The cover of the upcoming Quadrophenia box set.

The Who have announced that their classic scooter culture album, Quadrophenia is finally getting the deluxe back-catalog treatment and Vespa is joining forces with the band to celebrate.

Vespa will be making a unique, one-off scoot to celebrate the release of the Director’s Cut box set of the album.  The box set, slated for release mid-November, also includes several previously unreleased demos by Pete Townshend including songs that didn’t make the cut for the original album, an eight-track DVD, a hardcover book and various notes, photographs, memorabilia and exclusive content.

The scooter will based on a PX125, complete with “mod-ed” parts such as white-wall tires, chrome bits and multiple mirrors.  The scooter will be given away on The Who’s facebook page.  Good luck!

Also of interest, in the run up to the release, Pete Townshend has begun to open up the archives on the band around the time of the album and subsequent film. You can get a taste of some of the great behind-the-scenes material over at the image gallery at the UK’s Independent newspaper website.

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We love us some Vespa PX here at NYCS Towers. While there is much debate over whether the PX is yet considered a classic scooter it is certainly agreed to be one of the best remaining ways to hop on a geared two-stroke stallion.

While the Europeans are about to hop back on the latest iteration of this bike, here in New York you now have the chance to own a piece of history for yourself.

Today on CraigsList is a very nice looking mint green 1977 PX. The color no doubt a result of a recent rebuild which includes a new 5 port engine (LML perhaps?) with only 500 miles on the clock.

Something is niggling me about why this bike is being sold so soon after a rebuild, with photos (with Photo Bucket icons) clearly not taken within the city limits, so perhaps more so than ever this is a “caveat emptor” purchase, but I certainly hope this is the real deal.

We recommend this bike to a buyer with someone with some familiarity with the P-series, or at least a friend to accompany you to make sure everything is kosher, but on paper this looks to be a very nice buy. The owner even promises to send it to a local shop to have it tuned prior to purchase.

Currently in storage in Manhattan, $2700. Click here for the original post. Let us know if it turns out to be the real deal. Fingers crossed….

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This photo was taken just after restoration but before the disc brake upgrade and rear rack addition.

Regular readers of the site will be familiar with this baby – a 1985 Vespa PX150e – and now it could be yours for $1500.

My move from Brooklyn means no longer having off-street parking and that means I’ve recently spent my weekdays juggling this baby to alternate sides of the street while invariably jumping on the Lambretta for daily tasks.

I’ve come to the conclusion then that the Vesp’ is just not getting the daily love she deserves and as such should go to a good home. My loss is your gain. Let the Vespa/Lambretta flame wars begin.

As has been well documented here at NYCScootering.com, this bike has undergone a whole host of upgrades and restoration during the past 12 months as our project bike for P-series mods and maintenance posts making each one of these wrenching additions less than a year old. The bike has had about $2000 sunk into it during this time on top of the original $1500 for the scooter itself:

• New paint job
• New battery
• New rims
• New tires and tubes
• New front fender
• New front shock
• New cable ‘inners’ and ‘outers’ throughout
• New rear brake shoes
• New headlamp and halogen upgrade
• New bulbs throughout
• New rubber trim throughout
• New floor rails
• Carburetor rebuild
• Regulator replaced
• Chrome rear-rack installed
• New wing mirrors
• Gear oil replaced

And the big one:

• Upgraded to fully hydraulic front disc brake, brake lever, hydraulic hose, and master cylinder. Grimeca disc brake. ScootRS lever.

The bike itself only has 8,000 miles on a replacement LML engine that was installed two or three years back by a previous owner this has since been given a once over and has been regularly maintained.

The bodywork has a couple of dings and scratches since the paint job resulting from daily use, but nothing any self respecting Big Apple commuter wouldn’t have. Starts on first or second kick or on the electric start.

If you’re thinking of “upgrading” to a classic geared Vespa this riding and rally season or even a Stella but didn’t think you could afford the real thing? Then $1500 and it’s yours. Clean title in hand. Email me to learn more and arrange to see the bike. I’m located in the East Village.

