58 LD 150 MKIII - New 1st time lammy owner - general advice.

[SoloMod]

Not 100% sure I'm in correct forum as mines 58 not pre-57?

Looking for some general good ownership advice as have bought myself my first older scooter having only ever owned more modern 80's onwards models in the past.

So far before winter descended I have only tackled some cosmetic changes having all the red resprayed and added a spare wheel mount but in the process of reassembly I managed to pull to hard on my choke cable pulling the nipple right off the end of that choke lever end so will be looking to replace / repair that once I'm confident enough that I know what I am doing. Attempted to source a replacement from a few places but was lucky enough to get quite a detailed response from Peter at Cambridge giving me the exact lengths of the various inners on the market so looks like whatever I get will need some fettling to work length wise.

If anyone would like to offer me some general advice on good maintenance of this beautiful piece of Lambretta history I find myself custodian of, it would greatly appreciated but also if anyone has specific advice on replacement of the choke cable it would be greatly appreciated.

Scoot is currently wrapped up in my garage out the way of the Scottish cold. Some pix here http://ld150.colingraham.uk/

Thanks in advance.
Colin

[jbcollier]

Welcome to the forum. You have found the right place.

Looks sweet! I think yours is the version with the latest, and best, version of the kickstart mechanism. Regarding the choke cable, can you just solder the nipple back on? It's not difficult as long as the cable is in otherwise good condition.

Your wiring looks to be a bit of a bodge up. Those are not stock colours, sizes, nor terminals. You actually have 1/4" terminals on 3/16" fittings. Myself, I would fit a new harness and invest in a set of the right terminals, covers and the tools to fit them.

[SoloMod]

Thanks for having a look and offering up a view, I appreciate it. I thought about soldering and then disregarded it after double guessing myself on if a solder would be strong enough to hold! But that is well within my ability to attempt so I reckon that will be 1st on the cards. Thanks.

Wiring wise.... I know I'd be stepping right out my comfort zone but reckon that sounds like a must as I do want as stock as is possible. Will be looking into costs of investing in what I need like you advise, looking more into the best way to accomplish it and then probably phoning my big mate to arrange his supervision so I dont mess it up!

Any pointers for acquiring parts and / or process for replacement if you have them would be a great help?

All the best.
C

[Fast n Furious]

Soldering cables is quite striaght forward really and done properly shouldn't be an issue.
Clean the area to be soldered with a good solvent like brake cleaner or acetone.
Use a good size of soldering iron (typically 100w or more) and some resin cored solder. After applying a good sized glob of solder to the cable at the right point, I then cut the cable to length using a dremel grinder and file the glob down to the shape required.
Works every time.

Wecome to the world of Lambretta. You don't have to be mad to own one...... but it helps.

[jbcollier]

You need to fray and spread (bird cage) the wire ends so they can't easily slip back through. On some cable ends I use silver solder as it's much stronger but you have top be careful not to overheat the wire.

Here's one site:

http://www.bsaotter.com/solering_pot_ential.html

I have the Venhill bird cage tools:

https://www.venhill.co.uk/cable-inner-w ... -vt13.html

They really work well though somewhat expensive unless you make a lot of cables.

[SoloMod]

Thanks for the links. Has given me some ideas.