Innehållsförteckning för January 2023 från Scootering

A few months ago I had the pleasure of being interviewed by a degree student, Darcie Scimia, for her dissertation paper. Darcie comes from a family of scooterists, and her paper was titled: ‘Then it wasn’t a lifestyle, it was our life’: A study of scooterists in Britain during the 1980s and 1990s. It was a fascinating piece of work and one of her conclusions was that the culture was unusual in that it had, largely, escaped commercialism. In her words it’s a “bottom-up movement,” which is controlled by its participants, not outside forces. I’ve no problem with people earning money out of scooters, whether it’s running a workshop (or editing a magazine!) bills must be paid. However, when I look at the ‘key figures’ in our world they all…

KICKSTART 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 in the middle of an injury claim. The defendants have made an allegation of ‘fundamental dishonesty’ on my part. What does it mean and what are the possible consequences? A. Sorry to hear that. This is an increasingly common occurrence. You will always hear insurers talking about stamping out…

Thanks to the ingenious stand created by Innocenti, Lambretta owners have long had a solution for rear wheel removal. Now Spanish scooterists VSK have come up with a solution for Vespa largeframes. Rolling a Vespa on to its side to remove the rear wheel is a simple, if inelegant, way of dealing with a rear puncture but it doesn’t help keep paintwork crisp or prevent fuel from spilling all over the floor. With no factory tool designed to lift the rear wheel clear, various attempts have been made to devise a suitable ‘jack’. Some have been more successful than others but most either occupy a large amount of space or require some upper body strength to put in place. With the Tras-to, VSK has produced a simple device, no larger…

It’s amazing how fashions change. Back in the 1980s no one would give a Spanish toolbox garage space, which is why they’re so rare today. Fortunately, Cam-Lam can help with your Spanish ‘back to factory’ project. New in stock are a reproduction toolbox, complete with airbox, priced at £69.99 and its companion door, priced at £30. The latter has always been popular with custom builders thanks to its louvered finish but it’s become increasingly difficult to find good, straight examples particularly if chroming is on the agenda. They can be ordered direct from Cam-Lam’s website: www.lambretta. co.uk…

Tolerance and acceptance of people who think differently has been part of the scooter scene for a very long time. Psychobillies, Punks, Mods, Scooter boys and ‘normal people’ are all accepted and (in the main) we get along just fine, it’s about the scooters yeah? It doesn’t matter if it is a retro, full mural custom, cutdown, ratbike or whatever? That is until the appearance of ‘Chinese things’ that take design cues from the classic Lambretta style but with a four-stroke engine. Yet, years ago we hated the flat-backed T5, didn’t we? This is where things start to fall down a little. People in all walks of life are rarely fans of change, but the world moves on, and progress is made. Let me take you back to the early…

It was back in January 2017 that we first featured Ben Birdsall, in fact his somewhat eccentric approach to scooters made it on to our front cover. Back then he’d just completed his book Whisky Burn, a tour of Scottish distilleries. Since then he’s been a busy man; taking Whisky Burn to Vespa World Days in Belfast, and completing his second instalment by travelling around the hot spots of Irish whiskey production. As we discovered in the 2017 interview, Ben’s an unlikely candidate for inclusion in Scootering. He’s English, but lives in Switzerland where he plies his trade as an artist. He has a passion for whiskey (or whisky, as written in the Scottish style) and loves nothing more than planning a trip to take in the distilleries of a…

Sparking the adventure The trip started early as we were on the road for 4am, heading down the A1 from Yorkshire to Peterborough, and surprised ourselves by getting to the services for breakfast in just two and a half hours. In fact, the rest of the run to Dover went just as smoothly, apart from my scooter cutting out twice in quick succession as we were riding down the A2. Fortunately, we had planned to stop at Nell’s Cafe for lunch and with a quick change of spark plug we were good to go. This obviously did the trick as my panels remained firmly on for the next two weeks. We arrived in Dover ahead of schedule, boarded an earlier ferry and were quickly tucking the scooters up for a…

