My Pal's Allstate

The above photo is Jeff Joaquin's 1963 Vespa Allstate. Imported by the good people at Sears, back when you could order a Playtex Living Bra, a Craftsman drill, and a boss scooter from the same catalog. The good old days. This is the "before" picture that I promised in an earlier post. Looks pretty cherry in this pose doesn't it? It's in a whole bunch of pieces now and will become the focus of attention for Jeff in the coming weeks.

I reached out to Big People Scooters in Seattle and they replied yesterday saying that "Yes they can do the work, but get it in ASAP, because when springtime rolls around, all vintage jobs get put on the back burner". The motor is the big issue right now, because the frame, cowls, seats and most everything else are in real good shape. One of the local motorcycle shops said to bring it in and they will have a look at it, but sometimes it's better to have a wrench turner that knows the brand to tackle the project. Being confident is a plus.

The thundering herd of Geezers will be hanging out at Jeff's shop Sunday afternoon and we should have the frame completely stripped down, and all of the greasy parts cleaned up. Jeff has hooked up with a painter, so we will probably just help out with getting parts prepped and sanded before he sends it out for paint.

Geezer "Dreamcrusher" will be joining us on Sunday, and he's a good hand with tools, as well as welding and metal fab work. His real name is Brian, and he works with Jeff and I at our store. Brian runs our metal fabrication shop, and turns out anything from basic metal roof flashing, to intricate copper work. Dreamcrusher rides a rat Honda Aero 80, that just screams down the road faster than I think they were meant to go. You can spot him a block away with his big American flag flapping from a pole that he clamped on to his luggage basket. True home crafted scooter farkles.

As for this kid, I'm enjoying scootin' to work these days again since the spring-like weather has brought sunny days back to us, with temps around 53 degrees. I had a real nice putt this afternoon out to some of my favorite stomping grounds, and couldn't believe how many folks were out walking, working in their yards, washing their cars, and doing whatever else needed to be done on such a nice day. Even the motorbikes are coming out to play.

I know that spring is still down the road a stretch, but there's nothing wrong with looking ahead. Heck, it's only 56 days!

Have fun,
Bill