Related posts:

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2. Installing a semi-hydraulic disc brake on a P Vespa: Part 1 The front drum brake on vintage Vespas has never been...
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The job is a full day’s work but with patience and the right tools at hand it’s relatively easy. Remember, I already have a disc brake on my front hub, so this was just a matter of hooking it up to a brake line and installing the new brake lever and hydraulic fluid master cylinder in place of the old cable lever.

First, let’s take a look at the ScootRS solution:

The image above shows three of the four combined components that make up the solution (the fourth is below the unit out of site.) Central to the design is a stock Nissin master cylinder (MC) that contain the brake fluid. This is solidly cast by a Japanese brake company with a solid reputation. The unit also includes a threaded recess for a 10mm wing mirror which you will need if you want a throttle-side mirror, given the installation will partially obscure your regular mounting point.

The second part of the set up is where ScootRS comes in with their proprietary cast bracket that bolts to the back of the Nissin MC with two hex bolts. This is designed to plug into your handle-bar and set the brake at the correct angle for use following some cutting to make it fit. Scooterists who are more enterprising than me could make one of these brackets themselves, but it sure is nice to have it ready to go.

The third part of the set up is a cast brake lever that also includes a cast lip that in addition to pumping the master cylinder operates the fourth part of the set up, a small electrical brake switch bolted to the bottom of the MC. The lever is one of my only small niggles with the set up. I found it a little loose for my taste in up and down play on the bolt. Nothing a thin spacer washer won’t resolve.

Here’s a look at the back of the unit, and in particular the ScootRS bracket. The hole on the far-right is designed to accept your existing brake lever pivot bolt. The hole on the left of the bracket is threaded and requires a new hole to be drilled from the underside of your handlebars to help lock the bracket in place. It’s actually a pretty elegant solution because once it’s done it’s not visible from the top of the scooter. In addition, the bracket is angled to cosmetically fit the existing form of the lower headset on your bike.

Again, only one small niggle here, and that is that the unit didn’t come with a bolt and lock washer for the new hole that needs to be drilled. A trip to the hardware store fixed that, but it would have been nice to have it out of the box. Niggles aside, it’s a nice set up, that you’ll see below it works very well on the bike once everything is in place.

On to installation. ScootRS claims on their website that the bracket requires a small cut to the existing headset on your bike. In reality, that’s a little generous. It requires a size-able cut followed by plenty of filing and finishing and a hole for the new bolt. A Dremel is handy to help remove material if you have one but not critical.

At the very least you’ll need a junior hacksaw, a 1/8″ or so drill-bit and a flat file. Fortunately the metal you’ll be working with is relatively soft and once the set up is complete it looks tidy. It took me about three hours to get the cut I wanted, with a snug fit and a clean finish.

When you order from ScootRS they include a link to a web page that gives decent installation instructions including a clear photograph of what will need to be cut. In retrospect, I recommend that like a plastic surgeon, you reference the photograph they provide and use a felt pen to mark on the bike the area you will be cutting away before making an incision.

Here’s the area you’ll be dealing with and the old brake lever removed. I’ve also removed the top of the headset to get more access but all cuts will be made to the visible bottom of the headset only. That existing brake lever pivot hole will be used as one of the securing bolts for the new bracket so hang on to the bolt and nut you removed from the old lever, you’ll be using it again later:

In the photograph below I’ve made the first cuts. The point of no return so to speak. The metal cuts easily along the existing cast lines with a junior hacksaw. Also, thankfully the angles of the cuts you need are easy to get at without contortion. At this point, take it from me, cover the front-end of your scooter with a shop cloth, or plastic. The metal shavings get everywhere. Here, I’m working on the NYC sidewalk – Vietnam style:

In the photograph below you can see the entire area that needs to be removed. It’s partially filed but not yet cleaned up. Some wet and dry paper will help with the final clean-up.

