1998 Italjet Velocifero Rescued

[pinkscoot]

Last week 180°off posted a thread about a Italjet Velocifero for sale near him in South Carolina. He wasn't able to buy it but gave me the contact information. The seller thought I was a nut job willing to travel 3 hours to buy a $200 scooter. He had no idea what he had. He finally agreed so a neighbor and I drove down on Saturday to get it. It is a 1998 Italjet Velocifero with 18 miles on it. The seller said it had new tires but they were the original tires. It was all original and everything was there except a key. It is in amazing shape except for a torn seat and some scratches on the side. The seller bought it 3 years ago and couldn't get it running. He bought it from a guy who was selling for his mother. She had bought it and just drove it on they're farm. She said it stopped running because the fuel valve was turned off. These scoots have a problem with their vacuum petcocks failing. The seller really had no idea what age he had.

I haven't fully researched the history of these scoots but they were imported in the mid to late 90's. It was when Vespa had pulled out of the US market. There are some people that say their success led to Vespa coming back to the US. Who knows what the truth is. Here are some pictures of it:

A view from the front


Side view


The rear





The front leg shield is metal and goes back under the rear, like the Vespa's. The entire back section pulls off as one piece, I'll have more pictures when I get into it. 

Here are some pictures of the cool details:

The CVT and rear fender


The muffler is like new, except for some bird droppings

Nice logo on the grips

In case you don't know what the lever is they tell you its the kick starter

To meet US standards they added a kill switch, just a toggle with decals on it

The milage, The speedo is in just MPH for the US market. The ignition is there but pulled out.

The seat bucket or Helmet holder as they call it is a vinyl lining. The battery is behind the left side.

They manufacturers sticker in perfect shape

The rear, what a sexy ass

The Wall e head lights are the best part.

My plan at the moment is to clean it up and getting it running. It is a classic that I will keep as original as I can. With 10" wheels and drum brakes it would be a bad candidate to be a go fast scooter. Besides I have better candidates for that. It is for just riding around town looking stylish. I am sure it will turn some heads, not as many as me on my pink scoot. Please stay tuned as I get into this project.

[niz76]

Such a cool and rare scoot!

[drc174]

Alright, my first reaction is:

WTF IS THAT?

[birdman]

Very nice!! It has a Morini? Its a perfect candidate for the go fast treatment

[pinkscoot]

Yes it's a Morini, it's number 4 Morini in my garage. The drum brakes and small tires would be pretty scary on a go fast scoot. It would look cool at 45mph.

[niz76]

I'm rockin' drum brakes and 10" tires on a 70mph Vespa! Over 60mph is white knuckle scary though!

[pinkscoot]

There was a guy that did put disk breaks on the front of one.

[greggkinney]

congrats on another score!!! digging that teardrop ass end and the shape of the side plastic as it blends into the cvt cover.

[Senna1Rossi]

holy smokes! cool scoot, and what a deal!!! sheesh

[pinkscoot]

Driving home from Myrtle Beach I went through Charleston to pick up a thermostat housing cover for the Vespa and met George from Scooterpartsco. he came over from the warehouse on his Italjet Dragster 180 to bring the parts. I mentioned my Velo and he then showed me his two, he also has one key for the 2 of them, I didn't try talking him out of it. He said there are a number of them in North Carolina. He is a good guy and a true scooterist, if you need something call and he will help you find it. His prices on Malossi are also very good, when shopping check them out.

Today I'm recovering fro a root canal I had done this morning and tearing the Velo down in my head. I work the next 2 days but I have the weekend to try and get it running. I got a picture of the key, no one had a ruler so here is is on my business card:




It looks a lot like a master padlock key. Any lock guys recognize it?

Edit: No cracks about the fact I work in a theater named after underwear.

[oldgeek]

Cant believe you were in Myrtle Beach and did not hit me up. I am offended, just a bit! Lol.

[pinkscoot]

I was there meeting up with my brother and sister who were on their way back from Orlando. I was only there two days and they had both of them over planned. Myrtle beach is closer than I realized. I may be back by myself for a few days and I'll bring a scooter or 2.

[hamsun]

OMG! Very, very rare and cool scoot!!! Amaising!

[pinkscoot]

Yesterday I got the Vespa running so time to investigate the Velo. I got it on the lift and pulled the battery to charge and its dead and won't take a charge. It also looks to have been around so its time for a new battery. The tires are in good shape but I doubt the tubes are so they will get replaced in the future. I pulled the plastics off, 8 screws and bolts and off it came:

Its really fiberglass and very light. It left this:

Its a pretty heavy frame, the floor boards and leg shield are steel and the frame, just like Vespa. I decided to pull the CVT cover to see whats inside and it was clean enough to eat off of. This is what a new scooter looks like:

I also tested the speedometer and it works. This does have 18 true miles on it. Next I checked out the gas tank, its very clean, oh wait its hardly had any gas run through it. The petcock is a disaster. Someone pulled the vacuum line off of the carb and stuck a screw in the end, but didn't cap the carb. I pulled the screw and fuel came out, I mean liquid that smelled like shellac. I put vacuum to it and nothing. The whole thing is trash. Its like the one on the derbi that the petcock slips into the tank and a clamp holds it in. George from Scooterpartsco told me he carried a Malossi petcock that replaces it so off to order it. The oil in the reservoir looks suspect as well. Tomorrow I'll pull everything including the carb and clean them up and new hoses for everything. I checked the compression and it felt good, couldn't find my gauge but I'm sure its fine.

I took the ignition to a locksmith and they said it was to corroded and beat up to work with. I had an online locksmith tell me he thought it was a ducati key so I did some looking and found a Moto Guzzi parts place that had one that looked like it with 4 wires. I ordered it and took a chance. He also had a gas cap that matched so I'll order that when I have it running. So It looks like the parts are all from other Italian companies I just need to dig for them. I'm off this weekend so between rides on the Vespa I'll get deeper into this scoot.

[hamsun]

You are lucky...