I currently ride a
Bajaj Chetak 4stroke 150cc. It's a good reliable bike but once it hits 56 or 57mph it stays there. I have been thinking I'd like something in the 200-250cc range. I had an eye out for a Vespa P200 or a Honda Elite 250. On the other hand, I rode a Kymco City 50 and really liked the 16" wheels. The ride was really smooth.
This bike popped up on Craigslist one day at a great price. It's a 2005 Piaggio BV200 (called the Beverly). I had seen a similar one in Scooter Steve's shop and remember him saying what a nice bike it was. I arranged to see the bike and got the cash together. Then I sat down and did some research on the bike.
My first scooter was a Piaggio Typhoon 50. It was well built and ran well. Piaggio is, of course, the parent company of Vespa scooters. Vespa re-entered the American market in 2001 with the ET4 and Piaggio began offering their own models soon after. The Typhoon and the BV were two of their models.
This BV200 has the same 198cc Leader engine as the Vespa GT200. This was exciting. I had the 150cc Leader engine in my ET4 and it ran really well and smooth. This bike also has 16 in wheels with nice wide tires.
It was adding up to be a great bike for me, but I had to wonder why such a low price? Was the engine ruined and he wasn't saying or was the owner no good with machines and not wanting to deal with it? My favorite conversation about buying scooters goes something like, "
"What's wrong with it?"
"I don't know. It was running fine and then I parked it for several months and it wouldn't start up. It's probably something small but I don't know anything about fixing them. Now I just want it out of here."
It's just parts. Sometimes they are RARE parts, but parts make up systems and if the system fails, it's a part failing and it's just parts.
I was sitting outside his house at 5:30 to meet him at 5:45 when he got home from work. We introduced ourselves and I asked him why he was selling it. He said it quit running and he didn't know how to work on them and he needed some money and it was time for it to go. Excellent!
"How did it stop running? Were you riding it and it died?"
"No, it ran great but I parked it for the winter and tried to start it up again recently and it wouldn't run. It needs a new carburetor."
"Why do you think it needs a new carburetor?"
"That's what the guys up at the shop told me. They said something was wrong with it and I'd need to replace it. I have the carb here in this bag"
It's just parts. It was running well and then it sat for several months and then it wouldn't start. He took it to the shop and they told him it was an expensive part he needed to replace. The cost of the new part was enough for him to just sell it cheap and be done with it. My favorite story.
I gave him the cash and he gave me the title. We loaded it into my truck and I called Scooter Steve and told him I bought it. He asked if I was bringing it straight over. I said I guessed I was.
I handed Steve the carburetor and began to loosen the tie down straps. Steve went into his shop and within a minute came right back out.
"Here's your problem. The diaphragm is torn."
Steve is quick!
You can see the tear in the rubber diaphragm there. Steve had another slightly smaller caburetor which he cleaned out and bolted on to the scooter's manifold. The scooter fired right up. The engine sounds good!
I think I have a kick ass new bike. I need to hunt down a replacement diaphragm for a Walbro WVF-7p 29mm carburetor, but Walbro is a common brand and I'll probably just call the local Vespa dealer and have them look up the exact part number at least and if theirs isn't too expensive, order it through them.
The rest of the scooter is in excellent condition. It's never been wrecked or dropped. The plastic is very nice and nothing broken. Some of the matte black plastic is faded but that can be restored. After the carburetor issue has been worked out, the scooter will get stripped down and cleaned. The plastic will all get hand scrubbed, the gas tank will be cleaned out, new fuel and vacuum lines and a new set of tires and this bike will be ready to roll. I plan on riding it in the Rally next month!
