Iam Mod Again After 42 Years

[barrie3253]

Hi,
Just a couple of photos of my Baby. She is a 1964 LI150 Silver Special now fitted with a BGM Race/Tour 195 Kit and finished in the original Innocenti Apple Green. it me a long to convince the wife that i was not to old to have a a sccoter again. My last Lambretta was over 42 years ago and was SX200 which I had rebored to 225cc and fitted 35mm Amal Concentric Carb, really pulled well two up. But there again is was 5 stone lighter than now.

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Best Regards
Barrie

[Toddy]

Lovely Colour I Take it you like your Accessories then ?

[barrie3253]

Yes I like the look of modded scooters because back in my day all scooters were modded. The only extra I would like to add is a Stainless Steel Legshield toolbox to hide the front crash bar bolts. Previously bought non drill s/steel front crash bars but the weld quality was crap and they kept spring apart.

My mate also likes to mod his scooter and is always visiting B&Q for chrome bathroom accessories, such as towel rails, soap dishes really anything he can bolt onto the front. But of course being an old mod he shops on Wednesday when old farts like us get 10% discount.
Barrie

[Tractorman]

Your scooter looks good, Barrie and I bet it's faster than your previous ones! Not all scooters were 'modded' back then, by the way.

[Rich Oswald]

Lovely colour

[pacemaker]

Enjoy you are only 60 once so get out and feel 18 again! nice scoot!

[68Sxandy]

Bit of a rarity on here, but good to see someone still going the Mod route. Nice scooter- well done.

[peejay]

keep up the good work Barrie

some of us love bling

[Paulnobodyimportant]

Looks great Barrie and good to see a bit of chrome. My last scooter was a
SX225 which I seized many times after the 're bore, probably because I didn't even consider jetting. Anyway sold in 1972 and I was 're born in 2007 with a golden special that I decorated with chrome, sort of 're creating my teenage life. However during the following 3 or 4 years the chrome has come off. Partly due to peer pressure but mainly for practicality and an appreciation for the plain lambretta styling. But have a great experience with your new hobby.

[Les McLean]

What a lovely looking scooter, and bravo for sticking to your preferred mod style

Like you it took me 40 years between my first and present Lambretta, and boy, it's one of the best things I've done in my life ever, it's so much fun it should be made illegal.

I know the 'modded' look is frowned upon in some quarters, but the way I look at it, I was a mod in the late 60's with a fully modded scooter, there's no reason why I shouldn't have one now.

What spurred me to get my present Lambretta was a few years ago I went to a 60's weekend in Haworth, and the local Scooter club turned out, and the sight of those classic Lambrettas, most fully modded, coming down the cobbled main street was a revelation, and from that minute, gave me a determination to get my own.

So after 4 years of ownership, I still get so much pleasure tootling around the Yorkshire Dales on my 1964 Li150

[barrie3253]

What a lovely looking scooter, and bravo for sticking to your preferred mod style

Like you it took me 40 years between my first and present Lambretta, and boy, it's one of the best things I've done in my life ever, it's so much fun it should be made illegal.

I know the 'modded' look is frowned upon in some quarters, but the way I look at it, I was a mod in the late 60's with a fully modded scooter, there's no reason why I shouldn't have one now.

What spurred me to get my present Lambretta was a few years ago I went to a 60's weekend in Haworth, and the local Scooter club turned out, and the sight of those classic Lambrettas, most fully modded, coming down the cobbled main street was a revelation, and from that minute, gave me a determination to get my own.

So after 4 years of ownership, I still get so much pleasure tootling around the Yorkshire Dales on my 1964 Li150

Hi Les
Thanks for the positive comment, your LI 150 also looks great. My last Lambretta was an SX 200 which i had re-bored to a 225 and fitted with a 35mm Amal Carb, pulled like a train. I have always preferred the look of a Modded Lambretta, but these days the aficionado's turn their noses up. The Scooter with me was synonymous of my first taste of freedom and independence at the tender age of 16 and riding the bike today i still get that feeling.
Best Regards
Barrie

[STREETSLEEPER]

Pics seem to have disappeared....

[johnnyXS]

its a beaut Barrie ! same year as my special too. All those accessories reminds me of all the chrome and lights my mates used to hang off their scoots whilst I was busy stipping everything off of mine . It made it easier to do the weekly maintenance and probably I was too lazy to keep bolting it all back on .
I used to run my Li150 S3 with no front guard or rear floor strips or side panels . Every few weeks I'd hand paint my horn casting headset and tanks a different colour with small tins of enamel paint ...mauve red ,purple, yellow crikey it must have looked a right mess

The only thing that I added to mine was a huge 10'0" tank aerial which I mail ordered from Exchange & Mart ...what a pita that was !

