Any Vintage Scooter riders?

Just curious if any of you ride scooters? I have had a few over the years, but am looking to buy my first vintage scooter. Looking for a Vespa Rally 200. Would love to have a Lambretta, but I understand they take quite a bit more fiddling...

Chris

Re: Any Scooter riders?

I bought my wife a Vespa 150 last summer. I rode it home from the dealer for her, about 20 miles. It was ok, but not my kind of ride but she enjoys it.

Some of the maxi scooters can top 100 mph and challenge some motorcycles but they are heavy and expensive.

I stepped of the back of one of these , as the rider determinedly assulted a 45 degree grass hill . :lol: . Didnt have RATO but made a good start .



some of these old Puchs will do 70 mph down a hill two up flat out on the speedo , if youre in a hurry . 50 anyway .

2 stroke engine seizures were not included in the sales brochures :!:

The photos look like a Fuji rabbit.

In high school I had a Vespa scooter for awhile, a friend had a Zundapp Bella, it had a electric starter, I thought it was very cool.

A 60's series 2 Lambretta. Light weight, so easy on the back and knees, and pretty simple.
Unfortunately many owners here in UK were more concerned with flash paint than the mechanicals, so some horrors are around. Some sharks swim in those waters too, so extra caution if shelling out for an import - even if the picture in ebay looks shiney!
Like any other mechanical device, careful selection and matching of parts is essential. They can be made reliable, but people often do expect too much of a 60 year old shopping trolley.
There is a 100mph Lambretta club. This summer a couple of folks got over the ton terminal - one over 104mph, on the standing mile. On road legal bikes, with 10" wheels (no road legal tyres in this size are rated for over 93mph).
I use MBD up in Yorkshire, excellent. Mark has done a lot of development over the years and produces first class bits which keep a lot of bikes on the road, safely.
Couple of fora to browse
http://scooterotica.org/forum/
http://www.forums.ilambretta.com/index.php

I had a Durkopp for a while back in the 60's, typical German machine of the time, pig ugly but the engineering and build quality were fantastic. Several others like the Heinkel Tourist was apparently even better. I swopped out to a Lambretta because I was even more shallow then and bought it on looks alone. Plus my mum would sign the hire purchase. She thought I would be safer going to uni on a new scooter. I wanted a proper bike
There were about 50 British built scooter makers. Most were horrid, with BSA and Triumph leading the charge.

When I was a wee lad I worked in a Honda Triumph store. A gentleman brought in Trigress scooter for service, the only one I've ever seen. The same guy had a Velocette scooter as well.

This Cezeta was a pile of rust and some one had taken an axe to it, it wasnt complete when I got it , original 2 stroke engine was replaced with a 500cc single from a Honda , same as XL500 but with electric start, made my own alloy centered wheels
and fitted disc brakes front and rear, even molded my own running board rubbers, it was a hoot to ride.
the Cezeta emblem on the front left side was in bad shape so I machined a new one from aluminum, a bit time consuming.