John Manns

Having heard the news about John Manns whom many of us know and respect,l Ive decided to copy what has been eliquently said by Billy Harding of the LCS. about the big man.

I'm sorry to have to say that big John has now told me that the cancer he was diagnosed with recently is inoperable. This means he has the battle of his life ahead to try and turn it around.
He's a strong character and is blessed with a faith that eludes many of us and to know that a few of us are praying for him will give him a lot of comfort.

John is well known to many of you as the man who organised the Robert Sebbage Appeal, Model D, Round the Coast, charity ride of a couple of years ago on behalf of his nephew, who benefited greatly from the sum raised. He’s also well known for riding his (often standard) Lambrettas all over Europe and received the Mike Karslake Trophy in recognition of his contribution to the preservation of the marque in 2009, when Bo Martin was over heard saying, “Yes, John Manns; I think he sleeps on his Lambretta”!
I’m not particularly up to speed with LCGB internal activity but know that John expended a lot of energy to take their ‘member of the year award’ a few years ago too.
You could say he’s been about.

The consummate quiet gentleman; you may not have noticed him at the bigger rallies but would remember any conversations you had with him if you did! He won’t mind me saying that the Robert Sebbage appeal and earlier LCGB championship year, which he had to do on a budget – work out some of the costs yourself or hunt the Scootering article on it down – earned him a bit of a reputation as a bit of a ‘blagger’ and, in good aul’ Scots parlance, he could certainly get a piece (sandwich) at anybody’s door! More restrained folk would say he has a disarming charm! He takes a certain pride in that reputation but he is the most generous and kind spirited man I know. So much so, that he’ll be embarrassed to read it.
Measure this. When John was initially diagnosed, he contacted his employer to tell them to rescind the redundancy notice they’d given to one of his four co-workers as he’d be off indefinitely through illness. Honestly, would that have crossed your mind at such a moment?

Here’s to big John, the blagger, a gentleman and my pal. I wish you well in the fight to come and will pray for your deliverance.

Sorry to hear the news of John Mann. He was at our table at EuroLambretta in Lincoln. Once in his company, you never forget.
Strong views on most things, but a Lambretta man through and through. Best wishes to him for the future. Eric.

I am (was) a work mate of John's. I'm sitting here on a friday night, after work having been told yesterday that he had died. So tonight I googled him and I'm sure no one has done that to him for a long time! I saw a couple of posts on different sites, so I thought I'd share. I'm not a scooter man. I did have three LI 150s back in the day. My second one was blue tonic with white coaching but I digress.
John loved his scooters. He told me about the time he rode one, with only three gears, and possibly no seat, back from Italy.
His two favourite stories were
1.) How when going across Bodmin Moor or Exmoor, in the middle of the night, with the hounds baying, he replaced a blown head gasket with a tobacco tin.
2 How he loved to annoy the heroic officers in blue serge when they stopped him on the motorway. "I'm doing over 50 MPH. The scooter is not stolen and now I'm going home."
John know I like a bit of JD and coke, having witnessed my likes at various works functions. I spoke to him just before Christmas, after he had been told the worst. He said to me, "Bill, no matter how much cancer I have in my liver, I know it's not as bad as yours." From a man that's dieing? Priceless.