Scooters all day long

Yesterday was all scoot's day. Working on the Lambretta TV 175 and paying a visit to my friend who bought three scooters at the same time; a Lambretta Li 150, a Vespa GS 150 and a NV-70 Hobby.

The kick lever was mounted on the TV 175, not an easy-peasy job but with Jim's skills and my extra hands it went well. The return spring is a long and hard one...

The carb and gas wire was also mounted. Then there was a problem, the screw to the fuel tap was missing. Actually I don't know if I lost it myself, or if it was missing from the beginning. Well, I can get one from my yard wreck.

The visit to my friend was fun. he was very pleased with the Lambretta Li 150, not so happy with NV-70 and uncertain about the Vespa GS 150. He already had a resto project Li 150, but this one was better! The NV:s engine is seized, and I think that he's not really interested. 70 cc and automatic transmission.

 The GS has been resprayed in white and is in a rusty state. But fairly complete.

Now they're parked in his back yard, and yes, the wife is not happy... 

The speedo on the NV-70 is marked "DKW".

NV stands for Nymans Verkstäder.

The Li 150 which was my friends main target... 

Two myths; Lambretta and Vespa.

Three scooters on a cart

How about this vintage scooter load?
A Lambretta Li 150, series III, a Vespa GS 150, VS5, and a NV 70 (DKW Hobby roller, to you).
All three in a rough state, the Lambretta being the best one. The GS 150 has been resprayed in white a long time ago. Great though, the engine is not seized.
The three were bought by a friend, initially he was only interested in the Lammy, but they were sold as a lot. Lucky bastard!

Ingap Vespa box found

I received this box today, from a good friend. It's a box for a Vespa tin toy, made by the firm Ingap from Padova in Italy. It's just the box, the toy is missing. But I'm really happy anyway. It's a nice piece of Vespa memorabilia from the 50's.

Count Basie on a Vespa

I took this photo today, in a store which is part clothes shop, part scooter shop. They had this album, an LP, on display. Not for sale...

Never seen it before, neither in books nor on the internet or in the flesh. Would make an excellent companion to my Delta Rhythm Boys EP.

If it comes up for sale, I'm ready!

Lazy sunday cleaning

The TV 175 engine from my wreck. Real mucky!

The weather in Stockholm was better today, the snow disappeared in a couple of hours.
And the sun was shining, birds were tweeting and outdoor activities on the agenda. I cleaned two Lambretta engines, one LD 125 with a broken piston and the TV 175 from my wreck. The LD engine was given to me for free, considering it's state. Might come in handy later in life...or not.

This Lambretta LD 125 engine has a broken piston.

The TV 175 engine looking better.

Lambretta gets a muffler

Let the welding begin!



Finding a brand new muffler for a Lambretta TV 175, series 1, is hard or at least expensive.  

The exhaust who came with my scooter seemed okay. A little welding after de-carbonating and cleaning.

The hard bit was the cap to the inspection slot, which was missing. Not listed by Casa Lambretta or any other retailer. I even asked for one at the Padova fair in october; "make one" was the answer.

Since Jim has a lathe, and know how to use it, it was solved in 20 minutes. He had to make two round holes instead of the hexagon for the Allen key.

Last task was to make an extension to the exhaust pipe. After that the silencer and pipe was painted with heat resistant paint.

It's a scooter swap meet in Stockholm today, don't think I go by scooter. The last picture was taken at noon, the deers just appeared. No big deal, they're like rats here in Stockholm.

Fortunately I still have the winter tyres on the car.

The cap is ready to be mounted (copper paste).

La marmitta!

The muffler should have an extension pipe.

These three roe deers turned up in the snow today.

Lambretta - it's looking bright

Such a pretty sight; back light and brake light is working!

Quite a pleasant Easter holiday, with lot's of work done to the Lambretta TV 175. The electric wires were fitted to the battery, rectifier and ignition coil. And there was light! I really like that it is two orange brake lights, this is the only Lambretta with this set up.

But this was in the "mock-up" stage. The "due tempi-mago" Jim modified the newly bought brake light switch to fit on the foot lever! Of course it worked.

