I’m well aware that there’s a trend towards keeping things original these days (be it restorations or rustorations) but my scootering schooling was dominated by chops and cutdowns. No, they aren’t particularly practical, comfortable or even in most c

I’m lucky in that a mixture of work and pleasure takes me to the South of France several times a year. I’ve even managed to salt away a couple of scooters and a BMW (sorry) so that I can enjoy a spot of riding when time allows, and it really is a que

Concept vehicles are usually the domain of manufacturers who, through their design teams, will create outlandish vehicles to gauge the interest of potential customers. However, anyone with imagination can create their very own concept vehicle. Arguab

The man behind Royal Alloy’s flagship store in Athens is Stavros Faltsetas, but before we go into what he’s up to, here’s the history bit. Greece is one of the world’s oldest civilisations. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state, a centre for the

In the bottom left-hand corner of Germany there is a region known as Bavaria, an area famous for good beer, white sausage, lederhosen und barmaids with ample attributes. Within this vast area there is a small, quiet place called Falkenberg, surrounde

The Lambretta Series 2 Li was produced by Innocenti from October 1959 until November 1961, when it was replaced by the new ‘slim style’ versions of the Li125 that began production in December of the same year. The Series 2 Li was for all intents and

Situated not far from the NEC in Birmingham, the National Motorcycle Museum holds the world’s largest collection of British motorcycles. However, the museum, as it is now, is not the original building, as the venue has undergone some traumatic times

On December 27, 2022, it was announced that Fred Willingham, the record-breaking scooter sprinter and tuner, had died. His trail-blazing exploits on board his modified Lambretta astounded the scootering world in the 1960s and early 1970s and is what

This quadrant serves as an index to the individual gear that is selected. This is not the case with all scooters utilising a cable-operated hand gear-change – the Lambretta, for example, has an alternative gear selection design that has the selector

I can’t be alone in having viewed shaft-drive Lambretta owners as the real ale drinkers of the scootering world. I’ve usually found them huddled in a corner of the custom show muttering about Teleflex gear changes, bevel gears, torsion bar suspension

Now the festivities are over we can look forward and focus on the new riding season ahead of us. The cold winter months are upon us (I would have probably been better off presenting you an economical garage heater), but hopefully we are heading in th

PG: The Endurance series is now three years old. With seven events under your belt, have you created a monster? KT: Well, it’s one I don’t think I can walk away from! When I originally thought of the idea ‘why don’t we do this in the UK?’ I never con

How hard can it be to build a chopper? In the eyes of the unconverted it’s simply a matter of hacking off some bodywork and welding in a length of pipe to the forks. To those who take the art form seriously there’s a whole lot more involved. Extend t

Kenneth Coates and his then partner, Ann Silvester, made a big decision in 1958 – no, not to get married (one of the biggest decisions), but to purchase a brand-new scooter from Jordans in Hull. It was the latest in deluxe scooters for 1958, the LDA/

Love them or hate them, there’s no disputing the fact that Vespa’s GTS changed the face of scootering forever. When a new version appears it’s not just news for enthusiasts but for the entire motorcycle industry. After all, where Vespa leads others f

The fact remains that the background to that opening comment stems from the following, as the two of us sat in Howard’s living room, with me making notes on copious anecdotes from Howard to add to Bill’s forthcoming obit. I did, however, feel the nee