A bit self indulgent this one, but hey, so’s the whole blog. And what are you going to do when your eight year old son presents you with his drawing of a Lambretta? Stick it on the internet! I’ve seen lots of fantastic scooter art over the years, but this is my favourite.
Monthly Archives: July 2013
Lambretta engine
For the Lambrettista, a work of art, not as obviously beautifully as the sinuous curve of a SX side-panel, or the voluptuous swell of a S2 headset, but pure sculpture none-the-less.
Reblogged from the Scooterist.
iPhone dock Scooter Speedo
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Firstly, this was my idea… right. Someone has gone into my brain, probably while I was asleep… and nicked it. But mine was built into a Lambretta dashboard, either like the one you get on a Rallymaster to hold the clock and rev counter, or into the top of a legshield toolbox.
This blatant ripoff of my idea (if there are any lawyers reading, this is a pathetic attempt at humour!) is attached to a Japanese electric scooter, which doesn’t come from one of the big four (Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki and Kawasaki), but a company called Terra Motors. They’ve got a bit of a track record with electric vehicles, launching an electric TukTuk back in March.
Back to the iPod dock… doesn’t do too much really either shows you your speed, or how much charge there is left in the battery. I would be kind of cool to be able to switch to a sat nav mode, or blast some tunes out through some integrated speakers. Rigged up to a traditionally powered scoot you could show stuff like engine temperature, and revs too… all fairly easy to achieve I imagine. In fact, I bet someone’s already done this on a Lammie. If you know of it, let me know, I’d love to do a post on it.
So electric scooters. Cheap to run, less to go wrong, and once they’ve got the performance and range issues sorted out, I think a bit of a no brainer. They’re the future. Although I still prefer mine Lambretta shaped.
via C|Net
Dot Net
You may have noticed the URL of this site has changed… to lambrettista.net don’t worry, the old ‘un (lambrettist.wordpress.com) still works, so all your bookmarks etc.,should be fine. There’s hopefully going to be some exciting (well, for me anyway, but I’m easily excited) developments coming soon. Watch this space!
1963 Lambretta TV200
I was going to do another post on those modern Lambretta type thingies… but I need a proper Lammie on here first. And you don’t get much more proper than a ’63 TV Series 3. Lovely scoot… and clearly the inspiration behind the modern LN’s. But face it boys, no matter how hard anybody tries to recapture the essence of Lambretta, no modern machine will EVER look as gorgeous as this classic. Love the music too. Nobody, by The Human Beinz.
Lambretta LN ‘Pure Smithy’ Dealer Special
I haven’t posted anything about the LN or it’s sibling modern Lambrettas* recently, as they’re not really my bag… and there hasn’t been anything new to report. I don’t know how they are selling, and I certainly haven’t seen one on the road, but I wish them well. If the marketing department at Motom* had any imagination, they’d sign up a Lambretta blogger, and let him (or her) have one for an extended test drive. Say six months. By the way… on the last count The Lambrettista blog is read in more than 70 countries. Just saying.
Anyway… at but I thought this was quite interesting. Had to look twice at this LN on eBay. I thought it was an official Paul Smith licensed product, but it’s clearly a fairly clever knock off. I wouldn’t be totally surprised if Mr Smith had been involved, as he was allegedly a mod as a young man, and his work retains a certain ‘mod aesthetic’… but if he had it would have been all over the papers. Another marketing opportunity missed? There I go, off on a tangent again. Back to the original point of this post, which was, that the LN is now starting to appear in different incarnations, customised, much as dealers would customise ‘proper’ Lambrettas back in the day… I’ve no particular opinion on whether this is a good, or bad thing… it’s just interesting. Mildly. Well, I thought so. If it floats your boat, and you’ve got a spare £3k knocking around, you can get one here. And they’ll give you a fiver change. It’s being sold by the Pure Group, in Harrogate if you don’t do eBay.
And if the Paul Smith look isn’t up your strasse… there’s a distressed union jack version. A bit ‘comedy mod’ for me, that one, I’m afraid.
*Motom Electronics Group are one of the claimants of the Lambretta name. There’s a trademark/license document here that explains it all in legalese. My thoughts can be found on this site if you stick Lambretta LN into the “handy searchbar” (that’s one for the “stuffyoushouldknow” podcast listeners).
