Classic Scooterist October / November 2016 preview

AN WFULLY PLEASANT LA BRETTA LD

VESPA 90SS The scooter they tried too ban

FULL EVENT REPOR T INSIDE

TRIALS & TRIBULATIONS LAMMIE CHAINCASE & STUD REPAIR AN IMMACULATE VESPA GS160 BLAST FROM THE PAST

THREE CHAIRS

The sa a continues…

October/November 2016 Issue 111

SCOOTERAMA! – A FELICITOUS FANFARE OF FACTS, FEEDBACK & FACES

Issue 111 October/November 2016 Founding Editor: Mau Spencer 01507 529408 mauspencer@classicscooterist.com Publisher: Steve Rose Contributors: Gill Beecham; Jon Betts; Pete Davies, Dave Dry; Ashley Lenton; Jayne Morris; Andrew Spencer; Phillip Tooth; Chris Wainwright.

Apologies to anyone we’ve forgotten.

Some of the articles within these pages express the opinions of the contributors and are not necessarily those of Classic Scooterist.

Design: Fran Lovely Picture desk: Paul Fincham, Jonathan Schofield Divisional advertising manager: Martin Freeman mfreeman@mortons.co.uk Advertising: Emma Buxton-Rockley 01507 529410 ebuxton-rockley@mortons.co.uk Subscription manager: Paul Deacon Circulation manager: Steve O’Hara Marketing manager: Charlotte Park Publishing director: Dan Savage Commercial director: Nigel Hole Associate director: Malc Wheeler Editorial address: CLASSIC SCOOTERIST MAGAZINE PO Box 99, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6LZ www.scooteristscene.com General queries and back issues: 01507 529529 (24hr answerphone) Archivist: Jane Skayman 01507 529423 jskayman@mortons.co.uk Next issue (112) published: November 16, 2016 Editorial deadline: October 17, 2016 CLASSIC SCOOTERIST (ISSN:1756-9494) is published bi-monthly by Mortons Media Group Ltd, PO Box 99, Horncastle, Lincolnshire LN9 6LZ UK. USA subscriptions are $36 per year from Motorsport Publications LLC, 7164 Cty Rd N #441, Bancroft WI 54921. Periodical Postage is paid at Wisconsin Rapids, WI. Postmaster: Send address changes to CLASSIC SCOOTERIST, Motorsport Publications LLC, 7164 Cty Rd N #441, Bancroft WI 54921. 715-572-4595 Email: chris@classicbikebooks.com www.classicbikebooks.com Distribution: COMAG Tavistock Road, West Drayton, Middlesex UB7 7QE Subscription: Full subscription rates (but see page 16 for offer): (12 months 6 issues, inc post and packing) – UK £22.50. Export rates are also available – see page 16 for more details.

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No part of this publication may be reproduced without prior written permission.

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CONTENTS 4

Back when we had hair

34 There once was an ugly duckling

64 Automania!

Scooterama

38 A special birthday present

68 Three chairs

Nostalgic memories from times gone by

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A felicitous fanfare of facts, feedback and faces

14 “You’ve got mail”

Readers express their views, ask questions and show us their pictures

18 What’s going on?

A look at the scooterist calendar for the remainder of the year

20 Isle of Wight international scooter rally

Our exclusive first magazine coverage of the 2016 event – were you there?

32 Isle of Wight picture offer Having trouble finding a copy of this magazine?

Why not Just Ask your local newsagent to reserve you a copy each month?

See page 16 and take advantage of our moneysaving offers

Did Mau take a picture of you at the IoW? If so take advantage of our special souvenir sou e co cover e o offer e

Jon Betts’ Lambretta LD

Pete Hanman’s immaculate Vespa GS

42 Sheer Luna-cy

John Walklate’s Luna line collection

46 Back in the day

The 1963 Blackpool Show

50 Trials and tribulations It was ‘S for Spain’ for Bob and Dinah Millson

52 Scooter they tried to ban The Vespa 90SS

54 An awfully pleasant scooter

James Mobberly’s period accessorised Lambretta LD

58 Rallies and rideouts

Events round-up from around tthe eU UK

Addressing a stereotypical perception The saga continues….

72 SAE 30 gear oil

Lubricating Vespa crankcases for half a century – but what can be used as a replacement?

