An Extra-Ordinary Sunday

Sunday is not always sunny. Even if it is sunny on Sunday not everybody would like to rise and shine as early as they normally do on Sunday, and as a norm to many of the people on Sunday, people would love to sleep until the sun is 90 degrees above their head as what Malays said “tidur sampai meninggi hari”. Last Saturday I’ve received SMS from my friend informing me that there will be a gathering for those member of Malaysian Classic Scooter Online Forum that will be held at Amcorp Mall. My heart at first were very divided whether I want to join this gathering or not. But at last I’ve decided to join it as to show my commitment towards the forum and to meet those who have the same enthusiasm as I do. I’ve arrived at amcorp mall nearly at three and there were several Vespas by the side of the lake. We move to A&W restaurant just in front of the amcorp mall, as what history has been written this A&W located at Taman Jaya is the second outlet of A&W in Malaysia and among the famous outlet in Malaysia especially in the 60’s (I can imagine those youngsters riding their lambretta and vespa visiting this outlet in the 60’s as what we did that day). To know more, this is what I found at Wikipedia:-

“A&W's first store in Asia Pacific opened at Kuala Lumpur's Batu Road (now known as Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman) in 1963. It was also the first fast food corporation from the United States to set foot in the country. However, A&W had a declining business era from 1997 - 2000. The most famous A&W outlet in Malaysia is undoubtedly the drive-in outlet near Taman Jaya, Petaling Jaya, a satellite city of Kuala Lumpur. It opened in 1965 and quickly became a favourite gathering place for students, especially from the nearby Assunta and La Salle Secondary Schools. The unique A&W root beer mug was often "collected" by these young customers. It was also a favorite filming location for Malaysian movies during the 1970s and early 1980s. Customers from the 1970s will recall Tuesdays as Coney Dog Day. Just like in Bangladesh, the food at Malaysian A&W outlets is 100% halal.”

This gathering has set another milestone to the Malaysian Classic Scooter Online Forum and I really hope that I can join more gathering like this in the future. To all my new friend, thank you for sharing your precious knowledge with me. Walaupun pak cik yang dekat tasik tu panggil vespa aku macam beca tapi aku tak kisah sebab aku memang suka style vespa yang macam tu. “We are the mods” hehehe.

First Striping Project. (This is not a strip show!)

Internet has been a very good source nowadays for you to get as much information about restoring Lambretta. Not only that, you can always watch videos at youtube in order for you to know how to strip Lambretta body parts, I’m quit amaze when I surf youtube website and found videos about how to strip your Lambretta off and what amaze me more is that this videos is originally from the 60’s, you can always check this videos out at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PR2IesJHFU8.

After inspecting my engine and body parts, I start my restoration project with striping off the rear footboard, fuel tank, carburettor, air filter and fuel cork, this process took me about 2 hours to get it done due to my inability of understanding which parts to be stripped off first (first timer is always like that!). The fuel cork is still the original fuel cork that came together with this Lambretta when it was made in the year 1961. The air filter is totally wrecked! Therefore I need the new one to replace this. I can see that the fuel tank especially at the bottom of the tank is full with dirt and rust (No wonder it’s always stuck at the fuel cork). Nothing much I can do at the moment since I need more info about stripping the lambretta body parts. I don’t want to become as what we Malays say “Macam tikus membaiki labu” or “Like rat fixing the pumpkin” to portray those who don’t know how to do things but just do it until it become horrible.

Dirts, Oil And Lots Of Miles!

This is the engine of my lambretta, it looks old but still running (provided that you put a new fuel cork in and clean up the carburettor). The transmission system is still working even though not as smooth as new. But looking at the physical appearance of this engine, I can see that this engine has been worn up to the limit and need some overhauling in order to make it run again in a good manner if not as good as new. My plan is to strip the engine off and clean up all the rust and to replace all the wear and tear engine parts with the new one, moreover, in order to make this engine reliable again, I have to make sure that all the electrical system especially that is related to the magneto and the coil of the magneto. The rear suspension of this scooter is already worn out, due to this I have to replace it with a new one and I plan to change it’s colour to red. For the magnet cowling, I plan to send it to be chromed so that it will complement the engine casing that I plan to polish up.

Walaupun enjin lambretta aku ini nampak begitu buruk pada pandangan sesetengah mata, namun aku percaya bahawa kalau sudah minat dan mempunyai keazaman yang kuat untuk menyiapkan motor ni, InsyaAllah motor ni akan siap juga. Aku sebenarnya pernah tengok lammy yang lebih teruk daripada motor aku ni bertukar kepada lammy yang macam keluar kedai, dan macam yang aku cakap pada awalnya tadi, keazaman kita itulah yang akan membawa kita kepada kejayaan, Kalau nak main lammy ni orang kata tidak boleh cepat mengalah kerana untuk restorasinya sudah pasti akan mengambil masa yang agak lama.

