Torque: Friends Reunited
It’s been on the naughty step for a couple of years but lockdown has seen Stan’s PX return to the workbench.
Tech
It’s been on the naughty step for a couple of years but lockdown has seen Stan’s PX return to the workbench.
Judged only by the content of my recent articles, I can forgive any reader for thinking that I’m a Lambretta man. In fact the opposite is true; most of my miles have been spent in the saddle of geared Vespas. Back in 2010 I realised that I’d been without a P2’ for far too long. At the time I was working in Halifax and spent most lunchtimes bothering Buzz at Buzzsolomoto. Having considered a few candidates I decided on a rather bedraggled 1985 Motovespa PX200E Iris. Ever the salesman, Buzz, convinced me it was a solid bike that just needed ‘someone with vision’. My vision was simple – every nut, bolt and washer was replaced, while the engine’s internals were taken back to new condition. Paint was handled by a local car body shop and included a liberal application of stone chip. Straight after the rebuild was completed I deployed overseas and for three years it hardly turned a wheel. In fact the engine was barely run in before its first major trip, an unsupported solo ride to the 2015 Vespa World Days in Croatia. In three weeks I covered more than 3000 miles, the only hitch being a blown front shock. Fortunately this popped just as I arrived at the rally, thank goodness for parts fairs! The PX continued to give faultless service until suddenly developing an air leak. Diagnosis was easy but tracing its source was frustrating to say the least. Several pistons and two engine rebuilds later, the problem was finally cured. I then anticipated clocking up a few trouble-free miles but fate had other ideas. When I discovered that the gearbox had emptied itself over the garage floor, my patience was exhausted. The PX was pushed into a corner of the workshop where I left it to think about what it had done. Having had plenty of time to reflect on its actions, the PX made a lockdown return to the workbench. Hopefully it’s now leak free and a 210 Polini has been added. Our recent magazine projects, both Targa and Quattrini, have been complete reworks, a little ‘scooter porn’ as it were. With the PX we’re taking a more measured approach. The Polini’s simply been bolted on and we’ll use that as our baseline. The most important thing is that we’ve got the PX back on the road.