Job Discussion Forums

[mark_in_saigon]

Right, that is the guy.

If you read back a ways, you will see my story on what happened with him. I took two Hondas to him. He had them subbed. Both of them suffered very early engine failure. He tried to blame it on the way I drive. Eventually, Saigon Scooter Centre rebuilt both those engines. No engine failure, just excellent service. Now, it is true that SSC charges 200 bucks for a rebuild, and that was 2 years ago, he may be 300 now for all I know. Buy both engines are running great. So, if the bike is really important to you, pay the money. If not, I would just use a better VN mechanic (assuming you know one) and do a rebuild for A LOT less.

Especially see the discussion on stroking. SSC is the only one who I would trust to stroke, 98% of the VN do not even know what stroking means. DO NOT let someone overbore your engine beyond all recognition. It is then a race machine and suffers early failure. That is what the VN hot rodders do, they do not understand about the need for balance which is lost by overboring and not stroking at the same time. Also, the compression gets too high, and crap starts to break up inside.

The guy over in 9/Thu Duc MAY oversee his work now. He did not when I went there. Also, he lost me forever when instead of listening to what I said he tried to blame me. I know quite a lot about this stuff, and had given him two of my favorite toys to upgrade, they quickly failed, and it was all my fault. I had a list of about 6 major issues including photographs, but that meant nothing to him. But, in his defense, he never touched the machines, he definitely subbed out the work, so if he directly oversees the work, it may be just fine. He damn sure is not gonna get another chance with MY beautiful xe though.

The way I see all this, you need a trusted western mechanic for you major upgrades and a trusted VN mechanic for everything else. I have a VN that is good for most everything, except he does not know squat about stroking an engine. I have had him do rebuilds for me and mild boring and his work is fine. But like all of us, he is what he is. We recently had him do a huge restoration job on a Cub. He even changed the frame (keeping the old VIN, some VN style trick they know). New steering column, wheels, just about everything except the engine and transmission, that is one of SSC's engines. Rewired completely too. It looks and feels brand new. I spent about $450 and it is very nice looking. But too, you will see, some of the new chrome parts he put on are rusting, some Chinese aftermarket things. Often, these guys do not have 2 choices, but if you really care, you have to get inside all of these purchases and make sure you are getting what you want, None of this stuff is ever perfect. SSC's museum quality Vespas are 5 to 10 grand. It is up to each of us how stupid we want to get with all of this bs.

On a lighter note, my sister (who is quite well off) bought a newer Vespa in the U.S. A toy for her. She likes to enjoy it on the side streets in her city, and even goes on rides with other Vespa people. She says that there are Vespa guys there in Dallas, and especially ones with old bikes. They will let her ride with them as hers has the retro look, but she says they are quite snooty about it. She says one of them is the owner of the Vespa dealership there in Dallas, he has a bunch of old Vespas. Well, what is funny is that they have to always be prepared to stop and do maintenance on these old machines, no matter what their expertise and the condition of the bikes. I get the feeling these older Vespas are a pain in the butt, especially the manual clutch.

Usually, it is better to buy a bike that has been restored by the previous owner. He is doing well to get back half of his expense. If I buy a machine for 500 and do 1000 in upgrades, it may sell for 900 or so. There are a couple of very nice Cubs on CL right now for less than $400. The red one has a 4 speed and electric start, and looks quite nice. Bargain. You get emotionally attached to a machine, like a horse or a person or something. We shouldn't, but if we love old machines, we often do.