General Lambrettas

[Toshi 975]

Interesting how many 500 owners also have a vintage scooter also tucked away in their garage. I have just been told about this LD150 going up for sale, I am told at a sensible price.

 

[bugsymike]

Interesting how many 500 owners also have a vintage scooter also tucked away in their garage. I have just been told about this LD150 going up for sale, I am told at a sensible price.
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I doubt they will ever be at a sensible price again.
In the early 1960s I recall dragging an LD home from the council tip on a soapbox cart. In 1969 I rode to work on a Series 1 Lambretta 125cc I paid £25 for, the bottom end seals had gone and starting involved bump starting with full throttle and jumping on. I had already bought two Francis Barnet 197cc for £7 and £9 which I should have put on the road. Shortly after the scooter a neighbour sold me his 1955 Matchless 600cc G11 super clubman sidecar out fit for £10 which was much more fun.

 

[Steve gt]

Looks a tidy scooter If you can get it for the right money .I have a 1964 Li 150 in very similar colours

 

[Toshi 975]

I doubt they will ever be at a sensible price again.
In the early 1960s I recall dragging an LD home from the council tip on a soapbox cart. In 1969 I rode to work on a Series 1 Lambretta 125cc I paid £25 for, the bottom end seals had gone and starting involved bump starting with full throttle and jumping on. I had already bought two Francis Barnet 197cc for £7 and £9 which I should have put on the road. Shortly after the scooter a neighbour sold me his 1955 Matchless 600cc G11 super clubman sidecar out fit for £10 which was much more fun.

I think you would be right there Mike, if this scooter is in Showroom condition as was described to me then two other 500/scooter owners independently said to me me maybe about £6,000, Steve get may have an opinion on that. I think this one could be got for a fair bit less than that.
My elder brother had an LD in the 60s, I remember having a go on it and I have a lasting memory of a drive through narrow country lanes with my brother speeding ahead, I was a passenger in my mates Ariel Combo, think it was a 600cc single plodder. We went round a bend on a downhill stretch and found my brother had taken the bend way too fast and had ended up half way up a large Hawthorn tree/bush, very prickly situation

 

[Steve gt]

I’d say £6000 is a bit high looking at the ones for sale, I’d reckon around £4000-£4500 , the later series 3 SX /TV /GP models are going for high prices at the moment, a mate of mine has a couple of Ld’s and has done numerous tours around Italy on them, great fun .

 

[bugsymike]

I think you would be right there Mike, if this scooter is in Showroom condition as was described to me then two other 500/scooter owners independently said to me me maybe about £6,000, Steve get may have an opinion on that. I think this one could be got for a fair bit less than that.
My elder brother had an LD in the 60s, I remember having a go on it and I have a lasting memory of a drive through narrow country lanes with my brother speeding ahead, I was a passenger in my mates Ariel Combo, think it was a 600cc single plodder. We went round a bend on a downhill stretch and found my brother had taken the bend way too fast and had ended up half way up a large Hawthorn tree/bush, very prickly situation

As a 16 year old and on wards I had great fun on all my motorbikes and scooters and I would like to thank who ever was sitting on my shoulders looking after me.
Both two wheels and four , we will never get them as cheap as we had in our youth, so if they are in good condition well worth buying if for rarity alone, as long as we know they will never drive as well as anything modern, so we can just enjoy the style of those old vehicles and the memories they conjure up. There are many I would love to own, but my pockets will never be deep enough or my garage big enough.

 

[Steve gt]

Yeah I get that mike, I’ve had a few close shaves over the years and the pot holed roads are fun on 10 inch wheels , I still use my lambretta gp200 I bought when I was 19 years old 34 years ago , I’m looking to extend my garage as I’m running out of room for the other three scooters I’ve acquired over the years .

 

[bugsymike]

I seem to recall the reason I sold the Series 1 Lambretta was that on many times messing about and falling off, it had the useful habit of dropping into neutral on the gear change twistgrip, so I would pick it up still running and drive off, it was the one time it stalled that called for it's demise . I had a friend who was the foreman of the local Honda Motorcycle dealership and due to everyone part exchanging for shiny Honda Dreams and Superdreams I had a good supply of cheap older English bikes etc. including the Francis Barnets, a Triumph 21 3TA 350cc bath tub style for £25, a Triumph Tigress 175cc Scooter etc. I also had a Douglas Vespa with rod gear change, a Greeves Scottish ISDT ? with leading link forks etc. and many others. It would have been great if I still had them all, but the usual lack of money and storage space meant they never stayed.
On my motorbikes I preferred the "trials style" rather than the "cafe racer", I liked to feel in control of the bike rather than the other way around . One of the many I wish I still had was a late 50s BSA 650cc Road Rocket that I built from a pile of pieces, after the neighbour at my mum's house who had sold off most of it due to a persistent misfire that no one cured. I had the engine rebored and crank ground etc. upswept megaphone exhausts, trials bars and rear tyre. I located the misfire, the square condensor in the back of the magneto had come unsoldered from it's fixing plate. Capable of around 100Mph on the speedo, so fun to ride, noisy and fast for it's day and no way would you mistake it for an EV.

 

[dangfiat]

Hehehe, you're right @Toshi 975 , some of us have the scooter bug as well as the 500!

I had a '58 Lambretta LD125 in high school many many years ago. My sister bought if off the neighbor for $5 and was going to use it as a college apartment "art" piece......

Happily I commandeered it and got the thing running. It was heavy and slow, but man was I COOL!!!

Lamby's are thin on the ground here and the SX200's are going for $20k. I'm looking for a Vespa P200 as they are much more affordable and still give the right vibe . Not nearly as cool as a Lamby but oh well... I guess more $$ for the little 500's re-birth as an Abarth(ish) tribure

 

[bugsymike]

For more oddball scooters, I had a Triumph Tigress175cc t/s and I believe they did a larger 4 stroke one, when at college a friend had a Zundap Bella 200cc which he used to ride up a flight of steps at the college! I did have a early Douglas Vespa with rod gear change mechanism, but when I tried to register it using all the chassis numbers etc. I got a "snotty" letter back demanding I give the correct details as those belonged to a Citroen car! The details I had given were accurate , so I think they had made a mistake, however I ended up selling it to a member of the Vespa Owners Club and he was well happy.

 

[Steve gt]

I can imagine the lammy’s are scarce over there .I’ve watched the American pickers series and one of the guys goes crazy when he finds one .I went to work today on my 1983 p200 today & had to call in for an mot , passed ok , we had heavy showers and got drenched ️