CO NTENT S
3Welcome
Stan reflects on afantastic start to the rally season
8An exceptional Easter Scarborough National Rally,April18-21 16The Knowledge MAG’sweekend of action
24News
All you need to know and the arrival of Mad Moselle
30Stompers
Abrand-new Mod venue and plenty of reviews brought to you by Stu
34Sign of the Snake
One of the best known custom Lambrettas in the world turns 40
42Variety at the VMSC
There were plenty of delights, including several debuts, at thisyear’sVMSC Extravaganza
48Show Us Your Scoots
Give us ashout when you’re out and about!
50
Te ll us what you’ re thinking
Feedback on our Scarborough retrospective
52Subscriptions
Your favourite magazine at abargain price
54Send Us aPostcard
We travel to the Canary Islands,meet apony in Scotland, catch up with aclub in Gloucestershire and savour aseason opener in Worthing
60The Rat
Bajaj meets Banksy,German style
68Big Chris’s Classic Cor ner ACento with history
74Weston’ssuper
The secondNational of 2025 was a south-western wonder
80Royal Alloy reveal
The story behindRoyal Alloy’s most recent unveiling
84Small but per fectly for med
One shop tha tp unches well abo ve its weight in bo th st oc ka nd service is On Small Whe el s.
88Month in the garage
Dan examines alovely 1954 Model F Lambretta, welcomes someenthusiastic Irish rally-goers on tour andtests anew 30mm carb on the dyno.
94Scooter spanner sanctuar y: setting up the perfect home workshop, Par t3
Essential tools to maintain your classic Vespa
98PX-treme tuning: homebrewed speed vs pro power! Our P2 ‘bang for bucks’ tuning series continues
102Italian stallion rolling revival
Our Series 2gets geared up
108GTS 300
We smooth outour GTS’sride
112Race Chat
Paul Green brings you all the action from the first tworounds of BSSO’s 2025 Championship.
116Buyer’sguide
If you wantstats on new scoots this is the best place to be
121Tales from the vault
Some scooters are easier to dispose of than others
128Final word
Atribute to the late Bryn Rudkin
130Next month
Youwant more? Just come and see what treats we’ve got in store!
An exceptional Easter
ScarboroughNationalRally,April 18-21
As Stan reports, whoeversaidthatit’simpossibletopleasea ll thepeoplea ll thetimeclearly didn’t know aboutthisyea r’sSca rborough National.
It’seasytobeenthusiasticabout the year’s first National.Monthsofenforced isolationinworkshopsand alackof petrol-fuelled funmeanthatevena ride over theYorkshire moorsinsleet canhave itsattractions.However,thisyearthere’s no need to look at things throughrose- coloured spectacles;the openingsalvo of the2025 National season wasatriumph
Apparently,statistically speaking,it’smore likely to snow at Easter than at Christmas, afact that regulars to theeastcoast gatherings will probably confirm.ThisyearplacedEasterlater in thecalendarthannormal, andalthoughthere were afew cold fingers on arrival, theweather gods smiled down kindly forthe entire weekend. Friday nightcan oftenbeanawkward one fororganisers, as it’s notalwayseasytoattract
in rallygoers who’vemadea long journeyand whose digs areneartoawelcoming pub. However, anyworries that VFMmay have had were quicklydispelled as ScarboroughSpa filledwitheager-to-partyscooterists.Opening up theweekend’s live entertainmentwere TheSpecialsLtd.Billedas“probably thebest Specials covers band around”, they filledthe dancefloorand left plenty of smilingfaces
The opening salvoofthe 2025
National season was atriumph.
SuperSaturday
Oneperkofbeing part of thetrade fair is that it allows asneakypeekatthe custom show entrants anditwas clearthatthiswas going to be acorker. If theSpa hasone downside, it’s that thecustomroomisn’t thecircuit’s largest. That said,there have been yearswhen some ‘constructive’ staging’sbeenrequiredto make it seem full.Not so this year,where there wasn’t just quantity,but also quality. Many builders hadchosenScarborough to unveil their winter projects,and franklyit’shardtonarrow thefielddowntohighlights. Making areal
The Specials Ltd kicked off the weekend’smusic.
Chrome panels, Ancillotti, parka and an open facehelmetwith chin cup. Dave takes us back to the late 70s.
Futuretta.
Baildon SC’soff-road team. They’ll need abigger tin of Pledge!
