Breathing life into an old favourite
Baz Matthews saves his old European touring companion from a rusty, unloved end...
Baz Matthews revives his T5
Baz Matthews is from Baddesley Ensor, an old ex-miners' village in North Warwickshire. Baz, like so many (myself included), is a product of the tail-end of the Mod Revival years and owes his scootering passion to those 1980s beginnings.
Baz got his first scooter – a PK50S – back in 1984 and along with his mates, also Vespa riders, enjoyed the Nuneaton Mod scene to the maximum.
As soon as he turned 17, the lure of increased speed and power kicked in and he purchased a Vespa P200E, which for some reason had been mistakenly recorded as a 125cc on the registration document – what are the chances of that, eh?
CHANGING OF THE GUARD
As the decade moved on and the Mod label was dropped by many in favour of the Scooterboy/Scooterist tags, Baz followed and began to have a strong leaning to the lowrider-style scooters which were mostly painted matt black with the tanks in the wrong place, etc., etc. That was until he decided he wanted to really stretch his scootering legs (or should I say wheels) and do a ‘Big Trip' to the mainland of continental Europe. This had come about when ‘Patch' Jones, one of his mates who had got his PK50 at the same time as Baz, was up for an expedition to the Continent and especially Switzerland. This dream had begun for both of them from things they had both seen and learned about at school. As time moved on, they both upgraded to larger-capacity machines and the possibility of turning this dream into reality was becoming a very plausible possibility.
As such, Baz wanted (in his mind at the time anyway) a more suitable machine that would stop (sort of, eventually), go reasonably quick, had good lights and the all-important fuel gauge. With his wish list firmly in his mind everything pointed towards the superb Vespa T5 – a belter of a machine with a powerful, perky and fun motor, 12-volt electrics and with a headlight so bright you could almost see into the future (or at least that's what it felt like at the time). There was also the busy dashboard with an array of dials, gauges and warning lights which had only been seen previously on the likes of the NASA space shuttle; oh aye and don't forget the allimportant fuel gauge. Baz had been on a T5 previously and really loved it, so that was his mind made up – a T5 it would be.
THE RIGHT MACHINE
He didn't have to wait too long either, as a mate of his called ‘Spicer', of the Bad Company SC from Chapel End, had one for sale. Apparently, his mate was selling it as it was just a bit too much for him. The going fast bit was okay – he could handle that side of things – it was just the stopping part of it that was becoming a tad tiresome and he had already had three replaced front mudguards after misjudging the required stopping distance for such a sporty machine, which was still on cable-operated drum brakes.
Spicer had purchased the T5, brand spanking new, from Scooter Sales of Abbey Green in Nuneaton – a traditional scooter shop which had been owned by a guy called Keith Trill and had been a Vespa dealership since the 1950s, but also sold the Lambretta models.
(Apparently Keith Trill had been one of the driving forces of the Vespa Club of Nuneaton, which had the Vespa Club Britain affiliation (Cog No. 111). I've been informed that this club was a breakaway club formed by ex-members of the Coventry VC and the affiliation number dates to around 1958. At one time the Nuneaton club would meet upstairs at the Scooter Sales shop).
So, there was a lot of classic scootering history associated with this dealership and it was also where all the local young Mods/ Scooterists had hung round every Saturday back in the 1980s, aspiring to one day be able to hand over their own cash and come away the proud owner of their very own machine.
Baz purchased the T5 from his mate in early 1989, then began to make the required preparations for the planned ‘Big Trip' to Kreuzlingen in north-eastern Switzerland.
TALLY HO!
Eventually the time came (this was June 1990) and Baz excitedly set off with his mate Patch Jones on their epic quest. The intrepid explorers rode down to Dover to visit family, then on to the ferry and over to Calais, then crossing into Belgium and France again before reaching the destination for the rally in Kreuzlingen, which took place between June 30 and July 1 (coincidentally, the Paddy Smith patch (the prerequisite rally campaign medal for the event) has a custom T5 depicted on it.
