Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2023 i Scootering

Recently I had a brew with the editor of a classic motorcycle magazine, and saw the opportunity for a bit of fun. If you follow the motorcycle press you may have noticed that an Indian company has purchased the rights to use the BSA and Gold Star brands. Recently the company has launched its interpretation of what the iconic Gold Star would look like had BSA continued production. Does that sound familiar? With a sense of mischief, I asked how the ‘Goldie’ launch had gone down with his readers but the reaction wasn’t what I expected. “They think it’s okay,” he began. “It’s not a Gold Star; liquid cooled for starters, but it has the look and is much easier to live with. A lot of my readers are getting…

I am writing with some sad news which we as a club would be grateful if you could share in Scootering. Russell Dear, our club president and one of our founding members, passed away on January 3. Russell had been involved with the scooter scene since the 80s and was one of those lads that kept at it, never a year went by that he didn’t attend rallies or have scoots. Originally from Ellon in northeast Scotland, Russell did spend some years living in London. He was well known both locally and nationally, and things are going to be very strange without him around. (Although the club runs will probably now leave on time!) He loved his music and was particularly fond of Ska as could be seen by his…

Here’s a question – if you bolt a Pinasco kit on to your own casings and put it into your frame, is your scooter still a classic? I think we’d all agree that it’s still a ‘classic’, albeit with modification. Now for the next step, what if that Pinasco conversion was electric? Pardon, I hear you shout! Yes, that’s it on the nose. Pinasco has come up with an electric conversion – the company has created an electric retrofit to replace the cylinder of the Vespa, while keeping the engine crankcase original and unchanged; this means it doesn’t look like most of the other ‘bolt on and charge up’ kits. It’s even kept the kick-start (just for cosmetic reasons). But here’s the other mind-blowing point; it’s geared. That’s right, you…

WIN a smart Scootering T-shirt with your photo For your chance to win a stylish Scootering magazine T-shirt, email us your HI-RES pics to: suys@scootering.com and the least crap snap wins! For full terms and conditions, visit: www.scootering.com/comptc DATA: Protection of your personal data is important to Mortons. Your data will be stored securely and only be used for the purpose of processing the competition and notifying the winners. Data will then be destroyed. Least crap snap THIS MONTH’S WINNER: Dean of Pontefract SC sent in this shot which perfectly sums up dark night club riding.…

Although the Lambretta tuning market seemed to drag itself into the 21st century with very little changing; there were several visionaries who could see unexploited potential and were keen to fill the void. By now it was much easier to bring an exhaust onto the market because new technologies meant they were cheaper to produce and high-specification cranks had been on the market for some time. The problem was with cylinder kits, where the outlay for tooling was so high that volume sales were required to make it worthwhile. This problem had been highlighted by Ray Kemp when producing the TS1 kit, where the first batch of kits required an investment running into the tens of thousands. However, this risk was mitigated by the knowledge that that there was nothing…

✎ Classic Scooterist, PO Box 99, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6LZ ✉ mauspencer@classicscooterist.com ☎ 01507 529408 35 years apart The blue cutdown that I built in 1986. It was a full frame Jet 200 built and sprayed blue with blue and silver flake by myself. The motor was an AF 225 with a 30 mil Dell’Orto and over-the-kickstart AF Fresco pipe; I also had 105 pike nuts on it – I bet custom fasteners loved me. Fast forward 35 years and this is my new scooter called Rusty Heap which I brought ‘as is’ from Tim who owns Paint FX in Kettering. My father passed away last year and so I bought this in his memory as he always said that I was crazy to sell the blue one after all…

It was back in April 2022 that we published photographs taken by Manish Mittal of Uni-Auto inside the Scooters India Factory at Lucknow just before it closed for good. Although it’s well known that much of the tooling was too worn out to be of use, there were exceptions and Uni-Auto is currently in the process of commissioning ‘test shots’ ahead of the first production runs. Among the moulds secured by Uni-Auto are those for horncast grilles, air scoops, air filter box elbows and carb manifolds, but it will probably be the GP headset that causes most interest. Before restorers of Italian machines get too excited the casting is of the later, Indian, type and therefore unsuitable for concours restorations. However, for owners of Indian machines or those who simply…

