Innholdsfortegnelse for September 2017 i Scootering

Last month I picked out three quotes from various articles within the magazine to focus on, as I really felt that they either summed up the issue, or offered some great comedy value. It’s not something I usually do, and I’ll try not to make a habit of it, but… I have to say, and it is completely by chance, that two quotes from this month’s mag really stood out, and happened to emphasise polar ends of the scene, from eras nearly 30 years apart. The first quote is lifted from the DTC GTS article: “It’s only when good custom built autos start to come along that we’ll know for certain they’re finally embedded in the scene.” I believe that to be a fair opinion, and given that the legendary…

If there is one thing that is certain in life it’s the fact that while we can try to predict the future we can never be sure it will actually happen or work out the way we think. So it leads us to the big debate of the latest branded Lambretta launch. If you were participating in the 70th Euro Lambretta in Italy you would have seen it in the flesh no doubt. If not there were several pages devoted to it in June’s edition of Scootering magazine. It was hardly going to go unnoticed as it took up virtually the whole front cover. As a long time Lambretta devotee, the instant I set my eyes on it the only thought on my mind was the controversy it would create…

I’ve watched large parts of an ageing scooterist population steadfastly refusing to take their test, preferring instead to take their CBT over and over again, constantly complaining about the cost of this self-imposed tax. Now, I know training courses aren’t cheap – often about half of my monthly income – and that they’re pushed as being the only way to guarantee to pass your test. I appreciate that’s a lot of cash to be forking out just to get rid of your L-plates and be legally allowed to ride a scooter that’s over 125cc and on the motorway. I get that. But what if I told you that there was a cheaper way? One that would cost maybe a quarter of a course. Would that interest you? Well, there is.…

Although Andrea Pinasco retired in 1999 the company bearing his name remains at the forefront of scooter tuning. Best known for their Vespa products, last year they raised a few eyebrows by entering the Lambretta market. When Scootering was given the opportunity to meet the man in charge, Piergiorgio Bettella, at Pinasco’s home base I jumped at the chance. Unfortunately the day didn’t start well. Ever since I transformed my 50 Special by bolting on their 50 to 90cc conversion I’ve held Pinasco products in high regard. Wanting to make a good impression I set off early but managed to take a wrong turn, adding 30 miles of autostrada to my journey. I arrived on the correct street with two minutes to spare, only to find an eccentric numbering system…

Birth of Soul Special Detroit Edition (Kent) The obsessives at Kent Records have gathered some of the finest early soul recordings, covering the period when R&B, doo-wop and gospel were all drawn together to create the all-encompassing sound that became known as soul. The previous set looked at the early Chicago scene, and this collection brings the city most thought of as the birthplace of soul under the magnifying glass. Although some tracks are more obscure, the same can’t be said for many of the artists themselves. JJ Barnes, Barbara Lewis, Betty Lavette, Melvin Davis and Tony Clarke are all respected names, along with lesser known performers and acts who weren’t all they seemed to be – The Falcons weren’t exactly the group that spawned Wilson Pickett, Eddie Floyd and…

These days there are more and more powerful engines being produced for Lambrettas and stopping power is absolutely essential. The simple answer is to fit a hydraulic front disc brake, but more often than not getting the hose length and fixings right can be a real problem. This can lead to issues when putting the system in, or at a later date if it has to be serviced or removed for painting. A few easy steps can make all of this much easier and make for a much better looking and serviceable hydraulic hose. DOES LENGTH MATTER? Before thinking of ordering a hose or having one purposely made, you need to have the correct length. If it is too long it will look stupid and chances are it will rub…

Whenever the subject of ‘branded clothing’ was brought up and talked through, we wondered just what we could do to re-energise this long-neglected area. There have been quite a few discussions over the months about what exactly to do but we never felt that any of the answers at the time were totally right. So that’s where things stood for quite a while until out of the blue, a chance meeting between a scooterist with clothing connections and Dan the editor initiated a spark which has fanned the flames for our new range. As the meeting progressed, it transpired that our new connection had worked with the likes of Ben Sherman, Fishbone and Gio-Goi. Since then, the upshot was a proposed massive overhaul, but pointing out that we wanted to…

Tuning components for Lambretta and Vespa scooters have never been in such plentiful supply if the fancy takes you and you have available funds ... the array of shiny tuning-exotica is really quite astounding. Vespa has always had the benefit of well-established tuning houses such as Mallosi, Pinasco, Polini, and so on providing off-the-shelf kits, clutches, exhausts, carbs, cranks and more. Lambretta tuning has historically relied more on privateers and small home-grown companies to develop and release great kits like the Challenger, Avanti, AF TSl, MB Race-Tour, Grand-Turismo and so on. But in either case, Lambretta or Vespa, you can start spending as little as a few hundred pounds on cylinder kits, right up to five-figure sums on the really 'high-end' gear. Today's budget choices are astounding, from twin-cylinder engines,…

