Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2018 i Scootering

There were times when you needed a break from the nationals, trying instead a rally with a somewhat different approach. There were some great inland ones with many situated almost in the middle of nowhere. Usually, with a couple of hundred in attendance, they tended to be full of some rather oddball characters. A couple of days before one such event we had gone to the local scooter shop to stock up with oil. Standing by the counter was Frank, a local lad known for his tatty Lambretta. He had a reputation for keeping it on the road by whatever means possible, trying not to spend money on it. This approach meant constant bodges to maintain its functioning status. Frank clearly had a degree on the subject and some of…

Name of scooter & reason: I call her The Lady because I treat her like a lady. Always buying her expensive things and well looked after. Scooter model: Lambretta Series 2 LI 150cc 1960 Italian import. Date purchased & cost: June 2009 £2160. The inspiration for the project: Love of the Mod scene and the scooters. Time to build & by who: Changed the colour scheme from blue and old English white to metallic green and metallic silver but kept the old English white, added hand pinstripes all about two years ago. At the same time, I had a total engine rebuild due to engine failure at Brighton Mod rally ride out. Spray job I did with my mate Dylan at work. Describe engine performance, power delivery, and scooter handling:…

Following their annual Show and Shine event in the city centre, York Inset Scooter Club raises £650 for the Cardiac Rehabilitation Unit at York Teaching Hospital. Club member Nigel Cocks has had much support from the unit following a triple heart bypass operation. On October 16 at the Walnut Tree Public House, a cheque was presented to the unit by Mick Hugill and Honorary Members (and York Normandy veterans) Ken Smith and Ken Cooke. The veterans had spent a very hot day in August collecting money with club members, pretty amazing for 93-year-olds. Nick Beilby – York Inset Scooter Club…

Name: Ric Martin Town: Fleet, Hampshire. Club: VCB. First interest in scooters: Left school in 1983 and bought a 50 Special. Favourite scooter model: 1952 Hoffman. Funniest experience: Falling asleep while riding, missed a bridge and woke up unharmed in a ditch! Scooter name: If I Can Dream. Model: Vespa VBB 1961. Time to build: Three years with most of the work by Target Scooters. Engine: Standard PX150 with SIP Road Twin exhaust. Paint: Base by Rehab custom, murals by Lee Hopkinson. Anything else to add: Seat by Slimline Scooters. Thank you very much: Doug Western of Target Scooters, Nick at Rehab custom and Lee Hopkinson for paint. Most of all to my wife and kids for giving me freedom to build this scooter.…

Towards the end of the First World War, because people did not travel abroad as they do today and the repatriation of bodies was not feasible, families were unable to have a funeral or tend a loved one's grave, so the Imperial War Graves Commission was set up to act as a kind of proxy for the families and its representatives would visit and maintain the graves of the war dead in the country where they had fallen and wreaths and flowers would be placed on the graves. There are more than 1000 casualties from the First and Second World Wars buried at Harrogate Cemetery, where this photo session took place, which is located just off the A661 south-east of Harrogate. The majority of the war burials which took place…

Name: Mark Rogers Scooter club & town: Solo rider, Wickford. How and when did you first become interested in scooters: My wife, Michelle got me into them in 1985. What was your first scooter: Lambretta SX 150. What is your favourite style of custom scooter: Don’t have a favourite, I like them all. I enjoy seeing what effort people put into creating their dream. First rally or event: Rhyl 1986. How did you get there: On my Lambretta, 18 hours from Essex! Favourite and worst rally/ event: Favourite of the past few years, Dutch Lions. Can’t say I have a worst rally I enjoy ’em all – just hate packing up in the rain. What’s the furthest you’ve ever ridden on a scooter: Got to be either Rhyl or Bridlington,…

Name: Kevin Mahony Scooter club & town: Southend Classi Scooter Club. How and when did you first become interested in scooters: In about 1982 I noticed a few scooters around town back in NW London where I used to live, they looked the ‘nuts’ and I was having some of that! What is your favourite style of custom scooter: Old-school style such as, Time Trouble and Money, Superfly, Billy Whizz, Brazilian Love Affair, Brassy Bitch. If it’s got a 30mm Delly a DJ/ Fresco pipe and metal-flake paint it’s a ‘Yes’ from me! First rally or event: Clacton Mod rally 1984. Any stories: The rally was a constant battle between the local casuals and Mods. At one point it went around that a Mod called Chad was run off the…

