LAMBRETTA LI 150 RESTORATION A DREAM COME TRUE
Rikki Haynes grew up near Sicamous, B.C. in the late sixties and early seventies on the KOA campground her family owned and operated. To make the eightmile journey into town her older brother, Steven Favel, really wanted a motorcycle but couldn't afford one. Instead, he bought a 1960 Lambretta Li 150 scooter.
“A neighbouring campground had three Lambrettas as rental scooters,” Haynes says from her Calgary home. “I don't think the rentals went over very well, and they sold them. My brother was so embarrassed by the scooter, he'd ride it the eight miles, hide it in the bush, and then walk into town.”
In 1974, when he was finally able to afford a Suzuki motorcycle, Favel parked the scooter and said to Haynes, “Here, you can have the Lambretta, it's yours now.” Haynes had ridden the scooter around the campground but left it behind when she moved to Calgary and got a job at a Mohawk gas station on Macleod Trail. There, co-workers told her they'd help restore the machine and get it back on the road.
“I rescued it and brought it to Calgary,” Haynes recalls, and continues, “but nothing ever came of the restoration. I was living in an apartment at the time and first the seats disappeared, and then the side panels disappeared. But it moved with us every time we moved.”
Finally, the Lambretta was stored in the garden shed in her backyard for 42 years. Eventually considering her options, in 2016 Haynes says she was prepared to dispose of the Lambretta when she was introduced to Calgary motorcycle enthusiast Stu Mccoll. He agreed to look at the scooter as a potential restoration project.
Riding since the late sixties, Mccoll's first machine was a Honda S90 which he turned into a café racer. He's since owned more than 75 motorcycles, and adds “I simply love motorcycle racing, riding and restoring.” His first impression of the tired old Lambretta? “Oh, my god, this is going to be a big project,” he laughs, and continues, “but I could feel Rikki's emotion for the machine, and she really was just looking for someone to save this scooter.”
Immediately after the Second World War, Italians required personal transportation, and as the country's aircraft factories were not allowed to continue producing airplanes, many diversified and began manufacturing two-wheeled vehicles, including scooters. First produced in 1947, the Lambretta scooter was designed by two aircraft engineers and constructed in a factory owned by industrialist Ferdinando Innocenti. Proving extremely popular in Europe, the machines were improved over time, and in 1958 Lambretta introduced its new Series I Li 150. Instead of eight-inch wheels, the Li had larger 10-inch wheels, redesigned sheet metal and the two-stroke power plant was enlarged to 148cc. Haynes's Lambretta is a Series II Li 150. Introduced in 1959, on Series II models the headlight moved from the fairing onto the handlebars. The Series II ran until late 1961.
“Rikki's old Lambretta was rusty, beat up and missing parts, but I took it home and started the restoration,” Mccoll explains. He took the machine completely apart and made an extensive list of required pieces. It needed all new rubber, cables, seats, side panels, headlight, tail light and some trim. Surprisingly, Mccoll says, the engine was not seized. Gearbox fluid had leaked into the crankcase, preserving the crank and the bore. While that was a bonus, the kick-starter splines were stripped. New seals, piston and rings and kick-starter shaft were located. The cylinder only required a light hone to return it to service, and Mccoll had the crank seals installed by Calgary's Old Motorcycle Shop.
Sheet metal components went to Feliks Auto Body in Calgary, where cracks, dents and holes were welded and metal worked. New side panels were sourced on ebay from India, as were dozens of other parts, while other pieces came from Italy, Spain, the U.K. and the States. Instead of paint, Mccoll had the metal finished in white and red powder coat, applied in Calgary by Top Gun Coatings. Chrome work was done by Alberta Plating. New tires, tubes and wheel bearings were installed, and the leading link front suspension rebuilt.
After assembling the scooter, Mccoll had Dan Barnett of the Old Motorcycle Shop fine tune the electrical system and the motor, which now runs sweetly, he says. The four-speed gearbox is shifted by the left-hand twist grip. Pull in the clutch lever and rotate the grip to select the desired gear. That, Mccoll says, is something that wasn't easy to set up as it's all cable operated. Working part time on the project, Mccoll took seven years to complete the restoration and Haynes took delivery of her Lambretta scooter last fall. An avid motorcyclist, Haynes has a Suzuki Boulevard, Kawasaki Ninja and a Can-am Spyder three-wheeler.
“I plan to sell the motorcycles,” Haynes says, “and will ride the Lambretta around town. I never thought it would look this good, and after holding onto it for so long it brings back a lot of memories — now I get to ride it and enjoy it.”