Innehållsförteckning för April 2025 från Scootering

Regular readers may recall that in our January 2024 edition we profiled the life of Elizabeth Smolen. A keen motorcyclist and engineer, Smolen made a name for herself by repairing, dealing and racing scooters, in the process becoming an integral part of the Wirral’s scooter scene. Now, a new exhibition at the Williamson Art Gallery in Birkenhead features her story, scooters and a selection of memorabilia. The exhibition, Elizabeth Smolen: Trailblazer, explores Smolen’s early life against the backdrop of Soviet Poland, and how her daring escape to England allowed her to make a new home in Wirral. Objects from Smolen’s life, including two Vespa scooters, are on display alongside information about Smolen’s rich life and stories from those who remember her. The exhibition also explores the broader Wirral scooter scene,…

To celebrate our 40th anniversary year, Scootering ’s going to have pride of place at the Kempton Park Autojumble on May 10. In addition to the huge autojumble (if you’ve never been, it’s hard to describe just how large the event is), scooters and Scootering will take pride of place. If you want to see some of our project scooters in the flesh, meet members of the Scootering team and sniff out some bargains, it’s the place to be. ■ For more information and advance tickets visit: www.kemptonautojumble.co.uk…

All motor vehicles can be accessorised to a degree and usually these items serve a useful purpose. But the motor scooter, possibly uniquely, took this one step further – not only did they did have accessories for useful practical purposes, such as luggage carriers, mirrors and windscreens, but many purely decorative add-ons were also mounted. As soon as mass-produced motor scooters appeared on the scene, a cottage industry to supply accessories to individualise this new form of transport sprang up. These accessories varied from the supremely obvious sidecar to provide more carrying capacity, down to not-so-evident bolt-on mirrors for safety at the lower end of the size and cost scale. This phenomenon has followed the development of scooters and the tastes of scooter owners up to the present day. The…

The memories of our first scooters are some of our fondest. Gary Holliday’s love affair with them started in 1995 when he was 16 with a 1974 Vespa V90. “At the time I was looking for a mode of transport and managed to negotiate a deal to buy the scooter for £50 from a friend of a friend who’d had it standing under a tarpaulin in his garden for a while. When I got it home I tried for hours to get it started until eventually I realised it had no throttle cable! My friend kindly lent me an inner from his push bike and hey presto, within a couple of kicks the engine sprang to life! I pushed it more than I rode it, but I loved it!” Starstruck…

First through the door this month was Michael from Ireland. He’d made one hell of a trip to come and get his exhaust swapped over and set up on the dyno, but it was well worth it in the end. Michael had recently purchased a Vespa that had a Malossi 220, long-stroke, reed valve engine, with a 30mm PHBH Dell’Orto carb and JL3 expansion chamber fitted. The performance, as expected, was an exhilarating little pocket rocket. He was absolutely thrilled with its top speed, but he just found it too savage, and somewhat lacking in bottom-end and mid-range power. As Michael had already explained to us, it was a pain to ride because there was very little usable power at the bottom and then everything ‘comes in suddenly’ as it…

My first ever scooter was a P2 that I purchased brand new from Cusworths in Doncaster. To me, at that time, after seeing scooters like Worlds Apart, the Rothmans racer and Armando’s Specials years earlier, I was determined to have a P2 of my own. My first machine was left in completely standard trim; I couldn’t bring myself to chop, tune or paint a brand-new scooter, and I eventually sold it a year or two later still in factory trim. Following that, I purchased a metallic green P2 from eBay that was in otherwise perfect mechanical condition but had been slid down the road and had a minor ‘ding’ in every panel, so I got it quite cheap. This was the perfect choice of base scooter for my Steve McQueen-themed…

Would you like to have the final word? Send us a couple of high-res images of you and your scoot, together with a few details about it, and we’ll do the rest. stan@scootering.com Scooter restorations can cost thousands of pounds and while phrases such as “Buy cheap, buy twice” and “No such thing as a short-cut” are true, with reasonable mechanical knowledge and home-taught painting skills, Carl’s shown that it’s possible to build a fantastic machine without paying a fortune. Sc: What was your first scooter and when did you get it? CE: My first scooter was a Vespa Rally 180, which I bought for £25 sometime around 1982 when I was 15. Sc: Tell me about the background to this scooter. CE: My favourite custom scooters are Exile, Wake…

