The Vespa U from Paraguay

The wonderful world of Internet. Suddenly I got in contact with the man who sold the Vespa 125 U in Paraguay this February. He is living in Paraguay and known for finding old scooters. And he was kind enough to send me more pictures of it.
This Vespa U was once owned by a catholic priest who used it regularly.
It appeared to be complete and "almost" driveable.
The fork and the front fender are not the original ones for a Vespa U.
The handlebar has been chromed sometimes, should be painted on an Utilitaria. And the saddle springs had a conical shape when the Vespa in 1953 left the Piaggio factory in Pontedera.
The tail light here is also from another vehicle and the alloy floorboards without rubber are missing, just like my own Utilitaria's. When I only had the picture from the advert it seemed like the gas tank was missing, well it's there. Altough with a non-original filler cap.
The Vespa U was sold to a serious Vespista living on the same continent.
The pictures of this U taken in daylight reveals that it has a similar colour to my own U, light blue. I guess that's accurate, compared to the pictures taken indoors where it appears to be almost white. I think it's funny that two people with more than an ocean between them, for a repaint choose so similar colours!

The last ride on the Vespa U

We're entering the big darkness here in Sweden. The big cold as well. Not much hope for decent temperatures for about six months. Maybe next April will be warm and sunny, then we hibernate for only five months...
Today I took a last ride on my Lambretta 150D and my Vespa 125 U for this year. Emptying the fuel tanks while enjoying myself. My son's Vespa 50R was also put away for the winter. The 160 GS, not driven this year, is at the far right below.

Even tried on my "new" pillion seat, the one bought at the Imola fair. Not sure if it turned out well...colourwise I mean.

Testing of a Vespa U

Vespa 125 U, 1953.

Nice scooter! Sorry 'bout the bloke...
Picture taken last year during overhaul of newly discovered and purchased Vespa 125 U.
Note cramped left hand trying to make silent gearchange.

Due Utilitaria, una con sidecar

The left Vespa 125 U, with sidecar, is restored to original.

Went home to my friend Patrik today. He has a Vespa 125 U with an original sidecar from Piaggio. Both were restored by him during the winter 2009/2010. He choose to have them resprayed in the original light green colour of Vespa U. About the time he was finished, my 125 U showed up.
We thought it would be cool to have a picture of them together.
Yes, I would like a sidecar too. But not on my U, it's slow enough!

My 125 Utilitaria in a arty fashion...

The capital covered in smoke?

A little service was the task today. On the upcoming Saturday it's "The Scooter Premiere" in Stockholm, arranged by Svenska Scooterklubben. All kind of scooters are welcome, but mostly Vespa and Lambretta show up. On a sunny day round about 100 scooters participate.

My Vespa 125 U needed reboring, the grooves for the screw that holds the Abarth silencer was severely damaged. My friend Jim, il mago duetempi (the twostroke magician) helped me out. A little service was needed on the clutch of my son's Vespa 50.

Oggi un po di servizio su Vespa U 125 e Vespa 50.

Sweden is a beautiful country. Svezia e un bel paese.

A Vespa U rides again!

After the engine was overhauled my friend Jim and I rectified som dents and cracks on the body. The steering column was fitted with new balls, a tricky task. The light switch worked after some contact lubricant was sprayed on. I didn't dare to dismantle it! They are so delicate.
The Abarth silencer was mounted and a brand new saddle cover from Mauro Pascoli was fitted (the U saddle is smaller than other Vespa saddles).
Some petrol and, hey, it fired up at the fourth attempt. The neighbourhood was covered in twostroke-smoke as the old engine coughed! A succesful launch, all credit goes to my friend Jim. A true wizard!
The first ride was marvelous besides the 55+ old tires of the Swedish make "Trelleborg". They were later replaced by new Michelin S-83, big difference...


La prima volta in una Vespa U! Meravigliosa!
Il colore non originale nessun problema. Lo vedo come un omaggio al vecchio proprietario. Una completa ristrutturazione è stata intrapresa da diversi anni.

Tanti grazie al mio amico Jim, un mago di duetempi!

Some welding necessary due to cracks in the front shield. Mio amico Jim!

Yes, of course I fitted the Abarth-silencer. No accessories on the wall!

Here you can see the original light green colour of a Vespa Utiliaria.

The former owner had a extra bicycle lamp on the front fender. I won't!

Brand new saddle cover.

I get a kick out of U...sorry!

Happy! Even without the left side cowl. Felice, senza sinistra cofano.

An Abarth exhaust on a 1953 Vespa?

The firm Abarth & Co was founded in Torino on March 31 1949, the company's logotype was the now famous scorpion. This was due to that the founder Carlo (born Karl Alberto in Vienna) Abarth, was born under that sign. 

The advert above is from an italian newspaper from 1951. Abarth was early on to the success of the Vespa.

Some years ago I talked on the phone with a Swedish Abarthisti. He told me that he had a very, very small Abarth-exhaust. Not even suitable for an Fiat/Abarth 600. Well, from a picture I could tell that it was for a Vespa. I immediately thought it was for a Vespa GS. When I finally got hold of it it was obvious it was made for an earlier modell of Vespa. 

So, it may look like a far east-replica but this is the real stuff. I doubt that there is someone today making this kind of exhaust for the early fifties Vespa. As you can see the angle of the pipe where the fumes leaves the cylinder differs from the 1953 Vespa, VM1. But it fits the earlier Vespa 125-model. 

And since the Vespa U has the same cylinder and piston as the 1951-1952 Vespa, this exhaust fits a Vespa U.

The big question, should I let the Abarth exhaust remain as a trophy on the wall. Or should I put this "luxury item" from the early fifties on the most spartan of all Vespas?

