Guest Post #1

Hey!
So I was asked to do a entry about my Cecilia. I started a post on reddit.com and shortly after asked to write a blog entry here. Well here I am.

The year I gotten my 1974 Vespa 50 Special, was 2007. I had been looking for a mode of transportation the beginning of the year looking at old Porsche 914's to an old Opel gullwing. At one point during that whole searching for a car, my dad dropped the small idea of a scooter that later on blossomed into reality. So skip ahead a few weeks and I started to look for scooters as well. You know, Kymco and all the other asian scooter manufactures. When one day I got an e-mail with the picture of Cecilia and a couple of sentences saying that my dad wanted to look at her no matter what and that I should come since it was for me who he found the scooter for.
So we hoped in the car on a friday and started driving from CT to NJ. It took us about 2 hours one way. After arriving at the elderly mans house I bought her for a steep price. I didn't care I had a scooter.
Once I had her home my dad and I started to do a full inspection and figured out what we had to do.
The first thing I remember doing was getting rid of the old gas that had been in the gas tank for at least over 1 1/2 years. And I tried cleaning as best as I could. Then we did the usual things such as spark plugs, Cables, Oils, Lights and the Tires. After a few weeks of repairing her I finally could drive her.
And boy was I excited.
I have to admit the first time I saw her I didn't like the way she looked at all. But I got her since she was old and unique looking with the green color. Forward ahead...
When I had her running the only trip I took was from my house to the local beach. Which takes about ~10min.
That year nothing bad happened except the once in a while stalling from the carburetor getting dirty since there was residue from the bad gas still in the tank.
The following year I gotten a job at a yacht haven as dock staff. And that trip took me a good 20min. But I didn't mind got paid well for what my hours were.
Now 2008 was not a great year for her. That was the first time I got hit while riding.
I was coming down this relatively small hill that merged into a roundabout. I had a yield sign and then to my right was a over pass with a stop sign. I went into the roundabout and before I knew it this white car clipped my front tire making me fall and scratch up most of my scooter. The driver only slowed down a bit but never stopped they just kept going.
So I had to pack everything that was lying around and drove home to hear a my mom tell me how bad it is to own a scooter. At this point I completely understand from where she came from.
I ordered the parts that I needed online and had my dad take the side panel to his work where the workers where kind enough to re-paint that panel for me.
Than nothing bad happened to her for a while except the routine maintenance.
 So at that point I started to take my scooter to High School and back and eventually I took her to my local community college.
Again nothing major happened to me except running out of gas once in a while or having to low oil.
Then last summer I tried to figure out why my rear break wasn't working that well as it used to be and I just thought it was because it was getting time to replace it so I wanted to wait a bit till I had time off from work and school.
So before I started any major work I wanted to take a trip to the beach before I couldn't ride her again for another few weeks. (that was a bad idea) Not in the break didn't work but a friend of mine persuaded me to let him drive her in a empty parking lot. I did. But at that time the carburator started to just increase in speed and I didn't know why. Turned out my friend played with the injector screw (forgot what it's called) and to top things off the kill switch decided not to work. Great. So I told my buddy who at this point had a scared look in his face to stall her in fourth gear. What did he do? He tried to stall her in 1st gear while the engine was screaming in high rpm and she just flew away under him into a brush thank god. A few scratches but nothing serious.
So once back at home and in safety of the evil lurking outside I did another inspection to see if something broke. And nothing did. Fast forward into this year and I finally came around on taking of the rear-back plate and replacing the break shoes when I saw that the gasket wasn't doing the job anymore and this rubber seal ring. I had a gasket still at home but not the rubber seal ring which I ordered online and took a month to come from Thailand. Put everything back together and it works again.
Now at the current state she is in everything works how it should for my purpose. I don't drive at night so it doesn't bother me that the headlight isn't working right now.
And that is about it. I am sure I am missing some things right now but I will add them if I remember them.
Sorry for the long read...

And finally here are some pictures of her:
http://imgur.com/a/RKmd3#8