Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2023 i Scootering

KICK START Perhaps best known as an authorised Piaggio dealer with a passion for the PX, Barnsley-based Ron Daley’s has also built up an enviable reputation as a retail supplier of parts for both modern and classic scooters. Now, for the first time, the team at Daley’s is able to offer dedicated trade accounts for workshops, retailers and trade distributors. The move follows the expansion of warehouse space at its Tardis-like premises and an increased range of brands, including genuine and OEM Piaggio parts. Further information and a trade account application form can be found on its website: www.rondaleyscooters.co.uk…

Any Scootering reader that’s interested in military history will be familiar with the publisher After the Battle. Its huge catalogue of military history titles are all written in a distinctive format, with text outlining the subject while contemporary images are shown alongside how the same scene looks today. Less well known are its social history titles (I covered its out-of-print volume on the Ace Cafe a few months ago), among which is this celebration of the 1960s. Laid out in a logical, chronological order, the author takes us through the decade that was ushered in by Prime Minister Harold Macmillan admitting that the British Empire was over and exited aboard the first flight of Boeing’s 747 ‘Jumbo Jet’. Along the way we’re treated to the birth of James Bond, the…

Situated on the Dutch-German border, Kalkar is home to a former nuclear power plant that’s now a leisure complex and for the ninth time, the legendary Scooterist Meltdown. Not only is the venue unconventional, but the concept is also very different from any other scooter events as we know them. All inclusive For those who have not yet attended Meltdown, this winter warmer has been one of the first events of the scootering calendar since 2013. The initial idea was to break up the long dark months of winter with a party to launch us into the new rally season. By ‘party’ we are talking about several subterranean bars and pubs, a club with three dance floors and an all-inclusive deal that really means what it says on the tin;…

My thoughts about the Luna go back to the very early days of my interest in scooters. Back in the late 1970s Grisoni, an Italian company, produced a range of ‘clip together’ motorcycle model kits. They were sold in our local newsagent for a few pence and among the Laverdas and Harley-Davidsons was a box depicting a happy couple with their Series 3 Lambretta and sidecar. Having invested 20p, I opened the box to find a bizarre looking machine that I later learned was called a Vega (or Cometa or Lui or Luna, the naming convention being another source of my distain). It looked ludicrous; the plastic was rubbish, the colours were more like a clown car and even though 20p was a small amount of money I felt ripped…

If asked to draw up a list of Vespa models there’s a good chance that it would be a while before even the most eager consumers of Pontedera’s finest product would mention the humble ET2. That’s not to say they’re a bad scooter, far from it; in fact the ET2 (two-stroke) and ET4 (four-stroke) scooters represented a milestone in Piaggio’s history. As the 50th anniversary of Vespa’s birth approached, the company’s designers were tasked with creating a model that looked to the future while embracing the past. The answer was the ET4 125; albeit that the powerplant was borrowed from the Sfera, the ET4 would become the first Vespa to be fitted with a four-stroke engine. The frame bucked contemporary trends by rejecting a tubular construction clad in plastic panels,…

PART TWO So far the journey from my home in Sussex had been relatively straightforward and I’d been pleased with my level of planning. However, the crossing into Bosnia was something I’d not looked forward to. I’d forgotten to pack my V5 and in the excitement of meeting up with some members of the Vespa Club of Slovenia I’d managed to enter Croatia (then not part of the Schengen area) without getting my passport stamped. Worried that this could be the end of my trip I nervously handed my passport over to the border guard. I don’t know what was on her mind, but it certainly wasn’t my documents, as in a matter of moments I was riding into Bosnia. The absence of my V5 would prove to be a…

THE NEED FOR SPEEDWHAT'S NEW? I was recently contacted by Joey’s Speedshop to say I should give the Armandos brothers a call over there in Sheffield as they’d just received information that Pinasco, the Italian tuning house they’ve been strongly associated with since the 1980s, has just sent out a dealer alert announcing its new 260cc plug and play motors for largeframe Vespas. MASTER & SERVANT The complete kit comes in two versions, The Master, which offers the standard rotary induction, or The Slave set-up which is complemented by a reed valve induction. When I spoke with Giulio from Armandos, he was very excited about the new motors as he’d already built three 251cc versions recently with very positive feedback, so was expecting even greater results from Pinasco’s higher-capacity versions.…

