He’s at it again… Nick Prince, seasoned scooterist and Isle Of Man Ferries frequent voyager Platinum card holder, gives us an insight into the Lambretta parts he’s picked up from this season at the countries various Scooter Parts fairs. As always, his eye for a bargain and serviceable alternative parts abounds.
Get your bits out for the lads
Much like anyone walking round the parts fairs, I am a bit of a magpie and pick things up and cannot leave without buying something. These are all parts I have picked up and bought whilst wandering around and I use them myself, I get no reward for mentioning anyone here and in fact they don’t even know – I’m a real secret shopper, hence I use the flasher mac and the flat cap as a bit of a disguise!
So I have decided to show you my bits, collected over the year, so far.
You’ve got to keep it together
Robbospeed Engine rebuild kit cost approximately £30.00.
So what do you get? A handy kit of stainless steel high-tensile fasteners specifically for Lambretta. What’s in the bag?
Wishbone/gear selector bolt – the nice sort as recommended in Sticky’s Complete Spanner’s Lambretta rebuild Bible, round headed and allen key type.
Gear box/end plate– these are actually bolts (set screws to be precise – Ed) that I am quite impressed with. You can seem to get more purchase on them and they feel firmer than the old M7 Stud, nut and washer setup, which is never ideal. You might need, however, to carefully cut these down as they can bottom out on some poorly machined Indian casings.
Stator plate holding bolts– very similar to the BGM ones – domed Allen key types.
Rear hub retaining plate studs – these are studs that can be fitted with an Allen key
Chaincase side cover stud replacements – Allen key fixing.
Mag flange stud replacement- same again, Allen key ones.
Drive-side seal plate bolts – easy to get in and out with an Allen key.
Gear change swivel and cable adjuster block – for holding both the gear swivel linkage and cable adjuster block on, complete with washer and nice Nylock nuts, for extra security.
Chain guide tensioner fixings.
Exhaust studs – yet again the sort you put in with an Allen key.
Initially I bought one of these kits a while back, and every time I lost a stud or one of the ‘evil fairies’ loosened one of my nuts I replaced it with one out of this kit. I have built a couple of engines now with these kits and I find them far easier if you need to go back later and take a stud out. Because the bags are clearly labeled it’s also easy to find what you want whilst taking the hassle out of searching through tubs of nuts and bolts.
Avoiding engine incontinence
LCGB Stall. Replacement cork Chaincase side Gasket, from that Nice Man ‘Toot’. Cost £5.00
Apart from T-shirts and hoodies, themselves a bargain, the stall sells some ‘get you home’ spares. I bought a chaincase cork gasket. I really like these because they are much thicker at 1.5mm, which gives you a bit of clearance between the kickstart and the clutch top plate (the two rubbing against each other on a Lambretta engine rebuild is a common problem). Also, if you have a bit of a frustrating oil drip because of uneven, or slightly damaged gasket faces, these seem to help. The manufacturer suggests, although I have not tried yet, replacement after 5 rebuilds.
Heavy Duty Acceleration
Peaky’s Brother – Dom Canavan. Extra-thick throttle cable, price unknown but pretty inexpensive.
I can’t recall the exact price here but not expensive. The reason I like these is that the lads selling them ride everywhere and through experience, they have provided an extra thick throttle cable. Let’s face it, we’ve all replaced one by the side of a rain-lashed busy dual-carriageway at some stage and these do tend to last longer. They are handy for any Lambretta with a non-original/larger carburettor set up, where the original spec thinner cables tend to snap even more often.
Clutch it real good
Robbospeed. BGM specification 10 clutch spring alignment tool. Cost £20.00.
When setting up a BGM clutch with its 10 springs, it can seem like you’re chasing spaghetti with a rod of Jelly. You really do want to avoid placing them with a blob of grease on each of the ten springs as excessive grease and clutch plates, are hardly a match made in heaven. , Robbospeed, (the self styled Donald Trump of scootering) however, has come up with a 10 spring clutch alignment tool. With this you have to use a conventional old-style clutch compressor but it is a lot easier and at £20.00, will cost you significantly less than the additonal contributions you’d have to make to the ‘swear’ tin, without its assistance.
So there you have it, for around sixty quid, I’ve bought quality items, which maximise my time enjoying riding a Lambretta and minimising time in the workshop, or on those pesky road side repairs. Until next time…
Nick Prince
This was a great article. Good to see proper suppliers recommended and praised