Modern Buddy

Posted: **Thu Oct 02, 2014 9:45 pm**

Hello all. I was wondering whether anyone here could help me identify model and year of this Scooter. I'm up in Canada and its listed as a PGO 150. Thinking it might be badged as a Genuine in the States. Its on Craigslist for $300 and just trying to find out a bit more about it before going to look at it. Thanks.

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Posted: **Thu Oct 02, 2014 10:11 pm**

Stella made by LML(India) imported by Genuine. I could be wrong.

Posted: **Thu Oct 02, 2014 10:27 pm**

It's a Bajaj Chetak. The "Thor's Hammer" horncast gives it away. Looks a lot like a Vespa or Stella, but the engine is a unique design. Reliable as all-get-out, but not terribly quick.

Posted: **Fri Oct 03, 2014 1:48 am**

az_slynch wrote:It's a Bajaj Chetak. The "Thor's Hammer" horncast gives it away. Looks a lot like a Vespa or Stella, but the engine is a unique design. Reliable as all-get-out, but not terribly quick.

But if it runs it's worth more than $300.

Posted: **Fri Oct 03, 2014 2:08 am**

Syd wrote:But if it runs it's worth more than $300.

Absolutely. Just factor in the cost of some paint to cover up the vomit that's currently obscuring the scooter

Posted: **Fri Oct 03, 2014 4:46 am**

I've never seen a white/pink Bajaj Chetek.... till now. For some reason I've only seen them silver. Nice find if it runs....

Posted: **Fri Oct 03, 2014 6:33 am**

Drum Pro wrote:I've never seen a white/pink Bajaj Chetek.... till now. For some reason I've only seen them silver. Nice find if it runs....

I'm not so sure that's white/pink. It just might be green/pink. Mmmm, tasty.

Posted: **Fri Oct 03, 2014 6:47 am**

Regardless, I think it's wearing the wrong cowls. Those are P/PX cowls with some funky '80s panel inserts. The Chetak came with smooth cowls and the nearside one should have a toolbox door like a pre-P/PX Vespa. The choke, fuel tap, grocery hook and cowl latch were painted over, so the color is a bad respray. The floor rails aren't found on the '01-'06 Chetaks that came to the US and there's a spare tire cover hanging under the nearside cowl, not sure if there's a tire there but the Chetak's carried the spare on the rear rack. Maybe it's one of the late '80s/early '90s Chetak SL two-strokes with some mismatched cowls?

I seriously considered buying a Chetak for a while. Almost pulled the trigger on a project one until I got a good look at a 4T Stella motor and realised that it had the same transmission format/innards as a 2T...hack-ability sold me on the Stella.

Either way, I could still run this sticker.

Posted: **Fri Oct 03, 2014 7:34 am**

Posted: **Fri Oct 03, 2014 1:14 pm**

Slap a Mattel sticker on her and call it a day!

Posted: **Fri Oct 03, 2014 1:22 pm**

Who knew that even Barbie could find the beauty in a Helix?

Posted: **Fri Oct 03, 2014 1:56 pm**

The bikes we know as Stellas here in the US are made by LML of India, and if you know anything about the Indian market, it is huge, huge, huge, it is orders of magnitude bigger than the US market. They buy more two-wheeled vehicles in a month than are sold in the US in a year.

This looks like an LML for a different market, maybe India, maybe one of many places around the world. It is mostly likely substantially similar to a P type vespa, most likely with a 125 or perhaps 150 motor. There will be differences small and large, like the plastic horn cast that looks like the ones on Bajaj Chetaks and Legends, little differences in the switchgear and wiring, etc.

If you like P type Vespas and enjoy solving problems, this could be a fun bike for a low price. Be on the lookout for dodgy, bizarre, or nonexistent paperwork. Something like this, which might be extremely common wherever it came from, ends up being a very odd duck if it gets stuck in a container of furniture or candles or wind-chimes and exported to a place where it is the only one of its kind, with no formal importation process undertaken.

Posted: **Fri Oct 03, 2014 2:30 pm**

Posted: **Fri Oct 03, 2014 3:46 pm**

It does look like a Stella to me but I am not an expert. Regardless what brand it should be worth $300 or more. I feel that is a correct statement of price in the area I live. I do not know about Canada.

Posted: **Fri Oct 03, 2014 6:08 pm**

If it runs, has a title, and costs $300... what's not to love? Well, what's not to love that can't be fixed with (another) rattlecan paint job?

One thing that would be nice to know before you ride it off is whether it's a 4-stroke (my money is on this) or a 2-stroke (in which case better ask some questions first about whether it's running autolube or premix). If it's one of those 4-stroke Bajaj motors, expect it to be slow, but bulletproof. If it's a 2-stroke, all bets are off for me and you need an expert to tell you whether the is the real factory deal or a replacement lump sourced from who knows where. In this case it would probably be worth doing a little more homework before buying.

No matter what it is, I predict it will be the most interesting $300 you ever spent.

Posted: **Fri Oct 03, 2014 6:28 pm**

BeefSupreme wrote:Who knew that even Barbie could find the beauty in a Helix?

Who indeed? She's smiling, but that's because it's an Elite 125/150D and not a Helix. Charlie can tell you, Barbie wouldn't willingly have her picture taken with something as plug-ugly as a Helix.

Posted: **Fri Oct 03, 2014 8:22 pm**

Note to self:

Posted: **Fri Oct 03, 2014 9:45 pm**

charlie55 wrote:Note to self:

Well played, sir. You should never take any guff from us horsefaced Yager owners; our taste in scooters isn't any better than yours.