The yellow line marks where I made a mistake, and should have cut for a tidier finish. It’s something I could have avoided if I had marked on the bike with a pen where to cut which is why I mentioned this above. Instead I kept glancing back and forth at the photograph supplied by the ScootRS tech help.

The brake will install fine either way but cutting along the line would have meant a cleaner looking set up from the top. Mistake or no, the job is a matter of repeatedly offering up the bracket to check your cut and fit. In addition to what you can see in the photograph, there’s a decent amount of material inside the recess that needs to be removed where the original cable outer recess sat inside the headset. I used a Dremel to do this but a file works just as well but naturally requires more elbow grease.

You can also see a scratch where I slipped with the file. Obviously I could have done more to protect the paintwork but unless you are super careful, you’re going to need some touch-up paint anyway. Thankfully much of what you see here ends up out of view once the lever is installed.

Here’s another angle of the same area. It took me about three hours to get this cut the way I wanted it using mostly hand tools. Patience is the key here, again some slips with the tools on my part could have been mitigated by covering the paintwork around the work area. No matter, I knew that I have some touch-up paint available so I knew I didn’t have to be anal about nicks or scratches. I’ll buff these out later but for now I’m keen to get this brake installed:

In the photograph below I’m offering up the bracket to the recess so you can see how the bracket is the secret to the ScootRS solution. You can also see my mistake in the cut to the left of the hex-bolt hole on the top of the bracket. No big deal, but learn from my mistake and measure twice, cut once.

The hole on the bracket just peaking out of the left-hand side will naturally line up with the hole on the headset once the bracket is fully inserted and installed. You can also see how the bracket is angled to cosmetically match the front of your bike:

In the next photograph, I’ve fully  installed the bracket and master cylinder. In the top half of the image you can see how the cast bracket fits in the recess I started with the first two hacksaw cuts:

Below, the yellow circle shows the new bolt you need to drill for and install from the bottom of the headset. On the top-left of the photo you can see the nut from the original nut and bolt you save from the old lever set up.

You can also see where the hydraulic hose feeds through into the throttle handlebar along with a wire I installed connecting to the brake switch (more on this in a moment.) I found I needed to remove yet more material from the headset to get the clearance I needed to feed both the wire and hose through, but again, it’s out of sight in the final set-up. I eyeballed where to drill the hole for the bolt, but making a quick paper template is a good idea too.

With the brake and master cylinder in place, it’s time to talk about the hose that will connect the master cylinder to the brake caliper on the front hub.

I ordered a 125cm stainless steel braided hose from ScootRS along with the lever. It’s nice quality and comes with removable banjos at either end – these are the connectors that form an air-tight seal at both the master cylinder and brake caliper. They’re banjo shaped hence the name. Removable banjos aren’t required with your hose, but given you need to feed the hose into the headset and later through the top of your front fender, they allow you to cut smaller holes just big enough to accept the diameter of the hose.

My only complaint with the hose is that while ScootRS recommend it for their disc brake set up, I found it was a centimeter or two just shy of the ideal length for my existing Grimeca set up. This is because the connection point on the Grimeca brake caliper is at the bottom of the front hub. On ScootRS’ own disc brake set up, it’s on the top of the back. My bad, not there’s. In my final installation it’s a little tighter than I’d like but it does have enough flexibility to allow the front wheel to turn without anything catching and that’s key. You may want to measure your set up before ordering a hose, and add a couple of inches to your measurement because a little slack is not a bad thing.

In the image below you can see how the hydraulic hose feeds inside the headset and down the steering column. Note – it feeds down alongside the front fork, not inside it like the old brake cable, although I suppose it could be wrangled to fit. I added some grease to the hose partly to help feed it through, and partly to keep it lubricated as it rubs whenever the steering column is turned as part of daily driving.