The story so far Last month's instalment brought an end to the 'bolt on section' of the report, resulting in a 15.33bhp/15.4ltq output using the original SIL cylinder with re-jetted carb/free-flowing filter, head gasket removed and an expansion type exhaust fitted. This now begs the questions: how does the cylinder perform so well, what part of its spec is producing this result, and how did the spec come about? So before moving on to changing the porting or head specs let's see what we have to start with. Let's get measuring With the engine removed the first measure was an accurate check of the squish and head volume to calc out the compression ratio with the head gasket removed as per its last run. The repeated squish checks averaged out…

The basics - mystery often surrounds the subject of compression. Strange terminology is used, the meaning of which is often unknown, and the average (or even experienced) owner/builder may find it difficult to digest. The potential pitfalls of getting it all wrong are breakdowns, blown engines and huge repair bills, and this creates a situation the very thought of which is gut-wrenching. So if we start this month by covering some basic areas and do so in a terminology which improves our understanding, then the building and riding of all machines equipped with two-stroke engines should be less painful. The compression ratio is a fundamental specification for an internal combustion engine. Our two-stroke engines rely on the compression of the air-fuel mixture which has been delivered into the engine to…

Acommonly used phrase in head design is 'squish clearance' but 'squish velocity' is a term that will be new to some, it is a measurement that refers to the speed with which the fuel/air charge is compressed/ squished out of the squish clearance gap between piston and head, and plays an important role in making a modern two-stroke engine more efficient. The speed term in common use is referred to as m/s or ms (metres per second) and is calculated as a maximum squish value, so the term MSV is often used. The maximum value is as a result of the changes which occur in use, mainly to operating rpm. So an example MSV calculated at 22ms at 9000rpm, increases to 29ms at 12,000rpm, so the max rpm alters the…

1980 was around the last of the aircooled motocross motors, where at these types of power outputs found it a struggle to maintain their power throughout a race, making future power developments a pointless exercise all four major manufacturers followed suit It In the beginning God created the two-stroke ... and he saw that it was good. Take a minute to consider how far the humble two-stroke engine, fitted to the majority of the various scooters in current use, has progressed from its historical origins. Now consider that what has almost become the common performance expectation of today was once race track technology in years gone by. This technology has been progressively researched and developed over the decades to provide good performance in an often very rei iable package. These…

Sarge With over four decades of riding, rally-going and competing on both Lambretta and Vespa scooters under his belt, he’s still going strong. A key player in the Scootering editorial team since the 80s. Top DJ to boot. Nik Skeat Vespa P-range obsessive, well-travelled rally rider since the 80s, and founder of the once notorious Scooterboy World online forum. He’s also a brilliant beer-brewing bearded Scootering feature writer. Big Stan 80s scooterboy turned long distance rider. Be it local, national or international, he’ll ride anywhere in his quest to bring you the tastiest scooters, best roads, trade interviews and hidden gems. Stuart Owen Life member of the LCGB, 100mph LambrettaClub owner and scooter restoration expert to boot. Scooter rider, rally-goer, racer, restorer and author. Reaches the parts other scooter journalists…

It was 32 years ago when I bought myself a P-range Vespa. At the time I was saving up for a house and I had suffered two broken Lambretta crankshafts within only three months, depleting my savings each time. So the time had come to try and save some money and the P-range was therefore the natural choice – dependable, safe, cheap and (boringly) reliable. I would never be stranded on a Vespa P Range… would I? So the PX150 arrived – it was totally standard and I quite enjoyed it. The neighbours appreciated it too I think, as it replaced a Lambretta with a VW pipe on a baffleless Clubman exhaust. At the time I was riding about 1000 miles a month mainly up and down dual carriageways, so…

The Cleethorpes National Scooter Rally is held at the Meridian showground, which is conveniently situated near to the town centre and main promenade. The site is clean, well-organised and has good facilities. It’s within walking distance of the Beachcomber where the night time rally entertainment is held. For wristband holders there’s also a complimentary bus service from the venue, which goes into the town centre or to the Beachcomber for those not wishing to walk. Arriving at the Meridian showground I was greeted by a friendly team and while I was stood chatting by the entrance I had a good view of the campsite. Early arrivals were beginning to set up in the main camping area and the traders’ village was beginning to take shape. Having got ‘base camp’ set…

