Vietnam and Lambrettas

 

I have just returned from another swing through Cambodia and South Vietnam and wanted to briefly explain what I found of the current companies restoring and exporting Lambrettas and Vespas to the U.K., Europe, and the U.S. 

Although, there are many different players in the restoration/export market in South Vietnam, I only met with two shops, both operations managed by western expats.  After a little investigation, these two shops seemed to represent the upper end of quality and be of the most interest to potential buyers.  Both are almost exclusively focused on the restoration of Lambrettas.   

The supply of scooters for restoration is rapidly declining.  Lots of bikes are leaving Vietnam heading to the U.K., and U.S. by the shipping container full.   Consequently, some of the more desirable models (SX200 for example) might only be available for another 6-12 months.  Also, the Vietnamese government makes exporting something of a bureaucratic nightmare with provisions such as the bike must have its original paperwork to be exported.  If the bike is missing the paperwork you must find the original buyer or the bike stays in Vietnam.     

 Some of the caveats of the Vietnamese market; anyone restoring scooters in Vietnam is faced with a shortage of spare parts.  The more quality conscious and conscientious western-managed shops import spares as needed from Europe but local shops often rely on locally manufactured or modified parts to keep scooters on the road.  This results in the substitution of locally manufactured, improperly or non-heat treated gears, shafts, incorrectly sized bearings sleeved to fit, as well as the substitution of motorcycle parts (headlights, ignition switches, brake switches, modified wiring harnesses, etc.) to keep the bikes operable. 

 There is also the swapping or substitution of wrong engines as well as wrong engine parts, altering or counterfeiting engine case serial number/ID’s, removal of desirable parts during “repairs”, the extreme welding/repair of broken/damaged frames with ensuing cosmetic work to cover the damage, mismatching of parts from different models, and attitudes about quality that do not compare favorably with those of western shops. These practices, although seeming almost standard for Vietnamese shops were generally not found in the two western operations I examined. 

Now, about the shops I visited.  The first, Scoot RS, is managed by a Canadian expat and operated as a low volume operation with an emphasis on quality rather than quantity.  The company’s web site (www.scootrs.com) has a good explanation of their operation and I found the web page to be an accurate description after physically examining their Saigon operation.  Scoot RS’s goal seems to be to provide the highest quality and part-wise accurate restorations and at the same time remain affordable.  This does mean, though, that even with the low cost of labor in Vietnam that there are necessarily a few compromises, which I’ll explain later. 

 While I was visiting the Scoot RS shop there were a couple of SX200’s completely torn down and the bikes and motors were in the process of being rebuilt.  It was possible to make a thorough examination of the frames, wiring harnesses, headsets/wiring, as well as the engine rebuilds. The quality of the frames and body panel paint/preparation jobs appeared to have been good to very good.  All of the aluminum/chrome pieces were either polished or re-chromed to high standards.  New cables and new speedometer drives were installed. New bearings, seals, gears, necessary stator rebuilding, new carbs or carb parts and other NOS/ or quality replacement parts were present for the engine rebuilds.  I subsequently returned to the shop as the assembly of the bikes progressed so it is fair to say that only original parts or quality replacements were being used for the restoration.  Importantly, the bikes and engines were kept as close to original as possible. 

 The compromises I mentioned earlier are the sometimes use of locally manufactured replacement parts consisting of reworked side panels for the SX200’s, which appeared virtually impossible to identify as reproductions even from the inside.  Additionally, locally made aluminum trim/badge reproduction pieces were sometimes used, which are about a 95% plus solution.  I have seen slightly higher quality with some of the Italian reproductions but Scoot RS successfully sells their copies to English scooter shops so I do not think quality will be an issue with anyone.  Also, the rubber pieces for the foot rails as well as all the other replacement rubber pieces are of medium quality local manufacture.  Discussing the substitutions with the owner, he makes it clear that he could use all Italian-made replacement pieces but the end cost of the scooter would have to be much higher.  

 The owner of Scoot RS also took me to a warehouse full of “restored bikes, “ that is restored by several different Vietnamese shops to local standards and purchased by a Vietnamese businessman for re-sale.  I saw about 20 bikes that had been miserably restored.  The epitome of every bad story you have ever heard of horrible Vietnamese restored bikes. Bad paint, swapped parts, electric tape wiring harnesses, etc. Scoot RS was purchasing a couple of these “restored bikes” and was going to have to put them through complete rebuilds (new paint, wiring, engine rebuilds, etc.) to bring them up to their high standards. 

 So although not offering me the caviar and champagne I am accustomed when visiting Quepo in Italy, I found the Scoot RS owner to be extremely helpful and open about his operation while visiting HCMC/Saigon.  I found his logic and reasoning when it comes to Lambretta restorations to be extremely sound.  The owner personally inspects all phases of restoration to ensure quality and after long discussions with him; I am convinced he is dedicated to doing things the right way. I would fully recommend RS bikes as long as you keep in mind the bikes are built to a price point and understand the compromises that RS clearly describes on their web site. 

 The second expat operation, PJ Enterprises, is a larger operation that appears to be shipping large numbers of bikes worldwide as well as to the U.S. West coast mainly the S.F. bay area.  The operation is designed to produce larger numbers of scooters that are offered at a significantly lower price point than RS.  The compromise comes, in the substitution of motorcycle parts (lighting, wiring harnesses, brake lights, ignition switches from Japanese motorcycles) as well as inoperative speedometers.  Though, the substitutions are usually done in ways that are not too cosmetically obtrusive.  I looked at one of these bikes in the assembly phase and found the painting and preparation of the frame and body parts I examined to be of a generally lower quality than RS’s. There were also a few dings on repainted parts from mishandling during assembly. The trim/badges/chroming are all polished/re-chromed or reworked to reasonable standards. 

The engines externally appear to be rebuilt with all of the necessary parts (cylinders, pistons, bearings, seals) necessary for good reliability.  I saw the replacement seals, bearings and pistons although I did not see an open engine in process of a rebuild so it’s impossible for me to verify what parts are going into the engine.  I am being cautious because some questions have been raised about internal modifications to the engines to accept locally available parts such as different sized seals and using bushings instead of bearings.  I hate to plead ignorance but I think the California shops selling the bikes are a better source of information about the quality of the rebuilt engine internals.  Hopefully, they have looked inside a few of the bike’s engines.

 So the PJ bikes are a compromise between authenticity and price.  Personally, though, I thought the cosmetic and parts substitution too much of a compromise even at the lower price point.  However, more value conscious buyers might find them ideal with the idea of replacing parts and continuing the restoration as they have the resources. 

 I do not think the company has a web site so here are some of their prices for comparison with Scoot RS.  Scoot RS prices are posted on their site. (www.scootrs.com)

 PJ Enterprises

Email address: PJOYNT@Hotmail.com

66’ Lambretta SX200 $1750.00 +shipping

63’ Lambretta TV175 $1250.00 +shipping

57’ Lambretta LD3     $1250.00+shipping 

I would have to conclude after looking at what is available from the different Lambretta restorers in Saigon that you are getting what you pay for.  The real savings with any of the Vietnamese restorations comes in the lower price of labor.  The two shops I looked at represent different points on the price/quality continuum.  Scoot RS focusing on quality and authenticity with higher prices and PJ offering lower overall quality balanced with lower prices made possible by parts substitution and lower standards for the cosmetic restoration.  Feel free to e-mail me if you have any additional questions about either of the shops. 

 

Sheldon Vickers

Pirate_Imports@yahoo.com