Frijj Smallframe
A moo-ving feature scooter.
Emergence of the darkside (auto engine scooters) was a mere shadow on the horizon. The second-hand scooter market was relatively pocket-friendly and realistic, and the rally end of the scene, alongside various elements of scooter sport, were arguably more closely aligned than they ever had been before, even in the 60s. Restrictive legislation was much less prevalent than it is today too – simply put, it was an era of fun times. Besides we were all so much younger back then. Mike Lewis, known to his mates as Miggs, celebrated his 16th birthday right in the middle of those years. His first scooter was a ‘sixteener legal’ PK50, fitted with a Malossi 112cc kit, making it technically illegal to be ridden by a 16-year-old. Despite more than doubling the scooter’s cubic capacity, his first scooter was painfully slow. Nonetheless, it began a lifetime obsession with small-framed Vespa scooters.
Miggs vividly recalls going on rallies during his formative years on the scooter scene and his excitement at actually seeing, in the metal, lavishly muralled full blown custom machines, which had previously had him drooling via magazine features back then. Although Miggs appreciated the time, effort and expense bestowed on those custom scooters, his personal preference was always for those of the street racer style. Indeed, along with small frame scooters, they remain his choice these days. Crucial Brew is his all time favourite example.
The christening of this particular small-frame street racer that he has made his own, took Miggs back to the early 90s, and an incident that has stayed with him ever since: “A bunch of us back in the day developed a taste, which soon became an addiction, for Frijj milkshakes and a local fuel station was the only place we could buy it. One particular day, there was a few of us hanging out round my garage. I was working on restoring a VW Beetle at the time. A mate arrived with the information that there was the only bottle of Frijj left at the shop – cue a mass scramble for our scoots, the race was on!
“Arriving at the petrol station forecourt, we were all fairly close together. One of our number, Lez, on his 135 cutdown, jumped off his scooter which was still running at speed, in a bid to grab the last Frijj. His scoot collided with the front of the garage shop. Needless to say, the owner wasn’t best pleased! After I’d put my on slant on my small frame, there was only one name that came to mind. Frijj.”
Miggs took ownership of the Vespa Primavera, (see opposite for a brief history of the classic geared Vespa Primavera) last summer. He obtained the scooter off a mate, Terry, who had already done most of the work to it.
“Terry had painted it green and blue as well as having had quite a few things uprated on the engine, he’d also had powder coating and a few parts including the levers, twist-grips, horn and rear brake unit Carbon Hydro dipped. When I first got Frijj off Terry I got quite annoyed with people saying, ‘Oh, but it’s really Terry’s bike’, so I set about changing it quite a bit. I added the black paint, race numbers and sponsors’ logos. Also, I replaced the seat for a Norrie Kerr race one, and I got a genuine Primavera rear light unit to replace the one it had when I bought it. Now I’ve got my own stamp on it I’m much happier.”
With more than a few power and performance goodies enhancing the engine output, it almost goes without saying that Frijj is a bit on the quick side. “Frijj really is pokey enough. I still, as yet, don’t know exactly how fast it will go. What I can say is it goes right off the clock on the standard Primmy speedo! I’m looking to add a front disc brake up to Frijj, in the near future. Then I’ll have stopping power to match the engine that of the engine.”
Frijj, Miggs small-frame Vespa street racer is exactly what he wanted it to be. Fun to ride, a scooter that ticks all the boxes of all his youthful preferences. A scooter that harks back, especially visually, to a period of time when life was less stressful. At least that’s the way most of us remember those fun-packed days. Words: Sarge Photographs: Gary Chapman