I can personally say from experience that it is not a good idea to buy an Asian restored or imported Vespa or Lambretta scooter. I know they look nice in the pictures but they are NOT SAFE! Never, never, never buy a scooter that you cannot see in person to test drive. Once your Asian restored scooter arrives it will run for a few weeks while your learning to ride it, then the problems will start. It will always violently shake and feel unsafe but since your a new Vespa rider you'll assume thats the way they are supposed to feel. It's not. A good condition Vespa scooter will feel solid, not shakey and noisey. Eventually you'll feel comfortable going fast, in traffic and the engine will sieze (this means the rear wheel locks up because the engine has come to a complete and sudden stop). Once the problems start you'll take it to your local repair shop and you'll be told that your scooter is unrepairable, needs a new engine and probably front end and frame. Then you'll be told that they will not work on it because of the liabillity associated with it and that their experience has been once they start working on one thing they find ten other things that need replacement and the owners get mad. These scooters lack the correct basic parts because they are not available or too expensive to get in South East Asia so they make the part or combine parts from different miss matched scooters to make something that runs. They can get paint and bondo so they make them look nice to intice you. You'll then try to sell it to some unsuspecting person only to find out that most local buyers know about these imported scooters and won't buy them or pay anything near the price your asking so you'll lose even more money. If you want a vintage scooter go to your local repair shop and see what they have or ask for a referral. You'll appreciate having someone to go back to for service and help. Good luck, have fun and be safe!