There are perhaps only a handful of custom scooters that have gone beyond momentary popularity and entered into the realm of legend. We still speak in somewhat hushed tones about scooters such as Dazzle, Little Rascal, Mytho Poeikon and Frustration, all iconic machines of the 1980s. For many scooterists of that era, one machine stands above, ahead and before all those, a Lambretta that was one of the earliest to gain national fame. I’m talking about Mark ‘Brad’ Brough’s Time Trouble and Money (also known as TTM), which has to rank as one of the most ground-breaking scooters of all time. Perhaps it wouldn’t stand up against some of today’s customs, but at the time it was a scooter that was truly known across the country. The original TTM still…

Whether it’s supersizing a Land Rover Defender into a 100mph off-roader, or joining the ranks of insanely fast Piaggio Ape racers, Guy Martin loves a hybrid. However, unlike Brian Winters, he’s never considered shoehorning a tuned Gilera Runner engine into a Lambretta frame. The genesis of this build was a couple of years ago when Brian was building a cut-down Lambretta. With the project only half complete he encountered a few problems with the painter and urgently needed someone to complete the work. “It wasn’t easy,” said Brian, “but I had a chat with my pal Andy at Downtown Scooters and he put me in contact with Gary Cooper of Mdmachine. Gary agreed to take on the work and did a fantastic job. He also painted a themed matching crash…

I’m glad to see 2022 go; it wasn’t a good year for the Spencer household. Many of you will already know I was involved in an accident after a car driver pulled across a junction in front of me, resulting in my scooter being written off and me spending time in A&E. The hospital trauma team couldn’t believe I came away without suffering serious injury; however, it did mean I was reliant on the missus to help me with menial tasks (getting in and out of the bath, etc). My doctor’s current prediction for full recovery, by the way, is June 2023, so let’s hope he’s got that right. But then, just as if things couldn’t get any worse, the missus suffered an even more serious accident with injuries…

As the winter months arrive, I thankfully don’t need (or want) to go out in grotty weather on two wheels. I had enough of that when I was a lot younger and my scooter was my only form of transport. Is there any wonder my knees and hands now constantly ache? Back in the day, my ‘winter protective clothing’ consisted of a footy scarf, pit vest, NCB waterproof bright yellow overtrousers, a pair of XL Marigolds over the pit gloves, and now, as the world is a more open and accepting place, I can freely admit without shame or embarrassment, an old pair of mi mam’s tights; 80 denier were the warmest and I liked the American Tan better than the black ones… Thankfully, times have moved on and the…

BOOK REVIEW Author: Anthony Gregory Publisher: P.Way Publishing ISBN: 0-9543586-7-8 It probably has to be stated that any book title with the word ‘Mod’ in it has a steep hill to climb in the joint estimations of a number of the members of its possible target audience. This profusely illustrated volume was originally published a few years ago; however any previous doubters would be well advised to give Anthony Gregory’s updated autobiographical reminiscences a second chance on the grounds that its title describes far more than the sum of the parts of the informed story. The narrative is multi-faceted; not only is it a first-hand coming-of-age story based not on the far more usual realms of a London-centric tale of those times, but is an interesting work of social history…

The small but perfectly formed online magazine and independent specialist set-up Zani Publishing has built itself a decent reputation as an outlet for cult fiction over recent years. Its latest title is squarely aimed at the sharp-dressed among us. With titles such as the acclaimed A Crafty Cigarette, The Magnificent Six – Tales of Aggro, Feltham Made Me, and the superb Tales From The Foxes Of Foxham, Zani has shown itself to be one of the current masters in selecting subject matter that embraces Mod, Scooterist, Punk and Casual subcultures, with rites of passage stories that most readers can empathise with. The latest Zani Publishing book is a non-fictional overview of selected items of menswear fashion items that all possess a timeless appeal. In The Desired Article, JL Disley has…

At lunchtime we enjoyed local specialities and the view of the unspoilt landscape, on an evening we enjoyed a beer or two before falling into bed! For the SIP Scootershop Vespa & Lambretta Road Trip 2022, we decided to go to the Dolomites. Among the many beautiful high mountain regions of the Alps, one of the most exciting landscapes with many pass roads. Here, soft, wide valleys with lush green meadows merge into steeply towering reefs of limestone. Between them, picturesque roads that are the destination of many cyclists and motorcyclists in summer. We based ourselves at a hotel in Selva Gardena and from there we went on day tours around the surrounding area. This is an unusual approach for us as we tend to ride from place to place…

