Modern Vespa

I rode the Stella over to my buddy's house on Sunday to help him with his Lambretta. We needed to check timing, but didn't have a battery, so I hooked up the timing light to the DC side of the regulator, upped the idle, and it worked like a charm.

(Yes, I'm working on other people's bikes when my own project is due on Saturday.)

(Even crazier it's that I'm supposed to build the Band Camp raffle scoot's motor this week, too.)

Been a really wet spring but finally got out over the weekend.

nice posse

My son came and stayed overnight on his Rally200 so we could fix a few things - busted front brake lever, replace missing rear pin on engine cowl, get brake light working right - just little stuff like that.

He has to take a ferry and right now that's a problem here w/ busted boats out of service, short staffs and summer traffic making for long waits in line w/ a car - can be hours on weekends, but not with a scooter - he just got on the next boat. Excellent!

The bike was dead for a couple of years while we tried to make Ducati conversion work on dead Femsa setup, but it never lasted. Then MacGerk got a Rally w/ a bum stator so he replaced with a modern setup and sent his old stuff to me. EUREKA, the CDI from it works and the bike runs great now - thanks Mac!

So naturally a nice long road test and trading rides was in order. A bit low on compression so no 1 kick starter, but the Rally still has lots of torquey linear power and a nice solid feel at speed. I see a fresh top end for it in the not too distant future.

LOVE the front of the ferry line program, that makes summer rides on the peninsula a reasonable thing for me (plus, gonzo photo ops).

Cheers,

Bob

Good stuff Terry!


Lots of miles on the Michigan Primmy today.
No shots while burning miles, but grabbed a pic with our Bitter Southerner flag when I got home.

Great flag and I love the orange Primmy!

Dig it. The Primmy and the flag.

Not Vespas that have left the house, but yesterday was National Lambretta Day, so we rounded up a minimal contingent (had a 50% last minute dropout rate, unfortunately), then did some riding and hanging out. Good times.

With the longer wheelbase on those scoots vs a Vespa, I'm guessing the you would feel like you're riding on rails. Always loved the look, never had the stones to buy one.

Rode it to meet a friend for lunch; went home, rode it to Chik-Fil-A to pick up something for my darling bride. A bit over 4 miles total.

Looks good Dale. We don't get to see enough pics of the older ones. Keep 'em coming!

About 4" longer WB, lower and more central center of gravity. I've had a TV200 and my current favorite ride is a '58 LD150 ( on 8's).

Last ride before I tear into the front end and idk what else.
Suspension and steering bearings are toast after four years of speed bumps and such.

Okay, maybe one more tonight

Walt Disney's first house.
Supposedly the first Mickey Mouse film (not Steamboat Willie) was made in secret in that garage, as they were still on contract with the producer of the films that helped pay for that house. His brother owned the house next door.

I'm not sure what they're looking at.

Went up to Yachats with Chris today. It was a spectacular day! Sorry, no food pics

On the road again.

I've been quiet around NSM because I've been out doing IRL scooter stuff like going to rallies, plus sorting out my and my friends' Lammies.

Next weekend will be Lambretta Jamboree, after which time I'll probably return to more of my regularly scheduled Vespa Madness, but in the meantime, you'll just have to deal with Lammies leaving the house for another ten days.

C-man, you just never sit still - do you? Kidding of course..... Taking care of other people's scoots, getting it done and having a little fun. Good man.

Riding through the GOOF (garden oaks/oak forest area) ran across this abandoned throne.

It's not abandoned, it's just awaiting the arrival of the new regent!

Is the tropical storm south of you then? Looks awfully sunny!

Since Vespa's don't seem to have been leaving the house lately, I guess it's a good thing that some Lambretta's did.

This past weekend was Lambretta Jamboree (aka "Lammy Jammy"), the national Lambretta Club USA (LCUSA) rally. This year, it was held in Bristol, Tennessee, which is mostly in Virginia, with about 165 riders.

Other than being hotter than hell, with plenty of humidity to make sure we didn't forget, the weather was beautiful with some amazing riding

The rally opened with a Thursday night ride to the Bristol Motor Speedway, followed by a ride through the Virginia countryside on Friday morning to a local brew pub.

Of course, it wouldn't have been a rally if something didn't break. As we were leaving a start-of-ride gas stop on Friday, my bike suddenly lost all power to the wheel. Motor was running just fine, it just wouldn't move.

I was able to coast and push it back to the hotel, where I laid it down in the parking lot and cracked open the gearbox. Turned out my clutch circlip had popped off. I hammered it back into shape (literally used a hammer), reinstalled it, and put another 100+ miles on the bike by the end of the weekend. Go me!

Lambretta Pro-Tip: If you lay the bike on its side, you can remove the crankcase cover without draining the gearbox oil.

Friday afternoon/evening, the city closed a block of State Street (the main street through downtown) so we could do a line-up of all the bikes down the state line in the middle of the street. A variety of curious locals and other tourists wandered through and everyone was happy to answer their questions and preach the scooter gospel.

Friday night was the LCUSA member meeting, where next years Lammy Jammy location was formally announced (Eugene, Oregon), followed by Karaoke at a nearby bar. I think we traumatized the DJ a little with our enthusiasm and a few song choices, but she rolled with it pretty well and a good time was had by all.

Saturday started out by riding The Snake, which is as curvy as the Tail of the Dragon, only shorter (just 11 miles). It claims 489 curves in that distance and I would not argue that number. Tons of fun and good technical riding. No one crashed, though there were a couple of fresh oil/gas spills and scrapes on the pavement in some of the trickier turns.

