July 2011 Archives

A friend just got some new tires, and asked me to help get them set up.  This is a pretty easy job, that you should be able to do at home.  However, there are a few tricks.  Let's get started!

The first thing you want to do is to get everything ready and set out.  If you are using a used rim, you'll have to get the old tire off.  That can be a major pain, and will likely be the topic of another post.  For now, I'm going to assume that you have a bare set of rims, a new tire, and a new tube. 

Via: the Vespa Club Roma.

After yesterday's post about the project TV175, I figured I'd pull out an old photo of one all together! Here we have a Lambretta TV175 with a lot of neat accessories, from a 1958 magazine advertisement for a women's clothing line

Here we have a scooter that ticks me off... It is a Vespa Sprint, that was very obviously done up in Vietnam. You can see all the hallmarks of the Viet-disaster all over this scooter. Shall I tick them off for you? Ok... 1) Glovebox: Sprints didn't have one, 2) chrome doo-dad at the top rear of the steering column, 3) bent chrome tip on exhaust, 4) chrome license plate surround for Viet-size plate, 5) odd color floor strips, 6) chrome seat grab handle, 7) chrome rear tray, 8) odd color seat covers, 9) crappy repro tail light. On the other hand, it has some nice looking rear crash bars, so it has that going for it! You say you still don't think this was a mass-produced Viet bike? Just type in "Vespa Union Jack For Sale" in google. I found this scooter, that looks pretty much the same, for sale in the UK.

It's done. Finished. The scooter rally I have been planning (with the help of others, of course) for the past ten months, the Lambretta Club USA's 2011 Lambretta Jamboree, is over. The weekend that at one time felt like it would never come, July 8^th through 10^th, has come and gone.

(Logo design by Tom Carey.)

I've been a bit slow on posting recently, mainly because I've been so busy going out and having fun. One of the fun things I've been out doing is riding on the Moto Melee.

The Moto Melee is one of the highlights of my year. It is an 850 mile ride over three days for vintage motorcycles and scooters. I've ridden it many times, and it always blows me away. This year was no exception.

While I could regale you with stories of motorcycle bliss, I won't. This being a scooter publication, I'm going to focus on the scooters. Two of them to be exact.

Cesare Bartolini racing in the 1969 Moto Giro d'Italia on a factory-sponsored Lambretta SX200 which was race-modified by the Ancilloti firm

Via racinglambrettas