P125 ETS

[mhart9df]

I have interest in buying an ETS that my mum has owned for a while. It is currently red, lacking in stickers and badges, and has a 130 kit on it. This would be my new scooter as I turn 17 next year and am looking for something a bit more reliable than my current PK50 (ish). I would like some help as to whether it is worth buying looking for and buying the original 5 port barrel and piston to put back on? Also I would like to spray it ETS blue and was wondering what colour is the closest so that I can buy it and spray myself. The stickers for the sidepanels are also something that I would like to buy. Where would I be able to get these? Are they for sale anywhere or would I have to get them made up by a printing company? Thanks in advance, Matt.

[maverick73]

Hi,
I was doing some research on the ETS model, and I was told that the blue, is the same as FIAT Celeste Blue!! Not sure if this information is correct though.

[mhart9df]

Jun 19, 2019 18:42:22 GMT maverick73 said:

Hi,
I was doing some research on the ETS model, and I was told that the blue, is the same as FIAT Celeste Blue!! Not sure if this information is correct though.

Thank you very much, I will have a look into this!

[Juan]

Has anyone actually seen a blue version? I know I haven't, they've all been red unless obviously painted otherwise.

[henri]

me neither , seen i think a advertising release with a blue? ets in background ,but all original paint ones ive seen in uk have been red . H

[mhart9df]

Jun 25, 2019 5:24:43 GMT henri said:

me neither , seen i think a advertising release with a blue? ets in background ,but all original paint ones ive seen in uk have been red . H

I'm pretty sure that all (if not most) ets' are originally red that were built for/in the UK. But I have seen a few from pictures in Italy and know that they can be blue. It isn't as light as the Fiat Celeste Blue, but I would like to have one that is the closest to original blue that they were produced in for other countries.

[Juan]

I'm willing to accept blue versions exsisted if I've never seen one.

What I do know is my first PK 50 S in '86 was midnight blue and bought secondhand at 11 months old for 335 quid.

No idea on paint codes but the timing is bang on for the period.

[maverick73]

I've only ever seen blue ETS's in pictures, also, while browsing the internet, I came across a white one, being advertised in Italy for £3000, plus. Not sure if white was the original colour, or a respray. But it looked mint.
I'd be inclined to keep it red though.

[mhart9df]

Jun 27, 2019 21:16:25 GMT maverick73 said:

I've only ever seen blue ETS's in pictures, also, while browsing the internet, I came across a white one, being advertised in Italy for £3000, plus. Not sure if white was the original colour, or a respray. But it looked mint.
I'd be inclined to keep it red though.

Thanks for the advice and I agree, I think it would make it look perfect if I got hold of the stickers and missing horncast badge. How much do ETS' go for on the market at a reasonable condition and price? 

[maverick73]

Ets's will only appreciate in value. As you are probably aware, only 11711 where produced,world wide.
I'll be holding onto mine indefinitely, I had been looking for a good example for some time and eventually I managed to source mine (that's a story, in itself)
Mine is in unrestored original paint, with a certain degree of patina, which I love.
I intend to keep it as is and not restore it, as obviously, something is only original once.
I'm sure you can get hold of the horn cast badges, as I reckon they are generic Vespa items, and think about maybe getting a set of decals made up, depending on how far you want to take the restoration. Mine has the original factory applied decals.
As for the cost of a good ETS, I think you need to be spending 2 grand.. some might disagree,, but I had looked long and hard for one, before finding mine, some of the prices being asked where outrageous to say the least!
As stated at the start of this thread, decent one's will only appreciate.

[Juan]

Jun 30, 2019 20:58:34 GMT maverick73 said:

Ets's will only appreciate in value. As you are probably aware, only 11711 where produced,world wide.

Some say it was 11,811, others say it was actually 1,811. I come down in the later camp as they certainly haven't been all over the place although I've seen a few. But it is a fairly small market and find that far more believable. Scooter use was in decline then and of the active markets of the time, mainly Italy and Spain, they wouldn't have been paying a premium for something little better than an ET3 or standard PK 125 same as say your Ford buyer would for an RS 1600i rather than a XR3 which was cheaper and far better fitted the needs of most.

