Scunthorpe scooter enthusiast Dave Kirk’s Plurimus is a custom Lambretta GP combining distinctive paintwork by Dave Dickinson with a heavily modified Casa SST engine tuned by Darrell Taylor. Producing 40.6 bhp, it’s a scooter built not just to impress, but to clock up the miles. Stu Owen reports…

Plurimus

One area of the UK consistently delivers when it comes to custom Lambrettas, and this particular scooter is an absolute stunner.

When Scunthorpe is in the news, it’s not always for the right reasons. Whether it’s the latest crisis at its huge steel plant or the town’s football team being relegated out of the league, none of it makes for good reading. It does have one great attribute, though: a rich scootering history, certainly going back to the clubs formed there in the 1970s. Also, the custom scooters that have constantly come out of the town make all the headlines, especially Lambrettas. Those with a creative mind churn them out one after another, almost making them seem commonplace.

You may ask why this is so, and to a certain extent it’s about one-upmanship, as the latest creation sparks others to try to beat it. Competition is always a healthy attribute, and this town has proved it because when someone commissions a new custom Lambretta, only the best will do. Builds are often shrouded in mystery; the painter is sworn to the Official Secrets Act, to not divulge the details of the work they are doing. It becomes a cloak-and-dagger exercise until the grand unveiling, and once the latest creation is exposed for all to see, someone is already planning the next one.

School’s out

Ask anyone when they began to take an interest in scooters, and most will answer: at school. Certainly, in the old glory days, when there was no internet or social media, normal things in life interested us. Dave Kirk was one of those people, and there is no doubt that, living in a town like Scunthorpe, it was easy to be exposed to them. So, at sixteen, the obvious decision was to purchase one, but at that age we are easily influenced and drained of any cash the moment a scooter comes up for sale. For him, it was a GT200 for £25, but there wasn’t much chance of joining the ranks of those riding them around the town. This thing was in bits, and at that age you don’t have a clue what you were doing with them.

There were plenty of people around who did, and that’s why it was acceptable to buy one in such a state, because you knew help was on hand to get it going. It was the perfect apprenticeship for Dave, who has sworn his allegiance to the Lambretta ever since. Like anyone caught up in the Scunthorpe scooter scene, this meant customising them, and his name can be added to the list of those who have built fine creations. The problem is, when do you stop? Even when you say it’s your last, the urge for another one is still there. Knowing another build was imminent, he wanted it to be special, so he recruited the usual suspects to make it happen.

Striped fear

With an idea in mind, Dave shot off to see the other Dave… Dickinson of DDK airbrushing fame. The plan was for an Adidas-inspired theme, but that had been done before locally, so it was quickly thrown out the window. Stripes are fine, but there comes a time when too many of them are about on scooters, and the fear of repetition soon arises. Dave’s previous projects had featured clothing brands, and with footwear off the table, an Italian clothing brand was suggested instead: Plurimus. It’s known for its military design and styling, and its motto is “space to express creativity and freedom.”

Dave Dickinson can do the same on a Lambretta with his airbrush; however, the design still needed to be worked out. That’s where his famous “leave it with me” one-liner comes in, and a few months later, one stunning piece of artwork on the Italian bodywork of the GP would be created. The problem is, even when he isn’t being complicated, he actually is, and this would be no exception.

Okay, a black, stealthy-looking base was ideal to work from, but it would be interwoven with blue and white in his trademark patterns.

The advantage of this: no two jobs leaving his spray booth are the same, and on a scooter in a town where individuality is a must, he was the right man for the job. Interwoven are the company logos and, of course, the DDK name. There are references all around the machine to its make-up, but not as cluttered as some over-the-top sponsored race bike. There is also a military association with the clothing brand in the form of a camouflage effect on the footboards and legshield floor, even extending onto the tanks, etc., under the panel. This is where a custom scooter either makes it or doesn’t. The theme is chosen, but it then needs to be interpreted right; when it is, it’s a winner like this one. Like many custom scooters that use a company’s theme, there is no personal connection to it. However, Dave wrote to them to request permission to use the Plurimus name and logos, and they were more than happy to endorse the request.