WE SPOKETO…
Custom assistance
Paul Brown, who wasonhis LambrettaGP RB250, Lucky7.“My scooterisone of the first road-going 2009 RB machines and I’ve ridden in todaytohelpmypal setup hisshow-winningscooter,Futuretta,inthe custom show.”
confronted by aqueue of people around 100 yardslong waitingtoget in.Fromthe doors openingat10, this constantly moving mass of people rarely droppedbelow 50 yards untilaroundlunchtime andonceinside, the queuebegan forthe custom show!
In thetrade fair,thingswerejustasbusy, with many vendorsreporting theirbestday’s tradingever. Some even nodded towardsthe eventbeing on parwiththe Isle of Wight. On the Scootering stall, Stuand Iwerekeptbusy, notjustwithsales butalsocatchingupwith friends. From time to time I’dpop outsideto catchalittlesunshineand be amazed by the number of people outonthe seafront.Even with theroadcloseditwas adifficulttaskfor riders to make theirway towardsthe Spa, and once therefindingasuitableparking spot was oftenjustaschallenging
Performancemachines
NigelPickering andClive Wardman. Nigelwas on hisWigan Casino RB20 Lambrettachopper andClive wasonhis AF Rayspeed Super‘S’ Type GP 225Rapido. “We’re localridersand therally brings agreat atmosphere,wealways like to seewho’s ridden in,havelookround the custom show andtraders’stands, andI’llbe back forthe nightdo.”
Cross-border antics
ReiversSC, Edinburgh. “It’sthe second time we’vecometothe Scarboroughrally andwe love it.The name of ourclub, ‘Reivers’means agroup of raidersand banditswho operated along theScottishborder, so make of that what youwill!”
Rallybanter
Chris, Darren,David andBaz from ScarboroughCastleSCwho were exchanging rallybanterround Darren’s TS1Lambretta Li150Special.Darrensaid: “I do go further than Scarboroughonityou know!” “Yeah, sometimesgoessofar as Bridling ton!” Chrisjoked
Sign of the Snake.
TheKnowledge MAG’sweekend of action
Motorcycle Action Grouphas announcedthatthe weekendofJuly5a nd 6w il lbe ma rked as Riders Resistance Weekend. We spoketoM AG’s director of ca mpaigns, ColinBrown,tofi nd outmore.
Q: What is Riders Re sist ance Weekend?
A: Riders Resistance Weekendisan opportunityfor riders to take part in some direct action to push the issues MAGcampaigns on into theforum of politicaldiscussion. Riders’issuesare of greatimpor tanceto us as riders,but given theundeniablefact that riding is aminority pursuit, it is unsurprising that ourinterests getlittleair time in themainstream conversation.This weekendofaction seekstocreatesome attentionbeyondthe riding community.
Q: Whynow ?
A: Whynot nowcould be asensibleresponse. We have been hearing increasing sentiment from both MAG membersand nonMAGmembers asking whyMAG is nottaking direct action.There is always abalancing acttoconsider. We neverstopthe political lobbying.The dr y, boring meetings with politiciansand of ficials arehappening allthe time,often with riders unawareofthe amount of work goingon. When riders areimpacted by greaterevidence of theGovernment’s plansand actions that harm riders,the demand fordirectaction increases. If we organise
ademonstration andonlya fewattend, we demonstratethatridersare notthatupset about thesubject beingdiscussed.A badlytimed demonstrationcan be counterproductive. But we feel nowthatthe time is right. Of course, thequestionofwhether we areright will need to be discussedafter theevent
Q: What ’s thea ttitudeo fgovernment towardsthe ar gument /s?
A: CurrentlyIbelieve it ’s safe to saywehave re achedalow pointingovernmentconcern or intere st in ourviews.Beforethe general election last ye ar,wewereontrack to secure some significant wins on buslaneacces s andevenchanges to thelicensing regime. Admittedly theforcedelectrificationcloud wass till very much hangingoverour he ads. Sincethe election thenew Government hasrejecteddefault buslaneacces swith aver yill-consideredcomment that they have “nop olicytoencoura ge greateruse of moto rcycle s”.Withrep or ts in Motorcycle News of comments by aL ab ourMPthat ‘L ab ourisnot intere sted in moto rcycle s’ even the MCN editor wasthinkingabout writingto herMP!
Q: What ’s theweekend’s aim?
A: Theaim is to getmedia coverage and attentionfrompoliticians.Weneedto ensure that theGovernmentisinterestedin motorcycles. We live in aworld whereour voice beingignored will result in badpolicydecisions that will throttle theenjoyment of motorcycling todayand destroyits future.
Q: What even ts ar eplanned ?
