Cursum Perficio
This is one of the most personal scooters that I’ve had the privilege to write about, one that represents much more than an interest or an idea. Paul Hunter’s Spanish Li125 custom is entirely based on his family, and is dedicated to the memory of the memb
A personal touch to a sentimental scooter.
Paul had picked up this fine example of a Spanish Li125 around a month before the tragic loss of his mother last year. He’d already spent a few weeks trying to think of a theme for it when events tragically gave him the basic idea for the scooter you see before you. Taking his inspiration from his family name, Hunter, and its motto, he decided that a mobile tribute would be a fitting use for the Series 2 scooter. Cursum Perficio is the family motto, and is a typically clever heraldic play on words. Various translations include ‘I finish what I start’ or ‘I finish my journey’. A synonym for the second one could be ‘I run my course’, which is originally a reference to hunting, which brings us right back to Paul’s surname – Hunter. Clever stuff, eh?
The scooter itself is full of similar visual puns on his family name, and also plays on something that his mother told him when he got his first scooter – “It’ll do to get you from A to B” – which inspires the bee on the handlebars, and also in the ‘CP’ monogram on the rear lamp, which incorporates a stylised one. It’s the paint that gets the immediate attention though. The simple buttermilk basecoat has an excellent example of restrained but meaningful pinstriping which was applied by Pete Hammersley (also known as Pete Von Brush if anyone wants to check out his other work!). As striking as it is simple, the burgundy and grey linework highlights the gorgeous curves of the S2, but also includes further plays on the family epithet.
I’ll bet you’ve missed the flashes towards the front of the panels. Take a second look and you’ll see an almost impressionist pair of dogs in full pursuit of an imaginary quarry.
The obvious one is the toolbox, with its two hounds at ‘alert’, but I’ll bet you’ve missed the flashes towards the front of the panels. Take a second look and you’ll see an almost impressionist pair of dogs in full pursuit of an imaginary quarry. Similarly, the twin lines up the leg-shields represent the two in chase, never crossing, never getting in each other’s way, an idea echoed in the twin line stitching of the one-off seat by Gary Lewis.
Further Latin inscriptions are found on the floorboard strips, the translation of which – ‘It’s all in the name’ – is what Paul considers the real title of the scooter – and on the headlamp surround, ‘Where one goes,’ a phrase that could be interpreted as another play on ‘Hunter’ or, more sadly, a reference to his family members with its natural, unsaid, extension ‘others will follow’.
A few one-off pieces adorn the scooter, but given its intended use as a day-to-day ride, these have been kept to a minimum. The fuel and choke taps are another pair of hunting dogs, and mounted into clutch and panel levers are three garnets, a stone often associated with mourning, which originated from his father’s ring.
Underneath the bodywork lives the original motor, although with several tweaks to improve performance and reliability. Once the engine had been flushed of the accumulation of mud which was bizarrely found to be filling it, it was given an aluminium powder clean before a 185 top end was fitted, along with an uprated crank and carb, GP200 gearbox and 28mm Dellorto carb. If you take a careful look at the Sterling exhaust, you’ll notice a pattern etched into it. This was achieved by Paul stretching a net over the pipe, and then blasting it with more aluminium oxide, giving the pleasing and unusual finish, he also engraved the end can to finish the job properly!
The more observant of you will have noticed the lack of shininess on the machine, with chrome being kept to an absolute bare minimum. There’s no reason for this other than Paul intends the scooter to be a regular road going machine, and that he doesn’t want to be cleaning it when he could be riding it, an approach that I must say makes a lot of sense to me.
To finish off, Paul asked me to say a quick thank you to all those who involved themselves in this project, you know who you are and, more importantly, he remembers...