’90s flashback: Velociferos still roam the earth

On my way to work this morning I saw, of all things, an Italjet Velocifero, the first i’d ever seen in the US. It’s hard to believe there are any still out there, there can’t have been too many brought in, I don’t believe they’ve been imported since at least 2000, they’re famously difficult to maintain, even without the dismal supply of spares. So kudos to you, lone Chicago Velocifero rider, keep the faith until Kinetic gets their act together.

12 thoughts on “’90s flashback: Velociferos still roam the earth”

  1. There was one on sale in Chicago’s craigslist last week.

  2. I’ve seen several on trips to NYC and SF and had thought that they were kinda common. I’ve always thought they were one of the nicest looking modern scooters – what problems are they famous for?

  3. They are famous for being slow, poorly supported by the US distributor and the factory. They also have a difficult time even being tuned to go fast if you wanted to. But they are a sweet scooter. But the process of trying to wedge a modern engine into the patern of a vintage scooter came at the cost of an underperforming motor. It’s so close to being way bad ass.

  4. They’re cool looking, and seem fairly well-made, but several people have told me they’re a nightmare to work on, as far as access to things that need attention from time to time, and dozens of people have told me that it’s just about impossible to get spare parts for any italjet. They went through at least three US importers, and none of them ever came through with parts, not sure if it was an international problem or just in the US.

  5. Someone has a 1999 that they want 200 bucks for on Chicago craigslist right now.

  6. It’s a shame that it’s not one of the 50’s that can easily be turned into a screamer. I think it’s often easier to get parts for the 40 year old bikes than it is for most of the new ones. The Italjet owners that I know have become their own mechanics, and hunt Ebay UK for parts….which might be part of the fun of ownership!

  7. bkxyl: “I think it’s often easier to get parts for the 40 year old bikes than it is for most of the new ones.”

    Yeah, that’s a fact. P-series and 60s/70s Vespa parts will be available until the earth falls into the sun.

  8. As far as crappy performance, the one velo i rode was super quick off the line, and had great acceleration. as far as top speed, i wouldnt know. and yes, getting to the carb on that thing was a pain in the rear.

  9. They were plagued by bad US distributors with poor parts supply. One distributor had some parts and wouldn’t sell them to non-dealers.
    As an Italjet owner you definatly have to hunt for some parts overseas or buy crashed/parts scoots for back up.
    The Velo engine is a minnerelli air cooled. Malossi makes parts to tune them.
    Jedigregory in nyc had one that he had tuned. Good little wheelie machine…

  10. the velo used a morini engine, and a unique one at that. A good bit different than the other morini AH50 styles. Several companies made/make aftermarket parts, but a very small selection compared to minarelli and piaggio engines.

  11. I got mine running again last week. it’s a fun scoot in spite of being slow.

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