I got out of it it I've gone over literally every single nut and bolt on the frame, crached the cases and replaced the shifting cross, checked and/or replaced all cables, replaced tires and tubes, dropped and replaced the motor, twice, now. So I'm a much better Vespa mechanic now, and I know my scooter very well.

I'm a recovering third-world vespa buyer.

And keep coming back, it works!

Okay, he made a mistake which he admits, and I certainly believe that he has (or will) turn it into something safe and ridable. I also don't think he will sell it off to some other unsuspecting dupe before fixing it up.

So REALLY there's no point to my post except to chastise Vespatude for calling his scoot "The smile machine". That's way more annoying.

You are right. That is annoying! But, hey, it does make people smile -- why, I'm smiling even as I type this!

I do not. I loathe them! I just don't trash on poor people who fall prey to them.

>However, if I read some of the posts correctly, Vespatude's
>point of view is if you buy it for the frame and the price
>is right... it's workable.

I stand by that, however, such an arrangement is practically unworkable. If you could buy the entire bike for next to nothing, throw away all the parts from the frame and start over -- it might work. But what SE Asia "restorer" is going to sell you something for next to nothing?

>The reality is people are going to buy these badly rebuilt
>scooters no matter what.

Well, it might help to warn them in a reasonable manner that doesn't give the impression that the posters are just trying to put down the (supposed) lower priced competition. One of the points I try to make with Vespatude is "Hey, look at all the grief I am going through because I went that route. Here is the example of why you don't want to be like me!" At the same time, I do love my scoot, even if it is a pain in the butt.

I agree with you that once someone has bought one of these bikes, the right approach isn't to tell them they are beyond stupid. Nobody wants to hear that - they will decide that you are just biased or crazy and stop listening. Some of these scooters really are unsafe and it's better to give thoughtful advice that might save them from a breakdown or wreck vs. turning them off completely.

But if you told them not to do it and they did it anyway.... it sure feels good to aprise them of their intelligence

BTW, I don't know e personally either, but his posts show that he knows more about vintage scooters than almost anybody else on the bbs. If there's anyone that I would buy a scoot from sight unseen, its him.

Spiny Norman

73 Rally 200
7? P200
78 50 special/ET3

Fist City Scooter Club