After dismantling my first Heinkel two years ago, a 103 A1, and examining it piece by piece I gradually realized what poor condition the bike was in. The original frame on my A1 was rusted clean through in one area. So I went looking for a donor. This frame came from a donor scooter I bought about a year after my initial purchase of the A1. You see it here (below) just prior to taking it to a shop to be blasted and powder coated last week.  

I planned to also have the fuel tank and all the baffles and shrouds blasted and powder coated. Until it became apparent that the baffles were total crap and had been previously repaired and painted - badly. The tank had also been refinished and primed but looked OK. I decided to just send the tank along with the frame to the powder coater and order replacement baffles/heat shields.

The powder coating shop owner called me a couple of days after dropping off the frame and tank to tell me the media blasting revealed several large holes in the bottom of the fuel tank. They had been filled and painted over. It was difficult to resist the temptation to be angry with the guy that sold the A1 to me. I should have examined the bike more closely and negotiated better. Oh well... it was my first Heinkel and I wasn't sure what to look for. Now I'm wiser, but have to buy a lot more replacement parts than originally planned. 

I finally got around to joining the Heinkel Club of Germany. It's an impressive operation. The Club is also a business that caters only to members around the world. They sell spare parts and apparently bought the entire inventory, tooling, and rights from Heinkel when they exited the scooter business. It's good thing I have some skill with the German language. English is not supported. This makes ordering a little difficult - but at the same time interesting and educational. Except for an occasional business trip to Munich, there have been few opportunities to take advantage of the four years I studied the German language. Now all that studying years ago is really paying off and I'm enjoying the mental exercise of reading and writing in a language not my own. It's amazing how much you remember.

This 103 A1 project has been very educational in other ways. The Germans had some very different ideas from the Italians about how to design a scooter. After spending a few years "getting smart" on classic Lambretta's and Vespa's, I thought a Heinkel or Zundapp would be a piece of cake. Not so. There's no substitute for experience.

This old scooter may not be as pretty as it once was, but I have to admit that it's pretty remarkable that this survivor runs as well as it does. In spite of the fact that it isn't ridden much, it always starts with a minimum of coaxing and a quick spritz of starter fluid. I drained the tank, put some fresh fuel in and fired it up this weekend after a year of storage. It became evident that the carb needed cleaning and a fresh plug might be in order, but I didn't have the time so I put up with a little sputtering and bogging.

The faded original speedometer says it has clocked 10,500 miles and I have no reason to question it. I've owned this bike for several years and haven't done a thing to it other than clean it up. The silver-blue paint is original and faded but apart from few dings here and there it looks pretty good. I have been meaning to buff it out to bring some of the color back, but haven't found the time. Besides, I kind of like the patina.

One of the curved support rods that allow the engine side cowl to swing up for maintenance has cracked where it is welded to the cowl. It's hard to tell for sure, but it looks like the engine has never been dropped or the cases split. The lights still work. Both shocks work fine, brakes are good. There's a bit of rust on the front rim but both front and back are in otherwise good shape and the tires are in usable condition with no signs of dry rot.

I rode it around town for about two hours. It smoked like crazy at first so I thought the rings might be bad. After about 15 minutes of riding it was back to exhaling the normal waft of blue smoke you would expect from an old Vespa when idling. I think there was a lot of oily funk in the silencer that needed to burn off.

I've debated fully restoring this VB1 a couple of times but decided against it. I will have to drop the engine eventually and do a complete rebuild, but wont refinish the frame. I'll pressure wash it, buff it out and put it back together. Some minor repairs like the cowl support and some new rubber will be part of that. For safety's sake, the tubes and tires need replacing. I'm not sure about repainting the rims. If I can figure out a way to refinish them without making them look too new (and out of place) I'll do that. The silencer can be dipped and re-sprayed with black rattle can. And of course the carb needs a rebuild. The only thing missing on this VB1 are the keys for the column lock and cowl toolbox. I have some original blanks with the Vespa logo on them and might have a locksmith try to cut some new keys for the original locks.

Unfortunately there's no documentation on this old Vespa so it's history will remain forever a mystery. The low mileage might suggest it was imported for the US market and has been here since it was new. Whoever had it before me took good care of it. It's a rare survivor and definitely one of my favorite classics.   

While I'm waiting for the paint be completed on my LD Mk1 project, I'll turn my attention to the Li 150 S1 that's been waiting to be reassembled for quite a long time. After dropping off my LD at the media blasting shop, I was feeling ambitious and decided to put the Li engine into it's frame. Of course, I was only able to find one of the engine mount cones. I tore through a half dozen boxes of parts, getting increasingly irritated with each one.