Watered down

One thing Dave doesn’t shy away from is tuned engines and the high level of maintenance to keep them on the road, bearing in mind he likes to clock up the miles. Having seen what Casa Performance were doing, he decided to go all in on one of their SST engines. Rather than have a shop-built one, he chose to purchase the casings and a blank cylinder and head. He then contacted Darrell Taylor about tuning the cylinder, to which he agreed, so the engine’s base was sorted. That was only the start, though, as a lot of work would be carried out on it.

Darrell started by taking the SST265 cylinder (air-cooled) and welding up the extra exhaust ports. The reason for this was to make them smaller, as they were too wide, causing short-circuiting of the transfer charge into the exhaust duct and exhaust gas into the transfers. The head was from a batch of blanks, allowing Darrell to profile it to his own spec to complement the tuning revisions he had carried out. The crankcase and crank were from the 250 Casa kit and, again, were modified to address crank-fouling issues. When finished, it had a capacity of 254cc, which was plenty big enough, and the 40.6 bhp power results proved it.

Initially, it was fitted with a Casa ignition system, but it was switched to the Vape, which they find performs better. Darrell preferred to use the Mikuni TMX 35mm carburettor, which Casa Performance didn’t initially recommend, but it has worked flawlessly. This carburettor also allowed a shallow elbow and air filter to be fitted, with enough clearance under the side panel. One thing that Dave has noticed is that when riding in a group with other Lambrettas to rallies, etc., it has the best fuel consumption, which is remarkable for an engine that powerful. It also uses a JL exhaust system that Darrell fits to his RB engines, albeit slightly modified to fit the Casa cylinder. All in all, the top-end package was designed to run on a four-speed Lambretta gearbox, giving the engine a relaxed ride through the rev range, with Darrell referring to it as the underdog engine.

Signing off

When Dave Kirk decided to build Plurimus, he knew it had to deliver on many fronts. There was no question that he needed it to look special but also different, which is necessary to gain recognition when you build a custom Lambretta in Scunthorpe. He also wanted a powerful yet reliable engine because it was going to clock up the miles with similar machines. He had the belief in his own skills to build it, but went to the right people: Dave Dickinson and Darrell Taylor when it came to the specialist areas of the project.

Another aspect was getting the endorsement from the company the theme was based on. Yes, this has been done before, but personally contacting the owner to gain approval and sign the build off made it that bit more special. One final note: Plurimus was always going to be a workhorse, but how often do we hear people say custom builds aren’t practical or used enough? Well, this one is, and Dave has proved it. It’s still looking as fresh as the day it was done and reliable as ever.

Words: Stuart Owen

Images: Dave Kirk and Darrell Taylor

Man & Machine

Name: Dave Kirk

Scooter club: Scunthorpe Silhouettes

First scooter: GT 200 when I was 16; it cost me £25 in bits!

First rally: My first rally was Newark Showground in 1984. Great Yarmouth was always a memorable rally.

Favourite Scootering Magazine feature: I think the magazine has a good balance of every subject.

Kit: Modified Casa SST

Crank: 66mm stroke x 120mm con-rod

Carb: 35mm Mikuni TMX

Exhaust: Modified JL race exhaust

Clutch: RLC Power Master

Gearbox: Performance Tuning CR 4-Speed

Ignition: Vape

Tuning work by: Darrell Taylor

Paintwork: House of Kolor Blue Shimmering Dry Pearl over a Black Base Coat. The bright blue is Ford RS Nitro, painted by Dave Dickinson at DDK.

Seat by: Corky

Brakes: Casa single front disc. Casa octopus rear hub drum brake

Suspension: Mupo front dampers and Ohlins rear shock

Frame modifications: Frame modified to take radiator and hoses

Specialised parts: Carbon fibre bodywork and fibreglass side panels. GPS Speedo by Speedhut Gamma. RTSE 1000 by Anthony Tambs. RLC water-cooled cylinder head.

What’s it like to ride: It is a pleasure to ride. It can be ridden at low speeds in town and on motorways, as it has great torque and is very economical. I run it on a 2% mixture using Motul 800 oil.

Thanks to: My partner, Kerry, for understanding my very expensive hobby! Dave Dickinson for making all the ideas a reality. Darrell Taylor for all the tuning work and advice. Ted for modifying the exhaust to fit the SST cylinder. Keith at K2 Customs for the sprint rack.