1972 150 vespa Sprint: front break set up.

[mancpete]

Hello lovely knowledgeable people. I was just wondering if there was anyway I could improve the front breaking system on my 150 sprint without loosing too much of the original look? The current set up is very weak breaking, nose dive ( like a pogo stick) and a bit of judder. Back break is ok. front is rubbish. 

Thanks in advance 
Pete 

[gpowell]

While the older set up is not great, hence the px improvement, it should still be smooth and effective.

Do some basic checks first

1. Check forks are tight.
2. Check steering bearings are working smoothly and are tight.
3. Hub check and internal inspection check bearings, cam, brake shoes etc. 4. Check inner and outer cable

If you have no history, i would bite the bullet and do a full front overhaul... take forks out, new steering bearings, fit new damper and spring, rebuild hub, new shoes and front brake cable

Peace if mind.

Vespajets have a range if standard and up rated. Decent standard would suffuce

Is something you woukd do yourself?

[ironsloth]

Check the drum to see if it has gone oval, also how long has the pads been in? They could have glazed over, if they have been in a long time.

[doctorbob]

Hello, 
I would also be interested in any advice here. Im refurbishing an old GTR, which i think is a similar set up. Before I stripped down the forks it was nose diving like hell. I have been looking around and I saw that SIP do some dampers and springs that are the same in looks, but more modern. You can choose the stuffiness. They also do some higher performance brakes, which I have not yet tested, but looks like they work better. Its not going to be disc, but probably better than what you have. 

Cheers

[adrian]

On my 1970 sprint veloce I have px forks shortened and better shock absorber, you could do this with or without the disk . Px forks with drum brake are cheap and easy to come by , just need to shorten them so the front doesn't sit higher, but I have seen them fitted without shortening and looks OK

[pab]

Posted in error!!