Vespas - pulled out of the flood
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Peter Erhorn, who lives in Altomünster in the district of Dachau, is an experienced Vespa enthusiast and collector. The 64-year-old is a trained mechanic and worked as a test mechanic for passenger protection technology for over 30 years before taking partial retirement. He has been running a spare parts business for vintage Vespas for more than three decades and has made a name for himself in the scene. His passion for Vespas has been with him for over 40 years, during which time he has not only collected numerous models, but also restored them. Peter has also been a member of the board of the Vespa Veterans Club Germany for several years, where he is active as secretary.
Vespas full of mud and dirt
In July 2021, the terrible flood disaster occurred in the Ahr Valley, in which 135 people lost their lives. The damage can still be seen today: empty spaces, demolished houses, dusty roads and the construction vehicles causing long traffic jams. Peter Erhorn came into possession of some Vespas that had disappeared in the masses of water. To make the owners happy, he started repairing and restoring these scooters some time ago. We asked him how the work started and how far he is today.
What is your relationship with scooters and Vespas? Are you in a scooter club?
I discovered my first Vespa, a 50 N, by chance at the age of 16 at a dealer for Maico motorbikes when I was buying parts there. I then completely restored it with the funds available at the time. The Brückl company was a good source of spare parts at the time.
As I was working in Munich at the time and wanted to ride on the motorway, I looked for a larger Vespa and found a 150/T3 for little money. I also completely restored this one.
My first longer tour took me to Italy to the 1st Registro Storico in Rovereto. On the way home, I discovered a dismantled Vespa 125 V30T in a scrapyard in South Tyrol, which I picked up a few days later in a friend's bus. Unfortunately, it later turned out that the scooter was not complete. So I travelled to vintage markets in Italy more and more often to find the missing parts.
At that time, the supply was not as plentiful as it is today, and as I didn't speak Italian, trading was not easy. I also kept buying complete scooters and parts and set up my own Vespa dealership. At that time, a few others, such as Rollerzentrale in Munich, Heinz vom Rollerladen and Ralf and Alex (SIP), were also starting to gain a foothold in the scooter business.
I am a member of the Vespa Veterans Club Germany and am now also the secretary there.
How did you come into contact with the scooters from the Ahr valley?
We were looking for someone to look after the scooters in a WhatsApp group. Unfortunately, there was no one from the region, so I offered to take on the task. This brought me into contact with Ingo Herfurt from the Elvermann company. I was interested in the job and whether it was possible to repair a scooter that had been flooded and what damage is caused by water and mud.
A year or so ago, you already pulled scooters out of the flood and repaired them. How did that come about? How did that go?
It wasn't me, but the Elvermann company, which has been involved in the Ahr valley since the beginning of the flood disaster, recovered the family's three scooters and two cars and stored them temporarily at their depot. The Elvermann company sells formwork material and is active in many social projects. It has been looking for companies to repair the vehicles - the family's only remaining memories. Among them is the Fiat 500 that pizzeria owner Roberto's father drove from Italy to the Ahr valley in the 1970s. Roberto had to Lock the pizzeria after the flood.
What condition are the scooters in?
All the scooters were flooded and, despite being cleaned after recovery, still full of mud everywhere. The ochre-coloured mud can even be found in the Headlight Units and other Frame Parts. The Engines were filled with a mixture of water and Oil, which surprisingly protected the internal components quite well. I had imagined the condition of the scooters to be worse.
How do you go about repairing them? Do you have to pay attention to anything in particular?
Firstly, I completely dismantled each scooter to get an overview of the damage. My aim was to save as many original parts as possible. The question was: which parts are still usable and what absolutely has to be replaced?
All the chassis bearings - steering bearings, swingarm bearings, axle bearings and cables - had to be replaced. Switches, Headlight Units, Tyres, Inner Tubes and Rims also had to be replaced.
For the Engines, the Crankshafts, Cylinders/Pistons, all Bearings and Oil Seals were replaced, which you do anyway when you completely dismantle the Engine. Some wearing parts also had to be replaced as they were borderline. On one of the Engines, the rotary slide surface was damaged and was repaired free of charge by Stefan Teutrine through the mediation of Udo Enderle (Enderle Solutions).
Another problem was the strange setup of the "50 cc Engines": Here, various, presumably inexperienced Screws, let off steam with mismatched components. Did it all work out that way? As I am not so experienced in the 50cc sector, Markus Tomasini from Innsbruck advised me many times with his expertise in order to install a suitable, functioning setup.
How long will these projects take? What do you estimate?
As I don't work continuously on the scooters because I also have other hobbies, it's difficult to estimate how long it will take. Unfortunately, there have always been setbacks, but both scooters are now running and I'm on the home straight.
Does anyone help you with the work or do you do everything on your own?
Thanks to the help and donation of Udo Enderle from Enderle Solutions, someone helped me repair the Disc Valve. Apart from that, I do all the repairs myself.
What will happen to the Vespas once they are roadworthy again?
The Vespas will go back to their owners in the Ahr valley and will hopefully give them some pleasure.
How did SIP support you?
SIP has generously supported me with an extra 10% discount on top of my existing dealer discount - thank you very much!
Is there anything else you would like to say?
I would like to thank the many donors who responded to Stefan Rohleder's appeal for donations via the "Rohlenker" WhatsApp group and made a contribution. I would also like to thank Udo Enderle for organising the rotary valve repair and the Elvermann company, who took care of the transport as well as the majority of the repair costs and actively supported me.
For my part, I supported the project by passing on my dealer discounts and reduced hourly rates. It is actually more of an idealistic support, as the vehicles are a total economic loss in terms of costs.
It was important to me to bring a little joy and hope back to the Ahr valley.
Peter, we admire your Insert and wish you all the best for the future.
