August 2012 Archives

Scooters from the early 50's may be relatively easy to find in Europe, but they are pretty scarce here in the US. Innocenti sold quite a few LD's in the US in the later 50's, but the spartan Lambretta D was not a big seller over here. So when I see a D for sale, it is notable. Here on eBay with no reserve, we have the typical barn find scooter from the mid-west. It has a generous coat of house paint or spray paint. The farm-engineered solution for a rusty gas tank is clearly in evidence in the photo, as are the duct-tape seat covers. That said, this scooter looks pretty complete and not too rusty. It is pretty beat down though. Given the relatively low value of the D, is it worth trying to restore? Probably not on a financial basis, but it sure would be fun as a project.

I've had my buddy Andrew's P200 sitting in my garage for awhile now. (Too long... sorry Andrew!) He has owned it for awhile, but never got it running right. I took it, and did some basic troubleshooting, which in turn discovered more issues. After a new carb, new CDI, new clutch, new clutch seal, and some electrical wiring, it still wasn't running right. I finally got some time to tear into the motor this week. After pulling the top end, here was the piston. A dead duck! Crazy, but this thing still ran ok. Not great, but ok. Given the other things I've found so far, I'm just going to take the whole motor apart to inspect the rest of it. It should run nice when I'm done.

I'm off to a camping trip this weekend. I sure wish I was rolling to it like this guy. What an adventure on the mega-est of mega-scooters! Great photo.

My very good friend Scott V. approached me with this really great scooter story a few weeks ago. This one is just much too great to keep to myself. Like all good stories, it is a little bit funny, a little bit sad, and almost all true... Enjoy!

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Nowadays, when I go around and talk to people in a social fashion, it comes up that I have a penchant for old Italian scooters. Invariably, this confession renders the same reaction in people that it would if I told them that I was really into stuffed animals.

But it wasn't always like that. The general awareness and appreciation for old scooters was far more widespread before the big decline that occurred in the early 2000's. There was a time, in the late 90's where the scooter scene was thriving in the U.S. Ride-outs in San Francisco would have several hundred vintage scooters. It was quite a sight to behold, especially at night. Imagine riding through the huge dragon gates in San Francisco's Chinatown, rolling over 200 scooters deep. On the longer stretches, the line of scooters would strech over a mile from the crest of one hill to the next.

But, for whatever reason: the internet, bike scarcity, the return of new scooters to the US market, or just scene burnout, things here kind of fell apart quickly... as I assume you, dear reader, are well aware. But, right before that, right at the apex, the final moment of glory, the scooter scene was, as they say, going off, and everybody wanted in on it.

I was able to take some time this weekend and join the fun at this year's San Francisco Classic. The custom show was at my favorite club, the DNA Lounge. It was great to see old friends and catch up with people that I have not seen in awhile. It was hard to take photos of the scooters inside the dark club, but I got some nice shots of the bikes outside.

Click below the jump for more photos!

So, I'm not so sure that this is a scooter. It is a sort of glorified moped, like a Honda Cub. However, while Honda sold many millions of the Cub, Jawa sold significantly less of the 05A. For what it is, the Jawa bike looks pretty good. It is certainly a rare bird in the US. However, this one looks like it will go cheap. At $500, it is just the thing to stick on the back of your giant RV! If you want to make a play for it, you can find it here on eBay in Charlotte, N.C.

This photo really is evocative of a certain time in Italy. You can just imagine that the owner of this Vespa must have really felt like he "made it" when he bought it. Just look at the background. There are no cars on the street. There are no other scooters or motorcycles. The only thing on the road is a chicken in the foreground and a horse cart in the far background. That really tells you something... Just to put it into perspective, this was only 60 years ago.

This was a promotional still from Universal Pictures movie studios. It was for the movie "I've Lived Before." The actress is Leigh Snowden.

BMW are launching a new luxury scooter this year. There was a time in the 50's when they toyed with the idea of competing with the likes of Vespa and Lambretta. They ultimately decided not to build their own scooter, but stick to motorcycles and bubble cars. It seems that the prototype BMW scooter still exists. This is it! Quite a substantial scooter. Note that you can just see the prototype Vespa peaking out from behind the BMW.

Photo from the always excellentVintagent blog.

Back in the 70's, some a guy from Southern California rode the Baja 500 on a Vespa Rally 180.  From the photos of the scooter, he didn't really do a lot to modify the scooter.  About all I could see was a legshield mounted spotlight, and a modification to the exhaust to have it go up and over the motor.  I think he also removed the front mudguard.  Needless to say, he didn't finish the race.  The only information I could find on it was that he had "carburetor problems."

Well, the Baja 500 is now the Baja 1000, and it is mainly the purview of big race trucks, and off-road motorcycles. Some guys think that they can do it on vintage Vespas. I wish them luck. The video above was about the only thing I could find on their site. I think it is the jalopy that one of the guys plans on riding. I'm guessing this is the pre-modified scooter. I wonder what he plans on doing to it!

You can find more information on their preparations here at Scootin the Baja 1000.

One of the non-Italian scooters that I really love is the Heinkel Tourist. They just look like they came from outter space to me. When you see one on the road, you don't forget it, that's for sure. This one just showed up for sale, and the seller claims that it has less than 200 original miles on the clock. I'd really want to look at it in person before I believed that story. There are a few things in the photos that look like they could be non-original. Who knows... I'm not a Heinkel expert. Personal inspection would tell the tale! If I was on the East Coast, I'd probably make a play for this scooter. Someday one will come up for sale near me! The Heinkel can be found on ebay here.