Vespa Club of Britain forum

Don't know about ceased trading,I do know Steve sold the business last year. Steve's always stood behind his scoots 100%, and any problems were quickly put right. I know nothing about the new owners though, or where the bikes were being sourced after Steve sold up.

If you can't get an answer you could PM him on SBW or LCGB. 'Motoitalia' on LCGB, Stevescoots on SBW, although depending on when it was purchased it may well be nothing to do with him,and down to the new owners of the company.

Thanks for your reply but I can assure you that it was Steve Powell I dealt with at all times. I had the scooter barely any time at all and it stopped working, only to find that there was paint in the carb. I had a local well established scooter shop (proper scooter shop, geared Vespa and Lambretta not auto) fix the scooter and although Steve refunded the cost this time the repairers stated that it was definitely a poor Asian back street refurb.

The scooter quite soon after stopped working again and I had to have the stator, flywheel and various other electrical parts changed as they were knackered. I had a different repairer fix the scooter this time as I had moved and he said the best thing I could do was get rid of it as the wiring etc was dangerous. To quote him "in 28 years of working on scooters I have never came across anything as poor as this before"

I have also replaced various bits of wiring, the carb, worn brake shoes(despite the fact I have only managed to do a few hundred miles on the scooter) myself. There was a piece of cable that was less than 12" long but was made up of 3 different bits all woven together (not crimped), sizes varying from 10mm to 1mm in diameter!

After the first repair I challenged Steve about the scoot being built in Asia which he totally denied and assured me it was all works carried out in Britain, when I asked if he could send me a wiring diagram as the scoot is a VBB with a PX engine he just disappeared off the radar and the phone numbers I had for him stopped working, the website ceased to be and letters went unanswered.

I commend you for your defence of Steve but he and his scooter have left a bad taste. Just what this scene needs, more dodgy dealers selling death traps. I read about it almost every time I pick up a scootering magazine so it is obviously a common occurrence and far from being funny to the old hands out there I would suggest that this will be another nail in the coffin particularly if people start dying because iof it.

Take a look at the "Classic Scooterist Scene", page 44, News & Products, bottom left hand corner "Be careful what you buy". Although not my scooter this is the sort of thing that is happening more and more and gives you an idea of the type of people who put money before peoples lives.

Oops. Well, that's me told then!!

Henry Gray wrote: far from being funny to the old hands out there I would suggest that this will be another nail in the coffin particularly if people start dying because iof it.

Take a look at the "Classic Scooterist Scene", page 44, News & Products, bottom left hand corner "Be careful what you buy". Although not my scooter this is the sort of thing that is happening more and more and gives you an idea of the type of people who put money before peoples lives.

Henry.....NOBODY thinks it's funny. I personally have been warning people against far east restorations since 1998, when I first inspected one for a potential buyer. Same goes for most indian restorations. The Classic Scooterist Scene isn't news to me either, Scootering will also soon be doing a feature on far east/viet bikes.

Hate to say it....most folk buy these scooters without doing any research whatsoever. There's tons of info on viet bodge scoots on the internet, but generally it's preaching to the converted, as the potential buyers don't search for info before parting with their cash.
Occasionally someone does pop onto SBW, Scooterbbs, LCGB etc asking advice before buying, and are able to receive a warning, although in your case I don't think it would have made much of a difference as motoitalia had a pretty decent reputation.

Sorry hope I didn't sound like I was having a go at you.

Appreciate your reply and yes your right not enough research done on my part. I think the trouble is that after a 20 year absence and no longer having loads of mates in to the scootering scene some things do look too good to be true and I dived right in!

Many thanks,

Henry

I have just tried to book my ferry with Red Funnel ferries and the say they are not doing a scooter discount for VCB members this year. They say it will cost £20.00. Is that the case? Has anyone else had a VCB discount from them this year.

Harry

harrysgame wrote:I have just tried to book my ferry with Red Funnel ferries and the say they are not doing a scooter discount for VCB members this year. They say it will cost £20.00. Is that the case? Has anyone else had a VCB discount from them this year.

Harry

£20 is the discounted price with VFM, can't see them giving you discount on a discount TBH

trying to sort out discount with Al at Purdy Scooters Southampton, will let you know asap

so i understand http://www.scooterparts4you.co.uk/ has joined the membership discount scene