Lambretta brothers united

A Lambretta Li 150 in front of my TV 175.

This Lambretta Li 150, in Sweden they were called "Milano", from 1959 is living on Gotland, its latest MOT was in 1975...

The owner is an old scooterist from the 60's, and has owned a number of scooters.

This is his last one and he intends to keep it. Some restoration work has begun on the front fender and the handle bar housing. My guess is that it ends there...

The Lammy is running and the only thing that stops it from having a new MOT is non working horn.

I thought it was fun to reunite two series 1 Lambrettas, the big brother and the little one... 

Levers with a hook, "mod style" saýs the owner.

Not clean, but working. Original colour under the Orange respray.

The correct place for the Agip sticker, mine is on the outside...

  

Two series 1 Lammys in the sun.

Lambretta TV 175 in pictures

Just before the disaster, only 29 km's to the ferry.

As I told you in a former post, I had some carburettor problems. And some Picasa problems that prevented me from publishing photos. Now I can publish the photos from my vacation. Part of it were spent on my Lambretta TV 175 from 1958.
Some trouble with the lid that holds the arm that lifts the throttle was finally solved. To make it to the ferry I had to find an alternative gas wire since I didn't want to ruin the original. 50 meters from the breakdown I found a rusty piece of steel wire on a lamp post. I attached it to the hook that lifts the throttle and was able to accelarate with it between my legs. As this took some time I missed the ferry to the island of Gotland, but managed to get on  the next one. In the town of Visby I borrowed a better wire from my friend Ronny, a keen scooterist who also owns a bicycle repair shop. In it he stores his very nicely restored "faro basso", a 1954 Vespa 125.
In our rented cottage I phoned my oldest son who stayed in our house. He managed to locate a spare part in the chaos of my garage. Then he posted it to me and all was back to normal. But now I have a non-complete Dell'Orto MA 23 BS5. Too bad!

The lamp post with rusty wire.

The rusty wire coming directly from the throttle.

In the stand-by queue, after missing the booked ferry.

Inside the ferry.

Got another wire in Visby from my friend Ronny.

Ronny has a nicely restored Vespa 125 from 1954.

The spare part.

Lambretta & Vespa report

I have some trouble with Picasa. Didn't use it for some months, and then Google made some changes I guess. So, no pics right now.
I'm on vacation on the island of Gotland, halfway between Sweden and Latvia.
I rode the Lambretta TV 175 series 1 to the ferry. Suddenly the arm joint to gas wire and throttle broke. Had to find a steel wire as I didn't want to remove the gas wire.
I found a rusty wire on a lamp post, and proceeded by lifting the throttle directly.
But I missed the ferry, but had only to wait 2 hours to the next one.
On Gotland I phoned our oldest son and asked him to remove the arm from another Dell'Orto 23 mm and post it to me. That worked out, but now the second carb is useless. Anyone having spares?

A mod to be, maybe?

Above is my youngest son, sporting a cool hat and a Ben Sherman jacket on a cool scooter.
Below is Jim and me, he is helping me with the rectifier, later we also changed the condenser. Now the Lambretta TV 175 series 1 goes much better!
Last a summer picture from my backyard, Lammy-wreck, the TV and my Vespa GS 150 from 1961 (VS5).
Well, time for the Euro2012 final. Forza Italia!

Riding a Lambretta TV 175

Paul S noted in a comment that there has been few blog posts from me this month. Right so, focus has been on getting the Lambretta TV 175 running. Had some issues with the clutch, and after that the clutch wire but that's sorted now.
Both the front and rear brake cables has been adjusted, I think they're pretty good for drum brakes!
I also like the long wheelbase, makes the ride smooth. And it fits my 186 cm height.
The 170 cc engine producing 8,6 bhp is nice, after riding a couple of 125's.
But there should always be time for more riding!

The speedo should go to 120 kph, this is after market.

The saddle is also two-tone.

Li 150 series II with unrestored LD 150 at an exhibition.

A nice series II TV 175, the LD once again in the background.

Some sort of race-Lambretta Luna.

Found an italian friend, a 1954 Fiat 500 C, "Topolino".

Street legal Lambretta TV 175

Month of May, with not so many blogposts from me. Been a bit lazy, sorry!
Today I got my Lambretta TV 175 from 1958 through the Swedish MOT. A bit tricky this time of the year, lot's of people wanting their two-wheelers examined and approved.
The young clerk (?) handed over a clean sheet with the words; "Funny little machine".
After that I took a ride in to Stockholms old town, and found an old Volvo 210, the station wagon built from the 50's into the late 60's, the Swedish name is "Duett". Yes, meaning duet and it was marketed as "two cars in one", salon and workhorse.
And it's summer!

A clean sheet, hooray!

In front of an vintage Volvo station wagon.

Impressionist's Lambretta?

It's almost like a painting by a french painter from the 19th century, don't you think?

Actually it's the interior of the engine to my Lambretta TV 175 series 1 wreck.

Any useful bits? Don't know yet...

TV 175 on the premiere!

Tomorrow, on Saturday the 5th of May, it's the scooter premiere here in Stockholm. My dream was to participate on my 1958 Lambretta TV 175, series 1. And it has been fulfilled, thanx to my good mate Jim. He has the skills, the tools and the stamina to make it happen!

I was a bit dubious this Wednesday, the clutch wasn't working very well. "We have to open the engine" said Jim. "Bye, bye, the premiere" were my thoughts. Then Jim fabricated a clutch depressing tool, and then we discovered a broken bearing, with three balls on the loose. Happy days were here again after that was sorted!

