Was playing snooker a few weeks ago and someone said “I saw you on your Vespa the other day”.
A few mins later a bloke in the corner of the club said “I’ve got an old Lambretta at the back of he garage that I used to go to college on in the late 60’s.”
I had a quick natter with him and said “let me know if you ever want to sell it as I might be interested”.
Monday morning and my WhastApp starts beeping away with a stack of photos of an old scoot.
Needless to say I was in the car and round his house in that afternoon…an offer was made and it’s now sat in my garage.
It’s a 1960 Lambretta Series 2 Li150 with its original log book present. A Warwickshire registered scooter and all owners from my local town and ironically the first owner lived in the same village I do now.
It’s rare to find a scooter this old with a log book, even rarer to have that log book show that all owners never ventured more than four miles from the parish.
Best of all it came with a large box full of spares and two engines, one of which is a TV175 !!!
I’m going to do it as a “Skelly” style skinhead style scooter which is apparently the look the previous owner was going for anyway.
I managed to get a spark out of it this weekend and have drained / cleaned the fuel tank so hopefully will get it running this week.
Haha - it’s actually an original metal number plate and weighs a tonne !!! Thankfully I can keep the VRN and get a black / silver one made up from Tippers.
I’ve done well out of it as the spare engines / parts / front horn cast (from a S1) are worth about what I paid for the scoot.
In San Francisco there’s an area called the Haight. It was home to the Hippie movement back in the 60’s.On the weekends the young adults meet and ride to the clubs and bars in packs of 50+on their scooters.
Cleaned fuel tank with vinegar and a 72-hour soak then a thorough clean of the carb / fuel tap. Plus a new spark plug.
Also stripped the magneto housing and cleaned all the magnets / points.
Struggled to get a spark straight away and tracked it down to an ignition and a separate earth issue.
Threw some fuel in it and couldn’t believe it “roared” into life after two kicks. My uncle was over at the time (he rebuilds old Jap / British bikes) and was gobsmacked at how quick it was running.
Think it’s a Hammerite job but either way it’s stating as it is.
Not sure what to do with the TV engine yet, the piston is seized from years of storage so will likely put a 210 in it.
Have you still got your SX ? They are very desirable at the moment and going for £11k +
I’m going to run this as a Skelly style and to be honest I’ve not got a great deal more to do once I’ve fitted replacement cables / bearings / brakes / dampers / loom.
The skinheads / suedeheads got hold of old battered Lambrettas in the 70’s, stripped them of the side panels / footboards / leg shields.
They then fitted skateboards or plywood for the footboards and ran them with large upswept exhausts and sidewinder motorbike seats to ensure there was no association to “MOD style” scooters.
It would be a pig to remove.
