After having the flywheel separate on me and having to push the scooter home (and realizing in the process I really AM 50 years old) and getting it fixed (again under warranty), I began riding in earnest again. Until this last Tuesday morning. I took off for work, went a few yards down the road, tried to shift into second and a shift cable broke. CRAP! So, I pushed it home, grabbed the car and went to work. After work, I went over to Prescott to the dealer and got two shift cables (one to carry as a spare) and a spare clutch cable. Fifteen minutes after I got home the cable was in an everything was fine. Zipped out to Sedona to take some warmer clothes to my wife who had ridden her Helix to work and had failed to account for the daily onset of darkness and cooler temps. Any excuse for a ride....
That very afternoon, a scooterist friend of mine, Jim Chapman, brought by a whole boxful of Vespa 125 engine parts...cases, cranks, bearings, a newly honed barrel and head, etc. I told him thanks, but I still didn't have the money needed to get that Allstate. He tossed me a hundred dollar bill and said, "go get it...pay me back when you can". I called Ron (the guy with the Allstate) and he brought it right over. I asked him all the pertinant questions; what year, how big is the engine, what model. His answer was always the same; "I dunno."
So I found the model number from it and got on the internet to check out what I had. It is a 1966 Vespa Allstate (marketed by Sears) 125 cc. Apparently, this was the last year the Vespa Allstate was marketed and they also had a 150cc model that year (only). Mine is one of the few small-frame Vespas marketed with 10-inch instead of 8-inch wheels and a 4-speed instead of three. It is basically a rebadged Vespa Primavera with a tailight and badging unique to the Allstate. Bonus! The tailight lense is still in perfect shape! Anyway, this is one of the rarest and most desirable of the Vespa scooters (from what I've heard...). So this was a score for a hundred bucks.
It is totally complete except for the engine "door", but those are under $30.00 from Scooterworks. The seat is complete (minus upholstery) and there is even a little air in the front tire. And it's been sitting for 24 years! The engine needs rebuilt, of course, but it is complete down to the wiring and carburation and is even free! I was sure it'd be stuck, but no... The headlight is still there and the bulbs are still in all the lights. A serious barn find! There is some surface rust and a bunch of dents, but no cancer, so the frame is good to go, too.
I rub my hands together in anxious anticipation...
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