Restore or buy already done

[surènos]

Right folks ure help/advice is greatly recieved. After not havin a lammie in a good few years im unsure if i should get an indian import gp150 to restore or get sumthing alreay dun.i ask cos ive seen part done scoots 4 sale often & dont wanna take 1 on & end up bogged down by size of task wich seems 2 happen. I know my way round lambrettas after owning em back in the day & have mechanical skills (not profesional) but dont want my venture back into scooterworld going tits up & a resto seems expensive are the parts sil produce ok u hear horror stories about stuff on offer (not sil) all opinions very welcome sorry 2 go on just wanna do right thing.

[timexit17]

Best advice I could give is to keep an eye out for someone who is selling their own pride and joy rather than something that's been built by them or a shop to a price for profit.
I.e. they may well have either paid someone good to build it to a really decent spec or even better they might be someone who really knows their onions who's feeling the pinch and prepared to let a 'no expenses spared' scooter they built for themselves go for a song.

It doesn't happen often but when it does you'll get a real bargain!
I've heard of two recently: both have now gone I think, an indian GP150, immaculately built with italian parts and mettallic paint/stainless steel throughout go for £2500 and, even better, an AF 250 S type replica done to every last detail on an original DL200 for £5k!!
Both worth at least 30% more in real life normally.

[clubbook]

I agree. Having been down both routes i think timexit17 is spot on! You can always add your own stamp on it later,

[ArmandTanzarian]

If you love tinkering with old crap then restoring a scooter is great fun (most of the time) and you get a real buzz when it's finished. Something you'll never get from just buying off the shelf.

Doing your own will almost always cost more than buying one already done. But that isn't really the point.

[surènos]

Many thanks to all 4 advice certainly good points that helps me decide 2 go for something already up n running that can be personalised at a later date.i want a 200cc up as well so thats the way 2 go.thanks again

[Muttley McLadd]

Also.. what it the enjoyment for you? The fannying around with it, or the riding it?
If you went down the route of doing it yourself, would that be to save money, or because that's what you enjoy?

By the time you add up the hours you spend arsing about making sh1t parts fit, and the postage costs and whatnot, I reckon you'd be as well to simply hand all that cash over to someone who knows what they're doing. That way you wont be paying twice for crap. Let's face it, I bet there isn't a single person here that doesn't have a pile of crap in the corner of the garage that you throw half of every bag of bits bought by mail order.

[Doom Patrol]

Your best bet is to shop around for an Indian GP that's already done. Never as desirable as Italian, so you'll get one for a reasonable price. And of course you can add a 200 engine at a later date.

[onefortheroad]

'If you love tinkering with old crap then restoring a scooter is great fun (most of the time) and you get a real buzz when it's finished.'

Finished? I don't think I've ever got that far

[shocky]

why dont you check out the forsale section on here there might be one for sale