The very first problem with restoration is finding suitable scooters cheaply. Some people seem to think that the only way to start a restoration is to steal a bike (I had two stolen) but there were plenty of cheap scooters available during the '60s and '70s - it was a case of knowing where to look.

When I managed to find, and buy, a damaged or unroadworthy bike from the owner, I would attempt to get all the documents as part of the sale. This gave me the flexibility to decide later whether to restore the bike or cannibalise it for spares. Without the registration documents my options were more limited.

Once I had obtained a suitable scooter, and any spare parts that I needed, it was simply a case of stripping the bike to bare essentials, respraying it, overhauling the engine, and assembling it again. Although this could be very time-consuming it wasn't actually that difficult.

A Lambretta engine was pretty reliable as long as a previous owner had not botched it, so usually a quick service was all that was needed to ensure a reliable machine. Being a simple two-stroke of limited power, with high quality bearings, a breakdown was usually due to an incorrect petrol/oil mixture, or very ocassionally an electrical problem.

Here were my sources for scooters and assessories:

• Insurance assessors


• Police 'recovered property' auctions


• Abandoned wrecks and unloved bikes


• Newspaper adverts and shop windows

Insurance assessors were a great source of scooters at the time. They had a number of bikes to assess for the insurance companies, and any that were too devalued to be repaired would be 'written off' and it was usually the assessors job to find a buyer. He would contact local scooter shops and workshops, and they would send a representative out to view the bike and put in a bit price for it. If I was around at the right time I would also be allowed to make a bid. Because I did not have to pay for workshop staff time I would almost always put in a better offer. This meant that everyone was happy. The assessor got a good price for the insurance company, I got a valuable parts at a knock-down price, and the dealers were happy because a lot of the time these bikes were an embarrasment for them - they really only purchased some bikes as a favour.

The only time when the dealers would be unhappy is when I got a really good bike which they wanted. My attitude was that they should have offered more then! In general though, the dealers were perfectly happy and because I knew them well I would take a bike round and show them after I had restored it. If the bike was anything less than an SX200 they really didn't want to know.

Interstellar Aubergine was an example of an insurance write-off. It had been crashed in such a way that much of the bodywork had been damaged which would have meant a large parts bill for leg-shields and the like. This was not a problem for me because I could use parts that I already had, and any that were unsuitable - well I just bought new ones. Because my time was my own I did not need to cost in the mechanics wages and dealership overheads.

I don't know whether these auctions are held nowadays, but back when I was young these were quite common being held about once every six months. During their daily work the police often collected lost of recovered stolen equipment, and some of this was never claimed. After a certain time un-collected items would be put up for auction. These auctions were very popular with local people wanting to pick up a bargain but, luckily for me, very few scooterists had heard of them and I was usually the only biker to attend. That means that nearly every un-collected sidepanel, chrome rack, or seat that was at these ocassions automatically became mine at a knockdown price. The biggest problem was not finding good bits, but transporting them home again after the auction!

Lambretta parts were so numerous, compared to the number of buyers, that the police auctioneer was usually begging me to take stuff away from him. I remember that at one time I was the only biker present and I refused to bid for a chrome item because I didn't need it. The auctioneer looked at me, and playing on my kind nature (!) managed to get me to bid less than the equivalent of a Snickers bar. Immediately I made my offer (I was hoping he would refuse it) he said 'Done!' and that was another piece of good stuff I didn't really need. It took three trips to take everything home that day.

It is amazing that one man's unloved junk can be another's 'nice little earner'. As a young man I was always on the look-out for a buying opportunity, and the following story describes the sort of trick I would use to buy a decent bike at a knock-down price.

I used to pass one house regularly which had a middle-aged 'Slimstyle' TV175 in the front garden behind the hedge. It was in unloved condition and had obviously not been used for months.

Being cheeky, I stopped off one day and asked the owner if he wanted to sell it. The owner had lost interest in it, the road tax had expired and he said that it wouldn't start anymore. He was glad to take the money I offered him because he thought that it was only fit for spares. I came back with the money, collected the registration documents, and pushed it home.

It turned out to be a perfectly roadworthy machine - after I had given the spark plug a quick clean. It only took a couple of prods on the kickstart to get it fired up. Mind you, it needed a good spray job, and some tender loving care, which it got. That bike, I believe, turned into Lucifer Sam 2 - possibly Lucifer Sam the first. Well it was 30 years ago, and my memory is fading!

This was another good source of scooters. Most young people wanted to buy, and pay over the odds for, a smart, heavily chromed 200cc scooter. In my case almost any slimstyle Lambretta was worth a look. If it looked a bit dog-eared so much the better, and the owner was usually happy to get any interest at all. Scanning the newspapers for something that wasn't immediately fashionable was worthwile for someone with the time and knowledge to sprip and rebuilt a scooter from scratch.

Many young scooterists who had recently purchased a car had a Lambretta hidden away in the back garden looking decidedly sad. I, of course, could see the potential of a good spray job. The main reason that I bought tatty bikes is that 70% of the components were identical from model to model. Who would know that a smart SX225 had a 150cc petrol tank, wheels and tyres from a 125, and front suspension from a TV175? Nobody would know, and nobody would care. If a 200cc bike was in good condition, looked flash, and had SX200 sidepanels then that's what it was - and that's what it would be valued as.