Scooterist bodges and tips #3 Makeshift tools | FEATURE
Here are the latest scooterist bodges and tips. Each one we publish will get the bodger a free SLUK T-shirt.
Lambretta flywheel holding tool
Who needs a flywheel holding tool when you’ve got a decent sized spanner? This tip comes from Michael in Austria, it’s good to see scooter boys and girls all over the world bodging stuff. Michael said “Here’s a flywheel holding tool everybody has in his toolbox. It saved my day, as rarely someone carries a flywheel holding tool on tours.”
Many greetings,
Michael Powolotti from Austria
Roadside exhaust removal
I recently had the misfortune of having to remove a Lambretta exhaust in the middle of Belgium (as covered in our recent story on scooterist friendships). Sometimes no amount of manipulating will get that rusty manifold to release itself, luckily I had a man with a big hammer as mine was seized on solid.
Marco was less fortunate when he needed to remove his at the side of the road in Italy, he didn’t have a trusty hammer so improvised using a stick and a lump of stone. Sticks and stones may break your bones but may also help to free a troublesome downpipe.
Homemade third-hand clutch tool
We all know it can be a bit fiddly to adjust a Vespa clutch on your own. You have to pull the cable to put some tension into the adjuster whilst holding a spanner and trying to tighten the solderless nipple at the same time. Toby Read from Bridlington sent us this little video of a tool he made for himself and a few friends.
Toby told us “I designed my own working prototype of a clutch adjustment tool a while back, it’s much easier to use than the ‘third-hand’ tools you can buy and doesn’t fray the cables. It works on an 8mm thread, the bolt head end peg spins freely. A few friends have used it and wanted me to make them one”.
Toby Read
Got a tip/bodge or tool we should know about?
Feel free to send your tips and bodges in (preferably with a photo or video to prove it happened). We’re looking for roadside fixes to get you home, workshop tips, tools and other useful info that could get a scooter rider out of a sticky spot.
You can email them in to: Editorial@ScooterLab.UK
Disclaimer: The tools, tips, bodges and downright tomfoolery in this bodgery series is by no means the ‘proper’ way to do stuff. Any accidents, mishaps or damage caused by replicating them is your own stupid fault.
New products always in development…