The yellow circle above is where I snipped the old front brake light switch that used to be in-line with the old cable set up. With a short length of lamp cord that I bought from Home Depot I extended the wiring out through the handlebar to connect to the switch under the master cylinder. After this photo was taken I used insulation tape to tidy up the job and prevent shorts. Given I just eyeballed the lamp wire as an appropriate gauge, and no less than nothing about electricity it worked a treat.

Below you can see a nice shot of the brake in place. I removed the horn-cast to help feed the hose down along the fork. You can see where it comes out at the bottom of the horn-cast just above the front fender.

And below is where I drilled a hole at the back of the fender to allow the hose to run from the bottom of the horn-cast, through the fender and down to the wheel. You can see the benefit of a removable banjo here. This is is exactly how it feeds through on the Stellas and the later disc brake PXs.

I added a rubber grommet from the hardware store. Unfortunately I found that because the hose is tight, it keeps pulling the grommet out of place. I’m going to revisit this later with a short length of rubber or something. What I’m looking for here is less about cosmetics, and more that in daily driving you don’t want the twist of the front fender to slice through the hose. Bad news.

And here it is hooked up to the existing brake caliper. As you can see in my set up it’s a little tight, but it does have just enough slack so as to not inhibit any turning. I tested this by repeatedly turning the handlebars to make sure nothing was stretching. I angled the banjo at the bottom to help keep the hose away from the tire during daily riding. If you have extra slack you can add a small bracket to do likewise:

With the brake caliper in place, and the hose hooked up all the way from the master cylinder down to the brake caliper on the disc, we’re nearly done. I cleaned everything up; put the headset back together, and installed my old wing mirror in the recess on the Nissin cylinder.

What remains is something of an art: hydraulic brake bleeding. The master cylinder is a reservoir for hydraulic brake fluid (DOT3 or DOT4 compliant) that is compressed by the brake lever, and passes that compression down through the hose to the brake caliper plungers to push the brake pads on to the disc.

I won’t go into brake bleeding here because it’s been demonstrated elsewhere. Basically not only do you need to feed brake fluid into your new set up but you need to expel any air in the system in the process. Air is your enemy because it can be compressed more fully than fluid leading to spongy brakes or, at worst, brakes that do nothing.

Mostly expelling air is a matter of periodically opening the bleed nipple at the brake caliper but I actually found that repeatedly depressing the lever at the headset not only forced brake fluid into the hose and down to the caliper, but also forced air bubbles up and out of the closed system, through the master cylinder reservoir and pop-pop-pop into the New York atmosphere.

It took me about an hour of expelling air and feeding fluid into the system to get a “good brake.” It’s immediately noticeable when it happens, instead of a slack brake lever you begin to get resistance making it harder and harder to depress the lever. A few more pumps got it nice and solid as the last of the air bubbles blew out.

With the brake now operational, all that remained was to refit the top of the master cylinder and take it for a cautious test drive.

The brake works a treat. It’s like night and day compared to the semi-hydraulic set up, and far better than the original drum brake ever was.

That said, If you’ve got a decent drum brake on your bike I say leave it alone. The drum brakes on my Lambretta for example are very good even if they are old technology. But even with new shoes, I couldn’t get any stopping power so I needed to upgrade to a disc. What I can say after going semi-hydraulic and now fully-hydraulic is that yes – as many others have already advised – if you’re going to go to the trouble (and expense) of installing a disc brake don’t do things by half. Go for a fully hydraulic set up.

I’m very pleased with the ScootRS set up. It’s basically a jury-rigged Nissin brake wrangled to fit a Vespa P-series via their bracket. Once installed though it looks tidy and given the amount of Stellas and later Vespa PXs on the streets doesn’t look out of place on my bike. I’m also pleased with their hydraulic hose even if a couple more inches in length would have saved me some headaches. They also included with the order a 2011 calendar of Vietnamese girls draped over various scooters, something that’s hard to complain about.