Questa marmitta Abarth e da 1951-1952, si inserisce per Vespa 125.  Abarth ha lanciato tre anni dopo la Vespa ha iniziato, ma visto il potenziale della scooter. La marmitta é fondo quattro anni fa a un magazzino svedese.

Anche adatto sulla Vespa Utilitaria.

Vespa 125 U sold in Paraguay

An interest for the Vespa 125 Utilitaria takes you all over the world. This one was for sale in Paraguay in february 2011. The tank seems to be missing? The front fender is from another Vespa, seems similar to the one Allstate has. The asking price was 3 500 USD. I wonder where it went?

 Questa Utiliaria venduti in Paraguay in febbraio 2011. Manca il serbatio? Spero che il parafango non é originali. Anche strano indicatori di direzione.

Vespa 125 U - some painting

Since the former owner started som restoring I had to keep on going. The cowl for the engine side had a small crack in the middle at the bottom. I've seen a similar crack on another Vespa 125 Utiliaria. Maybe a weak spot?

After sanduíng, some filler and more sanding I applied a primer.

The gills of the fan cowl was long gone. Luckily I had spare which was found in the ground to a house that was restored. A neighbour stopped the houseowner from throwing it at the dump. According to the colour the fan cowl is from a 1951-1952 Vespa 125 (V15-V33).

The cowl painted and mounted. The cylinder cowl is awaiting paint.

Pronto! All the cowls painted. Yes, you can see the mismatch of colours even in the picture. The "old" blue colour is matte, the new is to shiny. I tried matching by ordering matting agents to the new paint but that was even worse. We'll see...

Ho avuto grossi problemi ricevendo il nuovo colore per abbinare il vecchio.

Il cofano a fan trovato sotto una casa, e da un altro modello, un 125 da 1951-1952.

Vespa 125 U - lightning up

One thing that I wanted to rectify was the headlamp on my Vespa 125 U, but not in the colour Piaggio painted it in 1953. The paint had been removed by the former owner and during the years replaced with some ugly grime.

The headlight that came with scooter are at the far right, the rim was dented and no glass. The black one is a find from a fair a couple of years ago. Why it's black is a mystery, it appears to be NOS, new old stock. So I bereaved it from the rim and the glass, 95 mm by the way. In the middle handlebars with yet another lamp. Three on the same picture, a world record?

Il faro era povero, per fortuna ho aveto altri due.

After sanding and priming, the back light also got an overhaul:

Il risultato finale, un colore di Volvo.

La cooperazione tra la Svezia e l'Italia!

Colore non originali, ma bellissima penso.

It ended up like this! Once again, wrong colour, but nice I think. 

It's actually a Volvo colour.

The Vespa U comes apart

So, I desperately wanted to drive a Vespa U. The condition wasn't the best, the former owner had removed some paint, some welding was necessary, surface rust here and there. Some parts were "wrong". In 1959 it had been uppdated with saddle springs from a "faro basso", the Vespa 125 with the prefix VM1-VM2. Originally the U had foot boards of solid aluminum, no rubber. Here the owner replaced them with VM1-VM2 boards. And of course, the "wrong" colour.

I decided to make a light restoration. Keep the colour and the alterations who been there for over 50 years. Respray it in as like nuance as possible. Make an overhaul of the engine and brakes, clean the tank. Fit new tyres, cables, and saddle cover.

The work can begin. This is at my friend Jim's house. He's the mechanic wizard, I'm the head of cleaning and sourcing parts. Jim has got the tools and skills.

Working "al fresco", since Jim's garage was full and it was a couple of lovely summer days.

The fender is unique to Vespa 125 U. Fortunately the little old lady found it in her summer house along with the fork. The Vespa had been stored in two places, and not by her!

By the way the horn isn't the right one, from a later model.

The engine was in quite good shape. The piston required only a de-coking and cleaning, the cylinder was honed, the bearings had been replaced so it only needed new oil seals.

Small bits of a Vespa 125 U 1953

Yeah, bits and pieces arrived at my house. The old Swedish registration number starting with a B tells that it "lived" in the county of Stockholm, as opposed to vehicles with an A who belonged to Stockholm City. You can spot the kick start lever in the cardboard box. Special for this model, altough I wonder if the lever for the model 125 VN2T (1956-1957) is similar.

Those were the days, Michelin tyres "fabbricato in Italia - Torino".

The engine number with the right prefix; VU1M.

The headlamp was mounted on the handlebars, a first for Italian-built Vespas. German and british built Vespas beat the italians to it. But if you look at the Allstate from 1952 it had a handlebar mounted headlamp before the Utiliaria, and was built in Italy.

The Vespa U can't forget

In the beginning of last summer I received a nice telephone call. It was from another "vespisti" who told me about an old Vespa. He guessed that it was from the mid-fifties because the cowls where smaller and strangely enough the headlamp was on the handlebar. He wasn't interested himself, "too old".

La mia Vespa 125 U! Io ho trovato in casa di una vecchia signora. La sua marito ha rinnovato la Vespa 1959, poi venne il colore blu. 

The seller was a little old lady, the widow of the original owner.

My heart raced, could it really be? Nah, probably a 1956 Vespa 150, VL3.

Well, I went to the lady. The first things a saw was the headlamp and the fender! It's a Vespa 125 U!

A very desirable model produced in 6 000 examples in 1953.

Totally dismantled by the former owner, some restoration had begun. Some stuff were kept at another place but I acquired them later.

The right engine and it was clean! A first for me - the cleanliness that is.

The fan cowl was missing the gills.

I had to do a mock-up to check what was missing. The light blue colour was chosen by the former owner who resprayed it in 1959!