A Brief Look at the Lambretta LN125

A few weeks ago, while on the way back from my weekly grocery shopping with the family, I decided to make a quick detour and head towards Bikeworld.
The shop is (officially) the local sole distributors for Vespa scooters (except that they don't sell the PX...?), LML and now the new Lambretta as well. I had seen the ads on the new LN125 but never had the chance to take a look at it myself so, I used an old excuse (I desperately needed to get some 2-stroke oil for my Vespa or else it would explode!) and managed to convince the wife to agree to the quick visit.

Something tells me she knows I'm not telling the whole truth but plays along with me anyway when scooters are involved.

At just a couple hundred Euro below the 5,000 mark the Italian-designed, Taiwan-built Lambretta certainly isn't cheap especially for a 125cc scooter. One might argue that there's a premium to pay for the retro design and very unique badge but, it's even more expensive than a Vespa LXV125 which can be purchased brand-new for €4,250 (at the same shop too).

It gets even worse when compared to LML's new offering (well in Ireland anyway) - a 200cc 4-stroke PX lookalike for under €4,000. OK, it's an LML and not a Lambretta so we're comparing apples and oranges here but surely the 75cc difference in engine size makes up for what many see as a downgrade in badges?

Still, I'd be very keen on this Lammie (it is after all, a Lambretta) and hopefully, I'd get a chance to give it a test drive before I come to any final conclusions.

The Crazy World of Scooters

We could blame LML for where we are at the moment. At the beginning of the 21st century, the Indian company saw a market for the classic P-Series design. They snazzed it up a bit with some funky colours, slashed the price (relatively easily done when the scooters are made in India), tweaked the exhaust (to make it compliant with European emissions laws) and sold thousands of them around the world.

Piaggio soon realised this but before it could do anything in reply, LML came out all guns blazing with a preemptive strike - LML did the impossible. Well, at least in 2-stroke classic scooter terms. In late 2009, the Kanpur-based company launched a 4-stroke version of the classic scooter and by Spring 2010, the 4-stroke machines, for better or for worse, were making headlines in Europe. Emissions issues effectively solved and LML looked set to re-enter countries where 2-stroke machines had been completely banned.

Six months later, the much awaited reply from Pontodera finally came with a re-release of the PX. Disappointingly, other than a few cosmetic changes and the addition of a catalytic converter (to comply with emissions laws), Piaggio didn't add much and were seen as choosing the lazy option. Unfortunately for Piaggio, LML weren't actually done just yet.

As soon as they launched their 125cc and 150cc versions of their 4-stroke engines there were rumours going around that they were planning on coming up with a 200cc version (250cc even if you believe some rumours) of the steel-bodied scooter and last month the rumours proved to be true. In Ireland, orders were already being taken for the 200cc LML.

Not wanting to be outdone by LML once again Piaggio are seemingly looking to get their own 4-stroke version. But only in 125cc and 150cc versions. Whether true or not, this piece of news can only be good for the world of scooters.

Then there's the crazy goings on with the other crowd that's looking to re-launch the Lambretta.

I Fought the Law

Have been extremely busy at work for the past few days. It's been a while since I've had to use this much of my grey matter at work and it has sapped a good bit of energy from me. So, armed with mobile in hand, I made the picture above. Now, where did I put Darth Vader and that Stormtrooper...?

The Irish Motorbike and Scooter Show 2011: The Scooters

Visiting the show, I made the conscious decision of saving the best until the end of the show. Well, what I considered the best anyway i.e. the scooters. As in the last show, the nicer scooters on show came from a joint exhibit between the Vespa Club of Ireland and the Lambretta Club Ireland, courtesy of Ace Cafe London.

Although the scooters on show by the two clubs seldom disappoint, I was left feeling a bit frustrated by the lack of any other scooter-related exhibits or traders. Yes, there were the odd modern scooters thrown in by the Japanese makes on show as well as a full stand of Vectrix electric scooters but other than that, there was really nothing else scooter-wise. I knew full well that LML and Vespa were going to be no-shows given that the local distributors, Bikeworld seem to shun the show but maybe, I was still half hoping that some new LMLs would pop up at the show (I ruled out seeing the new Vespa PX completely though).

Anyway, there were still some very good scooters to see with Mick Ayre's Star Trek-themed Cosa (as seen in Scootering magazine issue #296) being at the top of my list.

Now, let me get this straight, I am no Klingon-speaking Trekkie. The reason I like this Cosa is because its unique and because I admire the understated quality of its paintwork (I am told that it was done by Liam Finnegan and my pics don't actually do it justice). And yes, I don't see why the Cosa needed a head transplant (that's a T5 headset on the scooter, if you hadn't noticed already) but if it adds to its uniqueness then, why not?