A: Thereare plansafoot foreventsinall threedevolvednations andmultipleregions in England. Exactdetails arestill being formulated,sokeepyoureyesonMAG’s social mediachannelsfor detailsastheyemerge.
Q: Won’ taloado fhighr ev ving,noisy bike sin oneplace turn people agains tour ar gument , particularly theenvir onment alis ts?
A: Conduct at anydemonstration is always aconcern.Wecer tainly aimtogainsupport forour causeratherthantoupset thewider population.Wemustmakesomelevel of metaphorical noisetocut throughand make aworld lookinginanother directionrealise that we arestill here.Politelobbyingcan sometimesfallvictimtopolitical correctness
Ibelieve it’ssafe to say we have reached a low point ingovernment concernorinterestin our views
andapology.Weneedtodemonstrate assertive prideinmotorcyclingwithalevel of confidence that does notfearbeing noticed. Numbersof attendeesasopposed to decibels andfumes arewhatare visibleand noticedinnews reports. Noiseand airpollution arenot the storieswewantrepor ted.
Q: Even if we ge tthe banonthe sale of ICEs overturned, surely theclo sure of pe tr ol st ations will achievethe same aimany way?
A: Idooften he ar this ar gument,but Ifeel it is an excuse to be defe atis t. Thereality is that theneedfor petrol will continue fo r many decade sregardles sofgovernment plansfor thes ales of newvehicle s. There is oppo rtunit yfor alternativeliquidfuels to be developedand made economically viable –fuels that canuse theexistingpetrol distribution networkand do notneeda completerebuild of theelectricity grid.Itmay be that thesupplywillbeles sconvenient, but thereistimefor things to change dramatically befo re that happensifthe Government steps away from mandatingbat tery electric as the only choice.Weare notopp osingpro gres s, we arenot opposing change,weare opposing agovernmentmakingdecisions on our behalf when it come stowhatthe future of moto rcycling should lo ok like
Q: Ther eare so many pr oblems ar ound mo torcycling at themoment such as thef t, sa fe parkingand buslaneacce ss.Isthe ICEban the corr ec tthing to be concen tr atingon?
A: We believethe ICEban is themost dangerouspolicyproposalfor motorcycling With decliningsales of electric motorcycles that have peaked at just 5% of themarket, a rapidand enforced‘transition’willbethe straw that breaks thebackofmotorcycling. We will have less chance of tackling theother issues if motorcycling declines to maybe10% of its
currentlevels. If we can’tbeheard now, what chance do we have when thereare notenough riders in thecountry to filla single carpark? Allthe otherissuesare importantand will be broughttothe fore in anyinter viewsand media coverage,but first we need theestablishment’s head to turn in ourdirection.Webelieve the ICEban is thesubject matter most likely to getnotice, andmostlikelytokillthe future of riding in theUK. Once we have theirattention, we canbegin to discussapositivefuture–ask forwhatwewantasopposed to complain about what we don’t.
Q: Canwethr ow some focusonthe availability of E5 fuels? Thelacko favailabilit yinsomeareas is ar ealthr ea tt othe useo folder machines.
A: Ye s, allthe is sues combineand follow on from thekey me ssagethatgetsthe mainstream debate star ted. Butniche questionsrarelycut throughiftheydon’t af fect ever yone.The costsofelectricvehicle s, charging infrastructureand relatedissue s aremainstreamtopics. We need to getour intere stsintothose widerdebates.I hate to usethe term Trojan horse, butthe concept probably helpstoexplain
Q: Do Ihavet obeaMAG member to ge tinvolved in theweekend ?
A: Absolutely not. Allridersare affected by thedisinterest of government.Nocampaign we runisdesignedfor thebenefitofjustMAG members. We canall benefit if we allget involved.Weare here to improvemotorcycling foreveryone.
Q: HowdoI fndout what ’s happeninginmy localarea?
A: We will be publishing detailsonthe MAG websiteand so cial mediachannels– so stay plug gedintoour Facebo ok pa ge,YouTube channeland website. Please be patient–or ganising demons trations in away that is safe andlegal is notajob to be done in a single coffee break. We will bringdetails of lo calevent sout as so on as they are available, butitwillbealong andarduous fewmonthsfor thededicated MAGvolunteer s giving up theirtimetoensurethe se events aresucce ssful.