The pair of them had a fantastic time and many lifelong scootering friendships were made at the event. But sadly, all too soon it was over. But as consolation, they still had the fun of the return journey to look forward to.
Baz said that one night they were in France and for one reason or another, they were running late so were not able to reach the planned campsite to pitch up for the night. That was no real problem, as they had all they needed with them; so at the next opportunity, the decision was taken to pitch up and wild camp. This meant leaving the tarmac road and riding up a partially covered track. As Baz went up the track, he felt a bump and the scooter bottom out, but kept going and got to the chosen camping spot.
After a decent night's sleep in the wild, the two lads made their way back down to the road and continued upon their journey home. It was at this point that Baz noticed something wrong with his T5. Baz says that “it just wouldn't pull as it should”. After stopping to check what was happening, he realised that the downpipe of the aftermarket PM exhaust was crushed in somewhat and was restricting the flow of combusted gases from the barrel. This must have been caused by the thump when the scooter bottomed out as he navigated the path up to the place where they had camped for the night.
CHANCE FANTASTIQUE!
Baz and his mate limped the T5 to the next town where they were lucky enough to find a friendly French garage owner, who, after lots of pidgin French from the English lads and much gesturing with their hands and bodies, the like of a game of charades, finally understood what they required from him. Within no time the exhaust had been removed and the friendly Gallic mécanicien, along with his oxyacetylene torch, had heated up the offending crushed-down pipe enough for a wooden wedge to be hammered in, pushing out the dent and getting the pipe back to something usable.
The friendly and very helpful monsieur was thanked and with a wave and shout of ‘bon voyage', the two scooterists were once again on their merry way. Baz said that although the exhaust was loads better and the scooter was at least usable and able to continue on its way homeward, it just never felt the same after that.
After a stay in Cherbourg to watch the football, the young adventurers had crossed the English Channel back to good old Blighty once more; Baz made a phone call to one of his mates called ‘Dearne' asking if he could call round to his mum's house and pick up the standard T5 exhaust and bring it with him to the Exmouth National rally as the ‘Big Trip' wasn't over yet and many more miles were to be travelled before they finally got back home.
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED
With the T5 successfully completing the task it was purchased for and with the seed of European scooter rallying now well and truly planted in the mind of the young Baz he went and… sold it! Yes, you've read that right – what an insult to the machine! But as Baz states, at that time, he had no real affiliation to it other than it did what was asked of it and now as a seasoned and hardened global rider he could handle any eventuality. So, for his subsequent jaunts to Europe he has ridden his rat scooters, with rubbish lights and no fuel gauges.
FAST FORWARD
Although Baz has continued to own several scooters continuously, he became fairly dormant regarding the scooter scene until about 2014/15 when his brother Ian found out that the T5 was still in the garage of the guy who Baz had sold it to, and still on the estate where Ian lived.
For some reason the lad who had bought it from Baz hadn't ridden it long before he had stripped it down and brush-painted it yellow. Now after all this time Baz finally realised how much the scooter had meant to him, the great journey that they'd been on together and how the T5 machines are becoming a rare beast.
A deal was done and after parting with £350 Baz was once again the proud owner. Now was the time to put his old scooter back to original; so he set about the job, which Baz admits was mostly completed by his brother Ian and after about six months, the scooter was alive and kicking once more.
Since that time Baz, who is a reservist in the British Army, has just remained fairly local, joining in with the club scene of the area and attending the rideouts. His beautifully restored and refreshed T5 now sports a 172cc Malossi kit and a new PM pipe.
Baz has also managed to source a genuine new-old-stock EME 1980s rear T5 flat carrier from Scooteroller. So could this be the start of planning for it to carry some luggage and possibly a tent once again – who knows? But however far Baz decides to ride with his T5, one thing that he's sure of is that he will now be keeping it.
Well done to Baz – but mostly Ian – for putting another classic Vespa back on the road where it belongs.