Rally colors

It's getting close to registration of the Rally, and I am still struggling to find the right color the scooter was painted in. This is important, as I need to install a new tank which needs to be sprayed in the right color.

Going to the local lacquer shop and looking through all the color maps available did not prove useful, the nearest match to a orange red was either a Suzuki color (which was a hint to brown) and a Kia color (which was too yellow). All other reds lacked the orange flavour.

Searching the net and forums, and asking the scooter community for advice brought me a bit closer:

Scooterhelp provided Max Meyer Vespa Paint codes.

According to this, the Rally has been delivered in the following colors, possible colors bolded by me.

Vespa Rally 200(VSE1T)

• Max Meyer Paint Code: "Metallic Moon White" 2.268.0108
• Max Meyer Paint Code: "Racing Red" 1.298.5806
• Max Meyer Paint Code: "Lacquer Red" 1.298.5895
• Max Meyer Paint Code: "Katmandu Red" 1.298.5875
• Max Meyer Paint Code: "Polaris Grey" 1.268.8200
• Max Meyer Paint Code: "Coral Red" 1.298.5880

OK, I've got four red colors to work out from. First step: Find out how they look.

A buddy in our local club, Roughnecks, tipped me that the Scooter Center catalogue provides color samples in the back. The catalogue proved useful in eliminating Katmandu red, as this is way too maroon.

The 3 colors to go are however more tricky. I tried to compare them to the original lacquer on the bike, but did not get an obvious match on any of them. Three things come to mind: 1) The paint is obviously faded and is not as it was back in 1975 and 2), the reproduction of the colors in the catalogue is not 100% accurate. 3), Doing this at night in the garage under ambient lighting might not be the best idea.

1) I need to find a non-faded part for best comparison.

2) Reproduction. For comparison, I just "happen" to have a spare (most likely 180) Rally headset in a more orange color:

If my reasoning is right, the 180 Rally headset is "Gelb Orange" 1.298.2916, but on comparison it actually looks more like the "Korallen-Rot" 200 Rally color. None of the colors are "close enough" to say it's a match. This troubles me.

3) I obviously should repeat this in broad daylight, and scissor out the samples to see how they blend on a large surface. This is on my todo list. 

Now to the second issue: 

Trouble with the Max Meyer codes is that no lacquer shop can mix these codes.  Entering the Max Meyer to PPG codes. This page translates some (but not all) colors to mixable (hopefully?) PPG code colors.

Just my luck. NONE of the Rally Max Meyer reds are even mentioned, although Rosso Corallo is mentioned, and has been translated to PPG 870.

So now I'm a bit stuck, but not completely. I've emailed this guy on Vespa Paint Codes to see whether he can help. Then I at least have the option of getting multiple colors blended to find the match.

Not a cost efficient way to do it, but at the moment I don't have many options.

I'll do a last check in broad daylight and then wait for an answer from Vespa Paint Codes, to be continued...

A few parts from Ebay

Some Ebay parts arrived today:

Metal covers under the headset. You get these as plastic replacement from SIP, but you can be lucky and find some original parts on Ebay. Gotta love it.

Fits perfectly.

Some primer & paint will do the trick. To be painted together with the tank.

Speedo fix

New package from SIP arrived today. The long awaited speedometer for the Rally was here.

First off: Speedometer light. The bulb holder didn't come with the new speedo, so the old one was utilized. The cable had to be soldiered, the previous owner had disabled the light. 

The new Piaggio (or rather Veglia Borletti) OEM part looks right from top, but that is only skin deep. I must say I was discontent with the unit; The chrome ring around the speedometer is missing. The housing of the unit is made of plastic. The holes are not threaded, this has to be done manually. Last but not least, The bulb holder is not part of the package. Not impressed. 

I skipped changing the speedometer wire, but fixed the speedo setup on the front wheel. After some investigation, I found out that a part compressing the wire into place was missing. Fixed with new parts.

The old stands were replaced with new ones. 

The spare wheel was beyond washing, so it was treated with a full sand blast & etch primer job. Silver paint remains. 

So now the speedo works! The electrical setup however is faulty still, so no lights in the speedo yet.