Trigger Happy
Avoice from the Young Guns SC Despite many of us constantly bemoaning the ‘scene’ for not looking to the future, the opposite could be said for the most important part of said scene: the scooters.
Many of us are constantly looking for the next must-have parts or modifying our scooters to accept the latest gizmos and gadgets. Each decade has had its unique style, with the naughties and beyond no exception! This, in turn, has kept our sometimes very old scooters looking very contemporary and keeping them relevant. Throw into the equation the fact that Lambretta and Vespa have remained incredibly powerful brands – even if the former effectively met its demise in the early 70s.
This has all created a situation where many members of the non-scootering public are oblivious to the age of these scooters, and are shocked to hear that some of our machines are true golden oldies these days! If mechanical human hybrids were possible, then I could imagine that some scooters out there could be old enough to be some of our members’ great-grandparents... Despite being few in years, our members still love those scooters in the older demographic (or those that don’t really fit into any demographic). Talking of these oddities and oldies, I introduce YGSC member Ben, plus brothers Jacob and Luke... “I got a Model D because throughout my childhood my dad had a D 150. One of my first scootering memories was going for a ride with my dad on the on the back of that scooter! It had me craving a Model D! When I bought my own, I bought it as a series of boxes out a fella’s garage and in true scootering fashion I built it very slowly... and in my kitchen. Unfortunately I then snapped the crank on the way home from the Isle of Wight last year (it’s still in the garage in the same state). I’m hoping to treat it to a respray and a full engine rebuild at some point soon, well hopefully!” It must run in the family, as older brother Luke explains his epic trip to the Euro Lambretta on his model B: “Like Jacob, it was my dad’s influence that made me go for something a little more out of the ordinary and I bought a 1949 Model B. I rode the Model B to the Euro Lambretta in Neckarsulm, Germany, 2007 with my uncle, who was on the Model D.
“Rode down the A1 with only a mountain bike light taped to the scoot to guide the way at 4am. Managed to cover 330 miles in a brutal 14 hour ride one of the days. Won three trophies, youngest rider, oldest ridden and best A/B. A guy who rode his D got jealous of being beat by a 16-year-old and stole one of my trophies causing a brawl between about eight of us. It was an insane trip!” Ben Reddings, 19 Hatfield, Hertfordshire “The Lui is a long story, but to cut it short: my cousin first had the Lui, but he blew up the engine and couldn’t afford to get it repaired. In the end, it worked its way to my dad and we set about rebuilding it together. The plan was to put it to its original blue but we saw it in the powder coated white and decided to keep it like that. The restoration was finished but I was only 14 so had to wait two very long years before I could (legally) ride it.
“I used it every day from my 16th birthday until I built my Vespa. Though, even when I had my Vespa, I would still choose to use the Lui instead. Even though it’s nowhere near as powerful as the Vespa, it’s 100% more fun to ride. After having it for a few years, it’s got a few dings and dents from a teenage rider, so I decided to use my uni’s vinyl cutter and designed the ‘Ridden Not Hidden’ sticker to go on the front. In my mind it excuses the fact that it’s no longer perfect.”
Even though it’s nowhere near as powerful as the Vespa, it’s 100% more fun to ride.