Piaggio Picnic Day

On Sunday 29 November 2009, Piaggio Australia organised a 'Piaggio Scooter Run and Picnic' around Perth. The ride was co-ordinated by Ace Scooters, Joondalup and the Perth Scooter Club and was promoted through various websites, scooter forums and by word of mouth. Although it was a Piaggio event, other makes and classic machines were also welcome.

The official ride started at Subiaco oval, ran around the foreshore, along Canning Highway and ended up in South Perth for a picnic. The turnout was excellent with some 50-60 scooters and riders attending. Modern Vespas predominated but there were also a pleasing number of old VBBs and PXs in attendance. It was great to see such a diverse group of scooters on the road at once. Unfortunately, there were roadworks on our chosen route and the group got separated and broke up, but most of the riders eventually made it to South Perth.






Sadly, Shelly and I was amongst the last of the riders to arrive. The Troll decided to be extremely temperamental and broke down twice on the way to Subiaco. Then it stalled repeatedly on the way to South Perth and to top it all off we got lost. Although there were times when I felt like throwing in the towel we finally made it!! And it was worth it. I finally got to meet several people that I know only via the forums and email and we got to talk scooter sh*t.

Of course everyone had helpful suggestions about what was going wrong with the Troll. Let's say it's a problem with a leaking / flooding carburetter (Ivo warned me about that a week ago and I've now ordered the requisite gaskets and seals) and the electrics - the battery is still not charging and I lose all charge when the idle gets low (hence the stall, flood, wait, restart process). To be honest, I undoubtedly contributed to the problem by filling up the tank with some old fuel that has been in the shed for a couple of months. I had meant to run down to the petrol station, but we were running late... yadda yadda. My bad.

The worst thing about arriving late was not getting an opportunity to take more photos. All in all it was great day and I look forward to the next one.

Scooters and Bikes - New beginnings

Today was a day for new beginnings. Firstly, my brother dropped off the Ariel. He had very kindly picked up the bike while we were overseas and had been holding it for me. Today he finally had access to a ute and so bought her over. Although the bike's condition was worse than I had expected she did look rather fabulous. The upper surfaces of all the grey panels are badly surface rusted. They won't buff out. I will eventually get them sand-blasted and repainted. I'm kind of keen to do that myself this time, but we'll have to see. The red areas I intend to keep 'as is.'

The bike was covered in a decades of grime that took several hours to clean it all away. Then, with the shell gleaming about as much as it ever will, I popped in a six volt battery, connected the terminals and switched on the ignition. The ammeter on the dash immediately sprung into life. I turned on the headlight and it worked perfectly. Great! Deep down I wanted to immediately pour in some petrol and give her a crank, but I restrained myself. I'll go over the engine this weekend before I even think about turning her over.

After I had cleaned the bike down I checked under the seat to confirm the engine and chassis number. When I bought the bike I was informed that the chassis number was T286A and the bike had been built in 1961. When I checked with the Ariel Club in the UK they were a little surprised as that number corresponded to the very first batch of Leaders built in 1958. The first 100 numbers were prototypes, test beds and demo bikes with the proper production starting in July 1958 with bike number 101. This means that my bike is the 185th production Leader ever made, making it one of the oldest surviving Leader's known. Unfortunately, the Ariel dispatch records for the period 1958 to 1960 have been lost so I can't confirm who the original owner was and when it was purchased.

So, the plan is - go over the engine, clean and re-oil, clutch and gearbox, check the brakes, flush through the fuel tank and carb, clean the airfilter and then - start her up. Electrically - fix the horn and stop light, install the new indicators I've bought (they aren't original but I'm not really doing a restoration). Finally, replace the tyres, which are badly perished, with the new whitewalls and then send her for inspection. Somewhere in that timeline, if I have the chance and money (hmm, always a problem) I'll see about sanding and repainting the grey panels.

After picking up the Ariel, we loaded the Heinkel and about five large boxes of parts onto the ute and took her around to the Vespa Shop. Ivo and Roberto are now ready to begin the restoration, which was far too big a job for me with my rather basic mechanical skills. I'm happy to put the job in their capable hands. The Heinkel restoration is going to be a big job and I don't expect it will be finished inside six months.


Then I picked up the Troll, which had been in having its horn replaced and some electrical problems looked at. As we were wheeling the beast out of the shop Ivo commented that whenever the Troll is in the shop people always come in and comment. Ivo should be proud of the job they did on the Troll - she looks fantastic. This time, she fired right up on the second kick and the new horn was loud and strong. Then I had a very pleasant ride home in busy peak hour traffic.

This Sunday 29 November, Piaggio Australia is organizing a Vespa riders Christmas BBW at Subiaco Oval followed by a ride through the city. It's the first event of its kind in Perth and I had intended on riding the VBB, but her lack of power always makes me wary when considering rides of any distance. I'll make a decision on the day (maybe I'll do a test run on Saturday?). More likely I'll end up riding the Troll as that way Shelly can come along too. Although it's organized by Piaggio all other scooter makes are welcome. I'll probably be relegated to the rear of the pack with Lambretta riders but that isn't such bad company!