74 Lambretta refurb

Our tech tips on sidecase gasket replacement and broken stud repairs

78 South Birmingham SC A potted history of a well established scooter club

82 Scooter clubs

Meet and greet your local club

86 Scooterist classifieds

For all your wants and needs

90 Blast from the past The Atlanta III record attempts atte pts

A weekend to remember

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o me, the Isle of Wight international scooter rally signals the turn of the summer and the onset of those cold dark winter months. Okay, it can be argued that there’s still plenty of good scooter events that will take place (or have already) prior to the Christmas period (like Mersea Island or the Bridlington national rally, for instance); but for me the preparation during the run-up to the annual pilgrimage down to the island can be almost as exciting as the

actual event itself. What scooter will I be going down on? Who will I be travelling there with? What characters will I meet this year?

Once this annual excitement is over, it seems like there’s very little time left until the end of the year, or that will match the excitement the IoW generates.

The event always invokes many happy memories (as well as the odd one you’d rather forget); it also serves as an ongoing inspiration to those attending and helps

attract newcomers who’d like to become a part of a vibrant scooterist scene.

LAST CHANCE TO OWN A NEW VESPA OR LML TWO-STROKE?

The latest emission directives come into force in January 2017, effectively heralding the two-stroke scooter’s final demise. So the ‘66’ registration plate could be yyour final opportunity to own a new twostroke before the curtain finally closes. Get your order in now.

MAUSPENCER@CLASSICSCOOTERIST.COM

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IoW international scooter rally 2016 August 26-29, 2016

The IoW scooter rally is the biggest event of its kind in the world. This year 5000 ferry tickets were sold to carry scooters across the Solent, not including those carried in vans or on trailers. The number of individual scooterists at the rally can only be guessed, but it’s estimated that the rally is worth over £3m to the IoW economy. These facts give an insight into its colossal scale.

FOREWORD

As usual, the weather is a major factor in the success or otherwise of this, or any similar activity held in the British Isles. Late August and the gods of scooter boys (and girls) smiled down on the island and said: “Let there be sun and only a few showers, just to keep them on their toes a bit.” (I made that last bit up).

“Very relaxed; feels like home; very much up to expectations”

(Lianne Inskip: Leamington Low Numbers SC, Leamington Spa)

“Really good following; brings a lot of revenue to the island” (Tony Rea: Urban Scooters SC, Birmingham)

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ARE YOU A FACE? Mau was frantically taking your photos over the weekend and they can be found by visiting www.classicscooterist.com – follow the link and you can order a personalised Scooterist cover print featuring you.

THERE ONCE WAS AN UGLY DUCKLING

Lambretta LD

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A VERY SPECIAL BIRTHDAY PRESENT

Pete Hanman’s immaculate GS160 It’s been said many times, that within fictional writing there’s only a few basic stories; everything else is a reworking of these narratives.

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his is definitely the case within the classic scooter world and we’ve all heard this tale many, many times over the years.

You know the one; the story of ‘young man has scooter, has family, gets mortgage, sells scooter, becomes old man with grown-up family and no mortgage, sees scooter, gets scooter, relives his youth’. This formula has been told and re-told within scooter magazine pages for many years now, as more and more of us become a little closer to this age group.

I’m sure there’s a film there somewhere. But let’s hope Hollywood don’t get hold of the idea as they’d probably cast Vin Diesel as the lead on a scooter that went 200mph and could

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fly after having a nitrous kit fitted. Instead of Fast and Furious they’d call it something like Old and Smoky, then there’d be many sequels until it became ‘too daft to laugh at,’ as my grandad would say. Another possible contender for the title though could be Mod Life Crisis! I saw this written somewhere a few years ago; it’s made me chuckle many a time since and it has always struck me as being so true.

But no matter how many times we’ve heard a version of this tale it always makes interesting reading. It’s just like watching Quadrophenia; we’ve seen it a hundred times; we all know what’s coming and how it ends up, but we still watch it again and again, knowing

the tale adds to a machine’s history. And the next time we see a scooter at a rally, show (or even just in town), that’s been featured in a magazine, we feel a little closer to it, knowing its journey into becoming what we’re now looking at for real.

Peter Hanman has such a story to tell with his immaculate GS160 (which to be honest is almost too good – if being too good is possible). The attention to detail and hard work that’s gone into this classic Vespa is nothing short of breathtaking; even more so when you consider that he’s done the vast majority of the work himself, only turning to specialists to resolve issues beyond his control or capabilities.

TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS

St Paul de Vence – one villlages in the Pyren of the oldest ees

The Pyrenees

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ridge l n h his nah. He was a Lam LDB and toured uth w land, Switzerland – and ls, ce and Spain. om 956 until bretta o remem e fore f he d i . om oh d i . b

mber

The Costa Brava coastline

the clock, was only 150cc and the trip must be about 1000 miles. However, as the summer pro ressed, Peter (another member of he club) had written off to a Costa Brava hotel, booked the air trip and it was all arranged.

The first Saturday in September 1959 found the group sitting in a field in France eating their picnic lunch and waiting for the kettle to boil. Bob takes up the story….

“Once we had got past Boulogne the cobbles disappeared and we bowled along on a fairly fast road to Abbeville where we’d lann d our first night’s stop. We were soon entre and set off in search of our first .W d one without too much trouble, meal an early night. The next , after coffee a , we set off i , e tearing full thro n the i t e e. slow jerk though as k on ese made fully, r nd l oko . l b

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“Spain was all that we had expected (and more) with the beach being a five minute walk from our hotel. After the hard ride down, it was heaven to stretch out in the sun. We had a quick look at the scooters, oil, points, plug and dirt in the carburettor. We checked the wheel nuts to ensure they were tight. Our speedometers showed 1000 miles since we’d left home and although the other two scooters had minor snags, my only fault was a whiskered plug.

“While in Spain we visited Barcelona where we saw a bullfight and found ourselves on the side of the bull. Our Spanish holiday had to come to an end though and after saying goodbye to all our new friends we pointed our wheels back towards England.

“We followed a different route home though which took us through the Pyrenees and we ound a night stop in the village of St Paul. The we travelled on through mountainous country ridges and through tunnels; it was like t est’. Soon we pickedour old route a ff down the e more. Two hundr ay ’s play on these ro soon r . The following day afte her ru at l us stopping i e Th f llow r hed un r

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The Lambretta 125 GP raffle prize – won for a single £5 ticket...

SundayBest ScooterFest 6 July 17, 2016

This year was the Foresters’ sixth show and everybody was talking about it weeks before the date. Flyers were given out at many of London’s scooter events and we were praying for the weather to be kind to us again this year for our annual one-day event...

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n the Saturday various club members turned up at Capel Manor Gardens to help set things up for the Sunday.

The bar arrived and was set up, as well as many stallholders who erected gazebos. One of those was Mario’s from The Modfather Clothing Company and he had not been gone more than about 15 minutes when his gazebo took off in the wind and had to be retrieved and anchored down. Luckily no damage was done except a bent pole which had to be explained to Mario on his return!

The inflatable stage arrived on the Sunday morning and was up within minutes. Everything else seemed to fall into place in readiness for the scooters that started arriving early.

As the morning went on, more and more scooters started arriving and the weather was improving too. The scooter arena had to be extended and we were running out of parking as the numbers swelled to 350-plus.

Music was played by a number of DJs and two bands also did their part and got the crowd dancing. Mad Mods and Englishmen were the first on stage and did a great set; later in the afternoon, Big 10 did their slot, which always gets a great reception.

Raffle tickets were still being sold around the venue until five minutes before the draw.

Mario from Modfather Clothing did the honours and drew the three tickets. He kindly donated vouchers for £300, while Phil Stradling of Adaptor Clothing donated £100 in vouchers.

The main prize was the scooter, a 1983 Lambretta 125 GP; it was then drawn and the lucky winner was called live on stage – but he’d left. I rang him but he didn’t believe me at first and thought I was winding him up (well, he did only buy one ticket for £5 and had won a scooter worth £2200)!

Six trophies were won by various owners although Best Custom Vespa (reg H16 MOD) still has not been given his trophy.

If you know of this scooter and its owner, please get in touch.

All in all a great day was had and by the time you read this we should know what donations and amounts will be given to Mill Grove Christian Charitable Trust and Help for Heroes. The committee of Madeline, Terry and Martin would like to thank all those who helped in the set-up and running of the Foresters’ SundayBest ScooterFest 6. We’re now making plans for SundayBest ScooterFest 7 which will be held at a new venue, namely Abridge Village Hall and grounds on Sunday, July 16, 2017. See you all there next year.

Martin F Heath Foresters SC

MAUSPENCER@CLASSICSCOOTERIST.COM

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LAMBRETTA REFURB

Sidecase gasket replacement/ broken stud repairs

A leaking sidecase gasket on a Lambretta is nothing unusual; a small spot of oil on the floor under the rear of the scooter is the normal tell-tale sign, often followed by much larger puddles over time!

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FREAKS OF F NATURE

DAYS GONE BY

ISLE OF WIGHT 2012

EUROLAMBRETTA 2012