Some scooterists recommend replacing your lower headset with one from either a Stella or a later PX when you convert to a hydraulic set up. This will give you the mounting holes needed to fit Piaggio’s Grimeca default master cylinder / lever set up if you prefer not to go down the ScootRS route. If you can find one for cheap, either new-old-stock, or an LML part I say go for it, but the ScootRS solution saved me some cash (and a good amount of time) by not needing to replace the lower headset. Plus removing the lower headset requires the removal of a good amount of bolts, cable, and wiring and is a job in itself.

I’m going to get some touch-up paint to finish the job in the next week or so, but for now off to ride, and more importantly to stop…

Related posts:

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The retro-fit PX hydraulic brake from ScootRS. Time will tell, but in theory, following a small incision, this will fit my bike.

Last Spring I took the warmer weather as an opportunity to address the front brakes on my 1985 Vespa PX. At that point, the bike still had its stock drum brakes – a set up that has never had a great reputation for stopping power. Even following new brake shoes, a thorough cleaning of the inside of the hub and a generous greasing of the moving parts, the drum brakes just weren’t giving me a satisfactory (or safe) stop.

It’s no surprise then that later iterations of the PX (and similar scooters like the Stella) moved over to a hydraulic front disc brake solution and in the intervening years a number of after-market manufacturers have provided replacement disc brake solutions for Vespa owners looking for a little more stopping power.

Perhaps the most popular of these was/is the Grimeca disc brake kit, so in May last year with the kit in hand from Germany’s renown SIP Scootershop I spent a morning hooking it up to my bike.

The kit accommodates two set ups. First, what’s known as the semi-hydraulic set up which is the option I went for: The first half of the solution is a brake fluid master cylinder that’s bolted to the front fork to feed the hydraulic disc brake caliper. The second half of the solution (and what makes it semi-hydraulic) is the existing brake cable coming down from the front brake lever, through the steering column and connecting to the master cylinder. The benefit of this set up is that it doesn’t require any modification to the look or operation of your existing handle-bar set up. You pull the lever, this pulls the cable, which pulls the master cylinder actuator which depresses the brake. At least, that’s the theory.

At the time I installed the beast I declared the solution better than the stock brake set up, but not miraculous, which is the general consensus of the wrenching community.

Over the course of the last twelve months however, the stopping power has continued to nose-dive (and not in the right way.) Various wrenching sessions to keep the brake cable as tight as possible following stretching as part of natural riding, and keeping air out of the brake fluid have had me pulling my hair out on a number of occasions.

At the time I decided to plump for the semi-hydraulic set up, more than one experienced scooterist claimed that the semi-hydraulic set up can be, “the worst of both worlds.” Twelve months in, I concur.

After replacing both the cable inner and outer this weekend, and bleeding the brakes I still couldn’t get a decent brake. The problem is further compounded by the fact that my PX has an in-line front brake switch part way along the length of the brake cable which operates the brake light. This switch adds further unnecessary mushiness to the operation. Even by-passing the switch entirely (the DOT would not approve) I could only either get the brakes to lock-on but not get the brake lever to spring to return (dangerous to say the least) or I could get the brake lever nice and springy but the brakes barely braking. I’ve therefore declared mission “Semi” over and have decided to upgrade to the full-hydraulic set-up before attempting any serious riding on the wasp this year.

A full-hydraulic set up (as recommended by experienced scooterists) is the one used by contemporary scooters and motorcycles with disc brakes. A dedicated brake lever at the headset actuates a brake fluid master cylinder. This in turn feeds to the hydraulic brake caliper at the front wheel by way of a hydraulic hose running down alongside (or through) the steering column. Pull the brake lever and you pressurize the hydraulic fluid at the headset and, in turn, all the way down to the brake. No cable. No cable to stretch over time. It’s the set up that all modern Vespas have – be they PX, LX, or otherwise.

