On a Lambretta, of course. Love these old ads. I’m going to post a bunch more, when I’ve got them scanned in.
Travel Far and Wise…
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Monthly Archives: May 2013
Box Hill Rideout 2012
A couple of snaps taken at the Box Hill Rideout a couple of weeks ago.
UPDATE: Now with added Lambretta goodness, courtesy of some more shots by Bolzenaker, over at the LCGB forums. Thanks for letting me post these!
What girls want…
Picked this up in a charity shop a while ago… just for the cover, but it’s got a picture story inside called “A Scooter to Sydney” which I might get round to scanning in one day!
Ultimate barn find?
Can you imagine stumbling across this cache of Series 2’s?
Manchester Lyons SC Wedding Ride Out
Nearly 50 scooterist turn out to escort a scooter loving groom to his wedding, then on to Machester City Centre.
Fill her up, please!
I’ve got a bit of a thing for old pics like this… clearly an old publicity shot for BP, but it tells you so much more than it appears to at first glance.
Firstly, and most obviously, is the forecourt service. I vaguely remember people coming to fill my dads car up with petrol… and they still do that at at least one garage the Isle of Wight! Secondly, BP had a pre-mixed “Petroil” product called BP Zoom… a mix of their petrol and Energoil branded 2-stroke. There were a lot more 2 strokes about then, I suppose… but did they all run the same mix? Or could you vary the mix at the pump? Anyone know? Thirdly, and I never knew this, petrol was sold bu the PINT! Remember gallons, obviously… but not pints! Fourthly; (I’m going to give up numbering everything, it’s getting boring) The unit that dispensed the petroil, could be wheeled out… it wasn’t a fixed part of the forecourt. I expect they filled it with petrol from the pumps, and then mixed in the 2 Stroke.
Another shot of a similar vintage shows another young lady filling at a”scooter bay” at a National filling station, their brand of premix named “Hi-Fli”. Thislooks altogether more modern, although the scooter is obviously a Series 1. Anybody got any more shots like this?
Fill that hole!
There’s a lot of thing that are better riding a scooter second time around. Mobile phones. Not having the local greaser waiting at the top of my road to kick me off. Breakdown/recovery service as part of your insurance. General goodwill from most of the population, including bikers. But, there is one thing that is definitely WORSE. The state of the roads.
I honestly can’t remember our roads ever being in as bad a state as they are now. Potholes are bad enough if you’re a car driver… but if you’ve knackered your suspension, had a puncture, or damaged a wheel, maybe you’ve got off lightly. For Motorcyclists, scooterists and cyclists potholes can be nothing short of deadly. I had one little spill this winter on a corner… spotting a pothole half way round I changed my line, lost grip and hit the tarmac, being narrowly missed by an HGV. Not much damage, and just bruising so pretty lucky really, but it could have easily been so much worse.
Local authorities put the state of the roads down to tight budgets and a harsh winter. But c’mon… it’s MAY now. And it must be cheaper to get the roads fixed than to pay out compo to damaged cars, and dead scooterists. And they have a DUTY to maintain the roads.
I got sent this link: Fill that hole the other day, and while it’s run by the ctc, the national cyclists charity, it works for scooterists too. If you’ve got a bad pothole near you, REPORT it (you can easily do it on the site), it will be logged on the site, and check the status… whether it has been fixed or not. It all helps pile the pressure on the councils.
So if you’ve got a pothole on your ride, REPORT it. You can even download an iPhone, Android or Blackberry App to your phone, and do it on the go. In the meantime, ride safe.
Café culture
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Lovely old shot of an Italian street scene… early sixties… maybe later, the Series 1 looks quite beaten up!
Lovely Series 1
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Came across this beautiful Series I on the LCGB forums, and I just had to post it on here. Great paint and tastefully modified with original, period accessories. Loving the Bienne flyscreen, the front mudguard bumper, the balloon grips, and the SAT Torino seat. The twin Pathfinders lamps are fantastic too. Nicely done, plenty there to make her stand out from standard, without overdoing it and spoiling the classic lines.
Lorryload of Lammies
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Came across this pic online… probably a delivery of machines from Italy to Lambretta Concessionaires… I wonder what the contents of that trailer would be worth today!
lambrettista.net 