Innholdsfortegnelse for July 2024 i Scootering

Do you believe in coincidences? I first visited Tenby aged six, and was struck down with a severe case of the green apple splatters (I will leave that to your imagination). The song Self Control played on the car radio and still makes me shudder to this day as I quite clearly didn’t have any control of my bodily functions. Roll on 40 years and my last shift before the journey down to Tenby. I jump in the car and Radio 2 is playing that same song, 7.59am; I hope it’s not an omen. The journey used to be a great spin with a lot of sweeping bends through the countryside and (despite relentless rain) was only marred by the 20mph limit for half the journey. This is where autos…

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. I am making a claim through a firm of solicitors after I was knocked off my scooter and badly injured. I have been seeing an orthopaedic specialist who I think is great. I really value his opinion, but my solicitor has said that I need to see another expert now in connection…

Johnny Moped – Quonk! (Damaged Goods) Legendary punk band Johnny Moped returns with a new album. Fifty years after the band’s debut, it hasn’t lost any of the wit and strangeness that brought its initial fame. Simple driving rhythms underpin the album; it’s littered with hook lines that quickly establish themselves as earworms. As you would expect from a veteran voice of the scene, this album owes everything to the early days of punk. It revels in the roughness, inventiveness and experimentation of that pivotal era in music. Covering subjects as widespread as mental health issues, the lockdown and looking after a dog with equal sincerity, Johnny Moped remains one of the few acts to have remained faithful to the path they first trod before most of us were even…

Brian Clough’s interest in scooters started when he was a schoolboy and saw people riding round town on them. “I thought: ‘They look cool – I must have one’ and after I’d turned 16 off I went to the local bike shop and purchased a second-hand 150 LD MkIII for £15-1s-0d plus £1-10s-0d to fit it with a new piston.” Over the next nine years, Brian progressed through various Lambrettas and as his scootering pastime developed he became a member of his local scooter club, the Rochdale Mashers, who took part in mostly sporting activities; road rallies, time trials, sprints, hill climbs and the like. However, in 1971, having thoroughly enjoyed his scootering experience, Brian decided to hang up his crash helmet. Fastforwarding his story through marriage and a family…

★ STAR LETTER ★ Colour match conundrum Hello Stan, I’m getting ready to sell my ’21 plate SYM Jet X 125. However, I first need to identify the specific grey colour code of the bodywork to purchase the correct touch-up paint to erase some surface scratches. Apparently, this is much more onerous than anyone would anticipate; a situation that you would think the original dealership would respond helpfully to, but not a bit of it. The advice given by one online paint supplier is to expect it to be a problem with SYM scooters and perhaps seek help from one of the online SYM owners’ forums. Is there anything else out there to assist me, as far as you know, so that I can press on with advertising this scooter?…

After 40 years of scooter rallies, I had the silly idea that we should hold our own, and something with a difference. A site was found in Barlestone in Leicestershire, and the planning began. With a lot of sleepless nights and apprehension, the day arrived, and the gates opened. The first arrivals turned up around 11am, the music started and the bars opened. By the end of Saturday, 386 had turned up to camp in a field, listen to music and just enjoy meeting old friends and making new. Plus, those who came for the day. The 14 DJs and eight live acts across three rooms had a lot of people to entertain. Friday’s live music started with Ryan Dunn followed by a local rock band called Propshaft, who got…

We’ve all been there. There isn’t a scooter owner in the land who hasn’t spent the day (or two) throwing spanners across the garage in rage or having a tantrum when things don’t go as planned in the repairs department. Well, after many months of me saying how well things are going on the three project scooters, this month the Vespa decided it didn’t want to play ball. I could of course be a grown-up and take responsibility for the issues that I ran into, but I find it more cathartic to blame the scooter. It was just the simple things, like pulling the indicators out of the box of bits that I threw them into when I stripped the scooter and now realising that although I have purchased new…

One of the first things my dad said to me after purchasing a Lambretta was: “Do you expect to get far on that old thing?” At the time, the tatty old Li150 Special was celebrating its 20th birthday and had less than 10,000 miles on the clock, so I was pretty confident I would. Perhaps he was referring to the fact it hadn’t turned a wheel in more than a decade, and with two flat tyres and significant rust on its south side, perhaps he had a point. I was armed with the home workshop manual, and though it didn’t tell you how to scrape rust off the bodywork, it did tell you how to repair the engine. It was a good job it did as the motor was seized…

