EuroLambretta 2014 – Davos, Switzerland

EuroLambretta 2014 FlyerIf you couldn’t make it to EuroLambretta 2013, which is about to kick off any minute now, or youron your way / already there and you are already thinking about next years, it’s in Davos, Switzerland. Now the only two things I know about Davos, are 1) They hold financial summits for the G8 countries there, and 2) It sounds a bit like Davros… leader of the Daleks. So I won’t be much help. But maybe this Wikipedia article will.

The dates are 27th– 29th June, and more details will be forthcoming, once the current Euro is over, from the Lambretta Club Swiss.

It’s actually only 2 miles further than Avignon, according to a quick bit of ‘research’ on Google Maps, but I have heard that Switzerland is quite “hilly”.
I expect this rally will run like clockwork.

Cliff Richard, Three’s up…

Cliff Richard on a LambrettaThere’s a title I never thought I’d be posting on this blog. Don’t know who the other fellas are… Shadows? Is it me, or has the bloke perched on the back rack got a very small head?

Oh, for my readers abroad, Cliff Richard was our (Britain’s) equivalent of Elvis. Sort of. He had hits in the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. And probably the 90’s too. Thankfully, I think he’s more or less stopped making records now, except at Christmas.  Staying true to one of his earlier songs, he remains a Bachelor Boy to this day.

Israeli Police S1 and sidecar

969082_561771227208786_825931715_nFound this great shot of an Israeli Police scooter with sidecar. I’m digging through my archive shots, as I think I have a line up of Israel Police on TV 2’s… without sidecars… somewhere. If any Lambretta enthusiasts over in the holy land can help me out with any more information or pics, I’d appreciate it.

Look out Avignon, here come the Banshees…

431849_623167377696188_1441332082_n 602312_596000517085212_1441114386_n 942987_532267426809546_54462707_n 972346_532269443476011_1324697292_n ULC SXThe Banshees ScootersThe boys from the Ulster Lambretta Club (otherwise known as the Banshees) are well on there way to Avignon. Have a great trip fella’s…

I’m posting this, because when I finally decided I needed to get a scooter again, I nearly bought a V#spa from Dave O’Hare from The ULC. If I had, this blog would probably never have existed, but it does, because I bought a Series 2 Lammie instead. Dave send me some bits and bobs from the 4 nations rally anyway…  including a ULC keyring, what a gent. One day, I will get to buy him a pint!

Build your own scooter trailer

ImageI’ve been seeing a lot of fully laden lammies getting ready for Avignon. It’s pretty amazing how much luggage you can carry on a standard Lambretta with a bit of ingenuity! Now, I’ve seen a few classic scooter trailers over the years, but if they come up for sale, they’re not cheap. So when I saw this article on building your own trailer over at instructables.com, I thought it may be of interest. There is a certain amount of fabrication skill needed, but not so much it would be beyond many Lambrettisti. You would need a scoot with a bit of power… but if you are doing any long distance touring, you’ve probably got one of those. And it would look better behind a Lambretta!

UPDATE: If you fancy tackling something a little more ambitious than a trailer, why not go for a full blown “teardrop”?

Here the link again.

Via Scooterfile.

Image

Euro Lambretta 2013 – Avignon

EuroLambretta 2013 AvignonI should have posted more about this ages ago… but as I’m not going, (I’ve never done a “Euro”. One day, one day.), I’m  just too envious of all you Lambrettisti who are making their final preparations, or are even on their way.

If anyone wants me to post any pictures, tales of the journey or the event itself, I’ll be more than happy to.

Euro Lambretta Avignon CampsiteLooks like the weather is going to be good too. This picture was taken from the official campsite, yesterday.

Keep an eye on the Facebook page; here.

Good luck guys (and girls), have fun, ride safe.

Easy rider…

Lambretta easy riderIf this geezer was any more laid back, he’d be in a coma…

The best thing about the Model A Lambretta?

Apart from being the first Lambretta, of course…

Model A – engine accessIt did this. Was this the easiest scooter engine to work on, ever?

Drummer Lee Rigby – Ride of Respect

Drummer Lee RigbyLee Rigby Army Flag Lee Rigby Tribute FlowersWell done all scooterists, bikers and others who turned out to honour the memory of Drummer Lee Rigby, horrifically and brutally murdered on the streets of our capital city. An emotional day for many, marked with due respect.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Dskw2PK1LkHelp for Heroes – Support for our Wounded Want to do something positive? Visit Help for Heroes.

Help for Heroes Statement:

United in support.
There has been an extraordinary public reaction to the brutal murder of Drummer Lee Rigby last week. Hundreds of thousands of people, revolted by this dreadful crime carried out in full view of other innocents, have united to show that they will not be intimidated.

For many, that desire to show support has been focused on doing good to counter the bad. H4H was created in 2007 out of a simple desire to ‘just do something’. We were distressed at seeing so many young men and women with dreadful injuries and wanted to help. Over the last five and a half years that simple desire to ‘do our bit’ has enabled thousands to benefit and has proven that we are not helpless; we can and have done something very good indeed.

Brazilian Series 2 Restoration

Nice little video of a restoration of a Brazilian 1966 Series 2 Lambretta. She looked pretty good in it’s original black livery, but two years of hard work and “stress, irritation and headache” (we’ve all been there!) transformed her into a thing of beauty. It’s and interesting game to spot the differences between the Brazilian S2’s and the Italian ones we are more used to seeing… the first, and most obvious one is the date of manufacture… 1966… five years after production finished on Innocenti machines. Other easy to spot ones are the carb/air filter set up, the exhaust (I quite like the look of that short silencer box!) and the three speed gear change… Cosmetically, the badges are very different, including an attractive rear frame embellisher/ badge. So far, so obvious… how many more differences can you spot?

A neat touch in adding rear indicators to the resto is integrating them with the spare wheel carrier, a nice solution.

Update: I have received an email from Jean, the restorer of this fine Series 2, clearing up a few things. Firstly, was the matter of colour… I stated that the original paint was black, and that was just a case of me being sloppy with my english. What I should have written, of course, is existing paint. Brazilian S2’s were only made in an “off white” shade – I’m guessing this would be something similar to the original Italian Ivory (Avoria) colour, but it may be different). The scooter has got four gears, it’s just the numeral 4 has worn off on the handlebar. The exhaust system is off of a later Lambretta, (one native to Brasil that deserves a post all of it’s own – The Cynthia), and has the fish tail on the silencer is a one off, custom item hand made by an iron worker.