Motoring history

Being born in 1972 I do not have a long history of motoring in “the good old days” but I hope my story makes good reading all the same.

Hashish and small wheels
The first milestone in my motoring life was going to study in another town: moped time! At last I would be able to work on real engines… I thought. On top of my list was a 1960′s Puch or Tomos moped, the ones with the geared engine and the Harley style high handlebars. “Hashish-Puch” they were called in Holland…

But then there were my parents… even after impressing them with my skills in technical LEGO for my entire childhood, they were not convinced at all that I could keep such a beast going…. So no hashish-Puch for me! Instead, my first steps into motoring were made on a practically new and ferociously slow Vespa 50cc automatic scooter. A choice that later proved to have had a great impact….

Jawa time…or not
The little Vespa served me well for a few years and commuting to school was always a pleasure. While studying to become an accountant during the day I was looking for something to keep me busy in my spare time (of which I had plenty of course being a student..).

So after getting my motorcycle-licence (a totally different story… let’s say I was not naturally gifted…) I was on the lookout for a bike to restore. It had to be simple, preferably a two stroke and most important, it had to be cheap! So my mind was set on a Jawa or CZ from the 1950′s.

With some cash burning in my pocket I was on my way to my first ever autojumble. And suddenly, there she was. Looking a me with her glassless headlight she was simply begging me to take her home. “What was it, what was it?”, I hear you think…. Well, a Vespa 125cc of course! Yes, no Jawa or CZ after all, the scooter-bug had bitten me hard… At home my parents had no faith at all in me being able to get this bike back on the road but I commenced taking it to pieces nevertheless. And that it is where it is today, in pieces on the attic.. So my parents were right after all…

What’s that under my bed?
That Vespa was the start of a long lasting love affaire with a large number of scooters. In fact, having moved out of my parents house to an apartment of my own, the scooters were everywhere… My second (and largest..) bedroom was my workshop, there were scooters in my living-room and even one under my bed! Thank god for the invention of the elevator….!

At that time I met my future wife and somehow she became just as enthusiastic as me about “that old crap”. Well, some might think “I wish my wife was too!” but let me tell you, it would be easier if she pulled on the brake every once in a while when you want to buy yet another vehicle…. Together we became very active in our local Vespa club being away almost every weekend.

Another restoration project
And then suddenly, there it was! The restoration-project of our dreams: old, brown, cosy and with a large kitchen and garage: our new home! Only one hour after looking at it for the first time we bought a 1953 Norwegian house in a very sorry state. And all because we both got “such a holiday-feeling” while looking at it!

In fact our house is a gift! It was donated by the Norwegian Red Cross to the Dutch people after the great flood of 1953 as an emergency home. Now, after more than 50 years it is still there… We intend to renovate our house to the original style.

Motoring was put on hold for a while as we had to do quite a lot of things to get our new home in order. New wiring, central heating, plumbing, ceilings, kitchen etc. One does become rather handy…!

Then the moment came I was waiting for… the building of our new garage/workshop! At last I would have the space to work on my bikes in a comfortable manner. A hydraulic working table, lathe, an enormous workbench and central heating… and of course a wife hoping to see me from time to time too… But as you might know, with more space only comes more junk so my collection at one moment peaked at 17 scooters, two sidecars and two motorbikes…. “Motorbikes, REAL motorbikes? ” I hear you think. Yes real bikes but more on that later!

Wedding chimes….and two stroke smoke!
Having your own house and garage and a girlfriend that likes bikes too, it was definitely time for a wedding! Of course, being scooter-enthusiasts the choice of wedding-vehicle was easily made….. it had to be an Ape! Not to be confused with King Kong, this is the three-wheeled freight version of the Vespa scooter. So after weeks of working on the Ape all was set for the big day. Plugs in your ears and off we were…. But not for long. In sight of the townhall smoke was emerging everywhere and the Ape gave up on us. It appeared to be a massive short circuit and the battery died on the scene… Our marriage though is still going strong!!

Four wheels better than two?
A few years back we had a brief, but enjoyable escapade into the classic car scene with a 1969 Citroen H van, but we decided to stick to motorcycles/scooters in the future. When you can practically hear your van rusting away in the driveway because there is no place in the garage (in fact even when it was completely empty, the van was to high to fit in..) the only right choice is to sell it again. It was a shame because I never rode a vehicle again that has such a high “instant-smile-effect” on any bystanders! Everyone remembered the baker, plumber or milkman having such a van.

Going “fast”
During the last few years normal ride-outs and rallies were getting a bit boring. So we needed a new challenge. After participating one time in the Coupes Moto Legende track-sessions on the legendary Monthlery track I knew it: demo-races, that’s it! Going fast on old bikes give a hell of a kick!

