Almost 5 years ago, I was a victim to my own frugality in having my Vespa painted. After 3 years of daily use, and 6 months of racing at BRC, I decided to have the paint job done by a friend for only PHP 6,500.
Being very busy at that time, and running on a very low budget, I had him do the honors. To my dismay, we did not get the paint color right for everything, and the outcome was horrific to say the least.
It was a combination of pale yellow ( as opposed to the old Italian yellow), with charcoal grey cowls, front fender, and horn cast. A far cry from what I had in mind.
Having no choice, I rode it to Banawe with Kawasaki eliminator mirrors. Coming back from the ride, I decided to have the left cowl air brush painted with my favorite band – Steely Dan. The air brush artist did a good job but painted it with enamel. To cut a long story short, in my next ride to Vigan, gasoline dripped on the artwork drawing tears from the eyes of the two Steely Dan members.
Saving factor – I said to myself, better paint the cowls in matte black, then I’ll put a front carrier in black and match it with a rear carrier with the same color. Voila! It looked better, a more utilitarian look this time but it resembled a PLDT service vehicle.
This is how my ride looked till August of 2006. After years of commuting, racing, and joining several long rides, all its battle scars were telling me it needed a paint job real soon.
Looking back, my Vespa was a looker when I just bought it. It was Italian yellow, with a black Vespa script sign on the left leg shield, and a mod target sticker on the right. All its rubber was white and it sported original continental white wall tires ( front, rear, and spare). The seat was covered in Tan, it had a Vigano rear carrier in chrome, and a rear mudflap in black and white with a Vespa script.
Moving forward, I wanted to try a sportier look having tried retro, mod, and utility, racing was my choice this time.
With a wife and 4 kids to support, a mountain bike hobby, and many bills to pay, the time was not right. One day, I had a meeting with the country manager of Rudy Project Philippines who asked me to do their online store. That was when the idea of having a Rudy Project Vespa came into my mind.
It was a good brand association, both brands being Italian. Good exposure for Rudy Project, great look for a sporty Vespa.
With that objective in mind, I rushed to my computer and did my research work taking a look at several items from their online catalog.
What caught my attention was an offroad/ downhill helmet that had spider web like stripes all over it. It had a Rudy Project logo, and the peak had “Rudy Project Racing” on it.
It did not take long for me to make a decision and I said to myself, this is the look that I want.
Having said that and having no second thoughts whatsoever, I called my good friend Nani “Dr. Scoot” Juarez to do the design concept. He finished it in a day or two then sent me an email with a drawing of how the bike would look. We both then went to Sabak sports where a drinking session of close friends was in progress, we gathered several opinions, and we came up with the final consensus of having the bike done according to Nani’s design.
To cut a long story short, I delivered the scooter to 2211 Works early August, upon receipt of the approval from Gabriele Boschi of Rudy Project Philippines.
It was a painstaking process of disassembly, preparation, cleaning and painting. Then the decals were installed and my final approval was sought.
I gave the go for the top coat to be done and lo and behold, my Rudy Project theme Vespa was finally finished.
It still had my old shaved stock Piaggio seat, Vitto side mirrors, and my old worn out signal lenses. Having studied what was needed to complete the final look, I decided to sell some of my accessories to raise cash for the stuff I needed to buy : a racing seat, a tune pipe, and round side mirrors in black.
The outcome gave a big smile to my face and as my coup de grace, I had a Rudy Project emblem sticker installed at the center of the back of my racing seat.
Future plans include upgrading to bitubo shocks, and more goodies for my engine. Meantime, I am very happy with my “Katy”, the name I gave my Vespa in 1999, and we both look forward to many more adventures.
Many thanks to : Gabriele of Rudy Project Philippines for funding the project, Nani “Dr. Scoot” Juarez for the design and implementation, the “Sabak” boys for their input, and my loving wife for giving it a thumbs up.
Being very busy at that time, and running on a very low budget, I had him do the honors. To my dismay, we did not get the paint color right for everything, and the outcome was horrific to say the least.
