Ti PDS vs. Highway

[LoveShack]

Well, it all happened when I was riding a vintage Vespa North Bound on 101 a month ago. The motor seized, which caused the back wheel to lock up. Needless to say it was a rough fall, and most amazing of all, my Ti PDS isn't even fazed. With out leaving my pocket it surfed its way down the Highway with me at 50+MPH. Just about a week after my accident, my great friend Jimmy sees the light and says it'll be no problem to have somone fix it. Then another couple of weeks pass, and I get a message from him saying he's up for the challange. With a shaved down screw and grind marks all over it, I figured what the hell. Boy am I sure glad I said yes, with his Doctor Bag in hand he was over that evening. I know have a back to perfect light again.
Two things I want to say, Don these lights can take anything a living human can through at them, and KnifeBright is the MAN !!! Thanks for making my light all new again:thumbsup:

 

[luxlunatic]

Wow, a great job was done to refurbish your PD. Glad both of you are OK!
Now, I am sure you got cheese-grated fairly nicely, did you mend up as well as the PD?

 

[:)>]

I almost cried a tear of joy when I saw that your PD was brought back to life.

:mecry:

Hopefully you are also o.k.

 

[PoliceScannerMan]

That top pic rocks! :rock:

I hope you were OK Ryan! Looks like the Ti PD saved you some serious road rash....

Knifebright is a cool dude! :twothumbs

 

[knifebright]

Damn That thing looks good....just kidden... Doctors bag was right and i felt i had to be about as steady as a brain surgeon when attempting to remove a hex screw that was half ground away!!!
Sometimes I just get the "ah ah ah got to mod/tweak/customize/ something feeling" I'm just glad i got to help out a great friend's PD with a broken wing. Not much that cant' be fixed with a hand file, DMT stones, various grit wet dry paper, a leather strop paddle, flitz, dremmel, microfiber cloth ah ok no more braggin for me.
I'm glad you made it alright loveshack, your PD is all better and for everyone else......
If You've got a Ti Gizmo thats sitting on a shelf or sheltered in a safe... for the LOVE OF GOD EDC the darn thing!!!!!!

Jimmy

 

[McGizmo]

LoveShack,

Sorry to hear of your adventure! My brother and I had a Vespa dealership for a year and a half back in '75. I was the mechanic by default. I have a fondness for those scooters!

Cudos to Jimmy! :thumbsup:

 

[cqbdude]

LoveShack,

Sorry to hear of your adventure! My brother and I had a Vespa dealership for a year and a half back in '75. I was the mechanic by default. I have a fondness for those scooters!

Cudos to Jimmy! :thumbsup:

Sweet...now I know who to ask to mod the Vespa when I finally get one..:twothumbs

I have always wanted a Vespa..my friends think Im crazy...

Anyways..glad you are OK...LoveShack...
Jimmy you rock.....always there to help out a friend in need..

 

[LoveShack]

Wow Don, you used to own a Vespa dealership, now that's a dream of mine. Where was it?

As for my bodies condition, 100% now. The first week of recovery was the pits. . .fractured clavical, sprained wrists, major cheese grator on PD side knee, slid up arm. Thats all, luckly I was in the slow lane. Got back on the saddle two weeks later, and thats on a modern Vespa's w/technology!!

Thanks for all the kind words.
Here a couple more cool pics

 

[McGizmo]

LoveShack,
It was called Viejo Vespa & Moped in San Juan Capistrano (Orange County). My brother and I worked it 7 days a week for 1 1/2 years until we sold it. We were both hired by Vespa of America to be district managers for them after we sold the dealership.

I traded some cut gem stones for a "classic" scooter with a lady from Laguna Beach who had bought the very low mileage 160 Vespa from some shiek. The front skirt was covered with those badges from different countries in Europe. From lack of use, the motor had a shot main seal and needed to be rebuilt just to replace the seal. The 160 was barely highway legal but I had some t-bar racks fabricated for it by a local welding shop and could carry a 9' long board strapped above me and it looked and acted like an air foil; setting the scooter firmer on the road as the speed increased.

I would love to have that rig over here on Maui!! As it is, I have an E-max electric scooter that is fine for local runs but no power and top speed of 25 mph.

When we had our dealership, the Vespa 200 had just came out. I have no idea what the scooters are about these days. I see some nice ones on the road over here but haven't got up close to one. Piaggio made some really cool 3 and 4 wheel utility trucks back then and I tried to talk Vespa of America who was owned by Piaggio into considering offering these in the states. I would love to see Piaggio do something with electric motors!!

EDIT: Here's a piece of trivia for you. We had a really cool ad that we ran often in the Pennysaver back then and it featured a nice looking teenager with a bit of a racy open front shirt sitting on a Vespa Ciao moped. She was a friend and the shot was taken by another friend of ours. The girl was Nichole Brown who later became world famous as OJ's wife.