Very specifically it was an N-reg Vespa 90 which introduced Dean to the wonder of small wheels. He bought it just after The Jam split up in 1982. Back then he and his pals were obsessive Jam fans who’d save up as much money as they could, and when their funds allowed they’d make the trip from Leicester down to London and buy whatever Weller, Foxton and Buckler were wearing at the time. “We called ourselves Mods but really we were just Jam fans,” Dean explained. “Being honest we didn’t particularly like the other styles of music associated with the Mod scene.” His real musical passion was Siouxsie and the Banshees and punk. “Back in the day, you had to keep things like that quiet because if people found that…

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: Reminding us of last summer is this sun-laden shot taken by Stuart Albentosa on the trip to European Vespa Days in Guimares, Portugal…

Even if they’ve never drunk it in their lives, mention Martini to anyone who grew up in the 1970s and 80s and they’ll inevitably sing ‘Any time any place anywhere’ while thinking of glamorous TV adverts. To fans of motorsport the name conjures up another image, that of the brand’s race sponsorship. Recognising the Italian love of speed and the glamour associated with motor racing, Martini was quick to jump on the sponsorship bandwagon. This began back in 1958, but it was in the 1970s when the brand came to real prominence, sponsoring the Porsche 24 Le Mans cars that won the prestigious race several times. Since then, it has famously backed the Lancia world rally cars and, more recently, the Williams Formula 1 team. While the name is instantly…

Once the Lambretta had ceased production, its downfall in the UK was inevitable and came at an alarming speed. Once factory support was withdrawn, the value of second-hand machines plummeted and a glut of second-hand ones appeared, making them even harder to sell. While some dealers remained loyal, the majority got out as quickly as possible, trying not to make a loss. Those that sold motorcycles focused their efforts elsewhere, but the scooter-only shops had no choice but to try and carry on. The aftermath Selling second-hand Lambrettas became a difficult job and most dealers concentrated on servicing those belonging to loyal customers. This secured a flow of work but also enabled them to get rid of unwanted spares and accessories. The only alternative to servicing was tuning, but that…

✎ Classic Scooterist, PO Box 99, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6LZ ✉ mauspencer@classicscooterist.com ☎ 01507 529408 Mersea Island Late 80s/early 90s Mersea Island. My name back then would have been Michelle Summerbell. I won a trophy (either Best Vespa or Best Custom – I can’t quite remember). The scooter was called Rainbow Culture, sprayed by John Spurgeon (I think, as I bought it already sprayed but had some of the gold plating and chrome replaced). It was a very fast little scoot, a 50 Special bored-out to 135 – I could outrun the P Ranges of the time (lol). Michelle My first rally Me when I was 17, on my first rally (Morecambe 84) – that’s me kneeling on the floor. It took me nine hours to get there. Absolutely loved…

One face missing from the 2022 August Bank Holiday Mod Weekender at Brighton was Paul Grant, who died in July after a car accident while driving near his home in Totnes, Devon. On August bank holiday weekend 2021, Paul and his cherished black and chrome Messerschmitt GS travelled to Brighton to show it off on the seafront, the first time he’d taken his scooter there since 1964 – that’s only a 57-year gap! He first fell in love with the Vespa when he was a Mod in 1963 in Islington, London and in 1964 he ventured down to Brighton on his GS where the Mods and Rockers were brawling on the beach. As Paul once explained: “I was responsible for throwing a deckchair on the beach but didn’t get into…

The Motorcycle Action Group (MAG) has published a new report recommending a full review of the motorcycle licensing regime. MAG claims that the licensing regime is delaying the age at which new riders pass a full test, resulting in higher young rider casualty rates. The analysis also raises significant questions about the lack of data on CBT riders. MAG’s director of campaigns and political engagement, Colin Brown, collaborated with Dr Jessica Andersson-Hudson of Lund University on the analysis. The study revealed that the peak age for attaining a full motorcycle licence in Great Britain is 24. This compares unfavourably with the equivalent peak age of 17 for car driving licences. Full licence status confers no advantage other than the privilege of removing L plates for young riders below the age…

