The proud owner of a Baby Venture

[phertwo]

Though she has dubbed it the "baby beast", my girlfriend has joined the world of the two-wheelers on her very own Vino 125.

 

We have been seeing each other for a few years now and I felt that I wanted to give her something special for Christmas (the one that just past). She enjoys riding passenger on my RSTD, but I knew that she is more of a driver. After we came back from a trip to Paris for 2 weeks and having seen her have the dreamy eyes at the sight of many 'cute' Vespa scooters and comments like "ohh I wish I had one! Wouldn't it be great?" I felt that I wanted to make her wish come true.

 

So back in September 2010 I started to look around for used scooters. I was shocked to find that the price of a used Vespa was too high, and also the amount of knock off/fake Vespa's was kind of dodgy. But then I started to find that Yamaha had a retro-looking scooter called the Vino, and the used prices were much more affordable. Then I stumbled on to a deal-and-a-half for a Vino 125cc for $400. It has a bigger engine than the 50cc scooters which can barely do 45mph, so I felt that this was a much safer bike to go with. The only catch was that this scoot was pretty roughed up with high mileage, given the engine size, of 14,500 km. All of the body panels were pretty scratched up with huge gouges on the front fender and front panel. The tires were shot, torn seat, very dirt, poorly maintained, but it seemed to run.

 

So I bought the Yamaha Vino and decided that I would transform it into a 'cute' scooter. In the next few months before Christmas I pulled the entire buggy apart, fixed up all of the panels, repainted them, reupholstered the seat with new marine grade vinyl, replaced all of the fluids, cleaned the entire engine compartment (there was an unbelievable amount of dust/sand in there), added chrome trim to the panels, cleaned the carbs and replaced the tires with new white walls,,, all under her nose. I almost got caught a few times, but I was lucky every time to keep it a secret. I managed to turn the ugly ducking into a beautiful looking machine.

 

Well, on to Christmas Day.. I had to bring the scoot to her grandparents house and I only had one way to take it there. No! I did not drive it in the freezing cold and snow. I can actually fit it in the trunk of my Chevy hatchback. Try doing that with a Royal Star! So I pull into a school parking lot a few blocks away and unload the little thing. I put my gifts for the rest of the family in the foot area and under the seat (lots of storage under there!) and put the key in the ignition. Hit the started,, and, nothing. Stranded there with the this beautiful..paperweight. Well fortunately I got her going after 10 minutes - god bless this machine that it also has a kick starter as well!

 

I rode the scoot a few blocks down and parked it right in front of her grandparents door. I let myself in the house and was just in time for the present opening. Well I was pretty excited and nervous about the gift, but was also very cold since riding a scoot even a few blocks in -15C weather is enough to chill anyone right down. When it came time for me to give her my gift, I gave her a fake present (empty box with a card in it). The card instructed her to grab a coat and head outside. She was very curious and confused, but when she saw her new scooter she was so excited. She was completely caught by surprise and was so excited. She kept looking at it from the window throughout the day, unfortunately it was winter and she couldn't even take it out for a ride.

 

So fast forward a few months and she got her motorcycle license, as you must get a full motorcycle license for any vehicle over 50cc. Although she was kind of intimidated by the motorcycle she had to learn on at the course, she did enjoy it. She was the best student in the class as she just seemed to do things naturally. We had the license and insurance completed and it was time to ride. She was nervous on the roads at first but she is absolutely LOVING her little beast. We went on a few riders where I would follow on my RSTD and she looked like a natural.

 

Now I know that there is so much talk about when you get a motorcycle you will end up spending even more on the accessories, well the same is true with the scooter world. So far she got a really nice retro helmet, a beautiful stylist Italian scooter trench coat with hidden armor (just looks like a stylist jacket), a wicker basket for the back of the scoot, new chrome turn signals, a stereo system with an ipod near the front foot area, and a soon to arrive 150cc engine upgrade kit that is 'bolt on'. I keep joking with her that it looks like a baby Venture with all this stuff on it. She is loving it, but I just recently noticed an interesting and perhaps scary incident where I went to the garage and noticed that she was sitting on my RSTD playing around with the controls... hmmm....