As in Holland they only race on street tracks and you always need a track-licence, we visited race-tracks in Germany, Belgium and France. Anytime you see some lunatics on small scooters going pretty fast on classic track-demo’s between the Triumphs, Ducatis and other bikes, you bet it is me and my mates!

Right…left…right… very confusing
I promised you motorbikes earlier. Well, over time a 1960 Panther M120 650cc single visited my garage as well as a very nice 1974 Benelli Tornado 650cc twin. But both bikes had the same “defect”….right-hand-side gear-shifting! I just could not get used to that strange British layout (maybe the “defect” is in my head…).

Concentrated riding was one thing but emergency breaking always resulted in me kicking the gear-shifter down trying to brake… So, sadly the bikes had to go. A shame as especially the Benelli was a very nice and fast bike!

Ready for the Ready
But, the direction was set… slowly but surely we started to shift from just scooters to motorcycles. And especially the pre-war bikes. So some scooters were sold and just at the right time a fully restored 1927 Ready crossed my path. You could say we were ready for the Ready! It’s a 500cc sv JAP powered bike and we thought it might be a good entrance in the world of vintage motoring.

The bike looked nice but I soon found out that the piston was quite worn. “So take your time and fix it” you would say. Well, time was the one thing we did not have because we had boldly entered in (and payed for…) the 2005 Liege-Vienna-Liege rally for pre-war bikes : 3.500 long km of motoring through 8 countries in 9 days. So there was no time for a rebuild (in fact finding a suitable piston still proves to be hard…) so a new set of rings and new clutch-plates was all I could do…

So of we were… on a bike I did not know and did not trust…. Being the oldest and slowest bike in the event and the only one doing two up the rally proved to be a real challenge. A flat battery, 10 broken spokes (had my wheel respoked in Vienna), a plate-eating cutch and near-loss of my wife because of a fractured pillion seatframe were just a few of the things we encountered. When at about 2.500 km in the rally the dynochain snapped and caused the camshaft to shear off, it was over. But what a trip it was! Next time we’ll be there again but then on the Scott!

50 years of Maicoletta…
Well, at last we get to our involvement with Scott motorcycles…. Being a two stroke fan (the Ready being the exception to the rule) I had been dreaming of my own Scott for over 10 years. For me it’s the ultimate two stroke and it has all the things I expect from a vintage bike.

Quite some time ago I saw my first two Scotts in the showroom of “Yesterdays” one of the few veteran/vintage bike dealers in Holland. There they were, both on a pedestal, one in shiny purple and one in bright white. Both fully restored and both absolutely unaffordable at that time. But then I knew, once there would be a Scott in my garage! And so it happens that we could be found at the 2005 Stafford bike show. The Maicoletta (one of the best scooters ever build) celebrated its 50th birthday and therefore on of our Maicolettas was on the Maico clubstand at Stafford. After the show we would be doing a End to End run with the bike just like the Maico factory did “in the old days”. As you might remember, the SOC stand was right next to the Maico stand so you can picture me hovering around all that Scotts frequently during the weekend.

While on the show I noticed one of the Maico guys running around with a battery box trying to find a fitting battery. “Where is that for?” I asked. “Oh, that’s for a Scott of a friend of mine” he answered. “He’s getting it ready for MOT so he can sell it”. You can imagine my heart beating at speed! After exchanging some information (the price was well within reach this time) it turned out to be 1927 500cc Flying Squirrel in a good state.

…leading to my Scott!
This started a long period of emailing over the Channel until August came and we were set to go and pick it up. After a thorough “interrogation” by the British Customs we were allowed to enter Britain. We were received very friendly but were only offered a brief look at the Scott. First we had to go and have dinner with the seller and his friends! That’s what I like so much about the British…

The next day I rode my first Scott!!! Not very successful as the bike has stood still for quite some time and had carb-problems. Nevertheless, I’ll never forget that first ride. Also because the bike had been converted to right hand side foot change……

The journey home went well and two days later the bike got its registration in Holland. The sound almost proved to be a showstopper but two measurements (one outside) and some generous rounding-down (the bike had about 105 dB on the meter but on paper there suddenly was just 96 dB left, what happens to be the maximum allowed…) got the job done.

Now I’m enjoying this bike very much. I treated it to a full service, solved the carb-problems and I converted it back to a (homemade) hand gear-change. I can still just sit in the garage for quite some time and simply look at it… I will never ever sell this bike!!!

Well, I hope this story shows you that younger people too can really enjoy these old bikes!!

Keep on Scotting!

Erik van Dongen March 2006

SOC member 931 SOC forum name: Erik