Vespa’s GTS has many admirable qualities, but the ability to store a helmet under its seat is not one of them. Fortunately, Monaco-based company Bigbox has taken on that challenge and won. When I first heard about the Big Box I was sceptical; there’s not a lot of room to manoeuvre in the GTS’s engine bay and if it were possible to get a helmet in the underseat storage area then surely Piaggio would have done so? It appears not. By a very careful and clever use of space, effectively wrapping around the engine, Bigbox has managed to reprofile the underseat bin so that a pair of ‘jet’ helmets or one open face/modular helmet will sneak into the bin. There’s not a lot of wiggle room and it’s worth checking…

Any modern-day vehicle, be it two or four wheels, tends to look after itself, and we, as owners, expect nothing less. Turn on the ignition; the dashboard lights up like Blackpool illuminations, and the onboard computer instigates a series of checks to ensure it’s okay to proceed. It all seems so simple, and if there is a problem it tells you so or even prevents the car from running, saving it from damage. It’s a far cry from the experience of owning a scooter back in the 1950s or 60s. (Or owning a classic scooter today.) Imagine, back in the 1950s, riding your brand-new purchase out of the showroom. The scooter salesman would have given you a few basic pieces of information but from there on in, it was down…

The Knowledge Q. I’m looking forward to clear blue skies and a long hot summer. Surely now is the last time I need to think about heated clothing? A. I’m hoping for a good summer too, but not every day’s going to live up to our expectations. Temperatures in northern Europe fluctuate considerably. Q. Not so cold as to need heated clothing though? A. You’d be surprised at the difference heated clothing can make. Even in spring and autumn, the average temperature range in the UK is relatively cool and can catch riders out if they’re not prepared. In April, the start of the season for many British riders, mean temperatures only reach a daily high of 12C (54F) and can go as low as just 4C (39F). Even at…

“Having seen the new showroom in person I can honestly say that it’s a unique experience and well worth a detour should your travels take you anywhere near Cologne.” For any scooterist visiting Cologne, a trip to Scooter Center’s HQ has always been high on the list of attractions. Situated on the city’s outskirts in Bergheim, there’s always been a warm welcome for scooterists from across the globe. Unfortunately Covid brought this hospitality to a temporary halt, giving the team an opportunity to redesign the ‘front of house’ operation. As with many businesses, Scooter Center has experienced more customers moving to online ordering, with ‘click and collect’ becoming increasingly popular. As the demand for counter services diminished, the team decided to make better use of the space and achieve a…

If, like Gary Gould, you’ve a love of the Marvel universe, the bold colours, dynamic graphics and feelgood storylines of Marvel comics are an obvious source of inspiration for a custom scooter. Throw in the unusual requirement to haul a trailer and the result is always going to be different. The basis for this scooter, a run-of-the-mill PX200, was acquired by Gary a few years ago. From the outset his intention was to create an Avengers tribute but as with all the best builds it’s taken a few years to turn the vision into reality. Having stripped the scooter down, Gary was pleased to find that it was an excellent platform for the project without any major rot or signs of significant abuse. As he explained, Gary had a pretty…

TRADE FOCUS On the return leg from our long-overdue visit to Europe – well, mostly Germany, in fact the bottom east side of this fantastic country to be precise – we needed to follow a bearing of north-northwest on our compass. This would get us back to Sven und Maike’s house in Hanover, which is where we would be staying for our last night on the Continent before heading back to the Europoort, in Rotterdam, to catch the ferry back to merrie old Little Britain. It just so happened that this route would take us very near to a lovely municipality called Mallersdorf-Pfaffenberg in central Bavaria, and as will become clear it would have been very rude not to call in, especially as my mate Ez, my travelling companion on…

OUT OF SPACE Unfortunately, due to a change of personal circumstances, Leigh has since had to sell his beloved Lambretta and now he misses it terribly. But running this feature in Classic Scooterist with his blessing helps him to retain the happy memories he experienced in both building and riding it. The story of their journey together starts below. WIND IT UP It was in 2009 that Leigh first developed an interest in scooters and purchased his first scooter. He purchased a Vespa V90, stripped and sprayed it and from that point on he was hooked on scooters. However, the first time he attended a rally it wasn’t by scooter, but by car when he went to The Shed Rally in Peterborough (who remembers them back in the early Noughties?).…

Many of you will be aware of the Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride (DGR). Indeed, many of you may have participated over the years, but with the 2023 event now on our doorstep, we want to raise even more awareness of this amazing event and get more classic scooters involved than ever before. But first, a bit of history about DGR and its main purpose. The year is 2011, and a gentleman and classic motorcycle enthusiast, Mark Hawwa, is watching the TV show Mad Men. The image of Don Draper astride a classic motorbike and wearing his finest suit inspired Mark to create a themed ride to connect two-wheeled enthusiasts and, in the process, raise awareness and funds to support men’s health. Mark’s first DGR was held in 2012 in 64 cities…

