Scootering July 2020

Anyone who knows me will tell you that I have a habit of starting new projects, getting three-quarters of the way through them, but then I seem to get distracted by another ‘bright shiny object’ and move on to that. I then accumulate a catalogue of unfinished projects, some of which (lots of which) get sold off to fund the next adventure… it’s aperpetual cycle! I know I’m not alone in this matter, as most of my former garage customers were in the same boat, and brought their part-finished projects to the garage for us to complete! So when I took on the well-publicised Targa Twin project, I did have the mantra in my mind ‘don’t get distracted, don’t get distracted’. If you’ve ever seen the ‘aeroplane scene’ in the…

Stu Smith Vespa and Lambretta owner, scooter obsessive, amateur home mechanic, rally-goer, Mod sympathiser, music lover and general all round good egg. He writes your rally reports, be nice to him. Nik Skeat Vespa P-range obsessive, well-travelled rally rider since the ’80s, founder of the notorious Scooterboy World forum. He’s also a brilliant beer-brewing bearded Scootering feature writer. Paul Green Vespa and Lambretta scooter enthusiast, BSSO professional and general good egg. Our Paul has a long history of scootering both on the road and on the track, with the breakdown bills and crash scars to prove it. Stuart Owen LCGB ‘life member’, 100mph Lambretta Club owner and scooter restoration expert to boot. Scooter rider, rally-goer, restorer and author. Reaches the parts other scooter journalists just can’t reach. Rik Bardsley More flamboyant than Liberace and more manic than a mouse…

I’M ALRIGHT JACK There’s no doubt that the classic Vespa is a triumph of industrial design. Unfortunately the technique for changing a rear wheel is not one of its strengths. Members of Kirika Vespa Club in Vitoria, Spain have grown tired of damaging panels and spilling fuel by laying their Vespas on one side. Setting their collective minds together, they’ve developed the Vespa Survival Kit (VSK) and they believe it’s the perfect solution to roadside puncture problems. Made in Spain from high strength plated steel, the VSK is a lever jack which raises the Vespa’s rear end by means of a bar which fits through the two rear panel locating holes. The unit is designed to break down into a toolbox-sized bag which is around the size of a two-stroke oil bottle. There’s a definite…

Frustrating though this lengthy lockdown period is, many scooter owners are working flat out on their pride and joy, making sure they are ready for when everyone can finally get back out on the road. Some owners are already out there, still working and using a scooter as a mode of transport. To do so requires a constant stream of spares to make sure the work of building or keeping them on the road can still be carried out. The main obstacle is getting the required spares for the job. With most scooter businesses closed to the public it’s not a case of just popping out to get what you need whenever you want. The supply chain by this method is cut – so what is the other option? It may…

You’ve likely been sending or receiving emails starting: “I hope you are staying safe and keeping well in these unprecedented times…” It is difficult sometimes to even understand how we got to this point as a country and indeed as a world. So the monthly arrival of Scootering magazine is a welcome monthly escape from all this madness and uncertainty, achance to kick back and escape into a different world. One that brings happier memories. One that is at least starting to feel a little better now that we are actually able to go out on a scooter and meet friends for a socially distanced, six-person mini rally in a park! Second wave permitting (!) let’s hope that we can at least find some sort of useful new normal before…

The story of this stunning chopper is a familiar one. Like so many of us the owner, Will Aitken, has roots in the 1980s scooter scene. He owned, rode, crashed and otherwise destroyed more scooters than he cares to recall before ‘real life’ intervened. For Will, it was a career in the licensed trade that took up his time and energies. However, scooterists and alcohol are a match made in heaven and inevitably Will found himself managing a pub frequented by the local scooter club, namely the Chesterfield Spirals. The bug bites “The forks sold with the project were set to one side and replaced with a set taken from a KTM Motocrosser. These were fully rebuilt and re-pressurised, a quick ride having revealed that they possessed all the qualities of a…