Posted on 23/09/2006 at 01:11

Restarting the beast

Here we are, the papers are done, this bike officialy belongs to me! icone smiley smile
As a first step, I took it back home on my terrace... I already restored my Lambretta's engine on my terrace, my neighbors are used to this kind of stuff now!
Well, next time I'll think about emptying the gearbox before disassembling the left carter : half a liter of smelly oil on the tiling... icone smiley wink
First step, restoring the carburetor.
It is a 17mm Gurtner, finally in pretty good condition. A deep cleaning of each of its parts will be enough to give it a new youth...
This is a very rudimentary carbie, as there's not a single setting on it!! The starter is just a metallic plate to close the air intake, the only "setting" being the throttle cable tension, which arrives directly on the carbie.
A push button on the left forces the fuel intake by pushing on the float.
17mm for a 125cc... This thingy won't be a dragster!
The contact key goes into the small box fixed onto the carter, right below the saddle. It has 6 different possible positions : :
  1. Engine stopped, day light
  2. Engine stopped, by night (front light on thanks to the battery, to be seen on the side of the road)
  3. Engine running, day light
  4. Engine running, by night (low lights only)
  5. Engine running, by night (headlights)
  6. Engine starting with a flat battery or no battery.
Aren't those Germans good?? They already thought about a way to drive directly the current from the magneto to the coil to avoid being stuck on th road side...
I'm impressed... So many refinements on a 1954 bike...
Top picture : the electrical box insides. It's branded "I.K.A", and still contains the electrical wiring schema inside its top cover... But still in German, argh! icone smiley wink

ou can see the key inserted on the box's side... This box contains the key contact (top right), the high tension coil (top left), and a relay (bottom left), which looks like redressing the alternative tension delivered by the alternator.
On the top left, we've got the HT output (towards the spark plug), and the charging control lamp. This lamp must go off when the engine runs...

Two next pictures : deep cleaning of the fuel tap... Hard to get it fuel-tight!

Bottom picture : a little aesthetic thingy... As the electric wiring is visible on the frame, I did it with black wires only... But with only black wires back to the electric box, sounds like a nightmare! icone smiley laugh
So I painted (modeling paint) the last centimeter of each cable with a different color, while noting down each correspondence! From the aesthetic point of view, this is perfect, as once the box is close, we can't see anymore those painted tips...
Keep on disassembling! icone smiley smile
Top picture, the frame is still on wheels, but the engine is on the table in the background
Second picture, the frame is cleaned out, and the engine is back to its original place, but the wheels are gone...icone smiley wink
The last run!
The tires were pretty difficult to find, which put me late... Indeed, 19" tires are not that usual any longer!
Finally, this will be 3.00 X 19" (ref. D404F) 'made in Japan' Dunlop that will be mounted, with the main drawback to be higher than the original ones. So I had to make to aluminium small plates to raise the mud guard by 25mm, unless it did not work...

Originally, there were a small box for the battery... Unfortunately, I don't have it, so I made one out of plywood. Yeah, yeah, I know, plywood on such a machine sounds like a deadly sin, but I can't wait riding it! And at the end of the day, the result looks pretty cool after 2 black lacquer layers (see 3rd pic)...
Here it is, time for the first test drive!! I changed the clutch cable for a Teflon©-ized one (see local sports shop for mountain bikes cables). It's way more easy to use, mounting without grease... Enjoy!
I changed the transmission chain for a new one. I even managed to make the original horn working after 15 mounting/unmounting processes!!
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Posted on 23/09/2006 at 01:08

History and original condition

My IFA's origins :

I bought this beast on March 2001 to my neighbour (!).
This is an IFA, which is the East-German name of DKW : the iron curtain creation had splitted the production factory in two, and a trial took place to decide which part, East or West, would keep the DKW name. DKW, which was, with Horch, Audi and Wanderer, part of the Auto-Union group (Guess why the Audi's have a 4 rings logo today?).

So, in Eastern Germany, the brand name became "IFA". Not without a lot of difficulties, the factory's production continued, as the Russians left the country taking with them a part of the production line! They'll then reassemble it in Moscow, and will produce a rusian copy of the RT125 under the name "Moskva". So, my ride is Est-German, which makes it one of the rarest models of the RT125 production history!

This motorbike model is the most produced one ever, as its design became the Allies property after the war. So, you can find copies produced by Russia, France, and even USA with Harley-Davidson!
On the fuel tank and the rear mud-guard of my bike, you can read "DKW" : it has obviously been manually added, hand brushed. Most probably by the french importer ; in1954, right after the War, vehicles from East-Germany do not sell very well in France, so he prefered to see DKW appearring instead of IFA, for obvious marketing reasons! Plus, it appears that my bike was first sold, brand new, in 1954 in Nice (close from where I live), and its ID plate number is still its original one!

If you want to know more about DKW, the following site is very complete, proposing for download several technical documentations in PDF format : DKW-Geyer.com.

