I am not sure where the decision came from to finally purchase the Vespa, but generally like all males we need permission from the other half. When that was granted, off I went to Ebay.
Soon I found that most Vespa's these days come out of Vietnam as the French had imported bucket loads of them for the locals to get around on. Now I am no authority on Vespa's, nor am I trying to own the most original concourse model, I just wanted a cool little machine to get around on. So there are many of you out there that will say its not an original one, but I have orginal documentation, engine and body numbers confirming it as a 1967 VBC. Beyond that, who really cares.
To cut a long story short, I found a guy in Byron Bay, Australia that dealt with a dealer in Vietnam and he arranged for my bike to be delivered to Kobe Port in Japan. What was meant to be 6 weeks ended up being 8 weeks, but who is counting.
The real challenge came getting it through customs, and finally registered in Japan. I won't bore you with the details, but inserting pins in your eyes would be less painful. Anyway, the Vespa arrived, started immediately and a short time later (before registration), stopped working. Lucky for me, just down the street is the local Vespa mechanic (more about Shirai san later), and a quick clean out of the carburettor and she was back up and running.
Soon I found that most Vespa's these days come out of Vietnam as the French had imported bucket loads of them for the locals to get around on. Now I am no authority on Vespa's, nor am I trying to own the most original concourse model, I just wanted a cool little machine to get around on. So there are many of you out there that will say its not an original one, but I have orginal documentation, engine and body numbers confirming it as a 1967 VBC. Beyond that, who really cares.
To cut a long story short, I found a guy in Byron Bay, Australia that dealt with a dealer in Vietnam and he arranged for my bike to be delivered to Kobe Port in Japan. What was meant to be 6 weeks ended up being 8 weeks, but who is counting.
The real challenge came getting it through customs, and finally registered in Japan. I won't bore you with the details, but inserting pins in your eyes would be less painful. Anyway, the Vespa arrived, started immediately and a short time later (before registration), stopped working. Lucky for me, just down the street is the local Vespa mechanic (more about Shirai san later), and a quick clean out of the carburettor and she was back up and running.
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