It was a combination of pale yellow ( as opposed to the old Italian yellow), with charcoal grey cowls, front fender, and horn cast. A far cry from what I had in mind.
Having no choice, I rode it to Banawe with Kawasaki eliminator mirrors. Coming back from the ride, I decided to have the left cowl air brush painted with my favorite band – Steely Dan. The air brush artist did a good job but painted it with enamel. To cut a long story short, in my next ride to Vigan, gasoline dripped on the artwork drawing tears from the eyes of the two Steely Dan members.
Saving factor – I said to myself, better paint the cowls in matte black, then I’ll put a front carrier in black and match it with a rear carrier with the same color. Voila! It looked better, a more utilitarian look this time but it resembled a PLDT service vehicle.
This is how my ride looked till August of 2006. After years of commuting, racing, and joining several long rides, all its battle scars were telling me it needed a paint job real soon.
Looking back, my Vespa was a looker when I just bought it. It was Italian yellow, with a black Vespa script sign on the left leg shield, and a mod target sticker on the right. All its rubber was white and it sported original continental white wall tires ( front, rear, and spare). The seat was covered in Tan, it had a Vigano rear carrier in chrome, and a rear mudflap in black and white with a Vespa script.
Moving forward, I wanted to try a sportier look having tried retro, mod, and utility, racing was my choice this time.
With a wife and 4 kids to support, a mountain bike hobby, and many bills to pay, the time was not right. One day, I had a meeting with the country manager of Rudy Project Philippines who asked me to do their online store. That was when the idea of having a Rudy Project Vespa came into my mind.
It was a good brand association, both brands being Italian. Good exposure for Rudy Project, great look for a sporty Vespa.
With that objective in mind, I rushed to my computer and did my research work taking a look at several items from their online catalog.
What caught my attention was an offroad/ downhill helmet that had spider web like stripes all over it. It had a Rudy Project logo, and the peak had “Rudy Project Racing” on it.
It did not take long for me to make a decision and I said to myself, this is the look that I want.
Having said that and having no second thoughts whatsoever, I called my good friend Nani “Dr. Scoot” Juarez to do the design concept. He finished it in a day or two then sent me an email with a drawing of how the bike would look. We both then went to Sabak sports where a drinking session of close friends was in progress, we gathered several opinions, and we came up with the final consensus of having the bike done according to Nani’s design.
To cut a long story short, I delivered the scooter to 2211 Works early August, upon receipt of the approval from Gabriele Boschi of Rudy Project Philippines.
It was a painstaking process of disassembly, preparation, cleaning and painting. Then the decals were installed and my final approval was sought.
I gave the go for the top coat to be done and lo and behold, my Rudy Project theme Vespa was finally finished.
It still had my old shaved stock Piaggio seat, Vitto side mirrors, and my old worn out signal lenses. Having studied what was needed to complete the final look, I decided to sell some of my accessories to raise cash for the stuff I needed to buy : a racing seat, a tune pipe, and round side mirrors in black.
The outcome gave a big smile to my face and as my coup de grace, I had a Rudy Project emblem sticker installed at the center of the back of my racing seat.
Future plans include upgrading to bitubo shocks, and more goodies for my engine. Meantime, I am very happy with my “Katy”, the name I gave my Vespa in 1999, and we both look forward to many more adventures.
Many thanks to : Gabriele of Rudy Project Philippines for funding the project, Nani “Dr. Scoot” Juarez for the design and implementation, the “Sabak” boys for their input, and my loving wife for giving it a thumbs up.
2 comments:
Nice paint job!
It's just cool to have your project funded and backed by Rudy Project Phils. ;)
~John
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myvespa.wordpress.com
Hi John,
Nice to see you here. Yes, its nice to have a great paint job funded by RP. The drawback is how I feel when I race. Even driving it as my daily commute makes me feel I have to be extra careful all the time. What more when I am in the track? This will definitely affect my lap times hehehe
Tony
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