Indholdsfortegnelse for December 2025 i Scootering

Welcome to the December edition of Scootering. First job on the list this month is to extend my apologies to all those who attended the Llandudno National Rally this month, and who were expecting to see our stand there, in order to renew their subscription. I won’t bore you with the details, but long story short, unavoidable logistical problems scuppered the team that usually organises the stand and the mags, and so they weren’t able to get the stand there and operational. Thankfully, I was there, equipped with a notepad and camera for my show report (see pages 82-85 ), and anyone who missed out on their subscription renewal can use our advert (see pages 46-47) and grab our latest renewals deal in time for Christmas. Logistical nightmares aside, everything…

Designed and made in Europe, the NEXX Y.100R Subsonic is a feature-packed sports-touring helmet that comes with interchangeable colour-matched visor and spoiler for a custom look, plus a full suite of premium features; including Pinlock-ready visor, intercom compatibility and ACU Gold approval. The Subsonic is built on the feature-packed Y.100R sports-touring platform and comes fully loaded with premium details, including an optical class 1 visor with quick-release system, integrated drop-down sun visor, generous venting and plush, removable lining. The matching spoiler and visor give a seamless, striking look out of the box, and both can be easily swapped for different colours; giving riders the option to switch up their look without changing their lid. Like all NEXX helmets, the Y.100R Subsonic is 100% designed and manufactured in Europe and carries…

Yes, I know. These aren’t classic geared two-strokes that emerged from Innocenti’s Linate design office. However, whilst enthusiasts have debated the pros and cons of the rebooted Lambretta brand, the company has quietly gone about the business of producing well-assembled scooters that offer owners very few dramas and have a low warranty claim rate. Until now, the company has concentrated on the 50 and 125cc market with its V Special range; scooters that owe much of their reliability to the fact that they lean heavily on parts from the Sym catalogue. However, after many years of waiting, the V Special’s big brothers have finally arrived in town and getting to know them was an opportunity that I couldn’t pass up, particularly when Dan offered to open up Scootering’s dyno room…

When claiming to be the first, it can be a contentious statement because it must be firmly established to prove it. That’s the problem with the question of who built the first custom scooter: was it mods in the 1960s or those altering their appearance after the demise of the Lambretta in the early 1970s?. The answer lies in what qualifies it to be so in the first place. Yes, the Mods altered the appearance of the scooter by adorning it with chrome work, but made very few other changes. Perhaps the skelly phase at the end of that decade was more radical with its cut-down and often flamboyant appearance, but that too was a long way from the custom scooter look we all perceive. Regardless, it wasn’t until the…

So, you want to go scooter racing, not as an individual, but as a group; therefore, it’s a joint effort when it comes to being involved. For disciplines such as endurance racing, this practice is commonplace. However, instead of tarmac, what about changing the surface to something less grippy, such as sand, for instance, which would require a different approach altogether. To make it even more interesting, the machine before you is designed for beach racing in Germany, and with most of its border landlocked, this seems even more unusual. However, the group behind it know their stuff alright, so the explanation as to why it was being built soon became clear. Paradise found I first came across this build on my regular chat with Michael Zinne of Z-Design fame.…

Building on the response to last year’s initial scooter event, this year promises to be bigger and better with a fantastic and varying selection of skilfully engineered custom scooters, sitting alongside graceful, more traditional-looking machines. Scooter dealers will also be invited to attend, tempting scooterists with a range of clothing, accessories and get-you-home parts. What’s on in 2026? In the past, Scooter World has played a major part in the popular ‘Blast from the Past’ fire-up sessions, and this will continue. All clubs and individuals who enter scooters at the show will automatically be entered into the custom show, giving them the opportunity to win one of the many trophies on offer; new for this year will be the addition of cash prizes, which will go to various individual trophy…

Tens of thousands of Vespa enthusiasts are expected to descend on the city from all over the world. Rome, the endlessly beautiful, eternal city, has always been a symbol of Italy’s “Dolce Vita” in the collective imagination, and as such, has been selected as the perfect destination to celebrate the 80th anniversary of an icon that has never aged, successfully reinventing itself over time to remain contemporary. But it won’t just be a party for the most ardent fans: Vespa has a special place in the collective memory, too; in everyone’s scrapbooks, and Rome 2026 is shaping up to be an incredible event that will go beyond a simple celebration of the passion for a vehicle that is unique in the world. Rome will play host to four days of…

Any company or business that offers a bespoke service, means they are catering for a customers specific needs. To provide that type of service means concentrating on a particular or unique product rather than the mainstream, but it isn’t as easy as it sounds. By doing so, you are narrowing down your customer base; therefore, to maintain a steady flow of work, it must be of the highest quality. It also requires a product that the competition can’t deliver, something unique, allowing you to stand out. To make it even more difficult, most, if not all, the work carried out needs to be in-house; otherwise, it becomes uneconomical because so much is being outsourced. If you can achieve all of this, then the results can be outstanding. A quarter of…