 

Anyways, I thought that I'd share a few things with you guys, maybe you might consider trading in your Ventures for the Baby Model...

 

New White Wall Tires - $30 each

Monthly Insurance - $26 (first time rider, less after 2 years)

Gas Fillup - $4

Gas MPG - 85~100

 

Now I know it doesn't compare to the Cadillac's that we ride, but after taking this thing out a few times I can tell you that it is a blast!

 

Before Shot - The damage and torn seat is not visible from this angle. Clever photography by the seller.

http://i924.photobucket.com/albums/ad85/phertwo/Baby%20Yamaha/before02.jpg

 

Christmas Day and one happy new Yamaha owner!

http://i924.photobucket.com/albums/ad85/phertwo/Baby%20Yamaha/DSC03771.jpg

 

Front shot

http://i924.photobucket.com/albums/ad85/phertwo/Baby%20Yamaha/DSC03720.jpg

 

Side shot

http://i924.photobucket.com/albums/ad85/phertwo/Baby%20Yamaha/DSC03722.jpg

 

Other side shot

http://i924.photobucket.com/albums/ad85/phertwo/Baby%20Yamaha/DSC03726.jpg

 

Rear end shot

http://i924.photobucket.com/albums/ad85/phertwo/Baby%20Yamaha/DSC03734.jpg

 

Front end shot

http://i924.photobucket.com/albums/ad85/phertwo/Baby%20Yamaha/DSC03733.jpg

 

Handle bars

http://i924.photobucket.com/albums/ad85/phertwo/Baby%20Yamaha/DSC03730.jpg

Edited July 8, 2011 by phertwo

[tcoop]

Thats a great story. Better watch out she'll be asking to take your RSTD out any time now...

[Marcarl]

OOOOHHHHh it looks to me like she is going to like that just fine,,,, so fine that more safety chrome will be a necessity,,,, chrome so large it won't fit on the scooter and she'll be needing something a little larger..Huuuummmm?

[bongobobny]

Ya done GOOD!!!

 

 

Sooo, ahhh, ya gonna bring it down to Big Tom's Rally at Pioneer Motorsports in August???

[Carbon_One]

Nice restoration on the scoot. Girl friends sure looked happy in the pics too. But ya know with her checking out your ride you jut know she's already got the itch for a bit bigger ride now. You'll surely recoup your money I'd think after the renovations now too.

Good luck on that.

Larry

[Squidley]

Nice job! That looks really good, and those are fun to ride, I dont care who you are

[phertwo]

Thanks for the kind comments everyone! She is really enjoying her new ride, but yes I am thinking that she's going to want to take my RSTD soon. I wouldn't mind her taking it out, but its a little heavier than the 240lb vino. Maybe in the future I'll take her to a parking lot if she really wants to try it out.

 

I did take her little scoot for a good ride around the Muskoka back roads this weekend. I managed to hit 93 km/hr (58 mph) on level and sloped road which was quite a rush. Unfortunately it doesn't have the torque and power to keep it going strong up hills. I think her new engine upgrade should do the trick though.. I wonder what the next upgrade is,, probably a CB.

 

But hey, at least there's no gear whine!

[slick97spirit]

loving those white walls

[Guest tx2sturgis]

Great restoration...And I love the whitewalls too!

 

Oh, and your girlfriend is quite the looker!

 

 

Hey did you see my story on the little Roketa scooters? They are a blast to ride around on...

 

 

 

http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=61441&highlight=scooters

[phertwo]

Good story Brian! These things are pretty fun to ride that's for sure. Kind of a nice change of pace from the road sofa. And for those insurance/gas rates there would be no real reason to sell them off. Always handy to have one of those around.

 

I figure the vino would fetch a better price now, but she's really enjoying it. If anything I think she would want to get a bike and keep this little bugger. Well, we will see in a few months what happens.. I think the new engine should keep her happy for another few weeks.

 

I'll have to take a few pics of the vino beside my rstd to show the difference in scale.