I put extra effort into organizing parts. I tag and bag everything upon disassembly and when I misplace something it drives me crazy. After two hours, nothing. So I called Casa Lambretta. I'm expecting Alex, but somebody named Susie answers up the phone, looks up the part #, informs me that my credit card has expired, then tells me I might have it the next day if she can get the order ready in time. Susie was friendly, helpful, and efficient. But tomorrow? Yea, right. I figured she's just new and full of enthusiasm. Imagine my surprise when the parts arrived at 4pm the next day. Casa Lambretta never fails to impress. Outstanding customer service - every time.

So, with some help from Susie and her parts I was able to mount the engine. As you can see in the photo, I have not restored the fork and hub yet. My plan was to powder coat them. The problem is I approached this backwards. I should have powder coated the fork and hubs - and the tank, headset, and tool box which are also unfinished - before painting the frame. It's easier to match paint to powder than the other way around. I'll figure it out. Right now, I'm leaning toward painting them and shunning modern practices like powder coating, although for rims, forks, and tool box it's a better choice. Much more durable. The paint is single stage and the colors were chosen from original Li150 colors. The PPG equivalent paint codes were provided by Casa Lambretta.

I hope to get this scooter back together in time to ride it this summer. I'm not optimistic but will give it a try. Next, I need to order a new rear shock, rear hub, and a wiring harness.

Another Lambretta LD project begins, continuing the never ending cycle of joy and frustration connected with restoring classic scooters. I have mentioned this particular scooter a number of times in the past so I wont repeat its life history or how it came to me. What's new is I have been taking a few days off here and there, and this has given me just enough time to organize my scooters and parts, get rid of stuff I don't want, and make some measurable progress on a project or two.

I have to confess my primary motivation for choosing this Lambretta was that I became tired of tripping over it and moving it around my overstuffed garage every time I wanted to reach something behind it. I dismembered it a few months ago to make it easier to store. It took about four hours to round up all the pieces. I put them all in the center of the garage and stared at them for a while, contemplating my dread of starting yet another project vs. transforming garage clutter into a classic LD Mk1 scooter. This has become sort of a ritual with me. I loaded it up and put it in the truck. Off to the sandblasting shop we went.

I noticed that there were couple of small tears in the sheet metal just behind the rear seat. I'll weld that after I get it back from the blaster. It normally takes about a week for the work to be completed. I'll clean and treat the parts with metal prep solution. That leaves a phosphate coating which helps the primer adhere to the metal.

So what color will it be? I've already decided it will be the beige color that was offered on this model originally. A lot of pieces were missing on this scooter when I bought it. I was very lucky a few months ago and was able to score a couple of the porthole style Mk1 side panels. Those are very hard to find in the US. I have Mk1 engine that is from the same production run as the frame. There are lots of decisions to make, parts to order, and arrangements to make for painting. Here I go again.

This is what the finished product will look like:

I've been giving some serious thought to entering a North American build-off competition that begins at the end of August and ends at the High Rollers Rally in Las Vegas in March.

It seems like a no-brainer since I'm always working on one restoration project or another. My only reluctance toward entering is the time and effort involved in getting the finished scooter to Las Vegas for the judging. The thought of driving 900 miles doesn't appeal to me and shipping there and back is a hassle. That aside, I'm really tempted and only have a couple of weeks to make up my mind. The deadline for entry is August 29.

The organizers of this event have done a great job putting it together. My first order of business would be to decide what project bike to choose. I could go with a Vespa VM1, Lambretta LD Mk1 or Li150 S1, Zundapp Bella R203 or Heinkel 103 A2. Right now, I'm leaning toward the LD or the Bella.

The rules are pretty simple. You can't start working until the competition begins. It's necessary to provide some photo evidence to assure that everyone is starting from scratch, and photos need to be sent in periodically to keep everyone honest. You can outsource some work, but this has to be disclosed. For example, I no longer do my own paint. It's toxic as hell and to do it right you need the proper equipment and facility.

Everyone loves to win but that's not my motivation to sign up for this build-off. I'm anxious to see what scooters other people enter and admiring their handiwork. It would also be the first time I can meet face to face some with of the "online" people I've met over the years. Besides, this trip would be a great way to enjoy a little sun and escape the gloomy March weather here in Mosstown. Right now I'm about 98% certain about entering.  I'll mull this over for a couple more weeks and think about what scooter to enter during that time.