Moreover, I would like to thank Kalevi Sundqvist, Finnish specialist of this model, for all his kind help!

Original condition :

So, here is the little bugger, as I found it in my building's basement.

First glance : battery and transmission chain are missing. Tires are pretty tired...

The chrome plating were redone recently (some parts have even been chrome plated but they originally weren't!) ; the paint is the original one, and looks nice, there's only the white pinstriping around the fuel tank and the mud guards which is faded out by time...

The electric wiring needs to be totally redone...
Anyway, 30 minutes later, I'm its new owner, for 2500 Francs (around 380 Euros)! :)

I definitely love it, its egoist's single saddle, its vintage Harley look...

Plus all those details, like the large chromed fuel cap, the fuel filter right below this same cap, the little tap with its glass filter, the strange contact key, the little chromed needle on the gearbox that indicates which gear is engaged, the fish tail chromed tip exhaust (looks pretty HD as well, uh?), the ID plate on the front mud guard, etc, etc...
I don't plan on making a full restoration on this beast, like I did on the Lambretta, I just want to put it back on wheels : 2 tires by security, a battery, a chain, an electric wiring ("wiring" is a too big word for those 10 cables anyway), overall cleaning, oil changing, and go!!
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Posted on 20/04/2006 at 00:40

Bye bye Lamy...


April 2006.

Finally, I've sold the Lambretta on eBay to an enthousiast in Paris : Yves G., member of the excellent club Les Tontons Scooteurs.

The "fat canari" now runs with his new owner, he has even already gone from Paris to Deauville both ways! icone smiley wink

This picture is the last I took from the beast, just before I put it in the truck (in the background), that would take it to Paris... I'll miss it, even if it tricked me more than once (fucking ignition condenser...), but after hundreds of hours spent on it... I'm kind of attached to it, obviously.

Wish you nice trip, little Lamy, all the best Yves, I'll pass often on the Tontons Scooteurs site to see how "Mimosa" is behaving!



Its a strange feeling to see my Lamy parked on the Trocadéro square in Paris...
Posted in : 1956 Lambretta
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Posted on 21/09/2005 at 11:20

The bill and useful addresses

The bill and useful addresses...
For those of you wondering "how much does this cost"... Here are some elements of answer! icone smiley wink

ProductQuantityPrice
Scooter base 1 90 € (600 F)
Degreasing agent (Castorama) 4 liters 21 € (140 F)
Degreasing brushes 2 2.25 € (15 F)
Soft metallic brushes 2 9 € (60 F)
Polishing paste + Felt polishing disc - 15 € (100 F)
1956 spare parts catalog 1 15 € (100 F)
2 rear fenders
+ cooling housing
+ 2 italian saddles
- 183 € (1200 F)
Sandblasting - 119 € (780 F)
Spi transmission seal 1 5.80 € (38 F)
Cables 1 18 € (120 F)
Speedometer + speedo cable 1 68 € (450 F)
Fuel tank 1 38 € (250 F)
Fuel tap 1 15 € (100 F)
Fuel tap extension 1 12 € (80 F)
Fuel tank extension 1 4,50 € (30 F)
Fuel tank cap 1 7,50 € (50 F)
Rubber handles 1 pair 15 € (100 F)
Saddle cover 1 pair 90 € (600 F)
Engine rubber end stop 1 4,50 € (30 F)
Frame rubber end stop 1 3 € (20 F)
Gear selection cable 1 45 € (300 F)
Fork rubber end stops 1 pair 4 € (30 F)
Fender seals 1 pair 7,50 € (50 F)
Glovebox seal 1 4,50 € (30 F)
Front casting seals 1 4 € (25 F)
Engine seals kit 1 kit 18 € (120 F)
Rear fenders chromed circles 1 kit (4) 30 € (200 F)
Starter prolongation 1 9 € (60 F)
ABG points 1 23 € (150 F)
ABG condenser 1 6 € (40 F)
Paint job by local shop - 600 € (4000 F)
Total : 1 487 € (9868 F)

Well, obviously, this does not take into account the hundreds of hours spent on this restoration, bolts and nuts, phone calls, search for missing parts... Plus the spare parts I bought in prevision, just to be safe, accessories and period documentation... Actually, the real total is more likely around 2100€! (14.000F)

Useful addresses :
  • For all the parts and manuals : Lambretta Club de France, M. Mazzela Di Bosco, 6 allée de la Roseraie, 06150 Cannes la Bocca. (web site : http://www.lambretta-france.com)

  • Some interesting accessories (wheels white walls for example) : ACMA Scooter, 731 Avenue Janvier Pasero C.C " Les Jardins Fleuris ", 06210 Mandelieu la Napoule (web site : http://www.acma-scooter.com)

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Posted on 21/09/2005 at 11:15

Final result

Final result !
Here it is, after several month of work, the final result!
Everything's not perfect, there's still some minor stuff to fix.. Well, there always are!
But I'm pretty happy with the result!
Posted in : 1956 Lambretta
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