As scooterists we have a collective nature that means we can’t throw anything away. The thought ‘that might come in useful one day!’ always comes to mind when we should be discarding parts that any normal person would consider rubbish. Now imagine if you ran a scooter workshop and customising business – how many pieces of ‘precious’ would you have amassed in time?
Builder of this masterpiece, Javier Sanz, is the owner of the Scooterist Factory in Guadalajara, in the centre of Spain, near Madrid. He has been involved with scooters since the late 80s and a couple of years ago decided he (along with his team at SF) would like to try and build a custom scooter out of the various unused parts around the shop.
First on the agenda was some frame slimming which involved a rear end cut-off, legshield trim and panel sculpture. Javier didn’t want it to look like someone had gone mad with a hacksaw though, so all the surgery was meticulously thought out and cuts were properly finished off with new welded seams and edging. His team also produced many ‘new’ parts from various sources. A one-off horn cover, a spoiler from a twist ’n’ go, a seat base moulded into the frame and the tank off an old Derbi moped were all fitted.
Next Javier moved on to the handling, the handlebars have been crafted out of broken P range ones. These are simply beautiful, with moulded-in headlight and speedo, and very unusual clip-on bars. He also moved the gear change off the bars and down to the footwell so it matched the position of the rear brake pedal on the opposing side.
The recycling philosophy also followed down to the forks. They were made out of two sets of crash damaged items mated together!
Once the team was happy with all the modifications everything was smoothed in with filler, and the freshly sanded bodywork was despatched to Aerobike SL – a custom paint firm which the ’Factory usually deals with. The powder-coating and chrome was also outsourced to local specialists.
While the brightwork was away, it was on to the engine. With something this unique, it wasn’t right to just go for the normal Vespa plodder, so after a complete strip the motor was upgraded with a Pinasco 215cc top end, Mazzucchelli crankshaft, Dellorto carb, fuel pump and boost bottle, lighter HP4 flywheel and modified Taffspeed pipe.
After around 18 months’ hard work (fitting it in when workshop time allowed) all of the parts came together. The finished article is one of the best Vespa street-racers I have ever come across. For years the German scene has produced the cream of this category; perhaps this example heralds a shift to more sunny climes – Imponente!
Building photos.
Thanks October Scootering magazine for this amazing article.
