News
01 May, 2007Karen from LA Talks about her Vespa Buying Experience from Vespa
Karen is a retired executive from Los angeles who bought a 50's Acma from us on Ebay but found it difficult to kick start the scooter and asked us to change her scooter to a new electric start scooter for her. We took care of selling her for her and custom built a new scooter for her including the electic start and 12 volt upgrade whch made it easier for her to start. I want to share her letter to tell the story about the day she picked up the scooter. My brother, wife and I visited her at her home in Los Angeles and she is a great lady.
"Woke up Friday morning and it was raining.
Not unusual this year in Southern California. But it's fraught with danger in my wonderful Hollywood Hills home. And, it was pick-up day. I had planned Metro rail run to Long Beach Customs office. Meet-up with Bret and the scooter trailer rig. Pick-up at the freight office. And a triumphant trip to home and hearth with a new and tricked up beauty that had been well considered, well built and lovingly tended by the Johnson Brothers.
But dare I leave the house?
I flooded out in 1977 because, as a new homeowner, I didn't know how the house drainage worked. Many years of upgrades and three tons of rubble retaining walls in my back yard gave me a sense of security that was washed away in this January's rain. The water, cascading down the hill from the homes above, pooled at my mid-level. Not a problem when the drains are running free around the house perimeter and down to the street. But it was completely plugged with silt and leaves that even two midnight visits from Roto Rooter didn't budge.
Dried out from the January floods. (Lindsey, picture where you were sitting at the dinning room table sipping your Cabernet and looking down to see your feet in 4 inches of muddy water!) Rotoed the drain again, bought a sump pump and prepared for the next deluge.
February. Not quite as hard as the January rains, but I literally was on watch every half-hour to make sure that the sump pump wasn't clogged and the mid-level was free of water build-up. Of course, the drain plugged again (or was it ever cleared in the first or second place?) and at 3 o'clock one morning, the water came gushing down the hill so hard that it overwhelmed the pump. I was calf deep in water that was licking at the sandbags intent on forcing it's way into the bedroom through the sliding doors. Called a neighbor. He rushed over with his pump (that I had used the first rains). Finally, with two pumps sucking away, the water level went down and yielded to my superior powers of pump. And, with a continuing power supply, i could stay just a step ahead of another in-house flood. When it was dry, I had the drain reamed out yet again and thought that we had finally gotten rid of the clog and that it would now run free. But who knew? And it was raining again!
Got a grip on my nerves and decided to go-for-it! Another neighbor drove me through the rainstorm to the Metro station at Universal Studios. Red Line Train clean, easy and on-time. Quick trip to LA. Precision transfer to Blue Line headed for Long Beach. The fare? 90cents total! That's for Senior or disables...take your pick...$1.80 otherwise.
Short block walk to Customs. Greeted like long-lost sister. Brief consultation with superiors and they whipped out a big red and quite official seal. Whap! Whap! Whap! All papers certified and scooter released! (Thank you Lindsey, you made it happen!). Met up with Bret and we were off to the shipping company in Compton.
Big operation. Dwarfed by 18 wheelers. But, knowledgeable clerks took us newbie's under her wing. Paid my final fees plus $25 for their on-site uncrating. Fork lifted the crate to Bret's car and wrenched away the excellent construction and gingerly unveiled the bike. Almost felt like the butterfly finally emerging from the chrysalis. Made my heart stop. And the commotion and sparkle drew almost every employee, fork lift operator and customer to our little corner of the world to whistle, admire and ask a thousand questions. The Vespa was the star!
Effortlessly loaded bike onto 'Joe Haule' rig. Strapped it down tightly and we were off.
Still a gray day, but from the smiles on our faces, we didn't notice. Directly home to the polishing cloths and rags. It really is a beauty. Arrived without a scratch. Off-loaded it and started the prep to give it life. Check the trans fluid. Gassed it up with proper gas/oil mixture. Leaned it to the right a bit to lubricate. Gave it a kick and (6 or 7 kicks later) it caught and came to life. Beautiful sound. Clear and resonant. Exhaust smoke cleared somewhat and Bret jumped on and took it for it's first spin on my street. Sure looked sharp. He pronounced it a keeper!
Battery dead as Kirby had suggested it might be. Off to a wonderful lunch at DonCuco's and then to NoHo scooters for a replacement battery and new black rubber feet...don't like the clear ones that came with. Back to the house. Inserted battery. Hit the starter button. And whammo! Started up on first try. I declared it a keeper! Was kinda puddlie and wet outside and I forever have pledged not to drive in damp weather, so I haven't had my way with it yet, but am truly looking forward to it.
1.) It's a real beauty and it runs! and...