Joint owned UK/Vietnamese ScootRS.com out of good old Ho Chi Minh City have a decent reputation for after market parts in a sea of questionable ones. In particular ScootRS have built a solid following for their Lambretta (and later) Vespa disc brake kits. I’ve order two important pieces from their catalog needed to complete my fully-hydraulic set-up: A combination brake lever/master cylinder that’s designed to retro-fit to PX headsets that were never originally designed to accomodate one and a hydraulic hose to connect this to the disc brake caliper already in place on the wheel of my bike.

Providing the parts arrive before the weekend and the weather holds up, with Dremel in hand, I’ll be reporting back in a few days with how the conversion goes. Stay tuned.

Related posts:

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You don’t see too many Bajaj bikes in New York which makes this candidate more than worthy of posting. For those not familiar with the Bajaj scooters, think of them as ans Indian versions of the Stella, which in turn is an Indian incarnation of the famous Vespa PX no longer available here in the US.

The Bajaj line of scooters originally started in the Sixties with a Piaggio license to build bikes based on the then Vespa Sprint. This began to morph around 1980 into a unique design while still maintaining much of the key DNA of a Vespa.

By the time the Bajaj Auto Company first designed the Legend in 2002 it had become very much its own bike. So much so in fact that the Legend has a four-stroke power-plant in line with contemporary Vespa LXs and similar while maintaining a manual shift gear box making it the only manual shift transmission four-stroke scooter on the road in New York at the moment until the much delayed four-stroke Stella hits our shores.

No mention of mileage but the owner has recently given the bike a solid once over and changed the tires. $2000 Midtown East. Click here for the listing. For those interested in learning more about Bajaj scooters, there’s a nice personal retrospective on Bajaj’s role in Indian daily life here.

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As you might have gathered from my last post I took the chance of some sunshine today to prep the bikes ready for the 2011 riding season (although apparently there will be more snow tomorrow.)

Lifting the cover off my PX that’s been sitting on the sidewalk for the past two months or so revealed an nice little present from the meter-maids. While I’d taken the plate off the bike, the issuing officer had evidently gone to the trouble of evidently removing the cover from the bike, cleaning the goop off the VIN plate behind the leg-shield (from some past wrenching I’d done on the bike) and locating the plate number from the VIN on record.

Fortunately, the Lammy parked not three feet away only gives up it’s VIN number to those who know how to get her to give up her secrets, so I don’t have two tickets to my name.

Given I didn’t pay for winter storage this year, while the ticket is annoying, I guess I’ll consider it my Winter 2010/2011 storage fee. That said, given the ticket was issued a day during the worst of the snow, it was wee bit unfair of the officer to write me up given the alternative was to leave my bike on the street under snow and salt and at the mercy of NYC Sanitation Department snow plows.

In the words of the late New Yawker Rodney Dangerfield, I don’t get no respect.

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Exactly twelve months after a top to bottom restoration, my PX is looking a little worse for wear. By my count the bike was knocked over a total of seven times in the past twelve months my parking vehicles.

Both cowls are now badly dented, with the battery side cowl significantly scratched when the bike was not only pushed over but either pushed or dragged along the asphalt.

The engine side cowl hasn’t suffered scratches but has a sizable dent and both left-hand side turn signal lenses are cracked.

The front fender took a number of bashes but thankfully is easy to bend back into shape. In addition to scratches though, the plastic crest that adorns the top of the fender was snapped off in one of the knock downs.

I’ve come to terms with the scratches and dents but let it be a warning to anyone considering parking their newly restored prize on the streets. At least these PXs are built like tanks. The damage is only cosmetic. I replaced the battery this morning after it sat on the trickle charger this winter, and the bike started up on second kick after sitting idle for the past three months. I’ll take my breaks as I can find them.

Photos of the damage below.

The "Fragile" sticker I brought back from Paris has found a use.

A cracked rear turn signal from one of the drops.

Another turn signal lens cracked.

The fender took a beating but bent back into shape, it's missing it's crest though which was snapped off.

At least my bike has dents on both cowls for the balanced look.

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This is one time of the year that even parking on the sidewalk can’t protect you from dents, scratches and all things that go bump in the night.