Dave Godin coined the phrase ‘Northern Soul’ when away football fans (from the North West, North East and the Midlands) visited his Soul City shop in London. He reputedly instructed his employees to not play funkier James Brown-type records in the shop when visiting footy fans were there, but instead to play Northern Soul. Dave also used the term in his blues and soul column, in reference to the up-tempo four beats to the bar-style records, as played in the all-nighters in the North and the Midlands. Most scooterists are aware of our Northern Soul link, but how many have been to a ‘real’ all-nighter? Furthermore – how many think it is an ‘oldies’ scene – in more than one sense of the word? Sarge (long-time warden of this parish)…

Enter the Stan-man In the Vespa Tech series Dan transformed a humble PX125 into something far more interesting but what did all this tuning actually mean in the real world? It’s fine seeing ‘wish list’ items fitted, accompanied by dyno graphs and results charts… but how does the bugger ride? That’s what we want to know! So I decided to see if the little PX could be a viable alternative to a P2 for touring. The ride to Vespa World Days in Germany seemed too good an opportunity to miss, particularly as I was travelling there with my friend Simon on his factory specification PX125, so we would be able to make some worthy comparisons. In standard guise the PX125 produces a rather unimpressive 6.3bhp and eventually reaches a top…

BEST LAID PLANS AND ALL THAT… We had hoped to have a Gori sport and the latest BGM V4 to test, but they didn’t transpire in time for press deadline. Despite this shortfall, we knew that initial tests by others in the industry suggested the BGM V4 might be a little quieter than previous incarnations, and as a result has lost just a small amount of power. The Gori line-up has the tiered product range of sport to racing to new GP50, which suggests it may be the case (performance wise) that the sport sits below the other two that have followed that trend. But as and when these pipes show up, we may follow up this report and include them. So that just leaves us with the standard Italian…

Lambretta, Vespa, spares, accessories and a vast range of automatics. Looking for a scooter? Then look no further! Sell your scooter and spares on the internet today at: WWW.SCOOTERTRADER.COM GARELLI CAPRI 50S 1967, beautiful & totally restored, all powder coated, new tyres, cables & more, £2250 Tel. 0031624955324. Netherlands LAMBRETTA GP200 Arthur Francis Extra S Type, 1976, Stage 4 cast barrel, 30mm Dellorto, TRS stainless expansion chamber, goes very nicely, £3000 Tel. 07766 083303. LAMBRETTA LI 125 1962, 185cc, excellent condition, very reliable, no MoT, £3500 Tel. 07984 880453. LAMBRETTA LI125 Series 2, 1961 with Casa 185 top end, Scootopia 22mm carb & Scootopia 42mm Clubman exhaust, £4250 ono Tel. 07503 156160. LAMBRETTA LI150 Series 1, recently restored with all parts replaced where required, 1959, 12v electronic ignition, £3800 Tel.…

If you saw the first instalment in last month's edition then you'll already be up to speed (pardon the pun) on the nature of this section. Most scooter owners have a desire at one time or another to get the trusty steed running a little quicker, and can be overwhelmed by the array of available tuning goodies and high-end exotica. So quite simply, we intend to explain the old school (and later on the new school) tuning techniques which can create 'bang for buck' performance for both Lambretta and Vespa scooters. Darrell Taylor has spent a great deal of his own time and money investigating these areas of tuning, and has been generous enough to share his findings on the S I L200 engine with us. Last month we explained…

One step forward and two steps back Having progressed the performance of the engine through parts 1-4 of this series (see previous editions) we are now going to remove the expansion exhaust and return back to the Ancillotti clubman exhaust while still running the ported cylinder setup, to see how it responds to the changes made so far. Clubman pipes are still very popular and what they lack in pure horsepower and torque, they make up for in readability. With their diagonally shaped power delivery shown on a graph, it results in a motor that's willing to pull at any rpm range without falling into a flat-spot, like those often encountered on most expansion pipes. These expansion flat-spots are particularly prevalent at around 4000-5000rpm, and when combined with a carburation…

Last month's article on compression briefly touched on squish clearance, which we will now cover in more detail this month. For those who missed the article, squish is the term used when referring to the clearance gap between the piston-crown and cylinder head while at top dead centre (T DC). The term squish is the effect of squashing the air fuel mixture contained within this tight clearance area, at the outer-most section, towrad the direction of the combustion chamber/bowl, where it's more desirable to have this work done. Although not all engine designs have squish-type cylinder heads, most do. The ignition of the mixture starts well before the piston reaches TDC, generally 24 to 16 degrees is commonly used, so the spark generated ignition event then starts a flame-front travelling…

