Welcome to the September edition of Scootering

It’s been an interesting month. Scootering.com took Scooterotica.org forum under its digital wing, I picked up a Vespa PX to go in the stable alongside my ’69 GP (and started tuning it immediately) and lastly Stan’s trusty Vespa expired en route to the British Vespa Days event.

Scootering magazine has long recognised the demand for digital content alongside the magazine, which is why we are so active on FB and our own scootering.com newsreel website. But sometimes more than FB comments and a newsreel commentary is needed, which is where the online Scooterotica.org forum community comes in. It adds the element of archived/searchable interaction that only a forum can bring, and completes the scootering.com digital family nicely.

As for the Vespa, I just knew my Lambretta project was going to be an ongoing labour of love and wouldn’t be ready until next year. So I needed something to get me to the rallies and events in the meantime… and what better than the popular rally hack of choice, the Vespa PX. Of course, me being me, I had the damn thing straight onto the dyno and started testing components… but that’s just my nature. However, it did throw up some very interesting results, and will form the start of our new and ongoing Vespa-based feature next month.

Finally, Stan the man was half-way on his journey to the big event which he was looking forward to so much: British Vespa Days. However, and rather ironically, his Vespa wasn’t as keen. A suspected air-leak put an end to his journey as the engine expired and Stan sat in wait for the inevitable recovery vehicle. Thanks to VCB president Robin Quartermain for stepping into the breach to supply the rally report for us! The upshot of Stan’s tragic breakdown is that I’m now roping him into my ‘Vespa development’ programme. He’s not a fan of ‘upgrades’ and prefers a standard machine as a rally-hack, so it’s my job now to show him the correct path…

Enjoy the issue.