Lambretta Museum, Weston-Super-Mare, UK

I've been working near Falmouth in UK this week, driving a rental car from Heathrow. On the way over to Falmouth, I got the chance to visit Stonehenge. And on my way back to Heathrow, I got the opportunity to visit the largest collection of Lambrettas in UK, possibly in the world: The Lambretta Museum in Weston-Super-Mare (near Bristol).


I first became aware of the Lambretta Museum in a DVD called "In search of Lambretta" (mentioned in an earlier post). And it just happened to be on my route today. Yes. Lucky me.

The Lambretta Museum also houses Scooterproducts.co.uk, check out their collection of scooter memorabilia. Tip: Check out the Pewter scooter models in cast metal, they were absolutely stunning!

The Lambretta Museum in its glory

Carlo was more than happy to give me a guided tour. For the rest of you: Enjoy the pictures!

Roughneck Rideout Stavanger 09.06.2011

Todays rideout was the first rideout in Roughnecks history with a Lambretta present! DC imported this 175TV from Stockholm two weeks after I was over to pick up my Rally. And by coincidence, the Lambretta was only minutes away from where I picked up my scooter. I even had the necessary space in my towing trailer to bring the scooter home, but that's another story. 

Target for today: Stavanger Centrum. We started off at the Esso petrol station in Sandnes, and were headed for Stavanger. 3 kms from start, and 1 km from where I live, the Lambretta suddenly dies. 

First error observed: A loose carburator. 

But hey, there's more. No spark. 

 Will running cure the problem? No.

 "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind..."

Defeated scooterist DC; Smiling on the outside: Angry on the inside. The electronic ignition has probably failed big time. No cure but to replace parts. And to park bike. 

OK, what to do? Easiest solution was to bring the scoot back to my house. 

After some unconventional towing-by-boot (Including a dirty look from a passing police car, honest I thought we were going to be fined for the unconvetitional towing) we arrived at my place, where the Lambretta was deposited and my 180SS was taken out as a replacement. The low kick was dismantled as a safety precaution, and we where ready to continue our journey to Stavanger.

Evidence: Vespa 1 - Lambretta 0. 

 Stavanger next, without any trouble. 

Coffee@Cementen. Scooter talk. 

DC on our way home.

No other way than to bring the defect Lambretta back to DC than by towing trailer, and lucky for DC I'm still on paternity leave... 

This however gave me the opportunity to have a closer look at DC's Maico Letta. 

Maico Letta, BMX & Vespa Gran Turismo... 

All in all: The shortest rideout in Roughnecks history. However the first rideout with a Lambretta present.

And also the first rideout which resulted in a total breakdown... 

Scooter literature

Amazon.com is a great website. Just as addictive as Ebay. After 5 minutes of browsing I ended up with the following scooter literature:

• The Lambretta bible: All Italian models covered
• Vespa 1946-2006: 60 years of Vespa. All Italian models covered, per decade. 
• Classic Scooters. Rare and odd scooter models you didn't know existed.
• Vespa: An Illustrated history. English produced Vespas.

The first two books are a "must have", but I can recommend the bottom two as well.