TELL ME WHY I HEAR THIS……….
This week, twice I’ve heard the saying ‘your only known for tuning and stainless steel’!
How many times have I heard that saying? Why?
Yes of course I tune engines and yes of course I introduced stainless steel to Scooters in a big way! But I’ve been restoring Scooters longer than most since I was 15 and 16 and I’ve been assembling and reassembling them ever since. As I’ve come to say I’ve lived and breathed Lambrettas and Scooters for most of my life, day in day out without a day off. And in that time we have not only restored these things, but have manufactured standard parts from the 80’s a long time before these others who have turned up, who people class as parts manufacturers for restorations!
If you check out our web site or use us for parts you will know we aim to stock the best parts available to repair, restore or rebuild your bike. To get the best parts cost money, nothing comes cheap, our prices go up on every order we place and as much as we try to get the best parts at the best price we have to increase prices as they do to us.
We do try keep our prices down and others say ‘I hear MB is expensive’! When I’ve done searches on the web to price match most of the time we are cheaper and then – the parts are not……… like for like!
Why do people just compare a price and not what the difference is in the product?
Anyway here we have a rebuilt front disc hub for the Lambretta Club president in Greece, yes people send parts from all over the world for me to restore!
I take my time with hubs, forks and headsets as much as I do with my engine work. I’ve given up rushing these things, if you do they go wrong, do them right and a bike will work better than from the factory, after all these years of doing these things I have some experience in where the factory went wrong and I’ve got to know all the tricks. When you work it out I’ve been doing these things longer than Innocenti was ever in business!
Onto the hub, it was supplied painted and with some new parts, what was missing I just went to our stores and took it off the shelf as most of it we make anyway. I’m careful to clean the areas where parts need to move, slide and fit and it’s a good job I’ve got all my tuning tools, taps and dies as you need them restoring these things! The trick is to get everything fitting and working correctly, get it wrong and things bind and lock up.
I mount the disc in the lathe and deglaze it along with polishing the pin holes to let the disc float, not too much or it will knock and rattle, get it too tight and the brakes don’t work. This one came with a damaged plastic speedo drive, I found my last MB steel version which are hard to find these days, I’ve got these back into production but again will not be cheap as prices have gone up!
As usual the disc hubs are weak so had a few little areas to clean up. The customer supplied the air feed plate and I’ve modified the disc to let more air in which I’m sure will help in the heat of Greece.
And there you are ……………do I only supply stainless steel and only tune engines?
No I restore Lambretta parts and supply Lambretta parts for restoration.
All moving areas need cleaning up
Drilled and taped for the air scoop
Threads tapped out
Hub cut to improve air flow in a hot country with the supplied air scoop
Disc are deglased in the lathe
The disc pin holes need to be cleaned so the disc can float free
MB steel speedo drive
Nicely painted restored hub
Modified with the air scoop
SIP hub studs fitted
New disc windows finish off the hub
All built with MB parts, here stailess parts
Mark Broadhurst if you have any questions email mark@mbscooters.co.uk