Scooterotica

In the late 80@s whilst stumbling along a windy sea front of a forgotten coastal town, I came across two candy apple red lambretta vega's and instantly fell in love with the styling. I madew a promise to myself then that one day I would own one for myself.
Fast forward 20 years and one drunken night I placed a bid on a 1968 Lui on e bay and much to my suprise I won the auction.
I bought it home, got it running and soon realised that a 50cc glorified pushbike is no mode of transport for a middle aged fat drunken idiot, so it sat in my shed for the next few years collecting dust
http://www.lambretta-images.com/albums/ ... 0043~0.JPG
Eventually I got fed up with hearing the wife moan and I decided to do something about it so I took it off to Damian at Chequered past scooters along with a 150 engine, that Alan at Diablo had bored out to 180cc and worked his magic on, an old pipe he had laying around and a half assed plan.
Its been a while to get it to this stage, and its not quite finished but I'm really pleased with the results. http://www.lambretta-images.com/albums/ ... 080214.JPG
http://www.lambretta-images.com/albums/ ... 0216~0.JPG
http://www.lambretta-images.com/albums/ ... 080218.JPG
http://www.lambretta-images.com/albums/ ... 080216.JPG
http://www.lambretta-images.com/albums/ ... C_0208.JPG
Its got an MOT now and I've had a quick blast up the road on it (Its not registered yet) but it pulls and rides a treat
We we worried that it might be a bit skippy as its so light particularly at the front but that doesnt seem to be the case
I know Vega's aren't to everyones taste but I love it

Its a familiar story my friend, hence why I have ended up with a garage full of scooters, much to the dismay of the better half.
Bloody 80's eh, enjoy it while you can. I still live in that windy seaside town

Great to see something out of the ordinary.

Does it take much engineering to get the engine to fit?

That seat looks expensive...... :bigsm:

That looks like it could be fun!

thats exactly how i did mine but with a 200 engine .youll love it .

Great conversion fella ,and I'm sure you'll have lots of fun on it

DigDug wrote:Great to see something out of the ordinary.

Does it take much engineering to get the engine to fit?

That seat looks expensive...... :bigsm:

I didn't do the work myself, so I dont know how much work was involved. The original engine mounts were removed and a lambretta one was welded in. The frame was then strengthened around this area.
The engine was then fitted and an old expansion chamber was cut and re welded so it past through the frame (in the space where the cylinder head would have been) An arm was fabricated and fitted to the back of the mag housing to support the exhaust
A section of the running boards was removed and re shaped so the carb would fit
The upper rear shock absorber mount had to be altered so that the shocky would line up
A section of the frame was removed under the tank, so that the electrics could be mounted inside the frame, all the electrics were fed through the frame, along with the petrol pipe
As the engine had an electronic stator plate (12V) a brand new loom had to be made, a rear brake light switch had to be made and a new front bulb holder fitted (as the lui one doesnt have a dip and beem facility)
The original forks were butchered, the stem was cut off and welded to a set of GP forks and the legshields had a section welded on around the top of the forks
The stand was about two inches short and couldn't be extended as it hit the exhaust so a new one was made
Other issues: getting 4th gear, (lui's only have 3 gears so the handle bars aren't set up for 4 gears)
Simple

my 4 speed gearchange never lined up as the vega has less movement at the engine end .the hardest part is getting the rear wheel aligned because as you weld the mount in it pulls it out of line it took me 4 goes to do it

rb it go on u know u want to............

As an owner of one of those myself I have a bit of mixed feelings of what you did with it. Its a good idea but the Lui was sooo well preserved... Wasn't there the option of another one in horrid condition? Its just hard enough to come across with them with the original paint. Other than that, I hope you enjoy that!