2.) Drain is running freely and rain has been conquered; 3.) I received the greatest kindness and consideration from the Johnson boys.
3.) Wes perfectly handled the pick-up and shipping of Scooter #1. What more can I ask?
4.) As soon as it's dry, I will do my DMV deal and make it all legit. I have that 'how-to' down cold, so I should emerge triumphant on the first try. Next steps? Maybe some question and ...pictures!
Thanks for everything, you all. You are my heroes!...KB"texttext
RESTORED SCOOTERS FROM ASIA
RESTORED SCOOTERS FROM ASIA
I am writing this article to talk about vintage scooter coming from Asia. I have read many not so nice articles, forum chats and internet statements written about scooter from Asia. I agree there is some junk out there and in most cases what has happened is some one buys a vintage scooter from say a Vietnam internet site who does not know anything about scooters. I agree many people who buy scooters from Indonesia or Vietnam and allow all the decisions regarding the restoration to be made by the local shop. This is the biggest cause of the problems. In order to understand why this causes problems you need to understand the local country and people.
It is not that these people try to cheat you (At least most of them), the problem comes from what the local market expectations are versus what the western expectations are. In Vietnam most people do not have cars but they do have scooters. They use these scooters for everything from transporting what they buy at the market to delivering refrigerators and TV’s. Many times entire families riding on the family scooter. Local shops build the scooters with the local riders in mind. This means that labor is inexpensive and if there are any problems then repairs are no problems. They do not understand if the scooters are shipped overseas and there is even a minor problem the labor rates are expensive. if you are a local person or live in the country and tell these shops exactly what things need to be replaced and how to do the restorations and double check these you can take advantage of the low labor rates and vast number is vintage scooters which are becoming increasingly scarce to find worldwide.
We stand behind our scooters and will do what is takes to make the customers happy. We have sold many scooters all over the world and have on a very few occasions had a customer unhappy with something like damage occurred during shipping or a problem that occurred after driving for a while. The difference is we take care of the problems to the customer’s satisfaction.
I will tell you the story of older lady customer in Los Angeles CA. We shipped several scooters to the US and sold one on Ebay. The scooter was a maroon colored ACMA. This customer had cancer and was undergoing Chemotherapy and had trouble kick starting the scooter. We had just finished adding the electric start and she asked me to take back the scooter we sold her and custom build her another which had the electric start. We arranged to sell her scooter for her and built her the new one. She really loved it and went on long rides with it. My wife and I visited her in Los Angeles and took her to dinner. She was very happy and the electric start made it easy for her to ride the scooter and enjoy it more. In fact she read many articles about scooters coming from Asia and advised me to write an article talking about these scooters. I tell customers if there are hesitant then it is best to buy a scooter from a local company. I understand why people are hesitant buying from somewhere far away and this is a decision you will need to make. If someone wants a vintage scooter the local shops do not have many and if they do have them, they are very expensive and not many to choose from.
If you have any questions please let me know.
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Summer Sale on all Scooters in Stock in The US
We are now allowing customers to make all offers on scooter we have in stock in the US. Please look at Scooter for sale under each location to pick the closest to you.
Make an offer and maybe you will be the lucky one to get a great restored classic scooter.
ALL OFFERS CONSIDERED!
Make us an offer and if accepted we will notify you within a short time. Please note only bank transfer payments accepted for scooter in stock.
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High Gas prices we have the answer, VESPA SCOOTERS
Wow, gas prices are exploding so this is the perfect time to get your economical scooter. We have everything ready to go from 4 stroke full automatic Scooters to the classic 2 stroke original fully restored Vespa Scooters.
This is the perfect time to get your scooter and have fun while you save gas for you’re around town driving. Call or email us today to get your dream scooter.
We have local Distrubutor in New Zealand
We are pleased to announce all New Zealand orders will be directed to our local distributor. Vespaking (NZ) is a full service local sales distributor. Please see below for a description of products and services. Please contact then directly for sales, service, products, and rentals.
VespaKing (NZ) Limited
P.O.Box 4232
Marewa
Napier
Ph ++ 64 274526827
Fax ++ 64 6 8352098
email address markandpip@xtra.co.nz
VespaKing (NZ) can include full after sales service/repairs. We have range of handbooks and reference material, and will do lease, rental and hire purchase. We will do buybacks and specialist restorations or parts location service. We deliver in NZ,
Contact Mark Luscombe
Own a Piece of Vietnam Hostory - THIS MILITARY JEEP SAW ACTION I
We have been working on these for some time. Now we offer the finest restored M151A Jeeps. Ground up restoration, every bolt has been replaced. This is a new Jeep, with the power of the military. They called these the silent panthers, they are so quiet.