Words: Stan/Colin Brown Image: MAG
Overthe last few months, much of my time has been spent preparing articles for the magazine’s40th anniversary.That meant delving into the past, and of course, going back to the mid-1980s.While I don’t tend to reminisce that much about how things used to be,Icouldn’t help butthink about scooter tuning.It was probably because Iwas making countless notes and references relatingtothe subject that stirred my memory into action. Theresult of all this made me think of how naïve we were back then, and how one thing made all the difference in terms of performance
Believe it or not, my first scooter wasn’t aLambretta but abrand new PX 125. At the time,Iconfesstoknowing nothing of itsworkings,and honestly,I wasn’t bothered. The only concernwas thatit worked, because, come rain or shine, any chance to get out on it was allthat mattered. That meant the most important aspect was reliability,and it delivered itin bucketloads. Startingfirst or secondkick every time andperforming flawlessly was a testament to Piaggio’s build quality.I meticulously ran the engine inover the several hundred miles that was quotedin the manual, but once Ipassed that figure, that was it.
From then on, the throttle only had two positions,closed or fully open and there was no in-between. Of course, it felt fast… it was goingto, because up to that point there was nothing else to compare it to. From the lightsitwouldpiss all over the standardcars of the day but,let’sface it, the Mini Metro or Vauxhall Nova were hardly power machines. It couldn’t keep up with the AstraGTE or Ford Capri mob, but being able to knock on the door of 60mph was good enough for ashort while.
Best tunes of the 80s
This month Stu reflects on atime when tuningascooter seemedtobeabouthow loudit was, not how fast it went.
Inevitably, Igot used to the speed, everyone in the club wasinthe same boat, and I wanted more from theengine. The problem was whether Iwas prepared to make the biggest sacrificeofall: reliability
Iremember alocal lad whowentdown the tuning route, fittinga175cc kit of some name or another with abig carb to suit. While he could leave the rest of us standing, we’d soon pass himwhen thething broke down or seized. He spent more time off theroad than on it as thething would lie in bits on the garage floor waiting for anew pistonorthe like. Idon’t thinkitwas because these tuning options made them unreliable, butitwas we, as beginners,who didn’t have aclueabout how to set them up.His reliability problems were enough to put us all off, but it didstick in my mindthat perhaps alittle extra power wouldbenice.
The simple answer to the conundrum lay in the exhaust, or it would go part of the wayto make ascooter go faster.The standard PX exhaust wasnot only an odd-looking thing, but it did sound very hairdryer-ish and gave bikers plenty of ammunition when it came to taking the piss. To be honest, they were right, and so the best plan of action wastobin it for an expansion pipe. There were several around at the time, even though my memory is at a loss for the name of the one Ifitted. Cost-wise it wasabout aweek’sYTS wages,but the moment it wasfitted the whole machine was instantly transformed. Now it looked likea proper engine with this beautifully crafted pipe and achrome bit on the end; but as for the performance, whoknows?
It looked faster just sitting there on the stand, even without theenginerunning, so surely that would translate to theopenroad While the acceleration was fractionally quicker,oritfelt it was,the speedometer needle didn’t push anyfurther along than when it hadthe factory pipe on.Itried to convince myself it did,spendingmost of my
Thereality was hardtoaccept. Ihad par ted with aquar ter of my monthly income to make my scooter go faster,and it hadfailed.
Perhaps if Ihad removedthe Bradford backrest, it might have gone faster
time trying to findthe steepest hill possible and going flatout down it. The only thing that seemed to happen was that my flightjacket filled with air and wanted to rip itself off my body.Perhaps once or twice, the needle might register an extra half amile an hour, but that was most likely due to having a tailwind behindme.
The reality was ha rd to accept. Ih ad parted with aq uar te ro fm ym onthly income to make my sco oter go faster,a nd it had failed. I’d sit the re lo oking at it, ev en bolting one of those chrome exhaus tp ipe ends on it to convinc em ys elf it was faster, but to no avail. Ho weve r, the ex pans ion had one thing the factory pipe didn’t hav e: a proper noise. No more sounding like a hundred wasps ar ound the lid of ah oney jar,t his thing ma de no ise like am otorcycle, and with that noise ca me af eeling that it had the power of aR ov er V8. As Iw ound the throttle on the decibels increas ed to a level that even af ull-face helmet couldn’t insulate my ea rs fr om.
It was impressive and accelerating away in front of aq ueue at ab us stop or along the high stree tm ade ev ery one turn around and look. Tha t’sw ha tm os to fu sd id, and even if it didn’t me an we were going fas ter than before, it sounde dl ike we were. The 1980s was the de fin ing decade of the two-stroke engine, and I’m su re we all remembe rl istening to aJ apanese motorcycle from 10 mile sa way as it approached. We were also part of that equation on our scoote rs, fast not in terms of speed but how we sounded.