The Sha La La’s Before I Let You Down Again/ Hold On (Detour) Following on from where their acclaimed CD album A Better Way left off, The Sha La La’s return with a scorching slice of Mod-infused blue-eyed soul in the shape of brand new, vinyl only, single Before I Let You Down Again. Aimed directly at the dancefloor, with their self-proclaimed “somewhere between Canvey and Detroit sound”, The Sha La La’s have what could prove to be an anthem in the making. With a large red letter A on a white record label, this gem not only sounds great, it looks the part too. On the B-side is Hold On, a long-time live favourite, largely due to its audience participation call and response structure, which also featured on…

Name: Rob Graham Job: Account manager for a refrigeration company. Scooter club & town: TMS – it’s not too shabby, Lowestoft, Suffolk. How and when did you first become interested in scooters: I was about 11 years old and got hooked when I used to see all the Mods come round our house to chat up my older Modette sister. What was your first scooter: PX200 with a 221 Malossi engine. What is your favourite scooter model: P-range. First rally or event: Great Yarmouth Rally 1982. Any stories: Getting chased by a lot of angry skinhead girls with my mates and running for our lives. Favourite and worst rally/ event: Favourite – Mods & Rockers event at Hunstanton 2017. Worst – four attempts to ride-out to a local village called…

Stu Smith Vespa & Lambretta owner, scooter obsessive, amateur home mechanic, rally goer, Mod sympathiser, music lover and general all round good egg. He writes your rally reports, be nice to him. Rik Bardsley More flamboyant than Liberace and more manic than a mouse swimming in a vat of Red Bull. Another 80s scooterboy turned journalist, digging up the very finest scooter stories from Russia to Rochdale. Paul Green Vespa & Lambretta scooter enthusiast, BSSO professional and general good egg. Our Paul has a long history of scootering both on the road and on the track, with the breakdown bills and crash scars to prove it. Stuart Owen LCGB ‘life member’, 100mph LambrettaClub owner and scooter restoration expert to boot. Scooter rider, rally-goer, restorer and author. Reaches the parts other…

Name: Gerard James Job: Tiler. Scooter club & town: The Last Great Act Of Defiance SC. How and when did you first become interested in scooters: Aged 14, went to my first Jam concert. What was your first scooter: Starstream 125 Lambretta. What is your favourite style of custom scooter: Classic and Mod. First rally or event: Weymouth , ’81/’82 I think. How did you get there: Li 125. What’s the furthest you’ve ever ridden on a scooter: Guernsey. Name of scooter & reason: Devine 140, named after Debbie my girlfriend, and the CC. Scooter model: Lui 50 CL. Date purchased & cost: ’82 or ’83 £120. Inspiration for project: It had been hanging round my garage for over 30 years, and with the new stuff that’s around now for…

Best of Show: Wake (Jason Stephenson) Best Ridden Scooter: Stellify (Ian Westmorland) Spectators Choice: Stellify (Ian Westmorland) Best Custom Lambretta: Wake (Jason Stephenson) Best Custom Vespa: A Way of Life (Andy Hill) Best Custom Street Racer: PX-orcism (Neil Johnston) Best Custom Engineered Scooter: PX-orcism (Neil Johnston) Best Custom Scooter with Accessories: Witches Brew (Tessa Abraham) Best Custom Chopper/Cutdown: Top Banana Re-Peeled (Darren Simmonds) Best Custom Lambretta Pre 1959/Series 1/2: Peaky Blinders (Paul Douglas) Best Custom Lambretta Series 3/SX range: Li 125 Special – Kevin Bainbridge Best Custom Lambretta GP Range: Oh You Pretty Thing (Neil Grace) Best Custom Lambretta/Vespa Small Frame: Vespa 50 Special (Alan Moxon-Waddel) Best Custom Vespa Pre- P Range/T5: Witches Brew (Tessa Abraham) Best Custom Vespa P Range/T5 onwards: Top Banana Re-Peeled (Darren Simmonds) Best Custom Paintwork:…