[maverick73]

You make a good point Juan.
Without knowing the full marketing history of the ETS on these shores, my thinking was that the T5, in a way, killed off the ETS, as it's sporty nature was a massive draw for the speed hungry scooterboys of the time. Plus, it always seemed to me that smallframes in general had a niche following as the British scooterists seemed to favour large frame Vespa's. Maybe Piaggio thought that smallframe sales would be hand in hand with the large frame models,or maybe they only ever planned to do a limited run of the ETS. They are certainly a unique scooter in more ways than one.
I had sold one 16 year's ago and regretted it immediately and had been looking for one periodically since, until finding the one I now have earlier this year.
I firmly believe that it is and will be one of, if not the rarest Vespa's to find. (SS's aside).
It draws a good deal of interest wherever I go on it, especially scooter events.
My point is, that you just don't see many of them.
👍🏻

[Juan]

Well you're right the T5 killed them off but Piaggio I'm pretty sure had a plan and it was only ever a stop-gap model. They will have shoved it in as a short-term performance/ sporting model for a niche market whilst drawning up the XL. The T5 would've been well under development before the ETS was ever introduced and as we all know that was a sizeable increase in performance from a 125 model.

We also have to remember the were spending Millions on the development of the Cosa at the time and whilst certainly not any leap forward in performance,aesthetics or economy it certainly was in terms of comfort and handling.

[maverick73]

I had more or less forgotten about the Cosa!
That would explain the short production run of the ETS and, has you, said the 'stop-gap' possibly.
Only thing is, the one off nature of a lot of parts on the ETS, would have been expensive to develop and produce, especially the taller headset, or does the XL share this? As with the louvred frame?
It is a bit of a grey area, thinking about it!
I remember that the Cosa had dual operated brakes too, and has we all know, the clutch was a better item too and used extensively on tuned PX's to this day. They also have a striking resemblance to the GT auto's,,.. from the front! Quite an innovative scooter really!

[scooterfreak]

www.motorcyclespecs.co.za/model/Vespa/Vespa%20P125ETS.htm

[nickj]

Love my ETS.

I sold my pimped V100 and a nice GL150 earlier this year but kept the ETS cos it’s just a perfect ride - bigger than an old v range frame and smaller than a p range.

The front brake is brilliant and after years of ripping my hands to shreds working on a v range I love the space in the pk frame. The bog standard engine with the 20mm carb works a treat, especially if you chuck a down and forward pipe on it.

Bought mine on eBay off a used car and bike dealer in Yorkshire somewhere for £600 and stripped and restored it. Had to find a horn cast and a side badge which took another couple of years. Sold it once and bought it back a couple of years ago for what I sold it (v decent bloke!). Won’t make that mistake again....

[nickj]

[maverick73]

I totally agree with what you are saying about the ETS, at the risk of repeating myself, I love them. I can't stop finding excuses to get out on it!
My sold. and re-purchased adventure is what makes owning the scooter so special.
I had bought it from a local scooter lad, about 16 years ago, as a pile of parts in a garage clearance, for £120 the intention being to restore it as a first scooter for my eldest son who was 15 or 16 at the time.
Not having the inclination to proceed with this plan and not being all that clued up on smallframes, we sourced another scooter for my son to get on the road with, and the ETS languished in the garage.
After a while, I asked a mate to sell it on at a parts fair in Kettering, which he did, I covered my initial outlay, plus a bit extra and my mate had a drink out of it!
That's when I immediately started to regret selling it. I spent years looking for a good one, with no luck as they became rarer and more expensive.
Until February this year, when one popped up on ebay, it was relatively local to where I live and the buy it now price was in budget. After a call to the seller, he whatsapped some pictures of the work ha had carried out on the scooter, including a "walk round" video of the scooter starting and running. It was at this point, as he passed by the rear end, that my heart jumped! The reg number! it was the same scooter, that I had owned and sold on!
Needless to say, I struck a deal, there and then.
The scooter is in unrestored patina complete with factory decals etc. I was glad that the seller hadn't carried out a restoration job, as the patina is it's history.
The engine has been rebuilt using new everything and is mechanically sound.
The seat is tatty, however, I have had it re-foamed and patched up, and it is has functional has a new one would be, but retaining the originality.
Like yourself, I will never sell it. It's the most enjoyable scooter I have owned and only the second smallframe, the other being a green 1985 PK, which was in the family from new and was bomb proof!

Attachments:

[tzsteve]

tidy scoot

[maverick73]

Thanks very much. 👍