Tag Archives: Vespa

The darkside. Your chance to vote.

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Vespas
This is a first. I generally don’t post pictures of Vespas. I’ve got nothing against them, other than a general low-level bitterness that out of the two GREAT Italian scooter marques, Piaggio’s Vespa survived and the clearly superior Lambretta didn’t. And I’m not a “scootist”. Some of my best friends ride Vespas. In fact, Vespas are (probably) my second favourite scooter marque. But they are all over the web, and there’s some great sites covering both (try Scooternova) or that cater to the poor deluded souls who actually prefer Italy’s second best scooter  (my personal favourite, being this one; Vespamore). And, much as I may have huge gaps in my Lambretta knowledge (I literally learn something new nearly every day), I am a complete ignoramus when it comes to the Vespa. I’ve never owned one*, and I’ve never even ridden one. So I can’t really write abut them.

Anyway, this long, unfocused and rambling diatribe is needs to get back on track. Here we go. I generally don’t post pictures of Vespas. But occasionally, I come across a picture so good it’s hard to resist the urge to post it. Above is one such shot.

So… here’s the deal. Should I post the occasional pics of a Vespa, or are they truly off limits on a Lambretta site. This is your chance to vote, below.

*I nearly bought a GS160 before I saw my current Lambretta – this would have been a very different blog!

Lammie Drive 2 Update

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LammieDrive2A lot has happened since my original post. There off! In fact, they’ve been going for over a week now… and it’s been eventful to say the least. A broken collar bone, and some severely stressed scooters that have needed a fair bit of work on them. But it was never going to be easy was it? The team Siobhan, George (A Harley and Triumph rider who’s first experience of Lambretttas was day one of the trip!), Tino and Oreste (on a Vespa) have got as far as Cairns.LammieDrive2 Cape York

 

Follow their progress here: lammiedrive.blogspot.co.uk

Look out Avignon, here come the Banshees…

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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

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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.

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Fail.

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LAMBRETTA L47 100ml EDT and 150ml of body wash gift set
I’ve vented about this before; here. But this is worse. It’s a freakin’ V•spa for chrissakes…

 

Scoot Sao Paulo: Lambretta & Vespa Carnaval 2013

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I sometimes forget what a worldwide phenomenon scootering, and Lambretta’s are. Many nations have taken the Lambretta to their hearts, and that is obvious in the many Lambretta clubs that have sprung up all over the world (check out my links page), and even in the visits I get here to the blog.

Here’s a vid from Sao Paulo, Brasil, that makes the point. Of course, they actually made Lammies in Brasil, including some models (like the Xispa I posted out before) that were unique to them. But I didn’t know they all went backwards!

The Lynx Effect

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Funny how things happen. As I was writing my post on indicator gloves, the Lambretta that kept coming to mind was the Serveta Lince (or Lynx). And then, browsing eBay for Lammies (just window shopping I’m afraid) I come across a Lynx. Can’t remember having seen one for sale online before, and certainly not  one in this condition… basically “as new”, unsold form the dealer!

Now, back in the day, I remembered being pretty anti this Spanish revision of the classic Lambretta look… The previous Serveta’s 125 and 150 Specials and Jet 200’s… had classic Italian good looks. With the hexagonal headlight trim, from the front, on a good day people thought you might be riding an SX.

But, in my opinion, the Lynx (I’ll continue to use the English translation, rather than the  original Spanish “Lince” name) was the Lambretta equivalent of a Vespa PX. An improvement over what went before in many ways… but just fugly. (Sorry all you PX owners and riders, but I never liked them. And although they too have now gained classic status, they are still not quite my cup of tea). Improvements like 12v electrics and electronic ignition are things we take for granted now, but were exotic, and fairly expensive modifications back in the 80’s. Or they seemed expensive to me, if memory serves. They came as standard on the Lynx, but weren’t enough to overcome the styling issues. Serveta’s, at least amongst my circle were a step down from a genuine Italian Lammy too. Of course, they weren’t as bad as a “curryburner”, SIL GP… which had a pretty poor (and probably undeserved) reputation at the time. Back to the Lynx though… and modern consensus has it that the Serveta build quality was as good, or better than that of the Italian originals.

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But, perception is everything. And while the PX line took off and did great things for Vespa, (and continues to with the 2010 relaunched PX range)  the Lynx withered on the vine.  I’ve got the feeling (can anyone back me up on this?) they were significantly more expensive… and they were certainly harder to get hold of, with only a few dealers having demonstrators. While the PX was an all new bike, fresh from the ground up, The Lynx was another facelift for a classic Lambretta, and, for a Lammy, it just wasn’t pretty enough.

With the benefit of hindsight, I think the Lynx looks pretty good. They definitely have a retro 80’s vibe going on. Their initial unpopularity has become a plus, rarity being a tick in the positive column these days. And if you want one, you can get one, on eBay today. You might even attract more attention than a restored SX on a scooter rally. And certainly more than a PX!

So did you own one? Do you? What is your opinion / experience of this overlooked 80’s classic from Spain?

Serveta Lynx Video on YouTube

eBay Link.

Lambrettista. Now on WordPress.

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With the sad demise of Posterous, the ‘platform’ which got me started on blogging in the first place, I had to look round for alternatives. WordPress seems the way to go… so here I am. All the old content from the Posterous site should import later… and things might look a little different around here… but rest assured it will still be dedicated to “the world’s finest motor scooter” The Lambretta.

In the meantime, until the end of the month, you can still check out the old Lambrettista here: http://lambrettista.posterous.com/

Ape cross!

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I’ve not written much about scooter racing on this blog, is something I’ve always wanted to do. The guys that push Lambrettas and Vespas to their max on the track are a special kind of rider (the word nutters was actually the first one that came to mind). In fact the only sporting event I’ve covered is an old Scooter Scrambling event from the sixties and the Red Bull Lingotto Special, where classic scoots race around the roof of the old FIAT factory in Turin. That vid is worth a watch if you haven’t seen it yet!

But here’s a scooter sport that I’ve never come across before. Ape cross. Watch the video, which explains it better than I could. I know Ape’s are Vespas… but I’ve always had a soft spot for them.(See my Tuxi post) If there is a Lambro version of this sport, I’d love to see it!

Lambretta’s and Vespa’s in Vietnam

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It’s been a while since I posted, ant to be honest, a couple of weeks since I’ve ridden my scoot. Spanners out at the weekend, fitting a new kickstart assembly. Wish me luck.

Here’s a nice little feature from a Vietnamese TV show on the scootering/restoration scene. Unless you can speak Vietnamese, forget the commentary, and just enjoy the movie. It kicks off with some film of Saigon back in the day, a very cosmopolitan and sophisticated place by the look of it. It then goes on to feature the work of the Saigon Scooter Centre, and some very nice Lammies. A very nice S2 at 7:18!

After about 8 mins there’s some nice footage of VW bug and bus restos, stick with it if your a fan of the Vespa Ape, as the program finishes on that. Nice.

Via The Scooterist blog.