What people are saying about “The Complete Spanner’s Manual:

ScooterMD Services, Canada
This book is amazing! It's full of photos and descriptive captions and it's all in colour! I suggest you get your hands on one. It covers all Series 3's and goes into performance tuning as well. Probably the best Lambretta manual there will ever be.

Lambretta Works USA
Sticky has delivered a painstakingly researched and well laid out manual that is sure to become "The Lambretta Bible".

Terry White, Rapid Industrial Fasteners:
What an excellent piece of work it is, in the future I fail to see how any owner could possibly be without this book. The old Workshop Manual will become a collector’s item from now on.

Jon, International Scooterist BBS:
I just got mine from the UK. It's worth every shilling!

Rick_Enbacker, LCGB forum:
A godsend - you won't be disappointed!

VE-UK:
A superbly detailed manual with colour photos and attention to detail, highly recommended!

BellaVespa, Scooterboy World forum:
I'd definitely recommend it. Glenn hasn't put it down since I got it for his birthday.

Lloydy’s Lambrettas:
I haven't been able to put it down!

Motorcycle Trader trade journal:
The Complete Spanner's Workshop Manual for Lambretta Scooters' contains stacks of pictures, tips, information and advice in a clear and thoughtfully written format. It is simply a must for every scooter enthusiast and dealer and deserves every success.

The Daily Star (8/8/04):
WELLER WORTH IT! Calling Paul Weller. There’s a new book out for you and other owners of 61-71 classic Lambrettas.

John F, International Scooterist BBS:
It's a great resource for Series III Lambrettas......tons of stuff I never knew about.

Dave Welford, Lambretta Club of Great Britain:
Quality read with some invaluable information, Like the top tips etc. Reads well and easy to follow. Should sell like hotcakes and quickly become the bible for Lambretta owners.

Rich G, International Scooterist BBS:
I have been working on Lambrettas since 1979 and can say without any hesitation that it is the best Lambretta manual in existence.

Ben Kemp, AF Rayspeed:
It's wonderful. Very clear colour pictures along with the descriptions make for easy to follow instructions ideal for scooterists without much confidence all the way to people with years of experience. I'm sure we will sell many of these. Thank you for putting your time in to this endeavour. At times it must have seemed like there would be no end to what could be included, but the result is a comprehensive and thoroughly enjoyable read.

Senator Dan, LCS forum:
It looks absolutely superb - the measurements / diagrams etc are so comprehensive it's ridiculous, and plenty of great practical tips from folk who've obviously been "doing it in the field" for many years. Highly recommended!

Davo, LCGB Forum:
....superb......nice touches throughout...top tips....good pix and some top info.... My top tip ....order it now....you won't regret it....

LooneyRooney, LCGB Forum:
It’s brilliant. I have been looking clueless at a disc brake for weeks, wondering how the hell the bits go etc. But today I am V. happy as there it is inside - how to put it all back together. Great!

Razor, LCGB Forum:
The quality and detail is fantastic.

GP_Graham, LCGB Forum:
Absolutely fantastic is all I can say at the moment. The quality of the photographs and the top tips along the side text are superb. I guess I for one will be posting fewer questions in the problems section!!

Matt H, LCGB Forum:
Got mine yesterday and haven't been able to put it down, it's excellent. It answers all those stupid questions (and the more in depth procedures too) that a know-nothing like me needs answers too.

Bilko, LCGB Forum
Another happy punter. Lots to like.... The large coloured wiring diagrams, Lots of pictures! What to look for with regards to wear and tear on parts.

Corey Frasier, International Scooterist BBS:
I got a book today that I have been waiting for and it is GREAT!!! It is about time something like this is available... I am impressed by how much of the things I already knew from searching the web and the many people who have helped me over the years with Lambretta questions... BUT this book really has me thinking about making my own workshop tools out of simple things... (Even old worn out parts). I cannot recommend this book more! A+++

Simon Cuerden, The Armed Forces Scooter Club
It seemed an eternity in coming, The Complete Spanner's Workshop Manual for: LAMBRETTA 'SLIMSTYLE' SCOOTERS by Martin 'Sticky' Round. Not for ages have Ieagerly awaited a book so it was with baited breath that I received my copy and read it from cover to cover. The book is written by a young man who is no stranger to the pen so my disappointment was ten fold. The book promises a complete Spanner's manual and boasts the first ever step-by-step guide to rebuilding, running and maintaining the massively popular 'Slimstyle'  Lambretta scooters produced in Italy from the early 1960s right through to the late 1990s in India.

While the manual concentrates on Italian-produced models, there is still plenty in it for owners of Spanish or Indian machines. What is missing seams to be romance? I do not say this lightly but the author falls short on story
line and comes across as uncaring in some places. The book starts well; introducing various characters and cleverly disguises them from the beginning with different parts of the scooter. This leaves you spell bound and eager to get to know those who have teased from the off set.

The book is laid out in an easy-to-follow pictorial format with hundreds of colour photographs and technical tips to make fixing and using a Lambretta as trouble-free as possible. The information has been compiled with the help of many of the worlds leading Lambretta collectors, restorers, mechanics and tuners. The text is written in the accessible and familiar style of Scootering Magazine's long-time staff writer and former editor. Sticky seams
uninterested in using physical, emotional or psychological conflicts to generate tension. This leaves the initial characters such as Nigel Cox and Mark Broadhurst as flat and unimaginative. There was no magic between these two and what could have been a significant sub plot, promised at the beginning of the book, never materialised. Nigel seamed over eager to point out the differences between the various models and was oblivious to any romantic involvement with Mark.

Besides chapters on stripping and rebuilding both chassis and engines in original format, the sex scenes promised controversy, hinting at a love affair between young men and oily machines. Was Martin Round scared off by the censors we wonder? Martin you could have drawn upon your own experience. Analyze conflicts you have had with members of the opposite sex, especially those with people for whom you've felt some attraction. This is a simple and yet effective formula for any romantic novel. My advice for you, if you ever intend to write about the Vespa is, to rent several classic romantic comedy movies. Watch how the tension ebbs and flows between Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn or Rock Hudson and Doris Day. This way the likes of both the Dean and Alan characters would gather momentum and intrigue. "Study novels in the area in which you plan to write," McGregor suggests. "Does she see him and think of smooth cotton sheets and afternoons with the sun
peeking through the blinds while she's lost in his arms? This may be the case, but add a conflict." "Set the reader up. Here's this big attraction, yet it's the worst possible person for the hero or heroine to fall in love with. Romance readers love this conflicting tension. You dwell far too long on carb jetting and miss opportunity after opportunity.

The book will be of great use to those restoring scooters since it contains information on identifying many of the commonly confused parts from various models. The setting is rather clinical and with more imagination the reader
could be transported to distant lands. Sticky you should use the setting of your novel to establish tension. A castle on the moors of England, a ranch on the wild frontier, or a schooner sailing the South Seas all generate
elements of tension. Two young drifters off to see the world on slim style Lambrettas with all the breakdowns and adventures, Write your characters -  the hero and heroine - as passionate, strong-willed, intelligent people. Two  such people coming together never fail to generate tension, in real life or  fiction.

I do recommend the Complete Spanner's Workshop Manual and there are truly little bits of magical sexual tension between the Carl and Ruggero, Sticky handles his story line with skill at times and I am left holding my breath
waiting for, dare we ask? The Complete Spanner's Workshop Manual for Vespa?

If you own a Lambretta Slimstyle then you need the Complete Spanner's Workshop Manual.