I don’t think that anyone would disagree that the late Eighties formed the creative high point for custom scooters. A world of ideas that collided with increasingly talented airbrush wielders and a war of ever-increasing expenditure as builders vied to use the very best of everything that was available to them. Against this background, you had to build something very special for it to regularly win custom shows, be featured on the front of a magazine, and still be remembered today. It should go without saying that the original incarnation of the scooter you see here was, undoubtedly, of that level. Built over a couple of years, it debuted in early 1987 to universal applause. Everywhere it went it picked up trophies and eventually featured on the cover of the…

The BSSO series of British Championship racing could be described as our equivalent of MotoGP. It’s very fast and furious, and not for the faint hearted. It’s also expensive to compete in, and even getting started requires considerable investment. A full racing licence is needed and even that has a lot of hoops to jump through. Once you’ve done all of this you need some deep pockets to race. More than £300 in base entry fees for a weekend of racing that will get you a 15-minute practice, four 12-minute races over a weekend and a lot of standing about. You’ll get eight chances to do this at circuits all around the UK from Dover to South Wales and up to the North East. If you want to compete in…

If you want a jean that doesn’t look like a riding jean, Roadskin may have the answer. It’s hard to remember a time before riding jeans were invented, but until now even the most fashionable designs have still looked like a compromise between safety and style. With its new mid-wash Tyrian jeans, Roadskin has finally created an option that gives protection while maintaining the illusion of casual wear. The Tyrian jeans are made from a sophisticated blend of Cordura denim fabric and Lycra, offering a rare softness and comfort in motorcycle jeans. They incorporate Level 2 knee and hip armour as standard, ensuring riders are well protected on every journey. In addition, the Tyrian jeans offer features tailored specifically for women, including a higher rear waistband and a more fitting…

Dainese Air Frame 3 Tex jacket and Drake 2 Super Air Tex pants Designed specifically with warmer weather in mind, the Air Frame 3 Tex jacket and pants are designed to keep riders cool, but still protected, in the height of the summer. The jacket is made from a QuickDry mesh construction combined with a detachable windproof lining, and while the trousers are made of the same basic construction, they have mesh inserts offering superior comfort and ventilation on every ride. Both are certified to EN 17092 A, with the Air Frame 3 Tex jacket featuring composite protectors on the shoulders and elbows, as well as pockets for Dainese Pro-Armor chest protectors and a G back protector. There are reflective inserts on the back and chest for active rider visibility…

The Lexicon of Scooters #31 In October 1947, the world was exposed to a new two-wheeled machine called the Lambretta. Created by Innocenti of Milan, the idea was to give the public cheap, affordable transport, which was much needed after the Second World War. There was strong competition in Italy from other manufacturers of small, lightweight motorcycles, not forgetting Piaggio’s Vespa, which had made its debut the year before. However, Innocenti was confident that its design would win the public over. M is for motor scooter The first Lambretta model is often referred to as the Model A, but when launched, it was called the Lambretta M, which stood for motor scooter. (It was only when the B was launched a year later that it would be retrospectively named the…

Send Us a Postcard The weekend started off on Saturday afternoon with classic and modern scooters to be seen on the pavilion green and an array of DJs and bands inside and outside the ever-popular Ryde Pavilion. A steady crowd of locals and island visitors browsed the trade stalls selling clothing and scooter goodies which adorned the front of the pavilion, with an outdoor bar and barbecue in the pleasant May bank holiday sunshine. Music continued throughout the afternoon and into the evening with great sounds from The Three Minute Heroes, The Hornets and X-Directory with the superb Trojan Beats finishing off the first day. Sunday started off with a ride-in from Newport Cricket Club back to the Ryde Pavilion for another afternoon of all things scooters, DJs and bands.…

How to use the guide We’ve divided the market first by capacity and then alphabetically within each category. We can’t possibly give values for every classic scooter, there are far too many variables for that, but we have included data for three of the most common machines; a Vespa smallframe, Vespa PX and Lambretta GP200. These should allow comparisons between ‘then and now’ and help anyone switching from classics to modern scooters or vice versa. We’ve started with models from the usual suspects but over time we’ll be adding more models to widen the range of information available to you. The data Most of the data is taken from manufacturers’ websites; this can vary between manufacturers depending on what methods are used to test their machines. For example, the type…