There are apparently several reasons why vehicles get female names; one of which dates back many centuries, another dates back about one century though they are linked. In ancient times ships were named after goddesses and often had their figureheads in the likeness of goddesses. The idea was that the goddess would look favourably on the ship and its journeys. Also, ships carrying cargo including passengers, across the seas, seemed back then as containers carrying precious items, similar to the female of the species carrying a child. Invariably ships were crewed by men. When motorised vehicles began appearing in numbers at the start of the last century, with very few exceptions, vehicle ownership, and driving, was perceived as the domain of males. Subliminally the gender of ships seems to have…

Name of scooter & reason: Vespa 125 Faro Basso 1954 I call her The Old Lady because again treated like a lady, bought expensive gifts but she's old. Scooter model: Vespa 125cc Faro Basso 1954. Date purchased & cost: August 2017 £5000. The inspiration for the project: Always thought it was the most beautiful scooter made. Time to build & by who: It was imported from Sweden and was restored two years previous. Still an ongoing project. 12V conversion next. Describe engine performance, power delivery and scooter handling: Power delivery… gets there eventually. It isn’t built for speed. The rise is very comfortable. Are there any other unique details we have missed: Embellishers and rack all original period. Adore, Ulma, Vigano. I’m only the second owner from new. The original…

Name: Stuart Dean Town: Liverpool. Scooter club: Lambretta Chopper Owners Club. First interest in scooters: Mod revival of 1979. First scooter: Vespa 90, PKD 144M! Favourite scooter model: Love pre PX Vespa but couldn’t live without Lambretta. Favourite style of scooter: Anything that’s done well. Funniest experience with a scooter: Riding home at 1am with the headlight in my parka pocket after crashing into the back of a bus. How I never got stopped by the police is beyond me. Name: Time Will Pass You By. Model: Lambretta Li150 (1966). Time to build: Two and a half years by me. Engine build: Harry Barlow. Engine spec: RT195, 30mm Dellorto PHBH, under kickstart Fresco exhaust. Paint: Liquid Customs and Monster Forge. Specialist parts: The frame, Gary Simpson. Front forks, yokes, exhaust…

There must be something in the water around Whitby that breeds airbrush artists of note. Although he may not be so well known as near neighbours Dave Dickinson and Col Fitzgerald, local lad Lee Hopkinson is rapidly building a solid reputation for well executed custom work. Having established himself in the tattoo industry, Lee switched to airbrush work around six years ago. Since then he’s produced several show-winning machines, notably ‘Comic Genius’, the Rik Mayall tribute Scomadi. With a distinctive style that sits between the graffiti-based output of artists such as Gatch and photo realism, Lee’s work has found an appreciative audience among scooterists from across the UK and into Europe. Despite this success Lee has avoided the temptation of scooter ownership. “If I bought a scooter I’d drive myself…

Name of scooter & reason: Conflict. It’s for the servicemen who lost their lives for our country, past and present to protect our children’s future. Scooter model: Lambretta GP. Date purchased & cost: July 2012 as ‘street racer’ from Chiselspeed. Inspiration for project and theme: The stories that my grandad told me as a young lad. They really hit home to me so I thought the least I could do is remember the fallen. Time to build and by who: Five years in total. The main element (strip-down to scratch and re-build) by Jools at Street Beat, Harrogate: Top Man! Thank you. Engine spec: Mugello 225, Crank: 58mm race crank, Carb: TMX 30mil, Exhaust: ADS Chiselspeed, Clutch: five-plate, Gearbox: GP 200, Porting & Dyno by: Chiselspeed. Describe engine performance, power…

Name: Michelle Rogers Scooter club & town: Solo rider, Wickford. How and when did you first become interested in scooters: I first bought a scooter to travel to and from work. What was your first scooter: Vespa 50 Special. First rally or event: Rhyl ’86. How did you get there: On my Servetta. Funniest experience with a scooter: I crashed into a church wall while waving to my friends on my Vespa 50. What’s the furthest you’ve ever ridden on a scooter: Rhyl. What do you like about rallies/ events: I like the social side of the rallies, meeting new people and having a great time with my friends. What do you dislike about rallies/ events: Shit showers and toilets. What’s your favourite Scootering Magazine feature:…

