Category Archives: News

FarGo… New Scooter Dealership for 2Tone City

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FargoScootersFargo Village in Coventry is an eclectic mix of creative businesses – (think Brick Lane / Camden Market) and has been joined by  an emporium for local scooter enthusiasts… Fargo Scooters. The shop is stones throw from the Hand & Heart pub, a frequent haunt of Coventry’s famous 2Tone bands The Selecter & The Specials in the 70’s. As well as having workshops to repair and restore scooters the shop is ositioning itself as an emporium for vintage and new clothes… it’s also a cool place to just hang out. If you’re in the area, I’d say it’s worth a visit… Via The Coventry Telegraph

Check out their Facebook Page, Here.

FargoScooters-1

Safe & Secure

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A bit of a round up of ‘bits & pieces’ that have caught my eye…

ICE – In Case of Emergency

Firstly is the ICE patch… a simple, but clever idea, and one of those things you hope you’ll never need. It’s a set of stickers you can apply to your crash helmet that give the Emergency Services access to your vital info by scanning a Quick Response code.nineteen_seventy_six_poster

ICE Patch QR Codes to make it easier and faster for the emergency services to access your vital information. There’s no need to search your person for a medic alert bracelet. Your health and contact information is at their fingertips. It’s inexpensive and impossible to leave at home. The emergency services can immediately establish who you are, who to call and access any medical information that could help to save your life. They know it’s accurate and current, because you gave it to them.  Some Police Motorcycle Units are now wearing ICE Patches themselves. For instance, the Essex Police motorcyclists seen on Channel 5’s Emergency Bikers are seen to sport ICE Patch QR codes on their helmets. A set of four identical ICE Patches costs £10 plus applicable sales tax and postage. 10% of all of our revenues are donated to road safety and rescue charities and initiatives. Only available here.ice_patch_product

Educate Young Drivers…

A lot of Lambretta riders and scooterists in general are of more mature years these days… and I like to think most of us know how to ride safely and defensively. But I’m sure we’ve all encoutered  car drivers who don’t seem to have a clue, about anyone on two wheels.
Young Car Driver is a resource for learner car drivers and younger motorists that has a section on how to drive around motorcyclists… it’s worth letting friends, family and neighbours know about this one. UPDATE! Since I originally wrote this post it’s come to my attention Young Car Driver are running a competition to win a SatNav. If you want to be in with a chance of winning one, here’s the link.

Lock Down

ScooterlockVespaOf course, you won’t be going anywhere  if you’re pride and joy gets nicked. It’s always heartbreaking to see some scumbag has nicked a scooter – they are so much more than simply vehicles. Sadly, There are 20,000 scooters stolen a year, 80% of which are from the owners home. If you’ve had your scoot nick, get it listed on the LCGB National Stolen Scooter Registry, sharpish. Of course the best scenario is not get your scooter nicked in the first place. Simply parking next to a more desirable scooter won’t cut it, the scumbags will probably have both your scooters in the back of the transit! The guys at SCOOTERLOCK.co.uk  specialise in Lambretta and Vespa scooter locks, and scooter security products. A worthwhile precaution, in my ever so humble opinion.

The Scomadi’s are coming…

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10406830_10152713158068545_8173392206311166508_nFull production of the eagerly awaited Scomadi Scooter range – the modern auto with classic Lambretta good looks – is well under way. Dealers are being appointed around the country and the range is being showcased at the prestigous INTERMOT Köln Motorcycle Show. Perhaps even more interesting in the long run are rumours of an Electric Scomadi doing the rounds, with a prototype on display at London Fashion Week. Keep up to date on the Scomadi Facebook page.
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New Diablo Mid-Range Tanks

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Hot on the heels of yesterday’s post about JL Polishing, Johnny Lambrettista*, (the JL in JL Polishing, for those that are paying attention) go in touch with a bit of a scoop for the blog.10471026_10152650751774292_5415667203614761542_n 10313717_10152650751784292_5243989671284918759_n

As well as making bits of metal very shiny, Johnny is the now the fella behind the famous Diablo Tanks – THE best custom made long range fuel tanks for series 1, 2 and 3 lambretta’s on the market today. Diablo Tanks have established an unrivalled reputation over 10 years producing hundreds of tanks for touring scooters. Johnny took over the ownership and distribution of Diablo Tanks after the closure of Diablo Moto, and has maintained the design, construction and quality that mark them out.

Not prepared to rest on their laurels, Diablo are developing a new, mid-range tank, The “Rapido Midi”. Above are shots of one of the prototype Rapido Midi tanks in situ. Keeping the traditional Diablo features of the rolled edges, large cutouts (either left or right side) for all set ups, and Lambretta filler necks. Fixing brackets will be supplied with the tank. They will be ready for sale and on the Diablo Tanks website soon, but you read it here first. A price guide of £229 + postage.

*Still no relation 🙂

Lambrettista. You’ve read the blog, now you can buy the t-shirt.

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So, now the sun is finally suing, it’s time to sort through your wardrobe for something suitable to wear to the shops. Or the beach. Or work, if you work somewhere a bit casual. Why wear some generic t-shirt from a high street shop, when you could be sporting a fine garment showing your love of the world’s finest motor scooter> All shirts designed in-house by the Lambrettista Blog Design Team. That’ll be me then. Oh, if you’re a Vespa fan, it’s all meant in good fun. Honest.