Changing tyre brand is a leap of faith for most scooterists and we’re no exception. With supply chain issues affecting supplies of our long-term favourites we’ve decided to go off-piste and fit a set of Kenda’s Kozmic 6022. This isn’t our first flirtation with the brand, our Project Pandemic T5 received a pair, but despite good first impressions we failed to rack up any meaningful mileage on them before the T5 found a new home. The Kozmic has a dual compound construction that combines a durable centre section with softer shoulder zones that offer increased confidence when cornering, while the tread pattern is specially designed to improve water evacuation from around the contact patch. The Kozmic is available in a variety of sizes from 3.50x10 to 130/70-12, with prices starting…

The problem with tuning a Lambretta was that after a few days of riding it, the improvement seemed to fade. A lot of it was down to whether the increase in performance gained was real, or imagined. Many a time, it was the extra noise, such as fitting a louder exhaust, which made the scooter feel faster, when in fact it wasn’t. We all got used to bluffing our way around this, hiding the disappointment we’d been conned. We were all trying to make the damn things go faster, but a distinct lack of knowledge didn’t make the process easy. Much of it was down to the local scooter shop being eager to extract money from gullible teenagers by mis-selling them shiny new tuning products. Extraordinary claims of lightning acceleration…

SCOOTERING RALLY SOUNDS Ever since Smoove & Turrell’s limited edition debut single I Can’t Give You Up was unleashed back in 2009, the North East-based Geordie outfit has acquired a strong following among both Mod and scooterist fraternities. When that single was released, Smoove & Turrell was a newly formed trio consisting of DJ, promoter and producer Smoove, keyboardist Mike Porter and headhunted vocalist John Turrell. In a short time, they upsized into a full band and soon established themselves on the live circuit, touring with their debut album Antique Soul. Over the following 12 years, Smoove & Turrell went from strength to strength, with live shows, extensive radio plays as well as TV and film work, both nationally and internationally. So far six successful studio albums have been released,…

Indonesian adventure If you think Europe has a monopoly on scooterist culture you’ve never been to Indonesia. Thomas Dirks from Germany sent us this very special postcard from the Indonesian Scooter Festival It all started with a book called Vespa Extreme from Indonesia. The book revealed a huge Vespa scene in Indonesia, with strange varieties and bizarre concoctions powered by Vespa engines. I was fascinated and resolved that one day I’d see them for myself. Time passed and I saw a post on a European scooter forum where contributors were discussing the poor quality of Indonesian Vespas that were being offered for sale on European markets. One guy, Franz, responded by saying that the Indonesians would only sell scooters that couldn’t be used any more in Indonesia and that’s why…

PRACTI CAL SCOOTERING TECH TIPS They say things happen in threes and that is certainly true of the same conversation that I had three times this month with three separate customers, each running a variable ignition system on their respective Lambretta and Vespa scooters. My questions are always the same: is your ignition static or variable? If it’s static, what is it set to and if it is variable, what is it ticking over at and what does it come back to at peak rpm? I never fail to be astonished by the number of people who have no idea what it’s set to or no idea what it moves back to at peak rpm. What’s even more striking is the number of scooterists with variable ignitions who firmly…

✎ Classic Scooterist, PO Box 99, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6LZ ✉ mauspencer@classicscooterist.com ☎ 01507 529408 Vespa celebrates the Year of the Rabbit The Chinese New Year commenced in January 2023 with celebrations for the Year of the Rabbit. This event symbolises an omen of peacefulness, well-being and respect for the past. To tie into this annual occurrence, Piaggio is planning the first stage of a new project which the company says will span the next 12 years; this will take the form of introducing a new scooter model annually, inspired by the lunar Chinese horoscope animal of that particular year. Unfortunately for classic scooter riders, this doesn’t mean that we can expect to see a new geared Vespa as part of that roll-out programme. Instead, it’s more likely to be…