Gaz is Blackpool born and bred but he’s often mistaken for a Manc; he puts this down to spending too much time in the Kippax end of Manchester City’s original home ground. He was one of the acolytes of the ’79 Mod revival, his older mates taking him to youth clubs and the like, brain washing him with 2-Tone and The Jam etc. but being of tender years it needed much subterfuge (lying) to parents to be able to get out to gigs of the current live bands. Gaz explained that the cliché ‘once a Mod, always a Mod’ is true. It’s a bug, it may go underground at some points in your life, I have liked other ‘styles’ and music, but it’s always there. He remembers seeing Makin’ Time…

Music has always been ingrained in the scooter scene and there’s a bigger and wider church of it now than ever before. I was lucky enough to be asked to come and see three top ‘Mod’ performers at the Waterloo hotel in Blackpool – courtesy of Ian and Gaz Heckman… The first up were the fun, funky and fizzy-fuzzy Portobello Set – a stonkingly ball-bouncingly joyous band. The Portobello Set were conceived when Sean Arthy and Darren Squires met up in a Suffolk bar. The band started to take shape when John Elgar flew in with his Gibson, Adam Scott’s swirling Hammond filled the air and Ivan’s bass tones rumbled. Sixties freakbeat sits alongside self-penned goodies. The Portobello Set’s wild fuzz-out has gained the band an instant following. Not seen…

Name of scooter & reason: L’ultimo Drago which means The Last Dragon in Italian. Just wanted something that sounded different and it went with the paint job on my scooter. Scooter model: PX200. Date purchased & cost: July 2015 – cost £2500. Inspiration for project: Had rust showing and a dent on my legshield that needed attention. Really wanted to have a total paint job and the rest is now history. Time to build & by who: Took off the road around mid-December 2017 and was rebuilt April 2018 by Martyn Drake (Drakey) of Anglia Scooters. Engine spec: Malossi 210 Sport ‘Ported’. Crank: 60mm Pinasco. Carb: Modified Si 24. Exhaust: SIP Performance Expansion. Clutch: Uprated Cosa. Gearbox: Piaggio 36 Tooth 4th. Porting work by: Anglia Scooters (Martyn Drake). Dyno done…

Group 4 – With the Championship decided at the last round there were no team orders at the SRP Team, so the gloves were definitely off! With Darren Conneely away racing in Italy, Chris Geyton and Jason Metivier were racing hammer and tongs and team mate Lee Bamber, aboard a production class machine, came up to join them. There was some absolutely jaw-dropping racing with the riders swapping and changing positions and they were two and even three abreast with each other in a fantastic display of close racing. The spectators were left breathless as this level of racing lasted all three races. But it was Jason Metivier who took (just) three wins by as little as 0.1 secs across the line from class champion Chris Geyton. Dave Bristow’s form…

Name: Neil Grace Scooter club & town: Leeds Central. How and when did you first become interested in scooters: In the mid-80s when I was on a family holiday. I thought: ‘That’s the life for me!’ What was your first scooter: Vespa V90. What is your favourite scooter model: Lambretta GP. What is your favourite style of custom scooter: Full blown full frame customs. First rally or event: Girvan ’87 How did you get there: On a scooter I’d bought a couple of weeks before. No tent just a sleeping bag. Those were the days! Favourite and worst rally/event: All good, no such thing as a bad one. Funniest experience with a scooter: The car park / side panel event with Dave Dickinson! What’s the furthest you’ve ever ridden on…

Name of scooter & reason: ‘Oh You Pretty thing’ – Tribute to Marilyn Monroe. Scooter model: Lambretta GP Date purchased: Around 1994. Time to build and by who: Built by myself and always changing. Engine spec: Honda 205cc. Crank:Race. Carb: 34mm Amal. Exhaust:Taffspeed replica. Clutch: Uprated. Gearbox: Li150. Describe engine performance, power delivery and scooter handling: Wheelies a lot with rear set brake and single seat. Top speed & cruising speed: Top 75mph, cruising 65mph. Paintwork & murals by: Original base done by Maca at Downtown Customs. It’s now been refreshed and the murals have been replaced by Dave Dickinson. Engraving: Adi Clark. Don Blocksidge. Pete Robinson Chrome: Midas Touch. Quality Chrome. What was the hardest part of the project: Waiting for the parts to come back. Is there anything…

