May 2010 Archives

This is a very clean Lambretta LD which is for sale right now on Ebay.  The seller had this scooter totally restored by West Coast Lambretta Works, which is one of the best shops in the US.  His ebay listing is quite sparse, but he links to photos of the restoration on West Coast's site.  As one would expect from West Coast, the quality of the build is impressive.  If you ever wanted a nice LD, this is certainly one to consider.

This photo was caught by friend of the site Jon, who said that he was driving down the freeway near San Francisco airport and saw this in the slow lane.  So insane, I don't even have words.  I mean, what could possibly go wrong?!!  In any case, the driver has good taste, that's for sure.  A nice early VW squareback with the small taillights, and a mid-70's Primavera ET3.  Both, rare and cool vehicles, and both look like they are in super nice condition...

As you may know, one of our bugaboos here at Scooterlounge has been the influx of crap Asian "restoration" Vespas and Lambrettas to the US.  They are a trap for those new to the vintage scooter world, and can easily turn someone who would join our ranks as a vintage scooterist into someone who hates the thought of a scooter because they were burned.  The unscrupulous people who sell these things should be prosecuted.

Where I live, in the San Fransicso area, we have a lively scooter scene, and a lively internet culture... the two often meet on Craigslist classifieds.  There is a general internet culture here of policing Craigslist, and pointing out egregious scammers.

A case in point, there was recently an ad on Craigslist for a Vespa that was clearly a Viet-deathtrap.  There are times when the sellers will be honest about what they are selling.  In that case, I'm ok with it.  You couldn't pay me to take one off your hands, but if you are upfront about what it is, fine.  However, this particular seller was clearly hiding the provenance of his crapmobile.  Enter, the Craigslist scooter flamers!

Below the jump - the original ad, and the take downs...

If you love scooters - and I know you do because you are reading this blog - you may love these lamps by Lamponi in Italy.  The artist at Lamponi builds many interesting custom lamps.  He clearly loves scooters, and some of his designs are based upon Vespa and Lambretta handlebars.  Here, he's expanded to the early Lambrettas.  The above is a Lambretta LD handlebar and horncasting.  These lamps showcase the wonderful industrial design that Piaggio and Innocenti put into even the smallest parts of their scooters.

More below the jump...

IN THE FUTURE: we will all be friends with impossibly beautiful leggy uber-people who will regard us sternly.  IN THE FUTURE: the uber-people will ride color co-ordinated space scooters.  IN THE FUTURE: all clothing will be shiny.  IN THE FUTURE: we will all wear non-functional triangular sunglasses.  IN THE FUTURE: everyone will re-discover their love for the hammond organ.

That future sounds awesome! If only the last prediction comes true, I'll die a happy man...

Last Sunday was the now-famous LALO ride in San Francisco.  LALO stands for "Loose Association of Lambretta Owners", and the ride has become one of the best of the year.  Many of the traditional scooter rallies have become inundated with new twist-n-go scooters, but the LALO keeps the vintage flag flying.

This year's ride coincided with a lot of other events, and so it was down in attendance from last year's 100 plus scooters.  Nevertheless, it is hard to beat a ride with 50 Lambrettas on a clear warm day in San Francisco.  In past years, the ride went over the Golden Gate Bridge into the Marin Headlands.  This year changed things up, and we rode to Treasure Island, in the middle of the San Francisco bay.

Many more photos below the jump!