We'll start with this one that was on Craig list.





1) Yellow rubber centerstand boots. The #1 giveaway that a bike is a vietnamese restoration...bar none.

2) It's a Sprint / Super / VBB. You've gotta be careful with these models - they are the ones that were imported on a grand scale to Southeast asia, so they are the models that are most commonly viet death traps painted up all pretty and sold to us yanks.

3) 2-tone paintjob / matching 2-tone seats. The asians are HUGE into matching seat upholstery with the paintjob. You don't see that much over here unless it's a theme bike. Many people over here refrain from doing 2-tone paintjobs anymore just because it LOOKS so asian and people don't want their bike confused for something off the boat.

4) PX plastic centermat. Notice that hard-plastic centermat, with the screws drilled in from the top down? They only used that mat on late-model Pseries bikes. For some reason, the asians LOVE that centermat and put it on any and every bike they can. Big giveaway.

5) Chrome stinger on an otherwise stock-looking exhaust. Another thing the asians are all about for some reason. People over here don't really do this either.

6) Generic chrome crashbars / front fender guard. Notice the little place where an emblem should go? Usually it would have a cuppini or a piaggio logo, but these guys didn't even bother with that... just a cheap knockoff.

7) The black gasket AROUND the lip of the gas tank. Normally a tank gasket is all but invisible sitting between the frame and the tank. The asians have this weird black plastic trim that they wrap around the lip of the tank. I'm not saying it's not nice ... it just is another giveaway that it's asian. The chrome gas-tank cap doesn't help either. This is supposed to be painted the color of the bike normally.

8) Normally the speedo is a dead giveaway as the asians tend to use bad Veglia knock-off speedos that are REALLY OBVIOUS...or they will use bajaj speedo's that are black with weird Tron-style font... this one looks like an authentic one from this angle, though.

9) Chrome rear-seat grab bar ( normally black rubber ), other chrome bits on the front seat... and the fact the badge on the seat reads "Piaggio" rather than "Aquilia" (sp?). Piaggio didn't make the saddle seat covers for any of their bikes...they outsourced most of these little parts to other companies.