Name of scooter & reason: ‘Scum’ after the film. What other themes did you consider before coming to this choice of theme for the scooter and why did you go with your chosen theme: I did consider a few other themes but I can’t say which ones; as one day I might do another scooter in one of them. Scooter model: Lambretta GP. Date purchased: 2006. Complete but in bits. A proper restoration job. Inspiration for the project and theme: I always loved the film. Time to build & by who: Two years by Torch Engineering (Phil Varley). Then finished off by myself. Engine spec: 225 TS1. Crank: 58mm Race. Carb: 35mm Mikuni. Exhaust: PM Tuning. Clutch: Six-plate. Cambridge Lambretta. Gearbox: Li150. Dyno done by: Chiselspeed. Top speed & cruising…

Dealer specials are nothing new, dealers have been branding and ‘pepping up’ the models they sell for decades. Right from when scooters were first imported into the UK, the dealers liked to ‘stamp’ their brand, logo or aftermarket parts on them to try and keep ahead of the competition… and perhaps even make their machines a bit more desirable. Initially a rack, or some racing stripes and a spotlight or two… before things progressed into the arena of ‘pepped up’ cylinder tunes, or even conversion kits. This type of ‘own brand’ tuning and advertising continued through the decades and by the 80s and 90s machines not only came with a special gearbox or seat but a full shop advert spray job, many of which styles became synonymous with certain brands…

As Stu Smith states in his Brid rally report: “Once again Bridlington Spa hosted the official 2018 events and activities; and although some of the town centre pubs were busy, the main thrust of the atmosphere remained in the Spa throughout the weekend”, but this was too little, too late for the organisers. So what’s the drama all about? Quite simply, no bugger wanted scooterists in their town for a lot of years… some might say, given the troubles that occasionally occurred, you can see why! But fast forward to today and that has all changed. Scooters have become so mainstream and ‘fashionable’ that every man and his dog want a piece of the action, and when it comes to the rally scene there is no exception. “National Scooter Rallies…

Last month several of the UK’s top scooter racers made trips to France and Italy to compete. For many scooterists there’s an obvious attraction to riding in Italy… and if you are one of the UK’s top engine tuners there’s a lure to racing against the best engines in Italy. As a British Championship racer there’s also an attraction to racing against the best riders in Europe. So the top UK race teams take up the chance to compete in the French Endurance race, along with a team of road going scooter enthusiasts taking up the challenge and racing a scooter for 10 hours against full on race teams. Incredibly, I find myself looking back on my own race trip that was 10 years ago to the Scootentole race meeting…

Name: Gary Drury Job: Wood machinist, and, in my leisure time, I was a host at Burnley rare soul all-nighter until it closed down. I’m still a host at Soul Funk-Tion all-nighters. Scooter club & town: I’m not in a scooter club as such now, I have a close group of scooter friends who ride regularly. When I first started to ride I was in the Amery Club Willenhall Scooter club for a few years. How and when did you first become interested in scooters: From the age of 14 I was into northern soul, at the age of 16 I went to Wigan Casino. I have always thought scooters were what the cool kids rode. When I was at school my mum would never let me have one (in…

Please! Please! Please! When I was 16 I had a Lambretta Li 150 which I modified and upped to 175 (looked very similar to Dean Fradley’s lovely one in the September issue). Well the love of scooters never left me and now I’m retired I want to do it all again. Don’t want all the maintenance problems though, just want the joy riding a scooter again so I’m looking for a modern auto. Which one though? It seems to me it’s either a GTS 300 or the best that Scomadi/Royal Alloy can offer at the moment – the GP 200 LC – metal bodied (with the offers available on a new Vespa now, prices are very similar). I had high hopes when I saw the front cover of the October…