Like all of us, Dan was scooter mad and was the proud owner of a Lambretta that he cherished. The problem was that his technical skills didn’t go much further than operating a can opener, which meant that there was potential trouble on the horizon when it came to his Lambretta. You needed some mechanical skills if you owned one because, by the 1980s, they were unreliable. It wasn’t that they were built poorly, quite the opposite, they were a mechanical marvel; but the majority had been lying idle for more than a decade. It was great news that thousands of them were being liberated from a slow death in garden sheds across the nation, but most scooters hadn’t seen a spanner since the 1960s. Expecting them to run like…

If you get to that fork in the road, go for the more interesting one – throw caution to the wind! Take that more interesting path. When and where did you first have an interest in scooters? I grew up in Australia, where the scooter scene is very different from that in the UK, on the outskirts of Sydney, where big V8 cars were the norm. I lived on a farm and had trial bikes so wasn’t a total novice at riding. In Sydney I had a PX, which was perfect for commuting and gave me experience of riding a Vespa with the handlebar gear change. Unfortunately, this knowledge didn’t extend to maintenance or fixing them, which would later lead to memorable encounters during my trip. Why a Vespa? I…

S COOTERI NG Wasps continue fundraising marathon The morning began straightforwardly at Fulham’s New King’s Road. No kings, no dukes but by 11am about 500 scooters had gathered with the riders all respecting the two minutes’ silence. They say the amount of people who turn out at your funeral is largely determined by how the weather is that day and it’s also true of a scooter rideout. The weather was fine, and it was a great turnout. All the hundreds of special pin badges and patches the Wasps had made for the day were quickly sold out. Shortly afterwards the scooters fired up in a cloud of two-stroke, and we made our way the three miles through the well-heeled streets of Belgravia to Hyde Park corner. There we were met…

It’s that time of year... bloody freezing, and in the garage, every item of metal transmits that cold from your fingertips to your bones! But we grumble not, just add more layers of clothing, thermal undergarments, and stoke up the log burner, which is also used to warm up engine casings. You always need to warm casings first, before fitting bearings, but nothing gets them ‘spit sizzling hot’ like a log burner! For the engines that are having rebuilds within the chassis, I simply use the heat gun, you just must make sure that the heat is spread slowly and evenly before the bearing is plopped into place, and that’s exactly what we had to do on a customer’s TS1-225 this month… It’s never as cheap or simple as you…

✎ Classic Scooterist, PO Box 99, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6LZ ✉ mauspencer@classicscooterist.com ☎ 01507 529408 Casa and RLC display new engine technology As we go to press, Casa Performance and Rimini Lambretta Centre (RLC) have announced that they will present new groundbreaking innovations in the field of Lambretta engines in the Scooter World Halls at the 2023 Winter Classic Show. Here they will be joining forces with Oiltek on its stand in the main scooter hall, where they will be offering Lambretta aficionados the chance to see beautifully designed engine technology at close quarters. Another main show attraction will be the Team S Equipe, AF S Type display, which will feature some amazing S Type scooters plus one of the original scooters from the Team S Equipe race team of…

ANTICS & UPDATES Published in the June 2022 issue of Classic Scooterist, the article caused some discussion on the subject of Grimstead Vespa ‘Hurricane’ and Lambretta ‘Imperial’ dealer special scooters. Going through the archives it’s been possible to trace an advertisement from Scooter World magazine, dated April 1963, that uses these titles. The previous month’s similar advert failed to use these names, so Eddy and his cousin Roger’s discussion on the use of this marketing ploy must have occurred before this date. We continue with updates to Ian’s original story… A TRIP TO BOGNOR REGIS Going back a bit now (before I got my GS), my girlfriend Trixie and I rode two-up on a Vespa 125 from Ipswich to Butlins at Bognor Regis for a week’s holiday. When we got…

BUCKS SPARTANS MK SC Based in Milton Keynes in Bucks, Spartans MK SC is a well-supported club. Info: Ray Reader mobile 07969 263840 or 01908 395961 or Lyn Tofts 07831 383377 (for clothing and general info). Facebook: SPARTANS MKSC 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…