At one end, there's a gas station/souvenir stand and the Harley guys there were equal parts impressed and disbelieving that we were able to rip up The Snake on scooters. Once they heard some of the tuned bikes crank up, though, they didn't doubt us.

We rode it both directions, then headed out to a local marina for swimming (for those who were so inclined) and hydration, returning back to town mid-afternoon for the evening's festivities, which included the members' banquet and awards.

I didn't win anything this time. There was no "Best Rat" award, but the consensus was that I would have been a shoo-in for it if there had been.

After staying up waaay too late Saturday night, most folks loaded up and headed out on Sunday morning, though there was a ride to a local cave. Coming from Middle Tennessee, that wasn't something we needed to make an effort for, so we skipped it and got on the road.

The Snakes (my club) represented in style and while I don't think he reads MV, I want to call out Michael Davis, one of our members, for having been a big contributor to planning this year's event, even though he lives 300 miles away.

This was my first Lammy Jammy, and while it was kind've weird to be at a rally with no Vespa's, it was a great time. Everyone was super-friendly and helpful, I got to see a lot of folks I know, because there aren't many people that own Lammy's who don't also own a Vespa or two, and a good time was had by all.

We're already making plans for Eugene next year, since there's going to be more logistics than just "load the scooters on the trailer and drive," but it'll be absolutely worth it.

Thanks for the LammyJammy report Chandlerman!! Good times all around it looks like

In my experience, Harley riders seem to have more respect for Vespas than I would expect. Even back in the 80's. You rode THAT from THERE?

One passed me the other day as I was puttering along eyeballing my CHT gauge. Decided to quit looking at it and keep up. He was surprised to see me a few miles later at a traffic light.

Hey, I know that feeling. I rolled up to a Mods and Rockers event that used to happen in North Charlotte yearly on my 74 Super some time back. I got up there early to avoid traffic. Most motorcycles at that point and so many could not believe I made the 20+ mile trip . When a few asked about horse power, I replied it was somewhere around 5 or 6? Even more respect. Then the Moped Army guys rolled in and they left me alone. Happy days.

We discussed this over the weekend and the consensus was pretty uniform: It all depends on what kind of riders they are

The guys who ride because they just like doing it all have massive respect for us, especially when they see us doing things like riding on the highway with out "tiny" motors and 10" (or 8") wheels. Or when we're out somewhere that implies a significant distance ridden.

The bad rap comes from the Cos-players, the dumbasses on chromed up bikes who don't know which end of a wrench to hold, but dress up like "bikers" and pretend they're tough guys to vent their frustration at sitting quietly in a cubicle all week while Bill Lumberg micromanages them with his coffee cup and weird diction.

With the guys at The Snake, some of them didn't even seem to know that Lambrettas were A Thing, so to have a horde of 100+ suddenly show up in Middle Of Nowhere, Virginia was a bit of a shock for them. They were all super-cool and curious, especially once they realized that we were a bunch of gearheads, just in our own particular way.

Lol. Cosplay Harley riders…I know exactly what you mean. Satan's Dentists. A lot of them end up in a ditch the first time they are surprised by a tight curve.

🤣🤣🤣🤣😂😂 You just made my day!!

Took the Rally for a shakedown ride today. Quick stop at twin peaks then off to Mt Tam and back along the coast.

One of my favorite things is riding and eating in San Francisco. Only been to the twin towers once. Your day was better than mine. Perfect weather and great view! Motivation to keep cracking on my builds. Thanks for that.

Not a Vespa.

Got out and put some miles on the Oi(L)! despite it being about 95F and sunny. I made a last couple carb and cable tweaks and the bike is now running and riding great. Power band lasts until almost 9,000 RPM's and the CHT never got over 280F. The flast spot at the bottom of 4th is also now gone.

So I hit The Parthenon, plus a random mural, plus rode all over town. I really gotta work on my photography skills, though, like framing and learning to hold the camera level.

OK, if we can't have a NSML section I would rather have you in NSM. Much easier to keep track of your Lammy adventures. Really impressed with your build and always blown away how fast you get it done. Bravo, Sir!

Agreed with Rob, just glad some people are getting out, riding and willing to post a few pics. I got out Saturday, but it was on my buddy's GTS, so no pics. That and it hit 101 degrees, so not worth stopping to take a few.

Bajaj does this best.

That's underachieving for the Bajaj.

Meanwhile, I spotted the oi(L)!'s mini-me today.

I got out of the house, and out of town, to meet up with Qascooter & Scootnewb, for a Vespa riding adventure along the Oregon coast.

Scott graciously let me ride Ruby, while he rode B62 & Chris rode Biannca. We rolled north on the 101 from Florence to Yachats, made a pit stop for some breakfast and of course coffee. After getting caffeinated, we made our way back South, with a few scenic detours along the way; and switched up scoots so everyone got a chance to ride all three. 3x3 trade off! All in all we did about 65 miles, and had a blast the whole way. Shared some life stories, how each of is got into vintage scooters; and more. It was great to meet up offline in real life.

Thanks Scott for being a great host!

All you need is a rear rack for OI(L)! to strap that sucker on the back!!

How cool guys! That's what it's all about!

That looks like a great time! I wish I'd been there. Hah!

I need a rear rack, but I wasn't thinking it was for a support vehicle like I'm some sort of megayacht!

What an awesome day! Thanks for coming over to ride guys. It doesn't get any better than that.

And Chandlerman & BajaRob, when (not if) you come to the Central Oregon Coast....

https://www.oregon100rally.com/run-from-the-sun