Standard VBB beautifully restored by Retrospective Scooters For decades Vespa’s VBB has been consigned to the margins of scootering. With the VBA it formed the backbone of both commuting and club scootering in the 1950s and 1960s but lacked the glamour of the contemporary GS. With the introduction of the SS, Rally and P-range it fell from favour and our collective memory. More recently its rounded 50’s lines and accessible prices have seen its popularity rise, particularly as it’s a fairly straightforward process to fit a P-range engine. As with all classics there are a finite number of these machines available and anyone hankering for a touch of 1950s style should act sooner rather than later as prices for good examples are steadily rising.…

Name: Mark Grace Job: Plasterer. How and when did you first become interested in scooters: In 1979 watching Quadrophenia I had a great interest in scooters as a young boy. Then my dad took me to buy one. Thank you dad – never looked back. What was your first scooter: Vespa 50 Special (1981). What is your favourite scooter model: Lambretta GP & SX. What is your favourite style of custom scooter: Full bodied Vespa or Lambretta. First rally or event: Morecambe in the early 80s. How did you get there: On my Vespa 50 Special, which had crash-bars and accessories. I was carrying my luggage and its top speed was around 25mph! Any stories: The ride to Morecambe on my 50 Special took nearly five hours and when I…

Name: Sue Mahony Scooter club & town: Rayleigh, Essex. How and when did you first become interested in scooters: When I was a Mod at the age of 13 then I started going on rallies from the age of 17. What was your first scooter: Vespa 90 smallframe. What is your favourite style of custom scooter: Original all the way and I even like a bit of rust for good measure. First rally or event: I think it was Yarmouth 1986. How did you get there: On the back of a friend. Favourite and worst rally/event: Loved Morecombe singing in the Bierkeller. Funniest experience with a scooter: Seeing Duncan from the Jokers turn up on his Vespa with a sidecar and a Staffie wearing goggles and a motorcycle hat! What’s…

NOVEMBER 16-19 The Great Eastern, at Golden Sands, Mablethorpe by *vfm 22-26 Skamouth, Vauxhall Holiday Park, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk 01493 857231 www.vhpweekenders.co.uk/skamouth-november18.html 23-25 Antwerp Custom Show, new month for future events. Fri & Sat Kapiten Zeppos. Main show at Zaal KJadx, Oostkaai 22, Antwerp 2000 on Sunday. Info newwhitewall@gmail.com 24 New Untouchables 21st Anniversary, Party at Orleans, 259 Seven Sisters Road, London N4 2DD. NUTs DJ’s and special guests from 10pm-6am/ Adm £8 www.newuntouchables.com 24 Severnside Lions do, Lord Hill Hotel, Shrewsbury with Marquis Drive. 7.30pm-1.30am, £10 for tickets 07866 613844 25 Walsall Parts Fair, Bloxwich Leisure Centre, High Street, Bloxwich, Walsall WS3 2DA. Details - Kev Walsh 07966 265588 Email lcgb2@blueyonder.co.uk 30-Dec 3 Warmwell, SW Scooter Clubs. Weekend pass £15 adv/£20 or day pass £5 DECEMBER 1 Mousetrap Psychedelic…

The plan Why, oh why couldn’t I have been bitten by a bug which was, well, cheaper, less obsessive, cheaper, easier to find the time to enjoy and... did I say cheaper? Before I start any scooter project, there’s an inevitable ‘gestation period’ where I get a hankering for something, and then spend many evenings with a beer in hand, scouring the web, social media pages and eBay – looking for something to fill the scootering void. This tends to build over a period of weeks, until I have a stack of potential prospects in my sights, and inevitably after one beer too many… I commit to buying something, and wake up owning a new scooter (of sorts). This time however, all my endeavours have been carefully planned during daylight…

As Neil was getting ‘Oh You Pretty Thing’ ready for the VMSC 2018 show he chipped a side panel. The night before the show he met Dave Dickinson in a Premier Inn car park to make the fix. Dave repaired it, left it to dry and while it was drying Neil and Dave went out for a few drinks. Being a little bit worse for wear when they got back, Dave couldn’t remember polishing the panel and giving it back to Neil back, and thought Neil had gone to the show without it! The scooter then went on to win several awards at the show including Best Mural and Best Custom Pant!…