Fans of the Series 3 Lambretta will know that this classic design was further embellished with the introduction of an upgraded 200cc model. In fact, the importers to the UK, Lambretta Concessionaires, twisted the collective arms of the unenthusiastic Innocenti design studio to do so. The lack of enthusiasm from the Italians to enhance their current flagship TV175 design was understandable and proved to be well founded and not so simple in practice, but as their largest export market requested such a machine, it subsequently, if reluctantly, rolled off the Milanese production line, but was – as we now know - to be the lone example of a ‘UK only’ Lambretta model. Lambretta Concessionaires were always chasing publicity and, with an eye to increasing demand for the new 200cc Lambretta,…

The TV200 had been a resounding success in many ways and had proved that there was a market for the 200cc Lambretta. Any doubts Innocenti had regarding reliability were now a distant memory, in its two-and-a-half-year tenure, it performed almost flawlessly. With over 14,000 units produced and sold during that period, it also showed that customers were prepared to pay the higher price for performance. Its sales compared to the more budget-oriented Li models were significantly less. Still, it was commonplace for the top model to sell in smaller volumes because it targeted a specific audience. Innocenti were more than happy with how it had performed, and so were prepared to continue its evolution with a new, improved version. Breaking point Any automotive manufacturer builds in a tolerance scale as…

Aprilia SR GT is Aprilia’s first ’urban adventure’ scooter. On the Aprilia SR GT, the active riding position and the wide naked handlebar provide better control, whereas the long-travel suspension and a taller height off the ground allow it to easily overcome any obstacle in city riding. Last, but not least, the large-section tyres allow for adventuring on any type of road surface, from city asphalt to cobblestones to unsurfaced roads. The Aprilia SR GT is also at the top of its class in terms of power and engine efficiency, thanks to two ultra-modern, Euro 5+, electronic injection, four-valve timing, and liquid-cooled engines from the i-get family. Alongside the 125cc i-get, weighing in with maximum power of 11 kW at 8900rpm and torque that reaches 12Nm at 6750 rpm, the…

Being well known in the scootering community and having a reputation for developing high-end custom machines are two character traits that are firmly established in Dave Hamilton’s background. In mid-2022, Dave was contacted by his long-term pal and owner of the restored classic custom Vespa, Little Rascal, Jim Lockwood. Jim rang Dave to let him know about a custom scooter project, Kingdom of Heaven, which had been started and was waiting for the right person, with the proper credentials, to come along and complete it. With his curiosity piqued and having previously watched the film, Dave had his appetite whetted and decided to follow up on the lead. In the meantime, for those of us who’ve not seen the film, here’s a quick summary… The movie is a 2005 epic…

Like the reader, who stated that he goes down to WHSmiths and thumbs through Scootering to see if anything on scooters relates to him and the so-called ‘mod’ period. I am of the same frame of mind and do exactly that myself. I quickly look at the many conversions on both Vespa and Lambretta scooters, but settle on any article relating to my period, when I had my first Vespa… brand new. Back in the summer of 1964… For me, the journey started when my best mate, Albie Mote, knocked on my door to show me his latest acquisition: his pride and joy, a brand-new 175cc slim style Lambretta in blue and white. Looking back, it was undoubtedly a case of green cheese, and the following weeks saw me saving…

Production of the British-built Vespa would continue up until February and possibly into March of 1965. From that time, there would never be another British-built Vespa scooter, with Douglas being the sole importer and selling the Italian Piaggio and Spanish Motovespa machines as demand dictated. It is apparent that, at the time, the D.V.L.C., the old name for the D.V.L.A., was not up to date with their information, or simply couldn’t be bothered. For years after, any Vespa registered in the UK was listed as a Vespa Douglas on the registration document. Hence, the confusion when people say “My Vespa P.X. is a Douglas” is understandable, as it isn’t, unless you have a Sportique from 1965. What you have is either an Italian or Spanish imported machine. Douglas continued to…

Being late in the year, it was inevitably cold, and overnight the clocks changed, bringing the Sunday races to an earlier-than-usual finish to avoid darkness! With most classes and overall Championships pretty much decided, you might have expected racing to be less full-on… but no one gave that memo to the riders, so it was full-on competitive racing as always! With the final two Championship rounds in each class making up Saturday’s racing activities, first up was the Stock Grid. Production Class All eyes were on the Jimmy McNally vs Scott Thompson battle, which has become intense as the season has progressed, with Thompson being the only rider to beat McNally as he took the final race of the last round to break McNally’s 100% win record. With only 0.1…