Honda Aero 80

In 1983 Honda introduced the Aero 80 to the US market. It was a nice mid-sized scooter with a powerful two-stroke 80cc engine and room for a passenger. This Ruby Red 84 was the first scooter I refurbished for sale. I had a few cosmetic issues and had been crashed heavily, bending the forks and subframe. I sourced a replacement front-end for it and trued up the frame and it was ready to go!

I found this 83 model in good running condition, it was very clean and complete. A rare find as these are usually sun-faded and missing bits.

These machines are great fun to ride, nice power with speeds up to 45mph+. They also have very stable handling and strong brakes.

Here is another 84 model, similar to the above unit but missing some graphics. You pay extra for duct tape on the seat!I did a complete motor rebuild on this one due to a damaged cylinder.

In 1985 a new Aero 80 hit the market. It got a complete facelift and I think its the best looking one. This blue scooter looked pretty nice when I picked it up , but it had sat for years under a leaky tarp which allowed water into the engine. The bottom end was really rusty and it took a long time to get everything cleaned up. I rebuilt the engine, replacing the crank bearings and seals and over boring the cylinder to fit a new piston and rings. And of course I painted the wheels black and spooned new tires on there. I was really impressed with the results on this one, it rode like a new scooter. I added an aftermarket reed set and upjetted the carb which really made it sing!

Its always 1986 at Hyde Park Scooters!!

1964 Vespa VBB

Here is a perfect example of timeless style.

It was a real pleasure doing some work on this old girl. I replaced all the control cables as well as installing new brake shoes at both ends.

Later on she came back with a blown crank seal. I pulled the motor and replaced the crank bearings and seals. Also did a quick hone and ring job to restore full compression.

Talk about aging gracefully!

1987 Honda Elite 50

In 1987 Honda USA released the first edition of the Elite 50 , it was more aggressive than the Aero 50 and the Spree, the top of the 50cc two-stroke range!  It came in two models , the S model was derestricted and capable of 45mph in stock form , not bad for 49.5cc.

Imagine if your car achieved 1 mph per cc! A 2 liter Nissan would hit 2000MPH!!! Yeah, I know, cars are 4-wheeled, heavy , whatever... This purple and black machine began life as a restricted model, classified as a moped and barely able to reach 35MPH.

Fortunately it arrived at Hyde Park Scooters! I had all the parts I needed to upgrade this bike to full speed status. This involved replacing the exhaust and variator, as well as rejetting and tuning the carburetor.

By the time I finished painting and tuning this scoot I kind of fell in love with it! It was very quick and handled the corners with ease, overall a high-performance machine worthy of the 'Elite' moniker.

At least I got to enjoy it for a while before the right person came along to buy it...