Posted: **Fri Oct 03, 2014 9:55 pm**

az_slynch wrote:
charlie55 wrote:Note to self:

Well played, sir. You should never take any guff from us horsefaced Yager owners; our taste in scooters isn't any better than yours.

And I am eternally enjoined from ever scoffing at the Helix's styling by the pledge charlie55 made me take here in the Slingshot thread.

Posted: **Sat Oct 04, 2014 7:43 pm**

pattio wrote:The bikes we know as Stellas here in the US are made by LML of India, and if you know anything about the Indian market, it is huge, huge, huge, it is orders of magnitude bigger than the US market. They buy more two-wheeled vehicles in a month than are sold in the US in a year.

This looks like an LML for a different market, maybe India, maybe one of many places around the world. It is mostly likely substantially similar to a P type vespa, most likely with a 125 or perhaps 150 motor. There will be differences small and large, like the plastic horn cast that looks like the ones on Bajaj Chetaks and Legends, little differences in the switchgear and wiring, etc.

If you like P type Vespas and enjoy solving problems, this could be a fun bike for a low price. Be on the lookout for dodgy, bizarre, or nonexistent paperwork. Something like this, which might be extremely common wherever it came from, ends up being a very odd duck if it gets stuck in a container of furniture or candles or wind-chimes and exported to a place where it is the only one of its kind, with no formal importation process undertaken.

Chetaks were made by the Bajaj Auto company, not LML. They have very little in common with Stella 2T or Vespa as they are 4T scooters.

While not as common as vintage Vespas they are not that uncommon in the US and part are still available. Anyone I've met that has owned one...and that is quite a few people...loved them

Posted: **Sun Oct 05, 2014 3:19 pm**

BuddyRaton wrote:
pattio wrote:
This looks like an LML for a different market, maybe India, maybe one of many places around the world. It is mostly likely substantially similar to a P type vespa, most likely with a 125 or perhaps 150 motor. There will be differences small and large, like the plastic horn cast that looks like the ones on Bajaj Chetaks and Legends, little differences in the switchgear and wiring, etc.

Chetaks were made by the Bajaj Auto company, not LML. They have very little in common with Stella 2T or Vespa as they are 4T scooters.

While not as common as vintage Vespas they are not that uncommon in the US and part are still available. Anyone I've met that has owned one...and that is quite a few people...loved them

We are 100% in agreement that LML and Bajaj are different companies, and 100% in disagreement that I said they were.

As for what a US-market Chetak has 'in common' with a vintage Vespa, that is a semantic rabbit hole nobody needs to go down.

I was a dealer for both and own both. They are scooters, and scooters are fun.

The most important thing I wanted to convey to OP about the pink scooter is that it is a fish-out-of-water and could be a good bargain for the right owner, a useless burden for the wrong one. Under the pink paint and strange plastic is a metal machine known and understood around the world. Whether it can be registered and insured in OP's locality is another matter.

Posted: **Sun Oct 05, 2014 5:50 pm**

I was just trying to clarify for the OP. The statement "This looks like an LML for a different market, maybe India," seemed to imply...to me...that you thought it was LML.

I'm glad we agree, I'm also glad we agree that they are fun scooters! Of course check the paperwork...for any used scooter!

Posted: **Sun Oct 05, 2014 6:06 pm**

I did think it was an LML. If it's a PGO its from Taiwan, not India. Funny how universal-but-different these things can be. I'd buy it for 3 Franklins if it was in my area, just out of curiosity.

Posted: **Sun Oct 05, 2014 7:20 pm**

pattio wrote:I did think it was an LML. If it's a PGO its from Taiwan, not India. Funny how universal-but-different these things can be. I'd buy it for 3 Franklins if it was in my area, just out of curiosity.

You and me both...for three it would be home!

Posted: **Sun Oct 05, 2014 7:57 pm**

That's a good part of why I have an '84 Yamaha Riva 80. I kinda wanted one, but when I found one, it was $40 and started...no brainer!

Posted: **Sun Oct 05, 2014 8:12 pm**

az_slynch wrote:That's a good part of why I have an '84 Yamaha Riva 80. I kinda wanted one, but when I found one, it was $40 and started...no brainer!

Shoot, I thought your "Hammer of Thor Horncast" joke was worth that much!

Posted: **Mon Oct 06, 2014 12:22 am**

jrsjr wrote:
az_slynch wrote:That's a good part of why I have an '84 Yamaha Riva 80. I kinda wanted one, but when I found one, it was $40 and started...no brainer!
Shoot, I thought your "Hammer of Thor" joke was worth that much!

I wish I could claim the joke, but the terminology has been around for a few years. I just wonder if anybody ever named their Chetak Mjölnir ?

The only bummer about the $40 Riva it that the previous owner removed the fuel cutoff, er vice grips, from the fuel line before I picked it up. At least I was a able to find a new OEM cutoff for it; shame that the new part tripled the value of the bike...

Posted: **Mon Oct 06, 2014 12:51 am**

jrsjr wrote:
az_slynch wrote:That's a good part of why I have an '84 Yamaha Riva 80. I kinda wanted one, but when I found one, it was $40 and started...no brainer!
Shoot, I thought your "Hammer of Thor Horncast" joke was worth that much!

Really. Hammer of Thor Horncast.

Last words?

J/k. Cool forum.

Posted: **Mon Oct 06, 2014 1:12 am**

This is the one I got crazy on. Magna V65. 1100cc v-4. Honda.

Posted: **Mon Oct 06, 2014 1:16 am**

KrispyKreme wrote:This is the one I got crazy on. Magna V65. 1100cc v-4. Honda.

Cruiser would rip a sub 12 second.

My father wrecked on that same bike and fucked his leg up. He told me it was "One of those turns...."

Modern Buddy

Help in Identifying

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