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Cool Britannia
This issue is sponsored by
British made
riding kit
#342 December 2014
and the good news is there’s more to come!
6 CYLINDERS, 167BHP, 2 BIKE ENGINES BACK TO BASICS Are these the ultimate Lambrettas? Vespa cables sorted
Also
Bridlington Trade & Custom Show, scooter racing, summer touring, product reviews, news, music & more!
Contents 03Hello & welcome… 06Kickstart Where has the year gone?
Our informative front section jampacked full of useful stuff. News and reviews, products tested, opinions, custom scooters from yesteryear, readers’ letters, Milan Motorcycle Show, enduring clubs, oddball Vespas and plenty more besides.
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Peugeot Django Launch
A new 125cc retro scooter from the French company, test ridden in the rain in Oxford!
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Avatar
A stunning silver screen inspired custom Lambretta, complete with engraving and gold plating, finished just a day before the Bridlington show.
ultimate 102The Lambrettas?
Two bike-engined scooters with multiple cylinders and enough horsepower to put a rocket on the moon. Maybe.
Various scooter 120 club events, from all over the UK Touring – a 124Scooter day to remember
A summer holiday in Europe on Vespas taking in lakes and mountains. Perfect.
130Scooter Racing
10 hour endurance race in France. Le Petit Bol d’Or, for scooters!
134Vespa GS 160 Series 2 A missing link from the infamous Quadrophenia film of the 1970s?
first ride – 40Exclusive a 51hp, 305cc Vespa? 138Into the Sunset
Yes, you’d better believe it! The scooter pictured on the cover exists, it’s a beast, and we’ve ridden it!
More of your tales of trials and tribulation. Keep sending them in please folks!
46Vespa Pinasco Racer
A subtle street racer scooter inspired by one of the giants of Italian Vespa performance parts.
50Club do’s & events Trade & 52Bridlington Custom Show
A calendar of scooter related events.
A weekend in Yorkshire with some of the finest and rarest classic and custom scooters around.
64Made in Great Britain
Can we go scootering from head to toe in British made products?
72Berleder
A customised IWL Berlin SR59 from Germany – if the name didn’t give that away already!
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80Back to Basics
This month Iggy tackles the task no one looks forward to; changing cables on a Vespa.
88Specialist Services
Planning your winter project or resto? Whatever you want, from platers to tuners, engineers to painters, fabricators to upholsterers, you’ll find them all here. Hopefully.
93Scooter Trader
Classified and business advertising, for all your scootering needs.
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KICKSTART The 2015 Yamaha Tmax For 2015 Yamaha will launch a new Tmax as well as the special version, the Iron Max, which sounds to us like a character from a Marvel comic. Compared to last year’s Tmax these will have a redesigned front cowl and mudguard, LED dual headlights, a central diffuser below the screen, longer mirrors, new upside-down forks, radial mount front brake calipers, sports instrumentation and Smartkey ignition meaning that as long as the key is near the scooter it can be started simply be pressing a button. These latest models share the same engine and chassis specification and benefit from the same improvements for 2015, with the main differences between the two models being related to stylistic changes such as gold forks and calipers, ali footplates, and special paint and seat on the Ironmax.
Celebrate Win
20 years of SIP SIP Scootershop of Germany celebrated 20 years of trading in 2014. It all began in 1994 when Alex Barth and Ralf Jodl decided that the market for Vespa spares needed something more and they started out in the basement of Ralf’s parents and selling their first parts on scooter runs. Word soon spread and Scooter Innovation Parts (aka SIP) was up and running. Soon they were dealing with some of the big names of scooter tuning and parts supply at the time, both in the UK and mainland Europe. They outgrew their first modest shop in 1996, moving
a T-shirt!
into a former barracks, and have continued to grow from there, first to outlying premises which involved using an Ape to transfer parcels from warehouse to shipping until finally ending up in the enormous 2300sq m of warehouse space they have today. SIP hosted a massive open day in May 2014 to celebrate the anniversary, and they close the year with a competition in Scootering whereby 20 lucky readers can win a SIP anniversary T-shirt, designed by American artist and graphic designer Rich Black.
