Getting the Title

• Make sure the title has been filled out correctly. If a dealer is selling it on behalf of the owner, may sure that the owner has dictated this on the title by completing the reassignment.
• Get an accurate reading on the odometer.
• I had my own troubles with the title (see the first item), but not having one would have been worse. I’ve been told however that there are ways to obtaining one.

Transfering the Title

• Save yourself some time and have the seller fill out form 130-U Application for Certificate of Title (instructions) at the time of sale. This form will also serve as a Bill of Sale, but I’d also ask for one of those anyway.
• Make sure that the seller’s name on this form matches the name on the title – including dealer vs. owner. In my case, the dealer did not reassign himself as the seller on the title but did on the application. The DMV caught this. Rather than sending the title back to the dealer to do a reassignment and complete a statement of fact, I tracked down the original owner and had him mail me a completed 130-U. Now the dealer was out of the picture.
• If your bike is less than 10 years old, make sure the odometer readings on 130-U and on the title are an exact match. I had a discrepancy of a single mile and the clerk went into a panic. She was about to send me away to who knows where until she noticed that my bike was built in 1974.

Title without Registration
If your bike is not ready for registration (i.e. hasn’t passed inspection) but you want to avoid the penalty for going over 20 days, you can complete VTR-131 Request to Issue Negotiable Certificate of Title Without Registration (Title Only). However, you will have to pay the application fee ($33 in Williamson county) again when you go back to register. I was already 30-days past the date of sale so I just decided to wait until I was ready for registration before transferring the title.

Registration

• Form 130-U will also serve as your registration. You’ll also need proof of insurance and an inspection.
• If the bike does not have a license plate, you’ll need a temporary one to get it to the inspection station, unless you can haul it. They are available for either $5 for a 1-way plate or $25 for a 30-day plate. I don’t understand the point of the 1-way deal or how it would even be enforced. I just got the 30-day plate since I didn’t know when I could take it in. Be prepared to pay cash only for one of these babies.

Inspection

• Any location that performs motor vehicle inspections can inspect your bike… or so I’m told. I recommend Sticker Stop if there’s one in your neighborhood.
• Here the official checklist of what’s covered. For the brake check they’ll ask you to stop within 20 ft going 20mph.
• Motorcycles/Scooters do not have to undergo an emissions test.
• If your bike was purchased out of state, be sure to tell the inspectors. There’s a different form they need to give you instead of the standard inspection report. I don’t recall the form name or number but it’s along the lines of Safety Inspection Report for Vehicles Purchases Outside the State of Texas. I had to return to Sticker Stop to get this thing. They just saw my temporary plate and assumed it was bought in Texas.

Obviously Mr. Peck never completed a motorcycle safety course. I could list the number of infractions he has incurred in this very photo but I have not the time.

This is certainly more suitable for modern Austin traffic:

Varoom!
Tonight the Vespa fired up for the first time since the rebuild. It took off on the first kick (we’ll negate any previous attempts before I realized that the U.S. model Rally requires the driver to engage the front brake to release the cut-off switch)! I managed to take it around the block but the idle and air-fuel mix adjusters need a bit of tuning – it’s running a bit rich.

Next up is to get the rear turn indicators working and have it inspected. Safetly gear is also on the list. We’re getting close!

While it certainly doesn’t repair gashes and chips, the compound did an outstanding job removing scratches and marks, oxidizing minor surface rust, and bringing back the Rally’s glorious shine. Unfortunately you won’t find this 3M product at your local AutoZone or Pep-Boys. I had to search high and low and finally picked up the last bottle at A-Line Auto Parts.

I highly recommend using a buffer if you can get your hands on one. In my case however the smallest pad I could find was 4 inches and even then the device would have been too large to work its way into the smaller areas. I resorted to good ol’ elbow grease and added a 1/2 inch to my biceps in the process… okay maybe not but it felt like it anyway.

In Texas, riding a scooter over 50cc on public roads requires a motorcycle license. Taking the safety course waives the driving test at the DMV when applying for your license – however you still need to take the written test. This is not the only benefit of the course. You really do learn a lot of great techniques and strategies for riding safely. No prior experience is required to enroll, so if you’re interested at all in riding on two wheels, this is the place to start. There were 6 hours of classroom work and 10 hours of riding practice on a controlled, off-street environment.

I further recommend MotoFun for Austin area trainers. The instructors were a lot of fun and very knowledgable. They take the time to make sure every individual is given the attention s/he needs. Not to mention they provide scooters, which I was the only one in my class of 12 to use. The scooter was automatic, so I missed out on the full experience of exercises involving gear shifting. Luckily they gave us a set of exercises for parking-lot practice so I’ll certainly be going over those on the Vespa.

… and tear-down is complete… or as far as I need to go anyway.

I was expecting to have to crack the engine case apart to replace all the seals. However, the flywheel-side looks really good. I can only assume the clutch side is the same since there wasn’t any gas in the transmission oil. There is however a leak at the rear-hub seal that resulted in the rear-brake drum being bathed in oil. That will have to replaced, but thankfully can be done without any further tear-down.

I have quite a few parts to replace that are either damaged or missing. It’s a bit of a challenge to find them but it’s a fun one at that. I’m postponing any body repair for the immediate future. The guys at American Scooter Center (they rock by the way) swear by 3M’s Rubbing Compound to bring back a nice finish to a weathered frame. We’ll see how it looks when I have time to get around to polishing it.

Oh yeah, another important item for the garage is one of these. $30 on Craigslist. Score!

No, it’s not some crazy PHP Web application and no I have not tired of my bike excursions to work. The italian (and latin) word for “wasp” is vespa – I have a Vespa scooter.

This is a 1974 Vespa Rally 200. It’s considered the last of the “vintage” scooters produced by Vespa before the introduction of the P-series in the late ’70s. As you can imagine one of these is pretty difficult to find. This one hailed from Salt Lake City, UT and is in surprising good condition – yet it is a restoration project. I haven’t decided on an engine rebuild but the frame certainly needs some work. First task is to rebuild the carburetor and replace the jets with the originals as they’ve been modified for higher altitudes.

I’m really looking forward to this project, even though I don’t have a defined timeline for completion. I’ll be sure to keep you all posted with my progress.

Yes, Elizabeth, we’ll make gelato for the whole family but remember, the terms were you’d have to come visit us.