T here are a few methods of measuring the compression ratio of a two-stroke engine which I've found useful. The first method is on the assembled top-end of the engine and is the most accurate. With the motor built and its cylinder height set correctly (to give the desired porting specifications), and the head set correctly (to achieve its desired squish clearance), the head volume can be measured in situ, knowing that it's going to be left unaltered from that position. Method Start with just the top piston ring fitted, as you don't want the top ring seal to fail and the second to hold as that will change the volume and you will never know. Grease up the top of the bore with the piston set low then take…

Following on from last month looking at two-stroke development and feasibility, learning from two-stroke development history of the big manufacturers, we found some meaningful data when converted to BM EP figures that can be seen in different engines. The figures produced show engines in different levels of development/tune and how they increase when they progress from road, to enduro, to motorcross, to road-race applications. Something however which is often missed as a consideration when these increases in power output are made or being pursued, is the increase in maintenance and service requirements as well as the reduction in lifespan of components used. Performance levels of road going scooters have been steadily progressing over the years, more so in recent times where sprinting and race engine development has pushed performance levels…

Avoice from the Young Guns SC For many years, automatic scooters have been regarded as some form of ‘scooter sacrilege’ by certain groups of scooterist. Burly men regarded them as girls’ scooters – conveniently losing sight of the fact that times have changed. Love them or hate them, autos are now a common sight on rallies these days with the GTS effectively becoming the 21st century PX equivalent. Effectively, a fast, reliable and not least of all… modern work horse. Thinking back to the introduction of the PX and the T5 during the ‘scooterboy heyday’ of the mid-80s, modern autos can now do a similar job for today’s scooter riding youth. Many of the machines have the design cues and the classic lines, but, like the PX was back then,…

Scooter theft and insurance woes Here is my sorry tale that I would like everyone to know as a warning of how not to get robbed by scumbags and the insurance companies we trust: I went to this year’s scooter rally at Weston and as usual had a great time. It was when I arrived home that the problems started. I parked my scooter between car and garage (I have a GTS with integrated locking system). I secured my bike by putting the chain and lock on the front wheel, after a long ride of 130 miles against a heavy wind I was ready for a cup of tea and a bite to eat. When I came to put the scooter away in the garage it was gone. I was…

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Welcome to the Bang for Buck scooter tuning and service guide. If you read the intro to our previous Custom Paint supplement, then you’ll already know that we’ve been busy pulling together some of our best feature series articles and putting them together into easy to reference, handy guides. This particular series was originally put together by Darrell Taylor, and ran throughout 2016 in the magazine. The first half of the supplement shows the ‘bang for buck’ approach Darrell took to tuning a standard Lambretta engine. The second part of the supplement is a broader guide to important areas of tuning and servicing, which apply to just about any two-stroke, and therefore both Vespa and Lambretta scooters. The information which is laid down regarding compression ratios and setting up a…

Having already run the stock 200 engine through a series of tests and minor adjustments in Part 1, and then addressing the necessary base-level upgrades in Part 2, we now look at a batch of tests which were carried out to take the engine to the next level. When doing this it is important to get a fair comparison of results on the same day with similar conditions, which are both mechanically and environmentally influenced. The dyno has a ‘correction factor’ which is applied by the software, which takes readings of the room temperature, humidity and air pressure via a probe. This is because such factors affect engine performance, so if conditions one day are extremely good for power (like high air pressure) then a higher power reading will be…

Upgrades To try and keep the engine reliable at this new found power level, a decision was made early on to swap out items that on occasion experience has shown to fail. With the motor removed and on the bench a full strip, inspection and rebuild was done. The gearbox end of the motor had proven fine with good gear selection, the gear arm was shimmed well and the gearbox shimming was good also. The wheel had no excess movement, indicating the rear hub end bearing was good. The gear cluster bush was removed though and the alloy shaving of swarf, which occurs on fitting at the factory, was also removed. The case was dressed off at the bottom to ensure its replacement didn't repeat the process, a new bush…

Over the past few months we've covered modern two-stroke performance levels that are now commonplace in the scootering world, as well as the higher performing versions used in scooter sports, like road racing and sprinting (and those who are brave enough/have deep enough pockets to use them on the road). We have also made comparisons against other manufacturers in the industry such as Yamaha and Honda etc. along with providing some of their historical development data which shows us the performance levels they achieved with their big development budgets. Last month we presented some surprising findings about the maintenance and parts replacement regime that goes hand-in-hand with motors at these performance levels, right down to the lowest powered production models which are considerably more forgiving. So what of the current…