SIP COMPETITION
What anniversary is SIP celebrating in 2014? A: 10 minutes B: 20 years C: Centenary Terms and conditions apply. For full terms and conditions, see www.scootering.com The winners will be the first 20 names drawn at random. There are no cash alternatives available.
20 | SCOOTERING | DECEMBER 2014
Name Address
Postcode The answer is: A
Telephone B
C
Email Address Closing date: January 5, 2014 Disclaimers:
Only tick this box if you do not wish to receive information from Mortons Media Group regarding or relating to current offers of products or services (including discounted subscription offers) via email/post/phone On occasion Mortons Media Group Ltd may permit third parties, that we deem to be reputable, to contact you by email/post/phone/fax regarding information relating to current offers of products or services which we believe may be of interest to our readers. If you wish to receive such offers please tick this box.
To be in with a chance of winning, all you have to do is provide an answer to this simple question, fill in the form, and send it to us at SC-DEC_SIP20, Scootering Magazine competition, PO Box 99, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6LZ. Alternatively, go to www.scootering.com and enter online. Closing date for entries: January 5, 2015
Vespas in Milan
LML 50 AUTO?
At the recent Eicma Milan Motorcycle Show, Piaggio revealed new variations on its current range of Vespas for 2015. The classic PX125 and PX150, auto Primavera 125 and GTS 300 will be available in a special edition ‘Touring’ option which will feature chrome front and rear luggage racks as standard, along with a windscreen too and also a special seat in brown, designed to complement the silk grey colour of the scooter. To add a premium to the scoot there will also apparently be a plate or logo attached inside the legshields too. The all-new Vespa Sprint 150 S debuted at Eicma 2014, enhancing the sporty name of this little variation of the Primavera by adding titanium grey paint, dedicated graphics and the black seat. These will also be the features of the latest GTS Supersport Special Edition too. Finally, thanks to collaboration between the Piaggio Group and Skully (the American Heads-up display helmet manufacturer we mentioned a couple of issues ago), “complete integration will be possible between the functions of the Piaggio Multimedia Platform and the most advanced heads-up display technology.” Piaggio displayed a Skully on its stand in Milan, and it was also demonstrated with an Aprilia RSV4 superbike at the show too.
LML Italia was once again displaying prototypes based on the old Vespa PK chassis and frame (aka LML Sensation) at Eicma 2014. Last seen in 2011 when they were named the Starlight, these scooters are fitted with small capacity automatic engines (four-stroke 50 and 125cc) which have strictly auto origins
rather than being similar in style to a Vespa engine. Rumour has it however that this time these autos may make it into production with dates as early as next spring being rumoured. If so it would be good see more competition on the market in a classic style, and if from LML presumably competitively priced too.
Quadro
Three-wheeled scooters are nowadays a relatively common vehicle, so Quadro is now ready to start production of the first four-wheeled scooter, with rear traction, that can be leant around corners like a conventional scooter can thanks to its dual HTS (Hydraulic Tilting System). Featuring a 346cc engine with integrated differential, two-wheel drive and combined braking system on all four wheels, it sounds like an interesting bit of kit to ride!
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Vespa
Pinasco Racer
Individual choice is something that is an important factor when applied to, well anything. By just glancing at Shaun Fagan’sVespa street racer, it goes without saying that his preference for custom scooter styles is‘nothing overdone’.
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aul’s Vespa is understated and uncomplicated, yet looks absolutely spot on. The smooth uncluttered lines of the frame and bodywork are apparent as its design visually flows from one individual part to the next. Granted its appearance has a Germanic aura, but that is hardly a surprise given that the street racer style Vespa has developed, evolved and become practically synonymous with that part of Europe. Like all fashions their general popularity ebbs and flows. Here in the UK for some considerable years now, restoration jobs or recreating a particular style of retrospective vintage custom scooter has been more than popular. Not to the total exclusion of all other approaches to customising of course, but new full blown customs, chops, cutdowns and street racers are a lot thinner on the ground than in years gone by. SIP Scootershop has become, for many, the leading outlet for street racer scooters. Bespoke parts are offered exclusively, such as drop handlebars, seats, scoops and a whole plethora of other functional items to uprate and upgrade from the stock items. Shaun always fancied owning and riding a street racer and once he took the decision to embark on the project SIP parts were always going to feature highly in the make up of his creation. Sourcing required fittings and fixtures for the transformation was the starting point. After all, until all the bodywork was ready it couldn’t go off to Dave Jackson for a brand new coat of paint. Now, when it comes to upgrading large frame Vespa engines, there are basically three main off-the-shelf choices; Polini, Malossi and Pinasco, each of which has plus and minus points depending on what your requirements are.
