A friend of mine has some really nice Lambrettas, and is slowly downsizing his collection. I recently helped broker a sale of this really original and tidy GP150. This is an original Italian one that was first sold in the UK. Note that the Italian market version would have the "DL 150" badge, rather than the GP. I'm working on making a gallery for this scooter, and once I get the time to build a page, you can find other photos here.
I agreed to help the new buyer of the scooter by getting it running for him. The GP is in great shape, but it has been sitting in my friend's collection for many years. He guessed that he had not started it in at least 10 years. So there are certainly going to be some cobwebs to clear out.
Things I immediately noticed were that the tires were dry rotted, and the clutch was stuck. Opening the gas tank released a toxic brew of fuel gone bad, so that would need to be sorted.
More below the jump.
First, I got the cowl off to inspect the innards of the beast. Everything looked nice and clean. Note that this is a late model GP, and has the original black plastic glovebox. Many of those are long-gone.
Next, I turned my attention to the carb. I pulled the fuel line, and confirmed that fuel was flowing through the tap. That's good, so I know I likely won't have to replace the fuel tap. Did I mention how smelly and nasty the old gas was?
Since I knew the fuel was bad, I knew I had to get the carb off for a good cleaning. I'm glad I did. Here is the gunky sludge that was in the bottom of the float bowl. All the jets were clogged with this gelatinous muck.
Stay tuned for the next exciting chapter in our GP 150 Lambretta saga!
I'll get some more pictures up of this scooter as I dig into it a bit more. I have the original UK registration information, so I'll have to look at it for the year of first registration. This one does have a battery electric system. I'll have a look at the seat. The plan is to remove the original seat (which is in very good condition, apart from a smal tear at the front), and put on an aftermarket seat for regular use. The original seat will stay on a shelf except for special occasions.
-Paul