June 2012 Archives

Apologizes for the light posting the last few days.  I just finished riding the Moto Melee.  The Melee is an annual three-day motorcycle rally through around 900 miles of the best back roads that Northern California has to offer.  The ride is open to pre-1971 motorcycles (and scooters).  I've done this ride many times, and it really is one of the highlights of the year for me.  Though Vespas and Lambrettas have been known to make the rally, I was astride my '62 BMW R50/2 motorcycle.  Friday night, I finished checking over the bike, adjusting the valves and torquing the heads, and generally just making sure everything was tightened down for the abuse I was about to heap on it.  I set off on Saturday morning from home, pointed the bike toward the meeting spot in San Francisco's Presido, and didn't look back.  The ride was specatular.  The BMW performed fine, and got me home in one piece.  I have a lot to say, but have been so busy getting back into life at work and home, that I have not had time to put it down.  I'll do another post in the next few days with photos for you to see. 

My good friend Pelayo was riding his Lambretta a few months ago when it just cut out on him.  After a little fiddling on the side of the road, he thought that he had lost compression and trucked the scooter home.  With a bit of juggling of our very busy schedules, we finally got some time where we could meet up and give the scooter a once-over.  Our late-night session began with getting the beast up on the lift.  As you see it above, we had already gottent the panels and the rear floorboards off.

This video has two of my favorite things in it... scooters ('natch), and Big Lebowski references. I don't know the members of the Lebowski Scooter Gang, but I know I would like them already. I want to go to Italy and ride with these guys! This video is really well done.

www.lebowskisg.org

This photo is a great action shot of a rider at a competition or gymkhana event.  I guess that this was taken somewhere in Italy.  (The legshield banner says "Rally di Roma")  Note the very stylish audience.  There was a time when scooter events like this were a big draw for spectators.  The rider is wearing some serious overalls, but notice the fact that he is just wearing some sort of slip on shoe.  In Italy, even when competing, one can't afford to be seen in ugly footwear!  The scooter is a GS, maybe a VS4.  I like the custom two-tone paint on the scooter.  There is a pole on the left of the photo with a bell on it.  I am guessing that the rider had to ring the bell as part of this event.  I'm not sure who took this great photo, it is sure is cool!

The Maico-Mobil has to be one of the most impressive scooters ever made.  The Maico Mobil was made from 1951-58, and came in 150cc, 175cc, and 200cc versions.  Sort of a cross between a scooter and a motorcycle, this beast demands respect by its imposing presence.  The front fender - huge, the rear trunk - huge... just amazing.  Tires must have been going flat all the time in the 50's to justify having a full size spare haning off the back of this thing.  What a machine! 

Photo: Hartmut Ide, Clipsius

Members of the Lambretta Club Modena showing off their scooters to some American military officers.

A friend of mine has a Lambretta Series I that he thinks may have a tweaked frame. There is some info on the frame specs for the Series III scooters, but not much on the internet about the Series I/II. So I pulled out some of my old manuals, and came up with the crucial measurement. If you have a suspect Lambretta frame, check the distance from the chrome ring to the top of the toolbox. The distance should be 17 inches, +/- 1/8 inch.

Kristi, a friend of the site, sent us a few great photos of her and a nice red Allstate Vespa. I already posted one, here's another. Thanks Kristi! She's involved with www.Americanpinups.tv, which you may want to check out. The photographer was Rene Soliz with Soliz Images photography.

Two Vespa GS's and an Iso. The Iso rider really looks the part... but my guess is that the scooter would be terribly outmatched by the Vespas.

I did some work on my friend's brakes awhile ago, and now have had a few moments to write it up.  As you may recall, his back brakes were bad.  But so were the fronts, so here is how I went about replacing them.

This is the business end of the front fork in all its glory.  Note that the rubber on the bottom of the shock is in rough shape.  I chose to ignore it, since it was still functional.  That's an easy enough fix, if my buddy wants to takle it himself.  Now, on to the disassembly! 

Too bad I have had technical problems with comments, because this would be a great photo for a caption contest.

Here's my caption: "Da, Comrade, even Central Committee approves of the Lambretta 50's clunky and awkward styling... reminds them of beautiful traktor No.7 on collective farm..."

Here's something I don't think too many vintage scooter fans have seen before: two different vintage Meyers Aircraft sidecars (Vespa models) compared side by side.

The history of steel-bodied scooter sidecars manufactured in America is kind of sketchy, but from what I've learned, a company called Meyers Aircraft in Georgia built steel-bodied sidecars for various motorscooters starting in the mid/late 1950s and into the mid 1960s. We've seen these on Vespas, Lambrettas, and Harley Toppers; they were probably available for other brands too, it's just not easy to find pictures or documentation on anything other than those three marques. The two shown here are both Vespa models; the early blue one is for 1950's widebodies, the later white one is for 1960's largeframes.

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