The trickier bit was to fit the hand brake lever on the handlebar. A small peg with a hole is needed to keep the lever in it's place. And small hookVery fiddly, three hands needed. I wonder how they did it at the Innocenti factory, I hope it wasn't as time consuming for them as it was for us!

OK, brakes and lights working. Next step is to connect clutch and gas wires, sort the exhaust and a couple of other things.

 

Fitting the front brake lever was very tricky, three hands needed.



The modified brake light switch, later mounted on the rear brake lever.

Mobile on a 1962 Vespa?

I have found yet another cover for a Swedish magazine with a Vespa on it. This is from the magazine "Motor", 5th of March 1962. The headline reads "Tvåhjulingen i kläm" (the two-wheeler in a squeeze).

If you're expecting an article on Vespa you will be disappointed, nothing inside the magazine. It's just a pretty girl and a Vespa between an american-looking car and a Fiat 1400 (1900? I'm not sure here).

The most awkward thing though, is she really holding a smart phone? In 1962?

Molto strano, la bella ragazza tiene una cellulare! Nel 1962...

Penso che il foto é da Italia.

Not so happy Easter!

Picture from today, the 6th of April.

Some kind of weather report from a snowy Stockholm, 2 degrees C and snowing. Had to take a ride on my Lambretta 150 D anyhow. Well, no snow on the road.
The gloves are made of a dead seal!

Picture taken Easter 2011, 25th of April. Rack for Cometa/Luna.

Lambretta TV 175 wired up!

The two "ears" are for the non-existent brake light switch.

Happy Easter and Buona Pasqua to everyone!
Yesterday was spent working on the Lambretta TV 175 series 1 from 1958 with my good friend Jim (bless him!).
First we sorted the rear brake, attached the cable with the correct mounts. But we have to make an alteration regarding the brake light switch. I haven't found the right one for this series 1, version 2, TV 175. The switch should be mounted on the brake lever as you can see above. The new switch I have bought has to be attached to the body instead.
Next task was building a wire loom, some old electrical cables was kept and others were new. Quite time consuming but quite fun in a strange way.
It also turned out to be an excellent opportunity to learn the italian names for colours, since the manual is in italian.. Giallo (yellow) is always a favourite! And marrone (brown)!
So, the wire loom is in it's place but nothing is connected yet. Hopefully we get to that next week!

The electric cables in beuatiful colours.

I'm keeping the original light switch with some parts from my wreck.

Let's see, giallo is yellow, verde is green, marrone is brown...

Two steps back, one forward...some cables sticking out.

Street legal Lambretta 150 D

07.34 outside the MOT-station, street legal again!

This morning was MOT-time for my Lambretta 150 D 1956 (the register says 1957 as that was the year when it was first registered).
No worries, it fired up. Both lights were working, and the brakes as well. And the horn beeped. My end of the MOT-station was soon filled with blue smoke and the happy faces of the station's employees.
Pity about the weather though, + 2 C this morning and it won't be better during Easter!

Lambretta exhibition in 1956

So, what's interesting about this? A vehicle exhibition in Sweden about 1956-1957. With cars and tractors. Standard Vanguards, Fergusons, Volvos, Triumphs and some americans among the cars. It all took place in a Swedish tennis hall.

The interesting part is the center. A couple of Lambrettas has the best spot of all vehicles on display. Around this time there was a new importer of Lambretta in Sweden, Lennart Bergelin. He was an ace tennis player in  the 40's and the 50's, he played Davis Cup for Sweden and competed at Wimbledon. But he is mostly known for being the manager of Björn Borg, one of the greatest tennis players of all time. Unfortunately mr Bergelin passed away in 2008, at the age of 83. 

My guess is that with his bakground in tennis he easily could arrange a vehicle fair in the hall, and getting the best spot for his Lambrettas. There is one 150D and three LD's with lifesize dolls ridning them, on some sort of merry-go-round.

It looks very cool, I would like to know more!

Lennart Bergelin, Lambretta-importer.