From factory standard to faster and flashier: How scooter customisation became an industry

Ever since scooters came off the production line, they have been altered in one way or another to change both their appearance and performance. Stu Owen reports…

Undoubtedly, both the Lambretta and Vespa were classic designs, capturing the public eye the moment they rolled off the production line in the 1940s. It wasn’t just the mechanical marvel of creating a compact engine and shoving it in such a small space, but also the crafted styling that made them stand out. They were winners from the word go, which helped Innocenti and Piaggio sell millions of machines. This success also allowed other companies and entrepreneurs to take advantage and improve the experience of scooter ownership by creating various accessories.

This phenomenon started out small, with companies producing racks and mounts for storing luggage or essential items like mounting a spare wheel. Such products made the scooter more appealing, and both the main manufacturers welcomed the extra additions. As with anything that’s popular, the aftermarket business quickly follows, but so does the competition, and that is where the rivalry began. As each model left the factories with new shapes and dimensions, the rush to equip them hotted up. With the market getting bigger by the day, every man and his dog wanted a piece of the action, and soon, repetition came into play. For instance, several manufacturers would make a similar rack that would sit on the same part of the frame.

It was good for the scooter owners because the price would come down as the competition grew, but all this would have a knock-on effect. To be able to offer an accessory at a low price would mean perhaps cutting corners on the quality of the materials used. Those that did soon got a reputation for producing substandard parts, which meant their business would suffer. Not that it mattered because if they lost sales and stopped production, another company would be ready to take their place in an instant. The market grew well into the 1950s and 60s, but a new obsession came into the fold, which opened this market up even further.

As ownership shifted more towards a younger generation who wanted better performance, both Innocenti and Piaggio fulfilled their desires by making more powerful machines. It opened up a whole new experience that everyone wanted to be involved in, namely tuning. It didn’t matter how fast a production machine was; once in the hands of others, it wasn’t enough, meaning more products than you could shake a stick at became available. It might have been a fledgling industry but as the 1960s progressed, it gathered tremendous momentum and has never stopped.

Everyone had their unique way of trying to extract more power, which involved many elements and only made for a bigger market. The knock-on effect of making them go faster was that they needed to slow down more efficiently, which was another avenue for parts to go down. That, in turn, required better suspension to allow the machine to handle, and it became a snowball effect. Hang on a minute. If they can go faster, why not make them look like it, too? More products like seats, screens, sporting racks and so on. Just imagine if the

desire to alter these machines had never happened. I doubt there would be many left on the road because we would have become bored of them very rapidly.

Where is this all going, you might ask? The reason is that no matter how many products are invented or introduced, they never stop. When something new enters the market, it’s always the all-singing, all-dancing product of the year. It is guaranteed to improve this and that, only to be superseded by the next one to come along that’s always supposedly better. Before long, that product is discarded and destined to spend its life gathering dust on a garage shelf, only to be reminisced about occasionally. Some even have Mk 1, 2, 3 or even 4 versions, making you think the first one must have been flawed because it’s been updated so many times.

Scooter-related products are a bit like toothpaste and washing powder as they allegedly keep improving. Since TV adverts started in the 1950s, you can get toothpaste to make your teeth whiter or washing powder to make your clothes cleaner, with new formulas coming out periodically. Are they better now than they were back then, or is it a sales ploy to make you buy them? The big bore exhaust for the Lambretta is a perfect example of this philosophy. It’s been around for 60 years, and new versions of it keep coming on to the market. Were they as good back then, or are the new ones with their ‘special formulas’ much better? There are so many different ones to choose from, each supposedly offering something better than the others. Vespa cylinder kits are another example; they have been around for decades and researching which one best suits your needs is very daunting.

There is nothing wrong with a bit of competition in the scooter market, and it’s healthy to have it. It ensures products are constantly developed and improved, and those not up to the task are weeded out. I am sure this column won’t change the fact, and I hope it doesn’t, as progress should never be stopped. I bet there will be a new exhaust or cylinder kit available soon, but sometimes it makes you wonder if we are just trying to reinvent the wheel.

Article originally appeared in Scootering Mag April 2025 issue. To subscribe and grab some Meguiars cleaning freebies visit https://classicmagazines.co.uk/scootering?offer=SCOME2026