On my way to the event I was a little unsure what to expect as this year’s rally was the first since the move from the popular National Brewery Centre. Instead the rally would be held across two sites; Paget High School for the custom show and parts fair and then to the Burton Elite Venue for the night do. However, as soon as I arrived all my apprehensions were quickly put to bed. Having been given the customary warm welcome, I was then treated to the luxury of a guided tour of the new set-up by Ian Vanes-Jones and Ruth Evison who were both previously students at the school. Knowing that it was going to be a busy day ahead I treated myself to a full breakfast while watching…

Luna shot ‘MM tests the new Lambretta Mini – the scooter with the space age look’, read the Motorcycle Mechanics test report. The report continued: The Lambretta Luna fills a gap in two-wheeled transport that has been so obvious for so long that it makes one wonder why it was not introduced long before. No other machine offers such economy and gives scooter weather protection into the bargain. On these two points alone this game little runabout should gain a good following. During the past few years great advances have been made in two-stroke design, notably by Yamaha and Suzuki with their breakaway from the traditional two-stroke mixture which was expensive to buy as well as being inconvenient to mix if you happened upon a garage without the right equipment.…

When it came to racing a Lambretta the natural desire was to win, and Chris believed he had the talent to do so. The only problem was that hundreds of other riders thought the same. Earning a place on the podium would be a hard-fought battle and it would take time. Thankfully this was one thing that the 20-year-old Chris had an abundance of, and he was realistic about his chances. There were plenty of seasoned pros ahead of him in the pecking order, who weren’t ready to give up their crowns just yet. All Chris had to do was fathom how to work his way up the grid. Keeping in tune Despite his enthusiasm, actually making progress towards his goal proved to be somewhat erratic. For 1973 his first…

PG: Hi James, I remember when you first started you were the youngest rider on the grid. How did you get into racing in the first place? JL: I was brought up around scooters and had been riding geared scooters up and down the lane aged 13-14. When I got on the road legally and went out with other riders from the club I felt I was faster than most around me so I mentioned to Daz Kane that I was thinking about racing. He said that funnily enough he was thinking about forming a team! Initially there was a conversation around racing a Zip with Lloyd Walker helping, but Daz was really only interested in racing geared scooters so it was that or nothing! We had a chat after…

Let’s start at the beginning of this tale. The Vespa smallframe was the last Vespa designed by the hand of ingegnere Corradino D’Ascanio, whose vision and forward thinking created the original Vespa scooter, the little tin shopping trolley; he unintentionally created a worldwide cult that has so far lasted for more than seven decades. It was 1963 when the smallframe Vespa was launched and became a model that would continue in production by the Italians in various versions until the late 1990s. It’s a model that’s firmly embedded within the psyche of the British scootering adolescent, as the small-capacity smallframe was usually the first stepping stone to bigger and (presumably) better things. I wonder, when this little version of the very popular and somewhat larger Vespa model was released, if…

“IT’S JUST MY EVERYDAY SCOOTER!” So, what should you do when you already have a garage full of Lambretta perfection, a very active mind and too much time on your hands? Well, if you’re Brian, you start from the beginning and work your way through your collection, refreshing and trying to improve upon perfection! TIME Time – well for me, the lack of it – does create problems to try and fit in the usual routine maintenance tasks on my scooters. This inevitably finds me in the garage the night before a rally, shouting, swearing and stressing as a simple task has gone wonky and caused me a world of pain both mentally and physically. That’s just the routine side of things; if we start to talk about all my…

FOUR YEARS ON Not well-known outside Germanspeaking countries, the Vespa TIP magazine – literally ‘Vespa hints’– covered a period of about seven years with publication running for 46 issues from 1956 to 1963. It was the house magazine of the Vespa Club of Germany, taking over from its predecessor Vespa Nachrichen. Vespa TIPs are now much-prized in the German-speaking nations as a prism to view the early German Vespa clubs from a more innocent era and from a slightly eccentric but evocative mindset. These large format magazines (the same size as Scootering/Classic Scooterist) shared many aspects of the almost contemporary British publication, Scooter World, including, by today’s standards, low production values as far as the printed paper type was concerned and the effect that this had, sadly, in the low…