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Friday, December 9, 2011

Code Series Three




A crippling Lambretta addiction has taught me an important lesson: you never know when and where your next-favorite scooter is going to fall into your lap. So always be ready.

That bit of Lambretta wisdom got acted on just days ago while I was in Colorado on a ski trip. I had been in Denver just one day when a Lambretta popped up for sale on Denver's Craig's List site. And this wasn't just any Serveta --- Lambretta's Spanish cousin --- that was being offered for sale. It was a New York police scooter that had once patrolled the pedestrian mall in Ithaca. The owner's father had scooped up two of the police Servetas after they were decommissioned and sold at auction. As a young boy growing up in Ireland, the father had owned a Lambretta and never stopped wanting another one. The son got the bikes after his father passed away. And in honor of his Dad he brought them to Denver and did what any good son would do --- had both of them undergo complete mechanical restorations at Denver's own Casa Lambretta. He wanted to keep one bike and sell the other, buyer's choice.

I called him immediately, met him with cash, picked out the scooter that had the majority of it's original equipment and stuffed it in the back of my 1989 Ford Bronco II for the 900 mile drive back to Dallas! I don't think I've ever been happier to prematurely end a ski trip!

So this is what landed in my back yard just days ago. I will update as I learn more about the bike's history and gradually put it back into its original condition.

2 comments:

  1. I had a bike just like that once, with only 300 miles on it with the original Firestone tires. The cylinder and magneto cowlings were silver and the glove box and tank were mustard yellow. It was one of the best bikes I ever had. It ran great and I didn't need to do a thing to it. Congratulations! By the looks of it you don't need to do much to get it original.

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    1. Thanks! It sounds like my bike is very much like yours. It also has silver cowling and ochre yellow box and tank. And you are correct. There are a few things to replace to make it original, but not much. I just had the correct size police decals made and found the correct windscreen, which I will show in future updates. The Firestone tires have been replaced, but I would have done that anyway.

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