Vespa 2018 Sprint 50 I just couldn't pass it up
Jan 22, 2021 21:01:21 GMT -5
190mech, aeroxbud, and 3 more like this
Post by pinkscoot on Jan 22, 2021 21:01:21 GMT -5
I have been really good about buying new projects. The last one was 2 years ago and an Aprilia SR50 that I got dirt cheap. I have at least taken the advice of a very smart scooter guy and stayed with one platform so things can be interchanged and you can deepen your knowledge of those engines. The Piggy bikes do have a lot of interchangeable parts so you don't make the same mistake too many times. I also don't see project bikes pop up often and I tend to jump on them. There were the back to back LX50 and S50 but I knew my neighbor David would want the LX50 so that wasn't any big deal and the S50 is a legendary 4T 4 valve go fast 50 scoot. so that was justified.
After that long justification I came across a Vespa 2018 Sprint 50 2 hours away. I watched it and watched it and emailed him and a week later he responded to call him. I Called on Tuesday and talked to him about it. He said he had gotten it for a friend that didn't want it, he made it sound like a recent purchase. The pictures made it look like a basket case and he said that's how he got it. That for $100 he could have it running he just didn't have the time and he had better projects. He wanted $350 for it and looking at the pictures I knew the wheels and plastics that were still good were easily worth that. He said he never had it running. He said it was 4 valve so I did some research and low and behold it was an early 2018 and they did have the same engine as the S50 4 valve engine, sort of. Because it had 12"wheels the case was just a little longer. But the top end is all the same, takes the same 80cc kit as the S50. He said the valves were all screwed up and that he lost 1 of the springs. So lets get to the scooter porn. These are the pictures he had on CL:
It looks like a basket case, but I had no idea. As I said he led me to believe this is how it was when he bought it. No the engine was installed and it had some sort of intake mounted with studs not bolts. He said it wouldn't start so he started getting into it and pulled the head and valves and saw that the edges on the intake valves were sharp and thought that that was why it wouldn't start so he walked away. he also pulled the Chinese carb but couldn't figure out how the OEM one mounted on the studs. I know he has a clue because he had lots of motors around for lawnmowers and he had a Cushman scooter there that was running. He said he had owned a Chinese 150 scoot so he probably had a clue but just gave up. I talked him down to $300 starting at $250. He went inside and brought out the Bill of Sale from the original purchase from the dealer dated May 2018 and his Bill of Sale dated December 2018. I pointed out he had owned it for 2 years and he was befuddled he thought it had been 6 months. So We agreed on a price and did the paper work and I loaded it up and headed home. Without the motor on it I wasn't sure the best way to haul it so I put an old sleeping bag in the bed of the truck with a pillow on packing blanket. It still had gas but it smelled bad and wan't full so we laid it on the side that most of the tank was on. The plastics and loose parts went into the back seat and off I went Here are some pictures of it loaded:
So what to do. I do have the head and cylinder kit on the S50 that would probably happily go on this engine. As well as the Multivar. The up gears don't match up so I'll leave that alone for now. The larger cylinder would be better on this scooter with it's 12 inch wheels, it wouldn't be as sketchy at 50mph. My big question is can I reuse the base and head gasket? The head gasket looks like its in good shape but I haven't seen the base gasket. Maybe when I get to it I'll decide.
Here are pictures of the rest of the parts:
Thank you for reading through the post.
After that long justification I came across a Vespa 2018 Sprint 50 2 hours away. I watched it and watched it and emailed him and a week later he responded to call him. I Called on Tuesday and talked to him about it. He said he had gotten it for a friend that didn't want it, he made it sound like a recent purchase. The pictures made it look like a basket case and he said that's how he got it. That for $100 he could have it running he just didn't have the time and he had better projects. He wanted $350 for it and looking at the pictures I knew the wheels and plastics that were still good were easily worth that. He said he never had it running. He said it was 4 valve so I did some research and low and behold it was an early 2018 and they did have the same engine as the S50 4 valve engine, sort of. Because it had 12"wheels the case was just a little longer. But the top end is all the same, takes the same 80cc kit as the S50. He said the valves were all screwed up and that he lost 1 of the springs. So lets get to the scooter porn. These are the pictures he had on CL:
It looks like a basket case, but I had no idea. As I said he led me to believe this is how it was when he bought it. No the engine was installed and it had some sort of intake mounted with studs not bolts. He said it wouldn't start so he started getting into it and pulled the head and valves and saw that the edges on the intake valves were sharp and thought that that was why it wouldn't start so he walked away. he also pulled the Chinese carb but couldn't figure out how the OEM one mounted on the studs. I know he has a clue because he had lots of motors around for lawnmowers and he had a Cushman scooter there that was running. He said he had owned a Chinese 150 scoot so he probably had a clue but just gave up. I talked him down to $300 starting at $250. He went inside and brought out the Bill of Sale from the original purchase from the dealer dated May 2018 and his Bill of Sale dated December 2018. I pointed out he had owned it for 2 years and he was befuddled he thought it had been 6 months. So We agreed on a price and did the paper work and I loaded it up and headed home. Without the motor on it I wasn't sure the best way to haul it so I put an old sleeping bag in the bed of the truck with a pillow on packing blanket. It still had gas but it smelled bad and wan't full so we laid it on the side that most of the tank was on. The plastics and loose parts went into the back seat and off I went Here are some pictures of it loaded:
So what to do. I do have the head and cylinder kit on the S50 that would probably happily go on this engine. As well as the Multivar. The up gears don't match up so I'll leave that alone for now. The larger cylinder would be better on this scooter with it's 12 inch wheels, it wouldn't be as sketchy at 50mph. My big question is can I reuse the base and head gasket? The head gasket looks like its in good shape but I haven't seen the base gasket. Maybe when I get to it I'll decide.
Here are pictures of the rest of the parts:
Thank you for reading through the post.
