Feature Articles
Tech Torque - March 2012
22 February 2012
Advice, ideas, trade tips, useful hints and more...
Internet forums might seem great, but ask a question on four different websites and you could get six different answers. We thought it a good idea to try and gather all this information together and share it with a wider audience. So, if you’ve got a technical question, and if no one else can help you, then you can ask us here at Scootering.
If we don’t know the answer, then we’ll find somebody who does. Equally, if you can help any readers out with answers or advice, then please drop us a line.
Either email torque@scootering.com or write to Tech Torque, Scootering Magazine, PO Box 99, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6LZ.
This month's Cover Scooter - Step by Step
22 February 2012.
Scootering magazine’s 25th anniversary custom paint competition - You may remember back in 2010 that to celebrate 25 years of Scootering magazine, we ran a competition with Dave Dickinson for one fortunate reader to win a DDK Race Special custom paint scheme worth up to £2500 for their scooter. Well Steve Hollis was the lucky winner and this is how his scooter was done...
Blast fron the past 1962 - 50 years ago...
22 February 2012.
The big news story in 1962 was the Cuban Missile Crisis, which involved the USSR becoming friends with Cuba and the Americans not really liking that at all. It was also the year the British Government introduced the panda crossing, a pedestrian road crossing that was to replace the zebra crossing. Using black and white triangles instead of stripes on the road, it too wasn’t popular and was replaced by the pelican crossing in 1969.
She’s Got Claws
22 February 2012.
The scooter featured here is the first one I’ve seen, and possibly the first custom scooter to date to be painted entirely in chrome paint. Yes, I said ‘painted’. Anyway, it’s certainly the only one that the painter, James at MAS Restorations of Bradford has done for a customer.
GT200 a real classic Lambretta
22 February 2012.
What is it that constitutes a mod scooter? For many the ideal seems to be some form of 1960s machine, probably a Series 2 Lambretta bedecked in chrome plated accessories and contrasting paintwork; pristine, polished and pampered, for whatever reason this has become the accepted style adopted by the majority.
Loveless A Vespa GS4
22 February 2012.
As the 2000s march on, it seems that German scooterists have largely abandoned the Vespa PX as the standard template for their archetypical street racer. Gone are the days of cut back rear ends, tunnel rear lights and racing inspired paint jobs. Instead the new trend is the older machines, with muted, simple colours, fat tyres and a very powerful engine. It almost reminds one of the ‘German style’ vee-dub Beetles.
Haven’t I seen you somewhere before?
26 January 2012.
If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery then Piaggio must be over the moon with all these Vespa-looking scooters we spotted at the Milan Motorcycle show at the end of 2011. Although maybe not? Research shows quite a number of new retro looking scooters sold on that infamous internet auction site as ‘like Vespa’.
Bedrock
26 January 2012.
We’ve mentioned before on these pages about how the scooter scene recycles, taking old vehicles and reusing them again. Surely that’s got to be environmentally preferable to the process of manufacturing a brand new scooter? Anyway, what we have here is an old scooter that was recycled as a custom scooter, and then that itself has been recycled again. To me that sounds pretty green... for a brown Lambretta.
Pornoyacht Reloaded
26 January 2012.
The 1980s are known for many things, but it is one of those few decades where rose-tinted spectacles are clouded by negative comments and memories. There were of course a lot of bad things from that era and, depending on where you were at the time, ‘excess’ was one of them. A great example of 1980s excess is jumping out at you from these very pages and, while maybe not the Wall Street version excess such as rich bankers (yes, that is rhyming slang!), there’s certainly a lot here for you all to comment on.
El Tigre - Seis
26 January 2012.
We thought it might be useful to share some of our scooter building experiences with you, some tips, hints and ideas that many of you may find constructive when in your own back yards, garages or sheds. We’d also welcome your feedback and tips too, both for ourselves and other readers, so please drop us a line and share it with everyone in the world of Scootering. Moving on from last month, I’ve got a pile of shiny white Spanish Lambretta bodywork and an engine casing that looks like it’s just been recovered by Tony Robinson and his ‘geophys’ boys on Time Team.
Current Issue: Feb 2012
Inside we accessorise
In a 60s & an 80s style...
Imola Racing Team
The latest on-track technology
Classic Scootering
Custom Lambrettas & 1950s race replicas
Practical Scootering
Cranking it up & braking it!
Vespas on tour
with Paddy Smith and sons
Interviews
Simon Townshend, Andy Lewis and a very nice man!
PLUS:
• Next issue on sale: 23rd February 2012