The theme of Mark Stacey’s scooter is the popular TV series Game of Thrones, but this Irish scooter has hidden depths. We asked Stu Smith to find out more. How and when did you get into scooters? “I first got into scooters in the early 90s when a lot of lads from Newbridge and Naas in County Kildare had them. I liked the look of them, plus I was a skinhead at the time and they went with the image.” What was your first scooter and what were your first scootering experiences? “My first scooter was a burgundy Vespa PX200. I bought it from a friend for £250 and I’ve never looked back since. After that I got into the rally scene, my first rally was in a place called…

MCIA has recently published the market data for April 2024, for new motorcycle, scooter and other L-Category vehicles. The April market closed at a positive 1.1% above 2023, with adventure, road sport and scooter styles all showing healthy growth: +15.8%, +11.9% and +6.2% respectively. Electric powertrains also grew by 23.2% when compared with April 2023. Year to date registrations are tracking just ahead of last year by 0.1% which has been influenced by a strong scooter market and recovery in the electric powertrain segments. Tony Campbell, CEO of MCIA, said: “April’s registration figures once again demonstrate a robust market for our industry. While there continues to be economic and political uncertainty, scooters, motorcycles and the wider L-Category sector continue to offer consumers an alternative to using a car and not…

I like the Lambretta! A Motor Cycling man’s impressions of an Italian 60mph scooter. The driver of the ‘Sports Special’ car was a puzzled man. Just ahead of him, buzzing down the level stretch of the Brighton road with a sound reminiscent of a swarm of angry bees was a little green motor scooter, quite evidently powered by a 125cc two-stroke engine, and yet, with ‘60 per’ on the speedometer he was barely holding his own. Foot down and at a speed of 70 miles per hour, he finally managed to pass. A fisherman’s tale? Not at all! I was the two-stroke rider and the machine was a Lambretta, kith and kin to the scooter which astounded the motorcycling fraternity a few months ago by its seemingly endless captures of…

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. OLD BEAMS Back in May we posted an archive image of the Old Beams in the New Forest and asked if anyone fancied recreating the shot today. You rose to the challenge... Please send your scooter pictures to: Show Us Your Scooters, PO Box 99, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6LZ (include an SAE if you want…

Despite being soaked to the skin, the early arrivals who’d braved the elements and ridden in on their scooters were still in good spirits and ready to celebrate 15 years of Robbo’s Skegness Scooter Rally. It all kicked off at The Suncastle at 7pm on Friday with Dave and Minxy of Scooterist Internet Radio entertaining the crowds until the first band came on who were newcomers to the event, The Chelsea Curve. The band had travelled from Boston, USA for a short tour with the guys from Sharp Class who were the second band of the evening and both went down a storm. After the live bands completed their sets, Neil Carter and Alan Smith took over until close. In the meantime, in the Trojan/ska/reggae room Trojan Paul and Rob…

You may recall from last month’s column that we had a nice chap named Dylan visit the dyno to have his Vespa 210 Malossi with SIP3 exhaust run up on the dyno. If one of these kit and pipe combos is built with all the right details and tweaked to suit, then we could see around 20+bhp on the dyno. Dylan’s scooter, however, was only pushing out 9bhp at the rear wheel, which is the same output as a completely standard P200 straight from the factory. Upon investigation, it appeared that Dylan had a crank that was still using the standard rotary inlet, but with a single-petal reed valve bolted between the Si24 carb and the engine casing, since the seal on his rotary pad had failed. This mismatch of…

It’s been a revelation for me, working on the Royal Alloy. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it and become a bit of a convert. Don’t get me wrong (here comes the disclaimer), I know they have plastic panels and perhaps in 60 years’ time the frames may not have aged as well as Innocenti’s finest, but still... these scooters look good, they are easy to work on and they are affordable. For those three reasons alone, I expect that these machines will keep far more scooterists on the road than if we just had to continue squabbling over prices of used Innocenti machines and paying top dollar to keep tuning those. So, I’m a fan. My heart will always be with classic two-stroke geared scooters, but I’ve found a small space to…

The 50cc market in the UK is a funny thing. If you’re 16 years old and you want to get out on the road, then you’re going to have to find yourself a 50. That is your only option. But the frustrating thing is that within the year, you’re going to be eligible to ride a more powerful 125 machine. It’s a tricky position to be in as a buyer, particularly a young one who’s unlikely to be flush with cash, because chances are you’ll want to chop in your 50 a year later when you can legally ride a 125. But let’s forget about licensing idiosyncrasies and frustrations for a minute, because buying your first bike or scooter as a 16-year-old is a seriously special moment. But how do…