Yet another use for a front rack you hadn't considered.

I love this little 50cc Honda Spree. It's the only one I know of in New York. And today? It's buried.

This Vespa PX is starting to see the light again.

I took a photo of this Vespa the other week in "Long way from Rome." That was bad. This is worse.

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The 2011 Vespa PX. Still going after thirty-three years.

Rumors of the return of the much loved darling of the scooter world Vespa PX have been around for about as long as, well… as long as there hasn’t been a steady production run of the PX.

This week at Italian two-wheeler show EICMA Piaggio finally confirmed that this time, for once, the rumors are true. It’s hard to believe that a scooter that’s been around since 1977 is still (presumably) an economically viable vehicle for Piaggio, even if admittedly it’s undergone a couple of changes under the bodywork.

No doubt encouraged by strong European sales of the Indian PX clone from LML known here in the US as the Stella, it’s interesting but understandable that Piaggio haven’t used this re-launch opportunity to also follow LML’s latest development and introduce a four-stroke version of the machine, preferring no doubt to let LML take that path and see where it leads them.

Sadly, due to stringent West coast emissions requirements, Piaggio have confirmed that we won’t be seeing the reborn PX here in the States. Given though that we should shortly have the four-stroke Stella on these shores we still have an opportunity to have a PX in all but name here in the USA. The PX catalytic system has been updated to meet Euro 3 emissions laws for the European market proving that somehow two-stroke engines can still cut it in a greener, more eco-friendly world.

Who knows, if four-stroke Stella sales prove strong in the US and around the world, maybe Vespa will finally revisit the PX as a four-stroke machine and keep it on the roads as a current production vehicle for another thirty years.

The new PX will be available in Europe in the first quarter of 2011.

Here’s the press release from Piaggio:

Vespa PX
The Vespa in its most original form, once again takes its place of timeless legend.
Forming the link between the history of the world’s most famous scooter and its future, the Vespa PX is back with a choice of its most classic engine sizes.

Incomparable style, an engine which respects the most severe emissions standards and the classic four gear transmission make Vespa PX unmistakable and unique.

There has only ever been one Vespa.
The seventeen million examples of the Vespa sold across the globe since 1946 have brought together people of different languages and cultures, and have turned the dreams and desire for freedom of entire generations of young people into reality.
The Vespa has been an integral part of our history and a unique phenomenon in the history of popular culture: it was the vehicle that brought personal mobility to Europe in the post-war Europe. It saw younger generations take different sides with their Vespas and Lambrettas, or as Mods and Rockers. It embodied music, rebellion, romanticism and escapism. It represented the promise of freedom for all. It is the symbol of the era of the “Dolce Vita”. It played a leading role in the ‘revolution of thought’ brought to fruition by the young generations of the 1960s and ’70s. It welcomed the arrival of Rock’n Roll in Europe and was still here to see the advent of the MTV generation and digital music. And it will continue to go on.

Thirty-three years on the world’s roads.
2010 is the thirty-third anniversary of the launch of the Vespa PX, a milestone that very few vehicles – let alone a two wheeler – can claim to have achieved.
Making this achievement all the more extraordinary is the sheer popularity of this classic: with over 3,000,000 examples sold in every continent.
The majority of the examples built and sold are still running in countries all over the world – a testimony not only to the proverbial robustness and reliability of the scooter, but also to the deep affection that binds every Vespa and its owner.
In the current Vespa range, the PX is the only model which offers the four gear transmission on the handlebar: a true “must” for enthusiasts, together with an unmistakable design which goes beyond all fashion.

The legend lives on: revised technical content and style.
Essential lines, elegantly minimalist: Vespa PX maintains all of the classic strong points which determined its success for more than three decades: unmistakable style, functionality and user-friendliness, the legendary sturdiness of a steel bodyshell, the reliability of a simple and indestructible engine and the possibility (whether as a functional feature or just because you like it) of fitting a spare wheel.

