Motomorphosis

It is often said that "clothes make the man". As often is the case in our material world, a person is judged by his/her appearance. Impeccably dressed persons are treated with respect while shabbily dressed ones are treated, well, quite shabbily. In the automotive world, the same thing applies. Your vehicle reflects your personality. Its fit and finish reflects your character. Its overall condition becomes the basis of how other motorists treat you on the road.

As a car and bike enthusiast, I have often felt the need to "transform" my stock rides into a show piece that I could be proud of. I had project cars when I was younger (and single and still relied on my parents for money). Now that I’m a little older, I still want to mildly customize my ride, albeit with an eye on the budget. (After all, I now have a family to support.) Flush with lots of yuletide cheer, very little Christmas money and some free time during the holiday break, I decided to work on a well-used and forlorn Kymco Vivio 150 scooter that was lent to me for a long-term test ride.

The Vivio isn’t that attractive or eye-catching even when new. In our initial test ride story, (The STAR, January 29, 2003) we quoted a line from French novelist Marcel Proust: "Let us leave pretty women to men of little imagination." Our initial disdain softened after our test ride revealed it to be a peppy and competent scooter capable of a 130kph top speed. But still, it looked too plain and homely.

More so our 18,000-kilometer battle-scarred project scooter, in its scratched-up and uncared-for state. As one of the test ride/service vehicles of the Kymco factory since the third quarter of 2002, it was subject to constant abuse from riders. I decided to refrain from tinkering with the engine, CVT or the exhaust because the silver Vivio was mechanically sound and already potent in stock form. However, it looked like it was ridden through Iraq by the invading American forces. It needed cosmetic help. Lots of cosmetic help.

Luckily, we ran into Richie Villanueva, a car enthusiast who had modified and customized cars for his personal satisfaction. After his previous projects won for him awards in the Transport Show and the Custom Cars and Truck shows, he decided to open his own car detailing shop, R2 Auto Centrum (Km. 16, West Service Road, Bicutan, Paranaque/0917-8487426). A "hands-on" type of business owner, Richie envisioned R2 to be a one-stop car shop that can cater to a car enthusiast’s every whim: from simple detailing to scrape-to-bare-metal painting, body and mechanical repair to customize-to-the-hilt creations.

When I approached him and his PR man, Dino Directo III about my scooter project, we toyed with several ideas that ranged from the most simple (a paint wash-over in silver) to the most intricate (chameleon paint with major body modifications). But better judgment (and my tight finances) made us agree to paint the scooter in a color other than silver so it would look different, and hopefully more attractive. After much deliberation, we decided to finish the bike in Rosso Corso, the official red of Ferrari cars. And to add spice to the Vivio’s plain facade, we also decided to apply sponsorship decals on the newly painted surface to make it into an unofficial Ferrari Formula 1 pit bike.

The Vivio’s plastic body panels were removed, disassembled, scraped, sanded, painted and cured before we stuck the decals on it. After the sticker application, the panels were finished in a few coats of clear to protect not only the finish, but the decals as well. While the panels were being painted, Richie had the scooter frame, lower body, suspension and wheels painted and detailed. The process took a little over two weeks because the R2 shop was being finished for its inauguration on January 22.

But in spite of the shop construction and the other car projects being undertaken at the shop, the people at R2 did a commendable job of transforming the raggedy silver scooter into a flashy red pit bike. The paint gloss was deep and exquisite and the detail work hid the plastic tears and road scratches of the scooter. The clear coat on some of the decals reacted to the sticker’s materials but it did not greatly affect the overall appearance of the finished product. Richie even offered to re-paint the entire panel to fix the problem but we decided to run the scooter as it is for the meantime.

I took the Vivio to Kymco for a much-needed maintenance service (replace CVT belt and bearings, clean air filter, replace disc pads, etc.) and the service man recognized it as their former service vehicle from the license plate. He was amazed at how the Vivio transformed from "gusgusin" to "maporma" with just a paint change and some well-placed decals.

At a motorcycle shop in Caloocan where I bought a pair of faux carbon fiber mini side mirrors, a scooter owner approached me to inquire about the brand and the price of my "new" Ferrari pit bike replica. When he realized that it was just a re-paint after he looked at the odometer and saw the various indelible signs of extended road use, he just smiled in approval.

But the best compliment came from the S.C. Kymco Pilipinas president Manuel Sta. Cruz. When he saw me testing the scooter inside the factory premises after it came from the service department, he nearly had me thrown out by the security guards because he thought I was riding a competitor’s attractive sports model.

And perhaps, this is the perfect testament to this scooter project. Like the tale told about the ugly duckling’s metamorphosis into a beautiful swan, the ungainly Vivio has likewise changed into an attractive and sporty scooter, one that even its maker could not recognize. Its "motomorphosis" is now complete.