Lambretta Atau Vespa

Vespa atau Lambretta, pada aku kedua-duanya mempunyai keistimewaan tersendiri, walaupun telah memiliki kedua-duanya namun masih lagi ada sesetengah orang berpendapat bahawa salah satunya adalah lebih hebat daripada yang satu lagi, tidak salah untuk mengkagumi apa yang kita miliki cuma walaupun semahal mana Vespa atau Lambretta kita, kita tetap satu dalam persaudaraan skuteris.

Engine Test – It’s still working!

Just after one week this lambretta arrived at my house, I’ve already put some effort to fulfil my curiosity whether this lambretta is worth buying or not. With the expertise of Mat DH the chief technical officer (CTO) cum chief mechanic of RAG motori, we try to find out what is the faulty that make this engine unable to be started. First of all we start with the spark plug, after several kick; we found out that the electrical system of this scooter is working in a good manner where the spark plug fired with blue fire. But still the scooter is unable to start. According to RAG CTO if the faulty is about starting the engine, there are two things that always contribute to these scenarios, first is because the spark plug won’t fired or the carburettor is not working properly. Therefore with go to the second assumption, Mat DH take out the whole carburettor to be cleaned and checked whether there are any dirt stuck at any of the air intake . After he has done with the cleaning and put all the things back again, he found out that the fuel is not flowing properly to the carburettor. This is happened because of the fuel cork (the original fuel cork) is stuck with dirt from the fuel tank. In order to solve this problem, RAG CTO has come up with an idea to use old ketchup bottle to supply the fuel directly to the carburettor without using the fuel tank of the fuel cork (please refer pic b). This idea is proven a brilliant one when after several kick the engine start working and the smoke come out from the exhaust. Aku memang happy gila bila pertama kali dengar enjin lambretta ni. Selepas RAG CTO menunggang skuter aku ini, aku pula terus mengambil alih dan terbukti lambretta ini masih lagi boleh digunakan dan membuatkan aku lebih bersemangat untuk projek restorasi seterusnya.

THE LUCKIEST FEW

In Malaysia not everyone has the opportunity to owned a Lambretta scooter. The luckiest few as what i refer to the lambretta owner is the luckiest few from the number of the whole scooterist. To own a lambretta scooter is like to have a piece from the big part of our motoring history. You can easily find vespa motorscooter if you attend any of the Scooter Fest or Jamboree in Malaysia but only a small number of that large attendees were lambretta owner. The question might arise as to why there are only a small number of Lambretta left in Malaysia, the answer is simple, this "old metal horse" not only has been sent to the junkyard or scrap metal yard to be destroyed but also this precious machine has been sold outside Malaysia especially in Thailand. With a very loose regulation in Thailand many of our LI's and TV's has found a new home in Thailand and has been given tender loving care by it's new owner. I'm not trying to be hero with my effort to save the last few lambrettas in Malaysia but just to contribute what i can in order to keep this heritage to be seen by our next generation.

Selamat Datang Lambretta!

Lambretta bukanlah skuter klasik pertama yang aku miliki, sebelum ini, aku telah bergelumang dengan dunia Vespa walaupun tidak menganggotai mana-mana kelab Vespa. Minat terhadap Lambretta sebenarnya datang sejak mula-mula aku mengenali dunia skuter klasik, filem quadrophenia yang dikeluarkan pada tahun 1979 yang memaparkan skuter dan budaya mods sangat menarik hatiku, cuma aku tidak menyedari bahawa dalam filem-filem melayu juga terdapat begitu banyak lambretta terutamanya filem melayu "lagenda" peminat-peminat lambretta iaitu "Che Mamat Parang Tumpul".
Setelah puas mencari, akhirnya aku berjumpa dengan Lambretta pujaan hatiku (sekadar memetik kata-kata aziz sattar dalam seniman bujang lapok). Lambretta LI siri 2 keluaran tahun 1961, nampak begitu gagah ketika pertama kali aku menemuinya. Masih lengkap seperti keadaan asal, lambretta ini dibeli daripada seorang peminat lambretta daripada Kuala Kangsar, walaupun "besi buruk" ini dibeli dengan harga yang tidak setimpal dengan "rupanya" namun aku tahu bahawa nilai dan nostalgia skuter klasik ini begitu mengusik jiwa.