Since mid-1977, one of the main soundtracks to my life (and I know many Scootering readers’ lives too) has been the music of The Jam. For a relatively short space of time The Jam were THE band. Inseparable from much of the scooter scene, you will always see tribute scooters (and people) at rallies! You will frequently see side panel murals of The Jam. You’ll see people, even now, 45 years on, wearing the same clothes and hairstyle of The Jam, albeit with a bit more weight and grey hair. Go to any rally and I’m sure that at some point over the weekend you’ll hear The Jam’s music. Unquestionably, they were one of the best live bands I’ve ever seen. The three band members produced a crazy amount of…

The company was found guilty of seven separate offences at Willesden Magistrates’ Court on January 20 this year and ordered to pay more than £10,000 in fines and costs. Tests revealed that three out of four helmets failed safety requirements catastrophically, with one helmet recording results that indicated a 100% risk of fatality in a collision. DVSA’s Market Surveillance Unit conducted tests at an independent laboratory specialising in motorcycle helmet testing. The results showed that three helmets catastrophically failed safety testing, while the fourth helmet passed impact tests but was not marked and labelled in accordance with regulations, so it was not legal for sale for use in the UK. All the eye protection tested failed to meet required standards. The magistrates found a high degree of culpability and determined…

It’s a strange column this month, due to the sad news of Rick Buckler and Tommy Hunt’s deaths. Both of them deserve more than a passing note after everything that they gave to the scooter scene in one way or another. Both will be sadly missed. However, there are still new releases to let you know about, so let’s first see what’s out there. THE SKALPS: DREAMSCAPES AND LANDSCAPES Despite the rather dull cover design and title that suggests something a little ambient, what we have here is one of the best post-2 Tone inspired releases I’ve heard in a while. Full of life and energy, it doesn’t hang about. Straight out of the door and we’re into Mr Miserable, an upbeat stormer that tells you how the album is…

This month we visit an incredible gathering in Thailand, and closer to home join in a very special anniversary celebration All or Nothing Scooter Club’s 40th Anniversary Do was a Starr-studded celebration! Never shy of pushing the boat out, members of AONSC excelled themselves with their 40th anniversary celebrations. Wow, 40 years old… 1985, the beginning of EastEnders, the release of Back to the Future, Live Aid and the introduction of Scootering magazine. What is it they say, 40 years is time for a period of reflection. How did we live back then without mobile phones and social media? In the old days, scooter clubs had to spread the word by supporting each other’s events. Or sharing flyers at rallies or reading the events section in magazines like Scootering. Rallying…

The Lambretta Li 125cc Series 3 was produced from December 1961 until June 1966, with just over 13,600 of this model rolling off the production line in Milan. It was the base model of the range, the less fashionable variant, and the plain Jane of all Series 3 Lambrettas. It was at the time, and is likely to remain, overshadowed by the more powerful, faster, flashier machines such as the Turismo Veloce, Specials and Grand Prix, with which it shared, essentially, the same skeleton. However, as this example of the entrant level machine. The project Around late summer last year, they were contacted by a lady who had a job for them, if they so wished to undertake the work. She informed the guys that 20 years ago she had purchased…

Every month you ask our resident tyre expert, Rhodz, sales manager at Cambrian Tyres (the UK’s largest motorcycle tyre distributor) and dedicated PX rider for his recommendations. This month we talk about directional tyres on a scooter… Q: Hi Rhodz, I’ve got directional tyres on my scooter, by that I mean the tread pattern needs to run differently front and rear. Obviously, I can only carry one spare. I was going to mount that to suit the rear wheel, as that’s the one which wears out first, but would that be okay to use if I had a front wheel puncture? Alternatively, if I mount a non-directional tyre as the spare, will that be compatible with the remaining directional tyre? I realise that’s a lot of directionals in one question…