Of course, there were other scooters on show too. Here's a few of the rest...

I don't know what it is but I just love the look of trailers on scoots. I also noticed a couple of scooters with very nice looking white wall Schwalbe Weathermans. I had considered getting myself a pair of these tyres some time ago but couldn't justify the extra €10-€20. Having seen them in the flesh this time around, I might just go for them as soon as the Heidenaus that I currently have needs replacing.

One can't just ignore the Scomadi (above) and no self-respecting scooter exhibit would be seen as complete without the obligatory Mod scooter (below). And, that brings us to the end of the scooter bit to the Motorcycle and Scooter Show. Hopefully, it went well enough for the organisers and the exhibitors to convince them to make this an annual event (it was certainly more impressieve than last week's car show if that's anything to go by).

Thankfully, the scootering calendar's only beginning so, there'll be more than enough to keep me occupied for the next few months.

Bo's Egg Run 2010: OLHSC, Crumlin

I have to say, the best part of the Egg Run has to be errr...the run itself. In my enthusiasm to shoot a video of the scooters leaving Dun Laoghaire Pier, I got left behind but soon enough, caught up with the tail end of the convoy. Thanks to the 2 or 3 cars that made way for me to whizz by them and join in with the main group.

For some awkward reason, somewhere along the way, I stashed away my camera in the glovebox so, my sincerest apologies as I don’t actually have any pics during the run itself. Ah well, I’m sure we’ll all survive some way or another.

Although it’s been almost a week ago at this stage, the memory of having 60-70 or so scooters squeezed in the tiny lanes of the city centre honking their horns and revving their scooters is still fresh in my head. Brilliant!

It was a pleasantly strange feeling seeing the largely positive reaction of people looking at us on our scooters. There were hairdressers leaving their customers to sit half way through their hair cuts, kids gaping at the cool dudes on their cool machines (or old farts trying to act cool!), tourists busily clicking on their cameras and at Capel Street, there were even one or two dodgy-looking individuals who were impressed or curious enough to come out of the dark Adult shops, just to see us!

Eventually, we all made it safely to the hospital although as mentioned by Bo and Mick during the briefing, the final destination wasn’t actually the hospital itself but a separate building which was the hospital's fundraising arm instead. Personally, it didn’t matter as the kids in the hospital were probably better off with us slightly further away from them!

Here's another few pics of scooters during the Custom Show bit to the event.

Check out the pipe on this Vespa! It's obviously a smallframe but other than that, I couldn't make out what it exactly was.

PX200 Serie Speciale. Don't know whether any of these made it to Malaysia?

I'm not too sure about my Lammies but this one was labelled as an SX200 but it looked like an Li Special to me. It was for For Sale anyway...

A nice, clean, wee Vespa 100.

Congrats to all the winners on the day and even more importantly, thanks to everyone that chipped in what they could in these hard times. A whopping €10,000 was collected for the hospital on the day!

Oh yeah, and a big thanks to Bo and the guys who made this year's run as brilliant as it was. Hope to see everyone out and about soon.

Next up on the Irish scootering calendar is the Rebel Rally 2010 which is on tomorrow actually. Promises were made to the wife and kids so, I'll be giving this one a miss. Fortunately, I think we might have something equally (if not more) interesting to  do this Easter weekend.

Hope everyone has an amazing weekend!

Bo's Egg Run 2010: Dun Laoghaire Part 2

Continuing on from my previous post, after about an hour or so of hanging around for the run to begin and looking at other people's gorgeous scoots, I realised that I hadn't put on the Malaysian legshield banner.

So, on it went and it immediately got the attention of curious onlookers as well as fellow scooter enthusiasts.

Anyway, legshield banner aside, there were still a good bunch of scooters worthy of a mention here. Heh!

A sweet specimen from the SX200 range.

The award-winning Vespa GS160 (more on that later).

This Scomadi made an appearance but didn't join in the run. Would've loved to see it on the road with us on the day.

Some scooter porn especially for my GP-craving brethren back home. I think the two here are actually Indian SIL Lammies but, still very nice looking scooters.

So, a few minutes before 2 o'clock, everyone was gathered around with the intention of getting a group photo. The idea proved too difficult to organise as people were just busy looking at scooters. I managed to squeeze a pic of most, if not all the scooters and bikes present at the pier on the day.

After a quick briefing on the route and final destination, we were off!

Apologies for the dodgy video work. I still haven't gotten my head around this video thing so, do bear with me until I eventually get it right.

Next up, the actual run itself. Woohoo!