✎ Classic Scooterist, PO Box 99, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6LZ ✉ mauspencer@classicscooterist.com ☎ 01507 529408 Deep breath and hold... Seeing that the new scooters no longer run on two-stroke oil, that heady eye-watering fog will be missing. I think there is a marketing opportunity to cash in on – two-stroke by-products. I've applied to go on Dragons' Den to get an idiot with more money than sense to back me with the following products in order to bring the aroma of the garage/workshop into the living room: FOR THE HOME Two-stroke candles, melts, diffusers, air freshener and furniture polish. Fly spray (it doesn’t kill, it attracts them). MANLY PRODUCTS FOR THE DISCERNING SCOOTERIST Two-stroke deodorant, body lotion, soap and moisturising cream. Two-stroke aftershave (a dab behind the ears – what…

KICK START This information is provided by Stephen Hattersley, of WildWood Legal, a firm of solicitors specialising in claims for injured scooterists. Stephen, a qualified solicitor for 25 years, has been riding scooters for more than 30 years and has acted for injured riders across the UK. He knows the tricks and pitfalls that insurers use and pulls no punches in his dealings with them. He rides to work every day and understands the challenges you face out there. Q. My solicitor is bringing a claim for me after a clown knocked me off my scooter. I’m not going to be able to work for at least six months, probably more. I’m worried about how I am going to pay the bills in the meantime. Is there anything that…

While open-faced lids aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, this recent release from Bell is a scheme that’s crying out to be translated into a custom scooter. This year Bell is proud to announce a partnership with the Steve McQueen Estate to launch a series of helmets and apparel paying homage to the original King of Cool. The first helmet in the series is a Custom 500 Six Day McQueen, a period-correct replica of the helmet McQueen wore while competing in the 1964 International Six Day Trial off-road race. This Steve McQueen replica Custom 500 comes in a beautiful blue and white paint scheme, with subtle red accents just like the helmet McQueen wore during the competition. ‘Steve’ is written in a playful font on the back of the helmet, adding…

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock for the last few months you can’t have failed to notice all the attention that the Casa Lambretta 76hp twin has been receiving. If you’ve watched any video of the engine running, or you were at the recent Newark show, then your ears will more than likely still be bleeding from having been blasted with the MOST amazing sounds! Undoubtedly the engine is simply a masterpiece of engineering. It is just amazing, no arguments. But it’s also proving to be divisive: too expensive, too powerful, too fast, impractical, pointless, unfinished, won’t go around bends, not really a scooter engine, ridiculous. Then: amazing, crazy, bonkers, technically brilliant, super engineered. I’ve heard all of those descriptions in the last few weeks. Let’s start with the…

A truly mythical beast, it first came to the public’s wider attention in the middle of 1992 when an article appeared in the pages of this same periodical, putting to rest the misguided beliefs of those who didn’t believe dragons still survived to this day. Once she became well known about (we know it to be a ‘she’ from the lovely yellow underbelly so typical of the species), she briefly seemed to disappear from view for some time. Not totally unsurprising for these shy creatures; but before long she re-emerged along the east coast, entertaining and delighting small children who had not learned to fear the beast and becoming the darling of the local dragon spotters’ society; many of whom, it is rumoured, have now sworn abstinence as a result.…

Stylish German scooter combining a sprightly performance with tractability, quiet running and powerful brakes. Aesthetically the Diana has more in common with the Italian than the German genre of scooters. That comment is made without any condescension because it can hardly be denied that the average Germandesigned scooter, for all its virtues of robustness and workmanship, performance and handling, lacks that svelte elegance of line which characterises its Italian counterpart. Yet in its solid build, quiet liveliness and the uncompromising power of its brakes, the Diana reveals its country of origin. With the petrol turned on, the handlebar lever moved to the starting position and the throttle opened a little, the engine would fire almost immediately the key was depressed; even on cold mornings the Noris electric starter spun the…

★ STAR LETTER ★ One step beyond? Hi Stan, Let’s kick off by saying that I totally agree with the statements in the Christmas edition in that it’s really great to hear that all scooters are gaining acceptance in the scene, be they Bajaj Chetak, LML, Modena or Milano etc. This is certainly a healthy way forward and should be commended. But, here’s where the inevitable ‘however’ comes in. The pre-mentioned edition featured quite a bit of promotion of the Italjet Dragster, describing it as a scooter. Now, readers will have probably seen these bikes corporately promoted on Facebook pages, with many reader comments that while being a great motorcycle, these are indeed motorcycles and not scooters. Interestingly, Italjet has responded to this on Facebook by fully agreeing that these…

