Immaculate Johnny’s Vespa PX125
Johnny Greenslade likes nice things, but as an ex-Yorkshire collier it does often take him a while to decide if he can thoil* buying anything and make up his mind if he really wants something enough to treat himself.
After many, many years of deliberating whether or not he wanted a scooter, Johnny finally decided that yes, he really, really did want a scooter – a brand new Vespa PX125 to be precise, as he would look after it and keep it that way as it would be his forever.
TAP IT & UNWRAP IT
Due to his previous career toiling deep within the earth, Johnny knew how hard it can be to earn a bob or two and does like a bargain. So when some friends in the know said they were going on a special festive holiday, touring some of the Christmas markets in Europe, calling in at the various scooter shops along the way, and that they could bring him one back at a better price than he could get one for in the UK, he decided the time was right to remove the chains from his wallet and spend a bit of his brass! Just a bit mind, no need to get giddy, is there!?
DER CHOCOLATIER
That was back in December 2005 and this special ‘Weihnachtsmarkt’ tour would see his friends going as far as Austria, in the process sampling some of the country’s finest festive chocolate treats, before eventually arriving at Stoffis Garage in Tumeltsham, just north of Ried im Innkreis. The scooter chosen was collected on December 21, 2005 (the Winter Solstice) and arrived back in ‘Good Old Blighty’ on December 23 – just in time for Christmas.
As there would be no time before the festive season got into full swing, the scooter wasn’t prepared and registered until early February 2006, just as the last of the Quality Street had been suitably used up.
Johnny stated that, as the scooter was purchased from an official European Piaggio dealer and was manufactured to comply with the strict approval regulations, there was no problem whatsoever in registering the vehicle within the UK. This task would have been made all the more straightforward back then, as at that time there were still local DVLA offices where you could actually interact with a real person and not just deal with some jobsworth, unhelpful, supercilious clerk reading from a script without an ounce of common sense (yes, as you can probably guess, I’ve had previous encounters with ‘The Agency’). It also meant that the full two-year Piaggio European warranty was valid and accepted by Piaggio UK, as the machine had been purchased within a member state.
TIME FOR A CELEBRATION
Johnny was absolutely over the moon, now finally owning his much-considered Vespa PX motor scooter, and he looked after his pride and joy with the care and attention that it deserved. Although he loved the look of the standard PX, it was always Johnny’s plan to personalise his scooter, so he studied its appearance and considered how he could put his own mark on his machine without getting too far away from standard. He also didn’t want to go down the paintwork path, as he thought the original flat black gloss colour looked magic.
For a long time Johnny pondered what kind of look he wanted to achieve, carefully casting his eye over the many different styles he saw at the rallies and shows he attended. He eventually decided upon a style which would give a standard, but subtly modified appearance the likes of which we’ve all witnessed within the car industry; as the specification becomes more luxurious and desirable the further you move up the range, items such as leather seats, enhanced level of trim and driver gadgets become more abundant.
But as you’ll now be aware, Johnny isn’t one for making spur-of-the-moment decisions, especially where spending money is concerned. So what you see now in the pictures is the evolution from the entry level to the deluxe version, a transformation that has taken almost a full 15 careful years to reach fruition.
MORE SURPRISES THAN A SELECTION BOX
Johnny’s scooter looks standard, but has many subtle surprises the more you study it. The scooter is a 2005 Vespa PX – the one with the crazy catalysed exhaust system (you know, the one which is supposed to help the planet by reducing carbon emissions; the
one that loses all the standard power of the machine so you have to work it harder to make it go and therefore use more fuel; the one that everyone takes off and keeps in their sheds and garages, as they are worthless, only to be replaced by something that does work efficiently. This in turn has the effect of creating more carbon emissions, as twice as many exhausts have to be manufactured; twice as many exhausts have to be transported; and twice as many exhausts have to be ultimately disposed of or recycled. But as long as the politicians can tick a box, claim green credentials and secure those much-needed votes whilst all the time pulling the wool over our eyes, then we’re all happy, aren’t we?
So that was the first item that had to go and was removed and thrown over the hedge into next door’s garden – sorry, disposed of responsibly and replaced with the fantastic SIP Road 2 item.
The handling was greatly improved by the choice of BGM pro Gas shockers, front and rear, with newly fitted BGM stainless wheel rims, which are absolutely beautiful and top quality. The stand, flywheel cover, gear selector box cover, carburettor box top, brake and clutch levers were chromed by Quality Chrome at Hull.
Johnny has also had one of the new Scooteroller ‘Hanstands’ fitted – a brilliant piece of kit that is a permanently fitted auxiliary stand attached to the bottom of the rear shocker and can be flipped into position to raise the rear wheel from the floor, should one need to gain access in the event of a puncture for maintenance or cleaning.
The seat is hand-stitched real leather, edged with red leather piping, and is complemented by the leather tool roll which is attached to the stainless steel rear rack. Genuine Stadium legshield mirrors are fifitted right and left in lieu of the standard ‘Micky Mouse’s’ lug’ole type, along with a genuine Stadium headlight peak. The ‘Cuppini’ triple Florida bars with custom milled aluminium footrests break up the plainness of the black sidepanels; these are complemented by the ‘Logo Scooter’ front non drill side bars. The addition of Johnny’s Veteran Vespa Club cog badge to the front finishes off this subtle machine perfectly. THE LAST CHUNK Johnny is over the moon with his finished machine and it gives him great pleasure and hours of enjoyment cleaning it and sitting on it in the garage, as it doesn’t see the light of day too often (and as the genuine reading of 3960km/2,460 miles on the speedo will testify to). Johnny is definitely of the ‘Hide um, don’t ride um’ brigade.
Johnny states he enjoys every minute of owning a classic Vespa and the average 175 miles he annually rides on it. So fair play to him, as this scooter thing of ours is a very broad church indeed and a looked-after classic Vespa is always a good thing.