carrying on my dads dream

[jw93]

hey, new member.
 27, im from kent.

was always a dream for me and my dad both to get scooters and ride around the UK / Europe. sadly he passed away a few years ago.
i've finally found the time to get my first vespa, and here to learn from others, and enjoy the community of classic scooter riders.

i had a few questions if thats cool?

- where does everyone look for vespa's for sale? i look at the obvious places, ebay, gumtree, facebook market place etc. was just wondering if im missing anywhere?

- has anyone had any experience in exporting? or is it best to search in the UK? 

- can anyone recommend any books/websites on vespa engines or somewhere that has good learning resources?

buzzing to get stuck in !!!

(my budget for a scoot is 1500-2k, been looking at the PX125/200)

Thanks for reading. 



“What mental health needs is more sunlight, more candor, and more unashamed conversation.”

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[adrian]

Welcome to the forum 👋👋👋 if you have a look around the forum you will find all the answers to your questions

[adrian]

I can recommend vespajets, they have an Ebay shop and if you Google them they also sell off of Ebay. You should be able to get a px from £1000 upwards, try local scooter clubs for a scooter and see where they get parts local to you

[frank64]

Hello and welcome to the forum.
Good luck with everything - I certainly find riding my scoot the perfect mental health tonic

Like you, I'm new to Vespa as I've always owned Lambrettas to date.
But I'm working on a GS160 restoration at the minute so am learning loads about Vespas now.

To answer some of your points:

1. There are still some reputable dealers who have a regular stock of scooters.
The nearest to you is probably Retrospective Scooters www.retrospectivescooters.com/vintage-scooters-for-sale
Niall is the owner and a really decent bloke who knows loads about Vespas - and gets some nice PX range scoots through his shop.
DiscoDez www.discodezscooters.co.uk/home is also a smashing guy - he'll help with engine stuff and parts.
His knowledge of early Vespas is pretty strong and he occasionally gets PX's in good nick through his shop.
Ron Daley is at the pricey end of scooting - know for their Special Editions.
www.rondaleyscooters.co.uk/scooters/vespa-scooters.html



2. I would also recommend staying away from importing anything.
There are so many very bad scooters imported from Vietnam and the Far East.
They are botch-jobs which will cost a lot more in the end - and sometimes are death-traps.
There are so many websites showing perfect photos of restorations of rare scooters.
I believe in the saying that 'if it's too good to be true - it usually is !!!" avoid at all costs.

3. You'll find loads of advice on here and online when you get your scoot.
Engine rebuilds and all stuff like that - the forum members will help with.
And there's stuff like this that will help too vespamaintenance.com/engine/teardown/index.html

[frank64]

I'd also be careful of ebay and the rest.
Vespas have a different frame to Lambrettas, and are renowned for rust in the frame.
I've seen loads of early PX's that are just rust buckets with a spray job.
Again the costs and time spent fixing this will put you off scooting for life
It might be best to spent just a little bit more in the first instance through a reputable dealer.

Hope all this helps.
And you can get a scoot, get on the road and honour your Dad's memory.
Good luck mate

[ironsloth]

Hi and welcome. If you’re new, avoid importing and buy one from over here. As said above, can get a fairly decent little runner for £1/£1500

www.carandclassic.co.uk/classic_cars.php?mb=1&page=2&category=15&make=653&keyword=&year_from=&year_to=&type=&min_price=&max_price=&country=®ion=

Try this website too. Make sure the filter is on UK.

[jw93]

Thanks for all the replies. Appreciate it