Letter from the editor
A warm welcome to November Scootering.
By the time this edition hits the newsstands it’ll be the end of October and I’ll be planning my trip to Brid. It doesn’t feel that long ago since I was planning my trip to the first rally of the season at Whitby back in March. Where has the time gone? The season just seems to fly by and before we know it, it’ll be winter again! Of course I’m just looking ahead, planning months in advance is in my nature, and the season is far from over with events like Mablethorpe and Warmwell to name but a couple in November alone, and it won’t be long before it’s our very own Scooter World event in January. So plenty to look forward to yet.
Still, the cycle of winter maintenance, projects and restorations is something I actually look forward to each year. Whether it’s a bit of tuning to the engine or a full tear down and rebuild. It’s that small pause for thought, and that seasonal process which leads to the creation of many of the beautiful machines which we will see next season. I will say though, if there’s one good piece of advice I can offer anyone whose scooter needs a bit of attention from their mechanic or dealer, it’s this: when you finish your last rally of the season, whenever that may be, don’t just sling the rally-hack in the garage and forget about it until February next year, and then expect your local garage to have it ready for the first rally of 2017 at one week’s notice. The poor bloke will be inundated. The best time to take your scooter in for a bit of fettling is as soon as you finish the last rally of THIS year!
For those of you who like to twirl your own spanners, I hope the ‘Tech Torque’ guides we have put together offer some useful advice. Stu Owen starts his first part of the Winter Restoration guide, Darrell will be adding to his ongoing tuning feature, and my own Vespa tuning and upgrades series will continue over the coming months. So whether you are a 365 days per year scooterist doing your own maintenance, or a seasonal commuter sorting a winter project, hopefully we have something good in store for you. Anyway, it’s another belter this month. Enjoy the issue.