Monthly Archives: May 2011

Team S Equipe T-shirt

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Love the simplicity of this shirt. One for those ‘in the know’ about classic Lambretta racing.

Trust me, if you’re thinking of buying a t-shirt with a ‘mod’ roundeland a sillouette of a scoooter  on it,  don’t. Buy this instead. You’ll thank me in years to come.
Available here.  Alternativley, pop over to I’m Scooterist. They’ve got some nice stuff too.

The Lambretta LN – what it means to the US lambrettisti

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I’ve written about the “new Lambretta” …the LN… before. I’m sure I will again. There’s an excellent article here on the consistently good US based Scooterlounge blog.

The Cap’n makes some good points about the Lambretta brand… and how it has been devalued. I’m kinda with him there, although I have seen some great Lambretta branded products, there is a definite lack of of quality control.
There’s some “official Lambretta merchandise” that is just pure tat. Any hoo… read the article and make your own mind up. 
Don’t get me wrong, I haven’t seen the new LN yet, so I’ve yet to make my mind up yet. I’m definitely NOT an apologist for the LN. But there are a couple of definite ‘plusses” in my mind.
1. The manufacturers have actually looked at classic Lambretta’s before designing the look of this scoot. There are real design cues from the original.
2. It’s made of metal
So, anybody seen one, or actually ridden one yet?
I’d love to have to have some real world experience on here.

Lambretta LI 126

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The Lambretta brand has been applied to many and varied products these days, and you might be surprised to find that an LI 126 isn’t a 125cc scoot with an extra cc thrown in… but a pedal cycle. I’m not a push bike expert, but I’ve seen worse looking treaders. If you fancy one, There’s a good deal on at Cycle King, with 52% off the £499 RRP, down to £299. Available in mens and ladies variants.

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UPDATE (2021)

Since I wrote this article – a decade ago – the Lambretta bike seems to have died a death – although the Lambretta brand is currently marketing an e-bike – here: https://www.lambretta.com/e-bike/

One of my readers got in touch, asking if I could help him source mudguards for a pair of LI126’s he owns. I’m afraid I couldn’t help… and the mudguards are quite a distinctive part of this bike… If you’ve got any leads on that, please leave a message below, and I’ll pass it on!

Stella Artois ad

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Do you remember these print ads for Stella Artois, featuring design classics, such as an Eames chair, Rickenbacker guitar and even… gasp… a Lambretta used as to open a bottle of Stella?
Beautifully understated advertising that you have to work at, just a little, to “get”. I love the subtlety of just the Stella cap, and a few droplets of beer on the horncasting. They know their Lambrettas too, Using the very desirable Series 3 TV200. There’s not even a Stella Artois logo, just their wonderful “Reassuringly Expensive” strapline. Class.
Photography by Jenny Van Sommers

New open face helmet from Momodesign

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If the Lambretta branded open face helmets from Heritage Helmets  don’t float your boat, and you’ve got a spare couple of hundred quid, you could treat yourself to one of these beauties from Momodesign.
New for 2011, the  aeronautically-inspired  AVIO is the first MOMODESIGN open-face helmet entirely made of composite material, to guarantee a lighter shell that meets the latest safety standards.
Designed using advanced C.A.D. systems, the glassfibre/carbon fibre shell has an aggressive and dynamic shape, with a choice of two-tone colour schemes in weather-resistant paint for a long-lasting finish. Read more.

Maybe not so ‘entry level’

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I posted before about the Lambretta J-range being a possible affordable route in to Lambretta ownership… but since then I’ve seen some magnificent examples, like this one I posted previously.
Here’s another rather nice one up for sale on eBay now. The asking price seems a bit steep at £2,940… 

Read the description, and make your own mind up.

The example offered has formed part of a private collection and features the separate saddles employed by the early production examples, later versions being fitted with a dualseat. It is rated as being in good mechanical and electrical condition by the vendor and has benefited from some minor cosmetic restoration to the ivory paintwork but is reportedly otherwise original, the whole being very nicely presented. Described as running beautifully it is offered with a Swansea V5C and would form an interesting addition to any scooter collection. Running on continental white walls.

Well, I suppose it’s still £300 cheaper than the new LN. I do like the combination of white wheels and whitewall tyres… it gives the illusion that it’s running on bigger wheels with low profiles!

Lambrettista? There’s an App for that!

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There’s an App for everything these days… even for us Lambretta aficionados! Compatible with your iPhone, Ipod Touch and iPad. It has images and the history of every Lambretta, from the origainnal Model A onwards. Designed by Andrea Novelli from Lambretta Club Lazio, it’ appears to be in Italian only, although at 59p it’s a must have for any iPhone owning Lambretta fan. In fact the Italian element only adds to the Apps authenticity for me! Download it from iTunes here.

Stop press – You can buy your new Lambretta LN – from TODAY!

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A little while ago I posted that the new Lambretta LN would be on sale in the UK soon. Well, Lynx scooters are now taking orders for the new Lambretta LN from today.

The price for the LN125 4t is  £3299.00 The so my guesstimate of £3,300 was pretty close :).
They have limited stocks, and are also selling through a classified ad on eBay. 
Apparently there are only a very limited number available, so if you fancy one, be quick.

Remember, you heard it here first!

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Manurin Concorde

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Sycronicity at work again, posted up that link to a group of eBay barn finds (hit the link or just scroll down), and then I stumble across this lovely page about Manurin scooters. So, with a little time, know how, patience and elbow grease your resto project could look something like this.

I must admit, I’d never heard the name Manurin before, gut this big wheeled scoot from France has a beauty all of it’s own. And in 1957, they were the third most poplular scooter in Europe, behind Vespa and Lambretta of course.
If the shape is ringing any bells for you, but your not thinking Manurin… maybe it reminds you of a DKW Hobby… which it is pretty much a ‘badge engineered’ version  of.
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