“When I tried to ‘launch’ the scooter with wide-open-throttle from a standstill, we were getting wheel spin on the dyno” Last month we stripped out the back wheel and fitted the new aftermarket speed ring. The ASR system on the GTS300 HPE, for whatever reason, runs about 10% out of whack when compared with the speedo. So, when your speedo says 80mph you are actually travelling at a GPS-verified 72/73mph, which is rather disappointing. With a relatively simple procedure of swapping over the speed ring to an aftermarket item, the speedo accuracy is then restored, and a true 80mph is possible. In my road test, after the new speed ring was fitted, my GPS system registered at 79.6mph, compared to a previous best of 72.5mph, so the speed ring does…

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 GP 200. These should allow comparisons between ‘then and now’ and help anyone switching from classics to modern scooters, or vice versa. Models from the usual suspects are featured and we’ll keep adding more to widen the range of information available to you. The data Most of the data is taken from manufacturer’s websites, this can vary between manufacturers depending on what methods are used to test their machines. For example the type of riding carried…

The response demands an end to motorcycling’s neglect in transport planning. MAG is urging the Government to recognise motorcycles as a vital part of the UK’s transport future. This submission comes at a pivotal moment, following the Department for Transport’s (DfT) admission that “… at present, the Government has no policy to encourage greater use of motorcycles”. MAG’s response highlights decades of policy failures that have reduced mobility, increased congestion and ignored air quality benefits. A truly integrated, safe and efficient transport network must acknowledge motorcycling as a sustainable, flexible, and cost-effective transport solution, say MAG campaigners. Key themes outlined in MAG’s submission include: ■ Consider motorcycling across all areas of transport planning, including infrastructure, policy, data collection and technology. The current approach creates inconsistent and ineffective policies that fail to…

Tommy started his career at the age of 10 after he was spotted by a DJ called Mary Dee from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania who entered him into a talent show. His early influences were gospel music, which he loved, along with the soul embedded in it. From there he jumped to rhythm and blues and then moved from Pittsburgh to Chicago. During his late teens the ‘doowop’ days came along and with some pals he formed a band called The Echoes in the hope that someone would discover them. One evening when The Echoes were supporting a band called The Flamingos Tommy was approached by one of the band members who asked him if he’d like to start working with them. It was a tough decision, but with the support 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. Least crap snap…

Over the last decade the interest in the older wideframe Vespa models has really gained momentum, with original and shabby chic machines being among the most coveted. This trend is especially popular on the continent, with Germany having a huge following for such machines. These old Vespa models are an absolute pleasure to see and a lot of fun to ride, that is if you are on the quiet back lanes or in a pack where there is safety in numbers. The downside is that anyone who wants to use one of these machines in everyday conditions is at a serious disadvantage. On the whole they are slow, indeed very slow, in standard trim. Then there is the question of reliability of points ignition and poor lights. But, as they…

Long before setting up Scooterotica garage, I spent many hours tinkering in my garage at home and had a fairly traditional set-up, probably like most other enthusiasts; a few ‘generic’ tools of the budget variety bought from high street stores, and the occasional ‘scooter specific’ item that I’d ordered from a scooter shop to perhaps help me get a flywheel off, for example. Any time that I purchased a ‘scooter specific’ tool, it always seemed like a significant purchase, and one that I looked forward to receiving in the post with much delight. Fast-forward to today and I don’t have any tools at home. My entire haul of tools, equipment and spares is at the Scooterotica garage in Ripon, a good 10 miles from my house. It’s obviously a full…

Whenever stripping and rebuilding an engine, we have to consider a budget of some kind. If we are on a frugal budget, then we will want to try and reuse as many components as possible, where it is practical to do so. At the other end of the spectrum is the ‘no expense spared’ category; to hell with cost – just give me all the sparkly and exotic high-end stuff, the old bits can go in a box for later! Sometimes, of course, you have no choice. You may own or buy an engine that you believe has all the right components in it, only to find, when you strip it down, that everything is shot to bits (we’ve all been there) and thus you are forced to replace components…

When you bought a scooter, there was a slight but relatively simple learning curve of how to ride it. There were certain things like operating a clutch or brake lever, for instance, putting a key in the ignition and perhaps using a kick-start pedal. None of it was rocket science, and by the 1980s, millions of people worldwide had mastered the procedure. However, in our club, one of us had difficulties dealing with a specific part of basic scooter operation. Pete was a latecomer to the world of scooters; in his earlier days, he was one of those who took an instant dislike to them, but drinking in the same pub, he became curious about what they had to offer. He was a couple of years older than most of…