So first order of business was for the boys to go to the bottlo and get a slab, while I rustled up some tools from Marty the Vic Rep, then we met back at Bollo’s digs.

So there we were, about ten of us all up, I reckon, most just drinking and taking the mickey as you do. Fark, talk about pissing about, took ‘em ages to get the rear runner and flywheel cover off, then we realized we didn’t have a socket and ratchet to fit inside the flywheel holder tool, we was truly buggered.

Then, get this, then Mark, yeah Marky Mark, Mandy Mark Dearman, the biggest plonker of them all, goes like “ have you tried the bungee strap trick” (Occy Strap), bungee is what they call them in Pommyland, and we were like blown away that Mark, you know, came up with an idea, but what did we have to lose so we was like “go on then show us”
So there he was winding the Occy strap in and out of the fins on the flywheel, then he fastens the ends to the frame, takes up the tension in a clockwise way, puts on the spanner, gives it a whack, and hey fucken presto, it worked, I shit you not. I swear we were all like gob smacked. Then Jimbo dropped his pants, not for any reason mind, he just does that.

Anyway, yep stator was loose as a goose, but we soon had Bollo rolling again.
Max

Amongst the thousands of LD 150 Lambrettas then in Britain in February 1957 was one special one named “La Cigale” (“The Cicada”) which was to be remembered at a recent celebration in Melbourne. The occasion was the launch of the memoir Solly’s Girl by Ros Collins. Her late husband, the Australian author, Alan Collins, had purchased the Lambretta direct from the Innocenti factory in Milan and ridden it to England via Italy and France – a feat in itself.

1957 Lambretta Motor Scooter

London-born Ros ultimately became a “Ten Pound Pom” and “La Cigale” accompanied the newly-weds to Port Melbourne aboard the migrant ship, the SS Stratheden, arriving in April 1957.

After many adventures (and run-ins with the authorities) in Melbourne, “La Cigale” was eventually sold to a farmer but maybe one day she might turn up as a ‘barn find’.
To do justice to the book launch, an LD 150 was sought from the Melbourne Scooter Community, and as luck would have it, Jim Wilson’s perfectly restored 1957 LD 150 mark 111 was selected as pictured. This late production LD was born in the Innocenti factory just as Ros and Alan were arriving in Melbourne.

Solly’s Girl (which has many illustrations) may be ordered through any bookshop or online via the usual distributors such as Amazon; also from the author. It is available as a paperback or e-book. ISBNs are: 9780994388612 (paperback), 9780994388605 (e-book).
Jim Wilson

I was sent a link to mcnews.com.au which had a feature on a Lambretta Racer. It was too good not to share so I thought I’d post it here.
Words and photo credited to mcnews.com.au and Phil Aynsley
Lambretta 250 Grand Prix RacerPhil Aynsley tracks down a unique Lambretta 250 Grand Prix Racer

Sometimes things just work out. Many years ago I saw an old period B&W photo of a 1950s racing Lambretta in a book. It was a beautiful looking thing but there was almost no information about it and I was never able to find out anything more.

Fast forward to 2010 and I was looking through the posts on a bike forum and there was a link to photos taken at a classic meeting in Europe. One of the pics caught my eye (I forget what bike it was) and in the way of these things I was soon browsing on another website  – where much to my astonishment, there was a recent shot of the Lambretta!

Luckily there was enough information to track it down and I was able to make contact with the owner. The following year I was able to photograph it in Milan.

Originally shown at the 1951 Milan Show as a dry sump, SOHC design, the 250GP evolved into a wet sump, DOHC bike by the time it was retired in 1953.

This bike (number one of the two built) was discovered by Lambretta enthusiast Vittorio Tessera, abandoned under a pile of rubbish after the factory was closed in 1972.

The bike was designed by Giuseppe Salmaggi and raced, not particularly successfully, by Romolo Ferri and Cirillo “Nello” Pagani.

The 54×54 bore/stroke V-twin motor used a shaft drive, with the overall transverse V-twin design predating the famous Moto Guzzi layout by some 13 years.