Post by appyape on Oct 22, 2014 6:17:45 GMT
Had my ape 50 europe for about 6 years now - 11 years old on a 53 plate (I have covered about 2000km in that 6 years). Was passing a car show room one day and it sat amongst a lot of so called normal cars. I stopped had a test drive, went home then could not stop thinking about it. After a week had passed I went back and to my surprise it was still there. I knocked the dealer down about £800 (also a surprise as he did not even haggle - thought after I may have got it for less had I been really brave). I bought the vehicle purely on a whim and for fun. During this time i have pampered her and she remains rust free. I have bought a few accessories from German websites (heat exchanger with blower heating for cab, original ape 50 roof rack (fits on cab roof)). I always thought see ran quite well and discovered a couple of years in she had had a cylinder upgrade under the previous owner (85cc and possible pinion gear). getting her up there to a staggering 34mph on a good day.
I broke down twice - once a few years ago. I manage to solve that one by speaking with the vespa boys on thier forum - turned out to be the stator but gave all of the symptoms of carb issues. Second time was about a couple of months ago (terminal this time) the crank bearing race in the flywheel side decided to disintegrate destroying the piston and cylinder. I played with the idea of selling it as a spares or repair but quickly back peddled on that idea as I liked the thing too much. Thought it be a perfect opportunity to upgrade her to a more usable vehicle (DR 133cc long stoke cylinder kit, stronger crank with long stroke con rod, stronger clutch, better translation gear and clutch basket, larger carb, pollini banana exhaust, reed valve molassi inlet manifold, go fast air filter, complete new bearings and seals for the engine, box and diff. I bought this as a kit from a German website as I wanted to be sure that all parts were going to be compatible with each other. They claim that it will improve its speed upto 47/48mpg. Spoke with my insurance company and to my surprise there is no increase in insurance premiums. I am still putting the thing together so will let you know how I get on. Its cost me a small fortune and a lot of time so far due to the lack of knowledgeable people in the UK to feed off, the google translator if not all that.
I broke down twice - once a few years ago. I manage to solve that one by speaking with the vespa boys on thier forum - turned out to be the stator but gave all of the symptoms of carb issues. Second time was about a couple of months ago (terminal this time) the crank bearing race in the flywheel side decided to disintegrate destroying the piston and cylinder. I played with the idea of selling it as a spares or repair but quickly back peddled on that idea as I liked the thing too much. Thought it be a perfect opportunity to upgrade her to a more usable vehicle (DR 133cc long stoke cylinder kit, stronger crank with long stroke con rod, stronger clutch, better translation gear and clutch basket, larger carb, pollini banana exhaust, reed valve molassi inlet manifold, go fast air filter, complete new bearings and seals for the engine, box and diff. I bought this as a kit from a German website as I wanted to be sure that all parts were going to be compatible with each other. They claim that it will improve its speed upto 47/48mpg. Spoke with my insurance company and to my surprise there is no increase in insurance premiums. I am still putting the thing together so will let you know how I get on. Its cost me a small fortune and a lot of time so far due to the lack of knowledgeable people in the UK to feed off, the google translator if not all that.