PRACTICAL SCOOTERING TECH TIPS It’s fair to say that we don’t have a ‘hard and fast’ plan that’s carved in stone for this project, more of a loose idea to simply strip, repair, replace, tune and titivate the PX, all within a reasonable budget (famous last words?). What we find as we go along will dictate whether parts are refurbished and which get replaced. With the above in mind, the first thing I wanted to sort was the engine, that way I could dyno it before we start to get a base reading, and then sort out the strip and rebuild, while spicing up any parts as we go. Once complete, with it still being in the chassis, I could then set up the ignition timing and carburation on…

In pre-Covid days all our magazine editors were based in a large open office, but unfortunately Covid has changed all that as each editor now works remotely. The unfortunate side of this means that on occasions, you can feel a little isolated; not sitting at an office desk can mean that you miss out on leads for future magazine articles, mainly due to missed phone calls and chance conversations with work colleagues. If you aren’t around (an editor is quite often out on the road) contact is made via our customer service department and sometimes things get lost in translation; this isn’t their fault as they are dealing with enquiries for all our magazines, discussing subjects they likely don’t know much about. The result is that things can sometimes be…

WHAT GOES AROUND, COMES AROUND (BERTIE’S TALE) After searching through my PC looking for a lost image to include in a recent feature, I became sidetracked (as usual) and ended up wasting a good few hours reminiscing over old pictures, many long since forgotten about. It was while daydreaming my time away that I came across some old picture scans of one of the Vespa Primavera ET3 machines that I used to import. Little did I know then that it would lead to a reunion of sorts, as that very scooter was still in existence, was in mint original condition and still owned by the couple who I sold it to, almost a quarter of a century ago. WHERE THE HELL IS IT? As I was looking for an old…

NOSTALGIC REFLECTIONS We first published a few of David’s pictures way back in 2020. Since then, more images have resurfaced, so that in effect brings his story up to date. And if any eagle-eyed reader thinks a couple of pictures seem familiar that is because a couple of them were used in the original article, but we had a bit of space to fill so we’ve reproduced them again. Since David’s early scootering days, life has moved on for him. He currently has three Vespa scooters residing in his collection – a 1960 GS150, a 70th Anniversary PX150 and a GTV250. He also has a Harley 1200S Sportster which he has owned since 1996.…

RENOVATION NOT REPLACEMENT However, there are problems in the case of both the plastic legshield badges as fitted to Vespas and the rear model type badges fitted behind the seat on some Lambrettas. It’s often found during the process of removal that the finish applied to the back of these transparent badges tends to be damaged by the finish flaking off as they are removed during the stripdown prior to, for instance, spraying. The original finish to these badges is a mixture of paint and a form of silver ‘gilding’ to give a chrome-plated look. Both are applied to the rear surface of the plastic badges in question. To reapply the painted part is pretty straightforward using a steady hand and the paints available for model aircraft kits, but the…

BUCKS TIN SOLDIERS SC Meet every Saturday from 9.45am at Captain Ridley’s Shooting Party (Wetherspoons), MK2 2ED. Monthly meet at same venue, but first Thurs each month from 7.30pm. Info via Facebook: Tin Soldiers Scooter Club. DORSET POOLE INNERCIRCLE SC We are a mixed club of Lambrettas and Vespas. We meet at the New Inn, Poole on the first Wednesday of the month with a rideout every month. More info via Poole Innercircle Scooter Club on Facebook. ESSEX CLACTON SCOOTER COLLECTIVE Find us on Facebook for information on club meets and road trips. WRITTLE INTERNATIONAL SCOOTER COLLECTIVE All scooters welcome. Info via Facebook ‘Writtle International Scooter Collective’. FLINTSHIRE SC FLINTSHIRE Meet Weds at The Boot, Northop CH7 6BQ. All scooter riders welcome. Contact via Facebook at ‘Scooter Club Flintshire’. THE…