Today we continued. After that the cables to the gearbox were installed, I had to take a short drive...

And after we had mounted the last bits, horncover, speedo housing etc, it was time for a test drive. It went to the local groceries, 5 km's away, to buy coffe and mustard. It went very well and it was a blast to drive the Lammy! Although I have to take it easy, the piston and rings are new.

So, it's gonna be a great day tomorrow. Stay tuned for a report!

I couldn't wait...

The TV 175 starts very nice.

"Hey, look, both brake lights are working".

Lambretta - it's looking bright

Such a pretty sight; back light and brake light is working!

Quite a pleasant Easter holiday, with lot's of work done to the Lambretta TV 175. The electric wires were fitted to the battery, rectifier and ignition coil. And there was light! I really like that it is two orange brake lights, this is the only Lambretta with this set up.

But this was in the "mock-up" stage. The "due tempi-mago" Jim modified the newly bought brake light switch to fit on the foot lever! Of course it worked.

The trickier bit was to fit the hand brake lever on the handlebar. A small peg with a hole is needed to keep the lever in it's place. And small hookVery fiddly, three hands needed. I wonder how they did it at the Innocenti factory, I hope it wasn't as time consuming for them as it was for us!

OK, brakes and lights working. Next step is to connect clutch and gas wires, sort the exhaust and a couple of other things.

 

Fitting the front brake lever was very tricky, three hands needed.



The modified brake light switch, later mounted on the rear brake lever.

Lambretta TV 175 wired up!

The two "ears" are for the non-existent brake light switch.

Happy Easter and Buona Pasqua to everyone!
Yesterday was spent working on the Lambretta TV 175 series 1 from 1958 with my good friend Jim (bless him!).
First we sorted the rear brake, attached the cable with the correct mounts. But we have to make an alteration regarding the brake light switch. I haven't found the right one for this series 1, version 2, TV 175. The switch should be mounted on the brake lever as you can see above. The new switch I have bought has to be attached to the body instead.
Next task was building a wire loom, some old electrical cables was kept and others were new. Quite time consuming but quite fun in a strange way.
It also turned out to be an excellent opportunity to learn the italian names for colours, since the manual is in italian.. Giallo (yellow) is always a favourite! And marrone (brown)!
So, the wire loom is in it's place but nothing is connected yet. Hopefully we get to that next week!

The electric cables in beuatiful colours.

I'm keeping the original light switch with some parts from my wreck.

Let's see, giallo is yellow, verde is green, marrone is brown...

Two steps back, one forward...some cables sticking out.

TV 175 ready this spring?

The rear brake cable fitted, things missing though...

My Lambretta TV 175 was dismantled in the late 80's, and not by me...

When I bought it the former owner had assembled some things, not very accurate.

The rest was in several boxes, unmarked. So, it's been a lot of trial and error.

When me and Jim opened the front hub we soon discovered that a couple of vital thing was missing, well the hub bearing was there but one circlip and a hub seal were non-present...

Next one was the rear hub that received the brake shoes. The trouble started when we discovered that there were no clamps to join the pedal for the rear brake with the brake cable. A bit late to discover that...

Well, I found the clamps, on my 175-wreck in the yard. Today I flipped the Lammy upside down and saw grime, dirt and rust. Thought that I never get the clamps loose. Much to my surprise it went really easy. Then a thorough cleaning and the clamps are up for the job!

All the pieces are there in the front hub, and it's quiet!

The brake shoes are now fitted, and the rear hub is overhauled.

The Innocenti badge made of plastic was glued on.

I flipped the wreck upside down in order to get...

...to the gold! The pedal clamps for the rear brake cable.

The clamps looking a bit better! I like my wreck.

Another Lambretta rim

This chromed Lambretta rim arrived in the mail today. A friend from southern Sweden put it up for sale, thanx Olof!
It will be the spare wheel for my Lambretta TV 175, series 1. But first it needs a coat of ivory paint. Only the outer part of the rim should be chromed. My painter fixed it on the two other wheels. Like this!

Swedish Lambretta leaflet

Here's a sales leaflet from the Swedish Lambretta importer Bil & Truck from Gothenburg. Originally it was an article in the Swedish motor magazine "FART med motorrevy". Yes, sorry all of you who speaks English, but "fart" means speed in Swedish. Nothing else!
The magazine did a test drive of the Lambretta TV 175 in their fourth number 1958. Issued when it still was winter. The test driver couldn't really try the top speed or brakes, due to weather conditions. He also concluded that the clutch was hard to use in minus 8 degrees C!
Funny thing, though, the Swedish name was Lambretta 175 TV Turist. As you know TV stands for Turismo Veloce, so in Sweden it was Turismo Veloce Turist...
The FART magazine's driver liked the looks of the scooter, that it was well-equipped, the acceleration and the top speed thanks to the powerful engine.
Minus points were the difficulties to change gears in cold weather (Hey, it was built in Italy!).
It was definitely a positive article so the importer Bil & Truck had the article printed and provided the leaflets for their retailers.

On the wrong scooter...

"A251, exhaust deflector", it look's just like the one I have on my 1961 Vespa GS 150 (below). But this leaflet are displaying accessories for Lambretta. It even says "Genuine Lambretta accessories for your TV 175", and the leaflet was issued in 1958 by the UK importer Lambretta Concessionaires LTD.
So I have to moved the deflector to my Lambretta TV 175 I guess. Can't have Lambretta stuff on a Vespa.
And start searching for "A201 Front Bumper".