Made in Great Britain
Can we go scootering from head to toe in British-made products? We have plenty of readers who were around in the Fifties and Sixties,and they will no doubt remember when the scootering industry was thriving on these shores. But is there anything still made in Great Britain today?
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ick up a copy of an old scooter or motorcycle magazine or newspaper from the aforementioned decades and, like any similar publication, they are a combination of features and adverts. The difference to today, however, is that the period in question was a time before cheap foreign labour affected where many products were manufactured. We also had a home grown automotive industry – producing both cars and two wheelers – that, while waning, was still able to boast numerous brand names, which all together meant that the Union Flag was still flying high, and a vast amount of products could boast they were “Made in Great Britain”.
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In decline
Unfortunately, the postwar years saw our car and motorcycle industry slowly start to decline. There are lots of theories as to why we failed so badly, the common one being that the British motorcycle industry simply didn’t react to the progressive market as quickly as it should have done. It failed to believe that cheap, small capacity motorcycles from Japan would either prove popular or could improve in quality, while on a similar level, most didn’t appreciate how important the new scooter market would be, so when they did eventually latch onto that bandwagon it was arguably too little, too late. Douglas were the only ones to really see that and licenced the Vespa, but even that didn’t save them.
What is Made in Great Britain?
While we briefly had a scooter industry in the late 1950s and early 60s, the manufacturers were supported by smaller, ancillary companies such as Lucas – which supplied lighting, Smiths (clocks), Milverton (seats), Amal (carburettors), Dunlop (tyres), etc... while elsewhere other companies were flat out producing accessories such as crash bars, luggage racks, mirrors and flyscreens. Then there were the riders who needed gloves, coats, boots, helmets and other clothing suitable for their scooter or motorcycle. Again, the economics of the situation back then meant that factories all over the United Kingdom were producing such items.
But while the end product may have been “Made in Great Britain”, the raw ingredients didn’t necessarily all originate here. Douglas Vespa scooters contained parts produced by Piaggio in Italy, Dunlop and other tyre manufacturers weren’t going to be finding rubber trees growing in Sherwood Forest, and likewise the helmet manufacturers had to look elsewhere for cork oak trees for their ‘corker’ lids.
Made in the 21st century
Today, many industries worldwide utilise components from worldwide sources, either due to necessity (I believe that precious metals used in catalytic
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converters are only to be found in certain parts of the world) or price. Our quest, however, was to go scootering in British-made products, items which rolled off a production line somewhere in Great Britain. We appreciated that not all of the materials may have originated on these shores (as has been the case for centuries now), but basically we wanted items which left a factory gate here in completed form. Sadly, this proved a little harder than expected, especially in some areas. You see we still have great ideas in Great Britain, both automotive and regarding other technology, and we can make stuff too, but
Name: Scomadi Location: Preston, Lancs
The first batch of the Scomadi Turismo Leggera were limited to 10 and produced with carbon fibre bodywork from 2009. Taking design cues from the Lambretta GP range, it was fitted with a Piaggio Vespa 250cc automatic engine (although one of the 10 was a 125 apparently) to offer classic styling with modern reliability. All hand-built in Preston, the process is not quick, which is why they are still working through the second run of 21 models, these finished with painted panel work. The engines, lights, wheels and suspension are sourced in Italy, the speedometers from Taiwan, but plenty was produced and fabricated in the UK including the chassis, forks, fuel tank and panel work. Even the seats are British made. This particular scooter is the No.1 prototype owned by Scomadi, that preceeded the first 10. The spec remains pretty constant to those still being produced today, except for the overall finish and the fact that the current models use the engine from the Vespa GTS 300. So what’s it like? As you may expect from a bespoke scooter rather than a massproduced vehicle, you can tweak it a lot further to suit your style. While the rear suspension on a Vespa GTS, for example, has four pre-load settings but is still fairly ‘average’, the suspension on this Scomadi can be adjusted to extremes. This means that if you wanted to take it racing, you could set it up nice and hard, a setting which
