We've all heard the nightmares of "Asian Restorations." Come to think of it I only know ONE person who has a nice and safe Asian restoration.
Although, I must be honest . . . I have family in Vietnam (my wife's family) and I would love to go over there with some money and send her uncle (a local) to pick up an old TV175 S.3 I scouted out and yank the engine and keep the body, etc. (seeing as I have a spare TV motor) and I could make my wife a TV too.
Anyways, back to the point at hand . . . another SS180 restoration blog is alive and well thanx to Scooterchick Sam. A-freakin'men! to see an Asian scooter being saved, especially a VSC.
Please check out her SS180 and the issues she has to overcome. Click on Scooterissmo.
Thank you for the support and kind words Sam. I need the encouragement too.
Please leave comments for Sam and push her on. Lurking is cool, but we bloggers need feedback too.
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1 comment:
Wow, thanks for the kind words Jeremy. I have definately been spurred on by you guys and am looking forward to the day I kick start her back to life and we can add another old Vespa to the "Soul Saved" list.
I have been waving the flag against Asian Restos for a while now and have tried to get the message out there to people to do their homework first. I initially got 'bitten' when I bought a Vespa from a guy in Queensland and it turned out to be an ex import,he had bought it for his daughter who didn't want it, so he sold it,but he is now in the scooter import business full time and has sold many questionable resto's since.
I started to wonder about how many of these classics are sitting in sheds around the country because they are dead or owners just too embarrassed to do anything about it after being 'stung'. At that point they would have spent upwards of $3500 AUD, the scooter, the freight, the crating, the customs fees etc, so the last thing they want to do is "throw good money after bad".Dream over.
This is a tragic turn of events for the history of these old scooters, 'restored to death' as I put it. Scooter shops here won't touch them with a 20 foot pole, not sure what it is like in the US or elsewhere? This means they are in fear of never being fixed and rusting away. The Asian restoration market at first glance may look like it's bringing the old scooters back to life, in actual fact it's working in reverse!
What can we do as scooterists to stop this from happening? I hope that sooner or later the message gets through to people and the market dries up in Asia but before that happens- how many classics will be killed in chop shops all over the region?
I'd like to see a movement of scooterists trying to bring some of these abomiations back from the brink. There are bargains to be had all over the place now due to this trend, if the owners are willing to bite the bullet and just get rid of them as a bad investment, people in the know can help get the soul back, just like I intend doing with this one...*crosses fingers*
:)
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