More designs are going to be added as and when I get round to it. Check out the full online shop
The Lambrettista Blog Shop

Some designs will disappear if I get bored of them, and new ones will pop up, as and when. If you’ve got an idea for something Lambretta related you’ve like to see on a tee… drop me a line, I’m always open for a bit of inspiration. Nothing too rude, this is a family bog 🙂

SPECIAL SUMMER OFFER! 20% OFF!
There’s 20% off all the T-shirts if you enter the voucher code voucher code SUMMERSPIRIT is applied at checkout. Be quick, offer is only valid until 30 June, 2014 at 11:59PM.

A Class send off for a Class act

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Anybody who attended a scooter rally in the 80’s or 90’s will know the name Tony Class. A larger than life character who loved the scene, the music and the scooters, Tony was one of the few who kept the scene going through difficult times. He sadly lost his battle with illness last month. Scootering magazine has written a piece here.

My condolences to his family and many friends.

These videos are worth a watch too.

RIP Tony.

Thanks!

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The blog’s been a bit a quite lately, as I’m just back from a week in the sun with the family, but for those of you who are interested, it’s going great guns. I’ve just had my best month ever, and it’s clicked over 100,000 total views… which I know is tiny in internet terms, but pretty impressive in my mind for a little hobby blog.

Screen Shot 2014-06-01 at 19.26.14I’ve also had correspondence from all over the world, notably the US, Canada and South Africa, all of which is much appreciated. The blog is read pretty much globally, 139 countries at the last count, from Albania to the Uraguay. Which is nice. If you’ve ever though about getting in touch, with your Lambretta pics and stories please do, wherever you are in the world. That’s what it’s all about!

Need a Lamby? There’s a bit of a wait…

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Indian LambrettasReading in this article from India’s “The Hindu” online newspaper about the new found respect for Lambretta’s in India. SIL, (Scooters India Ltd) are still a going concern, still rolling out factory fresh GP200 engines like this one on eBay (I think they are still making them, they may have a big warehouse full of NOS somewhere!).

There are the usual newspaper inaccuracies about Lambretta history of course, but we’ll skip past them, to get to a nugget of info that stopped me in my tracks. Back in the day, the Lambretta scooter became the preferred personal transport of white-collar workers on the subcontinent, mostly government and bank employees. Soon, demand far surpassed production, and the waiting list for the vehicle lengthened. And lengthened. Mr Mr Raveendran, ex Superintendent of Government Gardens and Parks takes up the story;

“In the 60s, you could buy a Lamby only through the State Industries Department. One had to book the scooter and wait for a minimum of six years to take delivery”

Did you get that? A SIX YEAR waiting list! Although, as ever in life, it’s not what you know, it’s who you know. Mr. Raveendran managed to jump the queue, and get his scooter in two weeks.

The original article is here.

Moldovan Lambretta Police

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Moldovan Police LNsSince I announced, perhaps prematurely, the demise of the Lambretta LN, and the launch of the LamSport, I’ve been sent a link to the Official Moldova Government Ministry of Internal Affairs webpage, announcing that the Police had been presented with ten Lambretta LN’s for ‘daily activity in public places’.  Further info on the LN will follow, when I discover more!Moldovan Police LN fleet

LamSport 125 – “New Lambretta” with NO Lambretta DNA.

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IMG-8278-JPG-3961-1389873426
The “New Lambretta” saga rumbles on. Most readers of this site, I suspect, will not be particularly interested, having not taken the 2011 Lambretta LN to their hearts. Which is a shame, because, IMHO, although clearly not a classic Lambretta, it paid homage to the lines and spirit of the marque, and had a little Lambretta DNA in it’s blood. Now we have a “New Lambretta” The LamSport.

The new machine, despite being designed by the same Alessandro Tartarini behind the LN design, and who’s radical designs for the range of Caterham Motorcycles I was a big fan of, disappoints me on every level. It’s just an ok looking modern sports style scooter.  With a Lambretta badge on it.
The LN was a decent stab at reinventing a classic machine for the twenty-first century. This is badge engineering at it’s worst. The old Lambretta Motorcycles website from Motom is now down, and I suspect that that is the end of Lambretta LN, which will become an interesting side note to Lambretta history. UPDATE: Further research has found that the LN is still linked to on the Vinh Phat Group website here – so it appears to be in production alongside the the LamSport. And in twenty or thirty years time, when the LamSport is all but forgotten about there will be one or two LN’s left, commanding big prices amongst the  Lambretta collectors and completists. A real shame.6_esterno
The LamSport is being assembled and distributed by the Vinh Phat Group in Vietnam, who launched the new model in Hanoi last week. I’m sure it will do very well in the home market, at least. As far as I’m concerned, if you want a ‘modern Lambretta’ and you are in Hanoi, you would be better off with an Ebretta.EbrettaI’m sorry, I’m not going to write about this any more. This upsets me. If you want to find out more, The excellent ScooterNova blog is a good source. But don’t expect to find any more posts on the LamSport on this blog.

UPDATE: My sources tell me that it may not quite be the end of the road for the Lambretta LN, which is good news. I find myself, as a rider of an Innocenti 1960 LI150 Series 2, in the unlikely position of flag waver for the LN, but it is, from all accounts, a good, reliable and stylish modern scooter, and it definitely has my old S2 in it’s family tree. Stay tuned, for more Lambretta LN info, and nothing more about the LamSport!