Nicely shot Series 1 Vid…
Don’t know much about this video, other than it was shot by Yashasvi Juyal, and (I think) he’s from Northern India. Give us a shout Yashasvi, and fill in the blanks!
Automatic selection
Another couple of nice scoots on eBay at the moment… if you like auto’s that is. Ok… they are not everybody’s cup of tea… especially the purists… but were a broad church here at Lambrettista, and I don’t mind them.
After all… where does ‘tuning’ stop. And if you can get “Lammie looks with automatic reliability” which is often the way these things are sold… well… why not.
Anyway. on to the machines. Bike one is the more classic Lambretta looking scoot… Classic SX good looks with a very smart Abarth paint job and a Typhoon 125 power unit. A nice touch is the bar end indicators. Neatly done. It’s had a few bids, but if your desperate to get your hands on it, the buy it now price is £4000. Here’s the link.
The second bike is a bit more radical… and there’s a bit of an issue with the photo’s on eBay, so maybe you can see them here and then stick your bid in if your interested. Built on a Lambretta Innovations frame, it runs on 13″ wheels. The power is provided by a Gilera lump with a Mallosi 172 top end. It will (allegedly) “sit at 80mph all day long” and has all round disc brakes to bring you to a swift halt if the need arises. If Kawasaki Green and a swift ride is your thing, you might want to get a bid in on this scoot. Here it is on eBay. Even if you’re not interested, and you’ve got five minutes, check it out because it’s written in a thoroughly engaging style. I like what he’s done with the shed, too.
My only caveat about autos is, being a hybrid, when things go wrong… where do you take it? A Lambretta specialist? A Gilera (or whoever has made the engine) specialist? Hopefully back to the place that built it. But the permutations of things that could go wrong rise rapidly. Saying that, if you’re even thinking about it, your probably a little handy with the spanners yourself, and a little tinkering may not worry you. If that’s the case, go for it.
SX… Perfection?
My last post featured a cracking “Rat Racer” Series one… and I thought it was just about perfect. Something I’d love to own. There would be a few little tweaks I’d make… and that’s the way it is with most of the scoots I find. Nearly perfect, but with a couple of tweaks… a bit of chrome there… an accessory added, or removed… but that’s the joy of Lambretta’s. The machines rolled out of the factory, close to perfection… but somehow owners (and dealers) managed to improve them.
But, I think I’ve found a machine where I wouldn’t change a thing. And it’s this stunning SX. Well, an SX 150 S-Type GT 186 to be precise. Everything from the paint colour, to the Ancillotti exhaust screams perfection for me. The raydots at the Smith chrono all add to the package. It’s a classic look, and I don’t think it’s been bettered, to be honest. Perfect.
This lovely scoot was shot by Christian Gentilini, and you can see more of his photography, here, on flickr. He’s a member of the Lambretta Club Teste Cromate S.C.
The pics are copyright (Christian was kind enough to allow me to use them here) so please respect that.
Oh. I’ve spotted it. The tweak I’d make to this scooter. The crankcase side panel has something missing… it needs “Owned and run by Crocodile Jock” discretely signwritten on it. Small in the bottom right corner. And maybe a small enamel union flag badge under the sprint rack. There you go… proved… Lambrettisti just can’t help tinkering with perfection!
One for the road. And another one.
Browsing eBay, as I do, just on the off chance my lottery numbers come up, I came across a couple of rather nice Series 1’s… each with a completely different look and feel. First up is this restored example in turquoise and white… 175 AF Rayspeed kit and a Clubman exhaust… it’s got a fixed “Buy it now” price of £3,150. Very tidy, very nice. If it’s your cup of tea, here’s the link: Lambretta Series One on eBay.
But I think I actually prefer this one… “The Swiss Shitter” Based on a Swiss model* Series One, and also dating from ’59… this ‘rat look racer’ has a lovely patina about her… love the “stickerbomb” look and the chrome horncast. It’s got a Rapido 225 lump, GP 200 Gearbox and the carb and exhaust (a Fresco) to go with it. Currently sitting at £2,250 but with four days to go, and this one will go higher. Here’s the link.
*Swiss model? No, I didn’t know they made one either. I can feel a bit of research and a blog post coming on! From the eBay listing, there was hand pinstriping as standard, as well as side panel and front mudguard embellishers, and running board protectors.
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