Hot Pearl Snatch

A moving tale of one man's love for his Lambretta chopper

Chopper-style scooters wouldn't normally fall under the Classic

Scooterist remit – but this isn't a chopper article; it's a tale of love and nostalgia told by former owner, Frank Brown. To top that, this pair have history! Look closely and you might recognise them – but where from?

LET THE TALE BEGIN

This story is about my old chopper, Fine City SC (with whom I had many an adventure during the 1980s) and the remarkable subculture that is scootering. Apologies for the crap pictures; it's hard to believe now but a camera was an unobtainable luxury to most scooterists of the era. Given the choice of buying a nice camera or a fancy new go-faster-or-chrome bit for your bike – well these pictures tell the story.

Riding the beast in the late 1980s, she was quick and nimble, handled well (thanks to the 16-degree frame rake and fully tuned Stage 5 motor); I loved every inch of this bike.

By 1985 I'd left school and like many youths at the time, I was totally immersed in the Mod Revival. This turned into a lifelong love of everything Lambretta and this is the story of YSV 208 (or Hot Pearl Snatch, as it came to be known). Things were changing though and a year later the Mod trinketry came off. I'd already owned a couple of Lambrettas prior to building the first incarnation of Hot Pearl Snatch (named after The Cramps track released on the live album Rockin' And Reelin' in Auckland and New Zealand). During the 1980s, the Psychobilly thing was huge with King Kurt, the Meteors and Demented Are Go regularly playing scooter do's and events. I was a Psychobilly by late '86 and The Cramps were top of my pile.

The bike took three years to build and took every penny I had. I remember not eating in order to save up for the hubs to be chromed… really, that's how addictive chopper building became back then. The article pictures tell the story and history behind the scooter far better than words, so read on and enjoy.

First version. Sissy bar and banana seat were chopper standards back in the day. I made the sissy bar at work during lunch breaks, then got it badly chromed at great expense. The toolbag was made on Norwich Market by a guy that did leather goods. The bike still sports it todayIbelieve.

In 1988, Steve Berry photographed the bike for Scootering, prior to me putting the ape hangers on. Shortly after, I let the old girl go; I’d started art school and was moving away from scootering as a lifestyle. Damn! Wish I hadn’t sold it, but hey-ho… Me recovering from a hangover. The ‘borrowed’ number plate was common practice back then. On the 1987 Aberystwyth, National Run to Wales. This bike’s first incarnation used an SX headset, no back box and the frame was candy magenta (no purple and no Cramps logo yet). The motor was standard Jet 200 with a Mk1 Amal and a locally made pipe. The frame wasn’t raked at this point (if I recall). The second rebuild saw the frame get raked by around 16 degrees….this really helped the thing handle. The final(and best) version with ape hangers, fully tuned motor and matched casings, back box, matching overswept pipe and repaint by Ty Lawer, one of the best airbrush artists back then. Ty was a great bloke, really generous and talented and not out to squeeze every penny out of you. The forks came from my mate Brodie; he’s still a key figureof the Norwich scooter scene and one of the loveliest people you’re ever likely to meet. DJ pipe and optimistic rear pillion pegs… man, this was uncomfortable two-up but it did handle well for a chopper. Margate, 1989. I had this tank cover made – bloody horrible thing, looked like a huge rubber johnny (so did I at the time, with the world’s worst ever haircut)... The tank was painted by a local guy called Gordon, a British motorcycle enthusiast, amateur airbrush artist and marijuana fiend. We’d sit around smoking dope and discussing every aspect of the paint job in tiny detail…happy daze!