Last month we showed you the blood, sweat and tears which went into making this custom. Now for the pretty part…

There are two main approaches to creating a custom scooter. Both start as a concept, and once the idea is settled upon, that’s when time, trouble and money come into play. An avenue then often followed is to enlist the services of one, or several, specialists to carry out the work to the specifications of the owner. This way gives more or less guaranteed results but it can also prove to be more costly than anticipated. Alternatively, potential custom scooter builders, certainly those with the right skills and abilities, can opt to carry out as much of the work themselves as possible. So that’s exactly what Paul Lowden did, and threw himself into it at that! Last month we saw the effort which went into fabrication and paint as Paul had an uphill learning curve. Now Paul explains the loveliness of engines his first ride to the rally...

Get Your Motor Running

The engine in Ginger Stepchild was built from scratch. It was a bare Indian casing that needed a bit of alloy welding, a few stud holes being repaired and re-tapped too. It was built slowly, to start with, as I was concentrating my efforts on Ol’ Rusty.

After I’d finished my S1 project, my attention turned full-on to Ginger Stepchild. Being 80s inspired, I aimed for period components and set-up for the engine. Hence the old school 34mm Amal mark 2 carb. The exhaust is a copy of a DJ (Dave Webster), system. I’m looking to get a genuine DJ for authenticity, fingers crossed as I’ve got a lead, so I hope to have one on Ginger Stepchild soon.

I’m running an Li125 gearbox with 18 x 47 sprockets, using 4.00 x 10 tyres front and back. I liberated the 4.00 x 10s off another scoot in my garage. Taking parts off another machine, on the one hand, helps to finish the project you’re working on at the time, on the other hand replacing what you’ve taken isn’t quite as straightforward as it should be. The price of a decent clutch these days is eye-watering, £200, though it is a six-plate AF cassette item, and pretty much bomb-proof.

The crankshaft is a 62mm long stroke which came from Darrell Taylor, he also supplied a 9mm base packing plate to work with the barrel. The cylinder itself was sourced off eBay, I bought it as a cast iron 225. When it arrived, after taking measurements it turned out to be an 80s Kawasaki conversion, that used an H2 Wossner piston. With a 9mm base packing plate jacking the barrel up to work with the long stroke crank, it went from 225 to 245cc. I tidied up the ports, matching them to the manifolds and matched the casing and barrel transfer ports using the 9mm base packer as the template.

The final item for the engine jigsaw was the cylinder head. I spent quite a few late nights with club mate and Lambretta guru Adam Winstone taking measurements, applying formulas to ascertain the necessary requirements.

I settled on using an RD250 head with the squish and profile reworked to suit my top end, also the plan was, using my dimensions, to run it without a head gasket. After obtaining a suitable standard head, I contacted a well-known engine tuner, who shall remain nameless. I was talked out of the specifications I’d worked out with Adam, to allow a head gasket to be used.

The head was despatched off in plenty of time for it to be back for my second deadline of Isle of Wight 2017. In fact, I was given many assurances the work would be done in plenty of time. Reality is though, the deadline came and went, and there’s still no sign of that cylinder head. So I needed to bring a Plan B into play. Not that at that stage I actually had a Plan B! I put out a shout for an original RD250 head, luckily one came up almost straight away. I took the head, along with my original specifications, to a local engineer, Big Dad. He delivered exactly what I wanted, with enough time to spare to fit it and take the scooter for its MOT. All in time for the Isle of Wight.

Shine On

For the brightwork, it was always going to be chrome plating and polished alloy. Two reasons for that; firstly Ginger Stepchild is inspired by early 80s scooters, and engraving didn’t so much come to prominence until later in the 80s.

Secondly, engraving really doesn’t float my boat. I do appreciate the craftsmanship and skill that goes into engraving masterpieces, it’s just not for me.

When you’re concentrating on one project with another on the back burner you find yourself collecting and amassing various parts that may be useful. Often when it’s time to have a closer look at what’s been collected, you discover some of them aren’t quite good enough. Then you end up buying new.

When it comes to chrome, the base surfaces need to be in pristine condition as every little ding, dint and dent will be massively amplified once it’s been plated. Nobby put me on to a local back street outlet, he had some bits done for his Supertune SX and BLA there. It’s run by an Eastern European fella. I had 20 parts of varying sizes and shapes plated there. It took six weeks for the chroming to be turned around and cost me £800. Listing out everything I had chromed I’d say it was well worth it, I really got proper value for money.

I decided way before I started any work on Ginger Stepchild that, as well as chrome plated parts I wanted a lot of the alloy polished too. Although I don’t like doing polishing myself, I’d have rat scoots all day long, I did have a go at some of it myself. I tried getting the powder coating off the master cylinder and levers. I tried Nitromorse and all sorts, I couldn’t shift the powder coating.

Eventually, I turned to a mate, Fid, (Allistair Fiddler), who is pretty damn good when it comes to polishing. He did the engine casings, horn grille, mag housing, rear hub, quick action throttle, the flywheel itself as well as the master cylinder and levers. Gotta say I’m well pleased with how the chroming and polishing have turned out.

Teething troubles and final touches

I made a bespoke wiring loom fairly early on in the project, sensibly and unusually for me I tried it out on a dry build frame. Just as well as I had more than enough niggles, issues and problems to deal with over the run in to the Isle of Wight. The wiring loom had to do what it was intended to do right from the off; turned out that bit of unlikely forward planning was a good call on my part.

The electrics are inside the legshield toolbox, I’ve run the loom through the main frame tube. I sent off an original 80s Snetterton seat base with a view to having it re-covered in the style of an 80s original. I had several conversations with the person concerned, he assured me he knew exactly what I wanted, but when the seat arrived it resembled an overstuffed soft toy! To ensure I actually made my deadline of making this year’s Isle of Wight I made a few frantic calls, Allstyles had a Snetterton seat in stock. That would have to suffice, to be fair, although it’s a bit fat, it’s nowhere near as bad or as deep as I thought it would be.

Luckily it arrived on the morning of the Wednesday before the Isle of Wight, especially as Ginger Stepchild was booked in for its MOT that lunchtime. Without a

seat, I doubt I would’ve got the ticket! The intention is to either source a genuine 80s Snetterton seat or to have the 80s original base re-recovered as it should be. Most stressful part of a final couple of weeks was the no-show of the cylinder head, despite promises and assurances. I managed to overcome that problem, nonetheless, I’m still a bit bitter about it.

I set off for the Isle of Wight with only five miles clocked up on Ginger Stepchild, which was from going back and forth to the MOT. As I was still running it in I avoided the A34, instead, taking a leisurely ride down to the coast on B-roads. My missus is glad I’ve finished Ginger Stepchild; I was spending every night after the kids went to bed out in the garage till gone 2am. Inevitably I’d be hanging in the morning, usually evident by me shouting at the kids. Ginger Stepchild is my scootering pinnacle in building terms, so far. It’s been a massive learning curve for me, but I’m chuffed how well Ginger Stepchild has turned out.