Iconic scooter sportsmen Arthur Francis has died

It is with a deep heart that I have to report on the passing of Arthur Francis, arguably the greatest and most iconic scooter sportsmen of all time.

It is with a deep heart that I have to report on the passing of Arthur Francis, arguably the greatest and most iconic scooter sportsmen of all time.

I’ve held off reporting on this information so far today in order to allow time for certain people who had strong connections with Arthur to be informed of the situation, but in the early hours of this morning (Feb 25, 2021), I was informed by one of Arthur’s greatest friends, Ken Herlingshaw, that he had passed away (this was confirmed by Arthur’s son who lives in Australia).

No-one can deny the impact that Arthur had on the scooter world and his name has echoed through decades of scooter sport since the 1960s, as well as living on for many scooterists today in the shape of the Lambretta S-Type and other iconic scooter models.

It’s been a bad month in terms of scooter sporting legends, not only with the passing of Arthur but also Bev Wakeford-Brown (aka Bev Flanagan), but also Roy Cary (aka Royspeed) – all of whom, I knew on a personal level; I will be paying tribute to all three of these iconic figures in the April edition of Classic Scooterist, which is likely to include a selection of previously unpublished images.