Without indulging in retro style for its own sake, the design of the instrument panel of the Vespa PX is instantly recognisable as timeless, with its immediately clear instrumentation. The speedometer, with dual Km/h and mph scales, and the fuel gauge are lit with a neutral coloured light that is in perfect harmony with the purity of the design. The array of indicator and warning lights includes indicators for the lights, full beam, turn signals and fuel reserve.

A new saddle for the Vespa PX: with all-new design and upholstery. The proverbial comfort and space that have always distinguished the Vespa PX as the touring scooter par excellence have actually been improved. Ideal for two-up riding, the saddle accommodates riders of all statures, offering unparalleled comfort and vehicle control.
The headlight, with a state of the art complex surface reflector and halogen bulb, creates a powerful beam for ideal visibility and constitutes a vital contribution in terms of active safety.

The taillight has always been a signature feature of each and every Vespa model. From the small, round taillight of the legendary 1946 98cc to the headlight in two distinct elements and chrome parts which embellished the 1962 125cc, to the Primavera ET3′s boxy design which was so typically “70′s”. Vespa PX rediscovers soft lines for the taillight which combine with a classic and elegant chrome edge. The component, with a red lens, also includes the brake light and license plate light.

The turn indicators on the Vespa PX feature an orange bulb behind a clear plastic outer lens. A combination which recalls the elegance of the numerous chrome details, enhancing the purity of the Vespa lines.
The new hand grips in black rubber are elegantly branded with the Vespa logo and complemented by the chrome taillight.
The classic Vespa logo also enhances the new central tunnel cover, now refined by an elegant edge in glazed material.

The new grille cites the style of some of the greatest classics in Vespa history.
The Vespa has always been distinguished by a unibody construction – an exclusive feature that has always set the Vespa apart from any other scooter. The PX remains true to this construction solution which, in addition to giving the scooter a classic flavour, also ensures superior stiffness and precision.
The link arm front suspension – a technical solution that is an intrinsic part of the Vespa character – works in conjunction with a coil spring and a dual action hydraulic shock absorber.
At the rear, the suspension components are linked to the engine-transmission case, which also does duty as the swingarm. The 10″ wheels are shod with 3.50” tyres.

The 200 mm stainless steel front disc brake is complemented by a powerful and reliable 150 mm drum brake at the rear for perfect modulability.

The 125 and 150 cc single-cylinder, two-stroke engines with forced air cooling feature CDI electronic injection and both electric and kick starters. After all, how can anyone think of the most classic of the Vespa models without the fantastic kick start pedal crank?
Thanks to the use of a new catalytic converter designed to lower polluting emissions, both of the Vespa PX models comply with the most severe and modern Euro3 standards.
The PX comes with a four speed manual gearbox: choosing the PX means choosing total riding pleasure.

Vespa PX 125/150: Technical specifications

Engine: 2-stroke single cylinder
Engine capacity: PX 125: 123 cc, PX 150: 150 cc
Bore: PX 125: 52.5 mm, PX 150: 57.8 mm
Stroke: 57 mm
Fuel: Unleaded petrol, min 95 RON
Induction: Rotary valve induction in crankcase
Ignition: CDI electronic ignition
Starter: Electrical and kick starter
Lubrication: Automatic mixer
Cooling system: Forced air
Gearbox: Four speed manual
Load bearing structure: Steel body
Front suspension: Link arm with coil spring and dual action hydraulic shock absorber
Rear suspension: Engine-transmission case serving as swingarm, dual action shock absorber
Front brake: 200 mm stainless steel disc
Rear brake: 150 mm drum
Front wheel rim: 2.10 – 10”
Rear wheel rim: 2.10 – 10”
Front tyre: 3.50” – 10”
Rear tyre: 3.50” – 10”
Length: 1,810 mm
Width: 740 mm
Wheelbase: 1,260 mm
Seat height: 810 mm
Dry weight: 97 kg
Fuel tank capacity: 8 litres
Emissions compliance: Euro 3

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