Castle’s Rocket
Every once in a while a custom scooter arrives that has everything, including that extra special WOW factor.
Probably one of the best custom scooters we have seen in a long time. Something special.
Castle’s Rocket unquestionably commands superlatives such as eye-catching, head-turning, breath-taking, jaw-dropping, among many other justifiable expressions of wonder. Quite simply, it’s pretty much a full blown custom that has had practically everything worked into its creation including stunning, intricate murals that fully depict the theme – steampunk. Detailed extras consisting of genuine vintage brass items both add to, and enhance the overall theme, while the one-off seat and dummy tank pad are both works of art in their own right. As for the engine, that not only has a Quattrini 200 top end kit, it’s a full Quattrini engine, built and tuned at Readspeed. Even more unusual is that owner and builder Neil Castle opted for a small frame Vespa as the canvas for his latest creation. What’s more, like Neil's previous custom projects, this scooter has been built to be ridden not hidden.
Filling up
Going back to March 2013, there was something of a steampunk edition of Scootering, with three different creations that were themed utilising steam punk for inspiration. The three feature scooters were Lambretta and large frame Vespa-based projects. Although not totally unheard of, small frame Vespas, along with non-GP Lammys, tend not to be the base machines of choice with custom scooter builders. Neil Castle, who rides with Cheltenham Blue Diamonds SC is a prolific custom builder. Once he embarked on this particular project, it took him about a year to complete.
Castle’s Rocket is, obviously, a Vespa small frame, albeit actually a combination of three small frames. The main part is a 1976 Vespa 90 frame (V9A1T) which, when Neil obtained it, was a bit tatty and, among other previous modifications, had the legshields roughly trimmed to loosely resemble those of a 90SS. How did this project begin?
“It’s a combination of three frames to make one good one,” said Neil. “I had to cut both panels off to extend the frame outwards about an inch on each side. I got a pair of new quarter panels from a German dealer and welded them on at a very slight angle to suit how the Quattrini casings sit in the widened frame. For most of that operation, including the welding, I was aided, abetted and helped no end by fellow Blue Diamond, Weasel. I had to bastardise a few other parts off another cut-down small frame to replace or repair certain areas on the main donor frame.
“My initial idea, when I first bought the R-reg frame basically as a box of bits, was to matt black it with a pokey engine fitted. Things have a tendency to change with me; I suppose half my initial idea, as in the pokey engine, applies. When I got it the legshields had been crudely trimmed to resemble the narrower ones on a 90SS. They needed a bit of tidying up, along with other things. I knew the engine was going to deliver some serious power, so adding the 90SS style dummy tank and the pad was both for appearances and practical reasons. The latter being so I’ll have something to, sort of, lean onto to keep the front end down.”
Temperature rising
ReBorn To Be Wild has been responsible for the paint and murals on a number of Neil’s previous custom scooters. On Castle’s Rocket, the steampunk inspired artwork is phenomenal. Cleverly depicted details have been worked in, which need much more than a quick cursory glance to fully appreciate. How did the initial idea evolve into the finished paintwork?
“I quite like the steampunk style, as well as the Lowry matchstick men paintings of the industrial era in the north. John and Sammy at ReBorn To Be Wild, who have painted quite a few of my previous projects, share my liking of steam punk. I really like their work so no need to go elsewhere. Besides Sammy dresses a bit in the steampunk style, she wears a top hat with feathers as well as other stuff. I decided quite early on to name this scooter Castle’s Rocket, inspired by Stephenson’s Rocket, in a roundabout sort of way the engineer/inventor Stephenson was the unwitting grandfather of steampunk. John did the base paintwork, after which, with steampunk as the theme, John and Sammy let their imaginations run wild to come up with the finished article.
Using some of Lowry’s original paintings as a ort of start point, Sam came up with the murals. nstead of men in flat caps, there are mice in flat aps, which I like. The artwork is amazing, epicting inside and outside old factories on the ide panels, the legshields and mudguard artwork s all in keeping with the theme. I’ve had the cooter completed for a while now yet I still keep oticing all sorts of clever artwork details in the aint. There’s also a lot of very subtle pipework epicted within the paintwork too. John and Tony t ReBorn To Be Wild did most of the frame modifications, excepting the extended and tilted
anels. They mixed up a special paint, which has got brass particles in it, for the levers and wheel rims, in keeping with all the vintage brass fittings and extras.
Simmering nicely
Attention to detail, along with getting the right balance of extras to enhance and complement a custom machine isn’t as easy as it sounds. Too little and any desired impact is minimalised conversely too much and it can result in overkill. Neil has got, I’d say, the right balance of brasswork, dials and copper piping on Castle’s Rocket. Finding vintage items to suit his scooter’s theme took more time and trouble than Neil originally anticipated.
“Once I decided on the steampunk theme, quite early on I got hold of a few aged to look old pocket watches. Soon junked them and that particular train of thought, because, to be blunt, they looked shit! So the hunt was on for genuine vintage brass items from the 1820s, or earlier, that could be
used or utilised. With the exception of the rear light, which looks very much in keeping with all the other brass parts, all of them are from that time or earlier. Never one to make it too easy for myself, they did take some searching and tracking down, I set myself targets as to where any brass items were linked to. As I’m originally from London and live in Cheltenham, I was specifically searching for brass parts with connections to either of those places. To start with the possible brass parts I found that could’ve been used all seemed to come from the industrial areas of the north. On the finished scooter, only the foot pedal came from the north east and that came off old factory machinery. The headlight surround with a grill, of sorts, was liberated off an old diving helmet.
“I’m particularly pleased with the pressure gauge on the legshields, with the cutaway, so you can see all the workings. Over the petrol, the tap is a London safe plaque, again from the 1820s. Brass cart horse wheel centre bosses date back to the late 1600s early 1700s. Gary at Leathery Elephant has done a few seats for other customs I’ve built; he’s always delivered top quality. On Castle’s Rocket, he did both the seat and tank pad, exceeding even his own high standards with them both. Probably the hardest part of building Castle’s Rocket was fitting the copper pipe as legshield and front mudguard trim. It had to be ground, crimped and then lacquered; Tom at ReBorn To Be Wild carried out that particularly awkward operation. Fitting a Vespa 90 mudguard to the PK forks proved to be a bit of a mission as well.”
Boiling Point
“After discussing what I had in mind with Jerome at Readspeed, we decided to go down the Quattrini route. Lots of good reports on what the 200 Quattrini kits deliver from over on mainland Europe helped in the decision. It’s not just the top end Quattrini kit; we went for a Quattrini crank, engine casing and exhaust too. Gear kit is 27-69 and there’s a Falc cassette clutch. Jerome has worked his magic by carrying out extra porting work too.
“Quattrini recommends and provides a Dellorto 28mm carburettor as standard, which is what’s on there at the moment. But, having been Readspeed tuned, the carb may or may not need to be changed. At the time of the photoshoot I’d only clocked up a few miles on Castle’s Rocket, it’s not been set up on a dyno as yet. Once we’ve done the dyno stage, depending on how it all works, the setup might need to be changed. What I do know after clocking up just a few miles so far is that it’s potentially ’kin fast. As we’re moving into the winter months now, I’ve started work on my next project – a Vespa chop. With Castle’s Rocket, there’s still the dyno set up of the engine to do.”
I’ve a feeling that once Castle’s Rocket does appear on the rallies next year, there’s going to be some serious interest, admiration, possibly some metaphorical drooling too, invoked by the sheer quality of Neil’s latest custom creation. With a likelihood of it being viewed alongside some of the elite show-stopping custom scooters of all time. Words: Sarge
Photography: Gary Chapman