A ride out we had a while ago. First bit is Scarborough , then most of it is Southend. I make a strange appearance at 56secs.

Liam wrote: ↑Wed Feb 26, 2020 7:40 am I make a strange appearance at 56secs.

Looking like an early version of your namesake, Liam Gallagher ... although he was 7 at the time.

I remember '79/80 when everyone was buying up all the scooters that had sat in sheds for years. I made a fair whack on a GP200 I'd been restoring for a couple of years before Quadrophenia came out.

[bbvideo] [/bbvideo]


They hiked up price of beer so they say lol

capitano wrote: ↑Wed Feb 26, 2020 8:18 am
I remember '79/80 when everyone was buying up all the scooters that had sat in sheds for years. I made a fair whack on a GP200 I'd been restoring for a couple of years before Quadrophenia came out.

I think it must have been the year before at Southend, when people came round asking if anyone wanted to be extras in that film. £20 per day or £30 if you had a scooter. I turned down a starring role as I was too busy at Trent Polytechnic at the time

Liam wrote: ↑Wed Feb 26, 2020 7:29 pm I think it must have been the year before at Southend, when people came round asking if anyone wanted to be extras in that film. £20 per day or £30 if you had a scooter. I turned down a starring role as I was too busy at Trent Polytechnic at the time

That's great. I ended up speculating without even knowing it.

My parents were divorced and I lived with my grandparents, but spent every other weekend at my Dad's which meant spending a weekend in his garage, working on shoving bigger motors into Minis or working on a stock car his mate used to race. My interest was elsewhere mechanically, though.

My grandparents used to holiday in Gt Yarmouth, and each time we traveled there I'd see a group of old school scooters parked up from a Friday night in the Norwich area, and over the weekend, there would be scooters in GT Yarmouth itself.This must have been '75-'77 kind of era.

I asked my Dad and his mate whether they coud find me an old Vespa I could refurbish ready for my 17th birthday, and his mate turned up with a red Lambretta GP200 he'd got from some bloke's shed for literally nothing ( part of a swap deal with something or other.)

Cutting a long story short, I was 16 when the film ws released, but even in the few months before, everywhere went scoter-crazy and prices shot up dramatically.

It wasn't really the lure of a few quid that sealed the decision, but more that I'd felt pretty exclusive having something you didn't see that often until they were literally everywhere!

So, with regret, I pushed it to the side of the road where traffic passed by my Dad's house with a "For Sale," sign on it. I remember my Dad's mate, who'd caught wind of the trend persuaded me to add another two hundred quid to the price, saying I could haggle. I did and prepared to negotiate.

I didn't need to haggle. Within the first hour, two cars stopped, one after the other, and the second car contained a Dad with his near-17-year-old Son in the car, wearing a brand new parka with a target on the back. He emptied his wallet as a deposit and returned with the rest of the asking price in cash a couple of hours later.

Liams getting all nostalgic, as a new Vespa is en route!!

horobags wrote: ↑Thu Feb 27, 2020 2:33 am Liams getting all nostalgic, as a new Vespa is en route!!

I must be.. Although I am struggling to get the Tmax in and out of the gym lately. So a lighter machine will be a bonus. Im still keeping the Tmax till I definitely take to the Vespa.

capitano wrote: ↑Thu Feb 27, 2020 2:12 am everywhere went scoter-crazy and prices shot up dramatically.

Yes,, I can remember buying a Lambretta TV200 from a scrapyard near where I lived, for £1.50 round about 1976. It was a runner and I risked riding it home with no insurance (I know... bad boy) But then 2 years later, I bought a Lambretta Jet 200 and it cost me £120 !
I had that for a couple of years but it wasn't great. I'm sure the carb was made out of toy gun metal I did Southend runs on it, but by 1980 turned to Vespas. Best thing I did..

Great video and brings back memories of my trip to a rally at Great Yarmouth in about 1977. Quite a journey from Mansfield. Skinheads set fire to the marquee. Engine on my Lambretta GP200 siezed on the way back home and spilled me and my passenger onto the road. Happy times?!