 

[LowWorm]

LoveShack,

EDIT: Here's a piece of trivia for you. We had a really cool ad that we ran often in the Pennysaver back then and it featured a nice looking teenager with a bit of a racy open front shirt sitting on a Vespa Ciao moped. She was a friend and the shot was taken by another friend of ours. The girl was Nichole Brown who later became world famous as OJ's wife.

That's just nuts. Beats the pants off the last bit of trivia I read: "What's the name of Dora the Explorer's monkey friend?"

 

[yaesumofo]

Talk about taking a licking and still ticking!!
This rivals those times ads..and the casio g-shock ..Puts them to shame.
Just goes to show you that titanium is a tough material...It is also tough to clean up as well.
I wounder how an aluminum PD would have fared?
Glad to hear that both bodies healed. What about the scooter? New engine or what?
The Ti Pd absolutly deserves to be EDC'd. No doubt about it.
I put mine on a lanyard when I use it at work. It is allways were I need it.
I wonder how many PD's there are in guys drawers and in display cases. You know the guys who figure that it is too expensive to use as a tool. Crazy. The TI PD is the kind of flashlight you will be able to use for 25 years at work beat it to hell...Polish it up and give it to your grand g=kid for them to do the same thing all over again over and over untill the polishing wheel has worn it away...5 or 10 generations down the road.
Cool.
Yaesumofo




uote=LoveShack;2115253]

Well, it all happened when I was riding a vintage Vespa North Bound on 101 a month ago. The motor seized, which caused the back wheel to lock up. Needless to say it was a rough fall, and most amazing of all, my Ti PDS isn't even fazed. With out leaving my pocket it surfed its way down the Highway with me at 50+MPH. Just about a week after my accident, my great friend Jimmy sees the light and says it'll be no problem to have somone fix it. Then another couple of weeks pass, and I get a message from him saying he's up for the challange. With a shaved down screw and grind marks all over it, I figured what the hell. Boy am I sure glad I said yes, with his Doctor Bag in hand he was over that evening. I know have a back to perfect light again.
Two things I want to say, Don these lights can take anything a living human can through at them, and KnifeBright is the MAN !!! Thanks for making my light all new again:thumbsup:[/quote]

 

[Stillphoto]

Great story...Well it's not cool that you went @ss over tea kettle on the vespa, but hey, now you and your pd really have bonded.

Cool to hear that Orange County was your stoping grounds for a while Don, albeit before I was in existance.

 

[greenLED]

This is quite the story, you should also post here:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=159303

 

[pianoman]

That's some patina you've got on that light!....Great History lesson by Don.....

 

[knifebright]

That's some patina you've got on that light!....Great History lesson by Don.....

that color you see isn't patina resulting from the crash but a different pocket clip i had that i pollished and then electrically diet pepsi anodized. Nice catch though :0

 

[tdurand]

Imagine if Don woulda kept up with the Vespa world. We'd all be watching him on Discovery Channel instead of Orange County Choppers. He'd have a show about making them out of Titanium.

This thread is an excellent testament to the durability of Ti. Great read!

T

 

[Fringe]

Sweet ride! Hope you are convalescing properly.

Nice scooter. I have a friend that just picked up a limited edition Vespa in that OG color. I guess there were only like 500 made.

Take care

 

[McGizmo]

I have a foot note to add here. For a number of what I consider to be valid reasons that I won't bore you guys with, I traded my electric scooter in on a new Vespa LX150 last week. All I can say is that I wish I had purchased the Vespa originally. I would much rather have electric powered but not at the expense of power, top speed and range relative to what I had and now have. This thread was instrumental in getting me to consider a change; along with road construction that has closed the bike lanes and held me home bound with the electric scooter for too long! :green:

FWIW, I have no intention of making a similar test of a PD like LoveShack inadvertantly did here!

On two wheels it is not a question of if but when and how bad. With that in mind, I also got a good full face helmet to wear when I am scooting in the lanes with those 4 wheeled vehicles!

 

[LoveShack]

Don, I'm really happy my thread bumped you to make the switch. The LX150 is a great scooter. If you ever need to brush up on some basics or do a complete tear down, modernvespa.com is the place to visit. A good friend of mine started that place. Let me know if you figure out ny cool LED Mods on that thing.
Cheers:thumbsup:

 

[Prometheus]

dude! i didn't know you stacked on a vespa. yikes.

i've had one my vespas stall out on upper market before and fish tailing all the way to a stop. not fun...

anyways glad to know you're ok.

jimmy is like a modern day felix the cat with magic bag of tricks.

that very same bag has been the source of much joy.

btw, went by first kick scooters the other day and my '64 gs160 is actually coming along nicely. can't wait to get her on the road!