FEATURED SCOOTER SPECIFICATIONS

Scooter model: Vespa SS180. Purchase cost: Bought the frame only in 2012 for £450, but the scooter restoration plus finding the parts and rare 60s accessories over the last eight years has cost me £££££££!

Scooter name: ‘You Really Got Me' – it's a replica of the late-phase of Pete Quaife's (Kinks bass guitarist) Vespa SS180, which he owned in 1966.

Project inspiration: I was a huge Kinks fan in the 60s and saw them play in 1965 with a school friend, Mike Tate, at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff, so it was The Kinks, their music (particularly their early stuff). Build time: Eight years overall to find parts and accessories.

Restorer: Built over the last two years by Disco Dez Scooters (specifically Dez, Nathan and Jason). Specialised parts/mods (what and by

whom): Backrest and grab rail by Arfa Francis (aka Iain Wilson); front crash bars by Dez Askill; rear rack modifications by John Benson Wilson.

Engine spec: Everything has been restored to standard. Is the scooter reliable: Yes.

Paintwork: John Holmes of CKC Paints (Dunmow, Essex) via Dez Askill.

Engraving: This is a replica of a rock star's scooter which had no engraving

– it just wasn't done in the 60s!

Is there any chrome: Yes, lots!

Overall cost: I've lost count! Hardest part of project: Finding original accessories (the smiley-faced SS flyscreen, Florida bars, rear rack and Ulma hubcap were the most difficult – the flyscreen took three years to locate! Project advice: Hold out for the real thing, don't compromise.

Anything still to add: An Ulma back rack for largeframe Vespas (the one fitted is a modified Lambretta Scootopia Ulma rack). Plus two more genuine Ulma hubcaps. Anything you'd have done differently: No.

Project advice and tips: If a task is difficult and you're having problems completing it, then walk away and return to it at a later date. In my experience this usually works.