You're right about that first taste of freedom...you never forget that tremendous feeling of independance you get with your first scooter bike or car.Like a mental orgasm. Its strange how you still feel some of that elation, when you take your first ride again after a gap of 45 years !
Like you I was 5 stone lighter back in 68.... its a wonder my present 150 can cope with the weight to be honest.

[barrie3253]

Hi Johnny XS
Thanks for the kind comments. The first Lambretta I bought was LI125 Series 3 with a ceased engine for £25, I worked all my school summer holidays to raise the cash. I was a shelf filler/delivery boy for the local small Co-op store and had to ride a bike very similar to Granvilles in Open All Hours, it weighed a tonne. I remember coming home from school one afternoon to strip the engine only to find that my Dad on seeing the new GP Scooters in the main dealer in Cardiff had decided to hand paint it. He had bought Torquise coach enamel to look like a GP, stripes and all. I went berserk and really threw my toys out of the cot, Kids can be so ungrateful. Any way this was the first of many engines i rebuilt and it was that experience i called upon to rebuild the engine in the LI Special. I have completely rebuilt the engine with new seals,bearings & clutch, I have also fitted BGM Race/Tour 195 kit and 30mm Dellorto. This was to compensate for the additional weight of carrying me around and to be able to climb up hills, which we have in abundance in South Wales.

Best Regards
Barrie

[johnnyXS]

dads eh !

When I was 16 my Dad heard that I wanted a scooter and brought home a non running LD150 ! aghhhh what a dog I flatly refused to have anything to do with it and I'm not sure now what happened to it . I probably left it in the back of the garage along with my series 2 and series 3 Li150's when I abandoned the lot in 1969 .....god if I had the key to that garage now eh

Like you I'd worked over the summer gardening and saved the princely sum of £25.00 with which I bought a used multicoloured series 2 from Eddy Grimsteads .The mutts nuts!
Not having any insurance licence or anything else I made my Father ride it home for me

I used to do my own maintainence when it stopped working but never had the tools or expertise to build new engines back then .
Your Special must fly with that engine
Great memories eh !

[barrie3253]

Hi Johnnyxs
Yes those were days. I must say I am a little disappointed with the kit, it doesn't do what is says on the tin. Was told that my setup should achieve 14-16hp without the need of BGM Clubman, had the carb jetted and Dynoed by Taffspeed. The best we could achieve was 11.6hp. So you can imagine my disappointment after spending £120 to get it jetted correctly.

Will never trust published performance figures again, because the manufacturers will always have an excuse as to why your particular setup won't perform.

Best Regards
Barrie

[johnnyXS]

ouch ! thats only fractionally more than the quoted bhp for a bog standard TV200
it sure is an expensive business upgrading a Lambretta engine it seems.
Call me an old cynic but it seems to me that everyone connected with supplying the classic vehicle trade is out to fleece you for as much as they think they can get away with these days .

I'm heartedly fed up with it to be honest. Its really taking the edge off my enjoyment of owning and restoring classic vehicles.

Have you had a good read of the technical articles over on the MB site yet? It might give you a different perspective and it will certainly give you some other avenues to explore.There are loads of articles about exhaust tuning which is possibly the best place to start looking for power increases

[barrie3253]

Hi Johnnyxs
Yes I have read all the tech stuff on the MB Site and have exchanged lots of emails with MB over the matter. But keep getting told that the Air Filter,Exhaust and over rich jetting are responsible for the low hp. I was recommended the kit and carb after giving full details of my setup and was quoted figures in excess of 14hp without the need for any expensive bolt ons.

Like you I now have a jaundiced view about suppliers who overstate performance just to encourage sales. In the old days it was a lot simpler you took your cylinder to an engineering company for a rebore and matching piston. You then bolted on the biggest carb you could lay your hands on and tried to jet it as best you could. There was no talk of squish or port timings and the scooters it seems we're more reliable then without all this so hi-tech performance bolt ons.

Moan over.
Barrie

[johnnyXS]

talking about reliability Barrie I reckon we are probably both remembering only the good times

I have a vague recollection that I spent many an unhappy hour kicking my dead scooter over trying to start it and then pushing it for endless miles

[barrie3253]

Hi Johnnysx
I must have really been wearing rose tinted glasses or perhaps it was those funny smelling fags my mates kept smoking, or then I again I was very lucky. In all of the five years that I had lambretta the only problems I experienced was rear flat tyre and a broken throttle cable.

Barrie