First Aid

The Vespa hasn't been without it's fair share of headaches. I mentioned below that after the first initial run it chose to no longer function. The initial reaction was one of panic, but approximately 400 metres from where I live, is the local Vespa mechanic. Shirai Vespa run by Shirai san himself was quick to rectify the issue and offered a full "going over" of the Vespa to ensure it was all good. Thankfully, other than a tight engine (it hadn't been run in) all was OK.


Soon after registering the bike, not all was good. Initially the bracket holding the front guard on cracked and eventually 1 of the 3 bolts holding guard to the forks fell out and caused the guard to rub on the tyre. Another visit to Shirai Vespa discovered that beyond the cracked bracket, another bracket holding the front shock absorber onto the forks was also cracked. This beyond being a hassle, was extremely dangerous as under heavy braking, potentially the bracket would brake and maybe it would be bye bye me!


Last visit to Shirai Vespa is for new tyres. The bike as you can see in the pictures came with white wall tyres however the quality was very poor and they began to perish. Shirai san offered two tyres, classic style and a more modern version. The difference being the classic has less grip than the modern one, however the look is right with the classic version.



Of course, I took looks before safety and chose the classic version. At the same time, Shirai san gave the bike a look over, made adjustments and again all is good....for now.