unfortunately there are still places elsewhere in the world where they can make it for less, and while the British public prefers to buy cheaper products, then those are the places certain items will always be made. Interestingly, some British factories share their production with overseas facilities too, often still within Europe, but meaning that some items in a range were made in Great Britain, and others alongside them in Italy for example. However, our criteria was specific so we had to make sure the items we tested were actually within a range produced here. Andy Photography: Joe Dick
Product: Scooters Price: Sold out
I’ve most certainly enjoyed riding fast through short, twisty roads, taking roundabouts at an impressive pace, and generally other occasions when quick changes of direction are aided by a rocksteady scooter rather than soggy suspension. Of course it needs to be readjusted for fully loaded, two-up fast motorway cruising, but rarely are the two likely to follow on from each other. The engine is, as you’d expect from Piaggio, fast and responsive yet not too thirsty, while the brakes Scomadi’s fitted
reassure you that an eager throttle hand can be countered urgently if required. High demand for these hand-built scooters means they are all accounted for now, but it was this demand which led Scomadi into looking at mass production, which has already begun. Sadly the 50 and 125 scooters are being produced in China for financial reasons, and the forthcoming 300 is likely to be assembled in mainland Europe, which is a shame but I suppose at least the Scomadi is a British concept. www.scomadi.co.uk
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S E T A M I T L THE U us bike-engined rio va of ut to oo sh a ld he tering we e are two more er H . hp Not so long ago in Scoo 50 r de un e ad sh ch made a velope; they tie it to a scooters; the best of whi en at th sh pu st ju t n’ do that Lambretta conversions t‌ Sticky bi rocket and send it into or
Apparently Alan likes the old Gulf Ford GT40 colour scheme…
ALAN’S RG500 CONVERSION
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magine that, for some strange reason, you were asked to fill out a risk assessment form before test riding someone else’s scooter. Now take a long look at this monster that sits menacingly before you. It has air filters and exhaust mufflers pointing in every direction like the guns of a Flying Fortress. This Lambretta has been fitted with a four-cylinder 500cc Suzuki two-stroke engine. The disc-valve layout is based on the engines that propelled Barry Sheene to Grand Prix glory, as well as a series of horrific injuries. It’s not standard though – that would be too sensible – Alan had it tuned by Mark Dent; who also provided the cone kit for the snaking exhaust system. The RG500 road bike chassis, into which Suzuki inserted this engine in the early 80s, was renowned for being totally outclassed by its screaming power plant. As if the original motorcycle wasn’t wobbly or under-braked enough, the only logical thing was then to try and shoehorn that motor into a Lambretta. To make matters worse the final build for this was then carried out by a motorcycle (and scooter) sidecar racer. I’ve never met a sane outfit driver yet… Alan’s gentle north-western accent and quiet demeanour belie his involvement in racing, or indeed ownership of a collection of mental tuned two-stroke Lambrettas. The quiet ones are usually the worst…
OPHIDIOPHOBIA
The RG500 has been a long-term labour of love for Alan. He’d already built a Yamaha 350 YPVS powered Lammy bought as a kit from Frank Sanderson before finding out about an RG500 engine in a scrapyard. It was a distinctly sick-looking non-runner, but realising its potential Alan still chose to rescue it from the scrap metal crusher at an exorbitant price.
The RG500 lump was duly transported up the M6 to Preston for Frank to wave his magic wand and conjure up a scooter frame around the fearsome engine. Only it isn’t that easy. While the basic motor is amazingly compact, all the ancillary parts are not. It’s hard enough to find space for one expansion chamber on a scooter without encountering some sort of clearance issue. Try it with four of the buggers!
The four rasping Mikunis really deserve an airbox but there’s no room for one.
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