My Goggo scooter TA 200
Until 2004, I owned a Goggomobil sedan in fantastic condition. I sold this Goggomobil in April 2005, because of the upcoming addition to our family. I am still angry about the sale ....
As a replacement, a 1960 Opel Rekord P1 came into the garage. I have never quite put the company GLAS and its Goggomobil behind me and one day I read about a Goggo scooter, of which up to this point I had not heard off anything. For two years I played with the idea to tackle the "Project Goggo scooter" - but never seriously, because at the time, I still lacked a motorcycle driver's license.
Not until August of 2009, I started to search for this increasingly becoming rare vehicle. After two failed attempts to buy one in Bavaria, I found one in November on the Internet auction site eBay. The scooter was located between Erlangen and Nuremberg. It was a TA 200, built in 1954, with electric starter and 12-volt battery - a real heap of scrap, but at a fair price.
The purchase was sealed on November 25th and two days later I began with the dismantling of the scooter. First, all the mechanicals including all the frame parts, battery box, fuel tank and drive components, etc. needed to be repaired. It was all disassembled, down to the last bolt and given to a glass bead blasting shop.
In the meantime, I started the not easy task of obtaining the needed new and replacement parts. However, there are knowledgeable people in the scooter scene, ready to help with advice and who patiently and willingly gave me answers to the many questions I had.
Once I got the frame parts came back from glass beading, they were immediately painted with an epoxy primer and finished in the original color. However, on the battery box I had to weld in a new floor before the painting. I received the materials from my auto body shop.
Now, I devoted myself to the engine and the carburetor. I did not know if they worked. I could turn the crank however but after opening the engine, I realized that it had to be completely overhauled. How many miles the engine had done up to this point, even the previous owner couldn't tell me. So I ended up cleaning and polishing the carburetor and reassembled it with new seals. For the engine, I had a specialist overhaul it. Furthermore, I splurged on a contactless ignition system. The regulator was tested and adjusted by a specialist.
Once I had all the new and replacement parts together, I could start with the assembly. Just as from the factory, all bolts, nuts, cotter pins, washers and other fastening materials were galvanized, no stainless steel screws or something like it were used.
The rear swing axle with the bronze guides was newly manufactured. The brake lining were fabricated and riveted to the shoes.
All Bowden cables and the entire wiring harness with all the original wiring colors and connections were also remade.
Rust was removed from the inside of the fuel tank and then coated with a fuel tank sealer. The assembly of the entire project lasted until about early February 2010.
On February 11th, after 40 years of still stand, I started the engine for the first time again. It immediately started and ran very smooth. A sublime feeling! Next came the provisional assembly of the whole scooter with the still untreated body shell.
On February 19th, I did a test drive in a nearby industrial area. After a few minor repairs, and a little required welding, I brought the body shell on March 1st to the body shop for painting. The body was painted in a color from the color palette used at that time. For the correctness of the painted lines, I drove 160 km to Obernkirchen to photograph and measure these lines on a 1954 Goggo scooter who still had its original paint.
Simultaneously, the upholstery shop was working on the seat, the spare wheel cover and seat cushions for the child seat. I made this seat, the luggage rack and bumpers based on old documents and pictures. The old ones were so rusted that I no longer could use them.
Racks and bumpers were made new, because they were rusted,
On April 1st, I got everything back: Body shell, upholstered items and the chrome parts. Over Easter I was able to begin the assembly. After exactly 158 hours of my time, not counting the hours of the plater, upholsterer and painters and a total cost, I rather don't want to get into, I took the scooter on April 6th 2010 to the technical inspection (TUV) in Iserlohn. The required full acceptance took only 15 minutes and the scooter past the tests without any problems. As a little extra, the TUV inspector also entered the child seat to the official vehicle document.
After that I went to the Department of Motor Vehicles to, after four decades, register the scooter again. By the way, the missing motorcycle driver's license I had, in the meantime, also obtained.
I unfortunately could not find out a lot about the history of the scooter, because the previous owner kept it for 25 years in bad condition in his garage with the intent to restore it someday. He was given the scooter as a present from colleague of his father, who had bought new in 1954 and had driven it until approximately 1970.
Michael Möller