High-Performance Scooters – The Ultimate Guide

LAMBRETTA
&VESPA Str ee
&VESPA acers t
R

By Stuart Owen
In association with

A retrospective tracing the evolution of Lambretta & Vespa street racers across six decades
Introduction
ABOUT THE
AUTHOR
Stuart Owen is a
life member of the
LCGB, owner of the
100mph Lambretta
The British scooter scene has always been one that is very diverse. It is not only Club, a regular
made up of a passion for different makes of scooter but is also intertwined with contributor to
Scootering magazine
different tastes in music and fashion. That’s what makes it so unique and why and a scooter
the whole scooter scene in general is as strong today as it ever has been. One restoration expert.
important part of its makeup is the street racer, whether it be a Lambretta or
Vespa. Both models have been subject to intense modification and development AUTHOR: Stuart Owen
to improve their performance.
So why is there this desire for owners to create monstrously powerful engines and Design: atg-media.com
bolt them in to a frame emblazoned in bright paintwork that wouldn’t look amiss on a
Reprographics: Jonathan Schofield
MotoGP bike? Several reasons come to mind: the quest for one-upmanship perhaps,
and Paul Fincham
or the need to have the fastest machine. Some owners want the latest gadget or that
little bit extra to improve their performance, even if sometimes it doesn’t exactly do Publisher: Steve O’Hara
that. Whatever the reasons, the demand to continually improve these machines fuels
the market that surrounds them and continues to thrive to this day. Advertising manager: Sue Keily
Where did it all begin though? Who were the pioneers of tuning and performance skeily@mortons.co.uk
and how did it all start? The street racer’s roots go all the way back to the 1960s Publishing director: Dan Savage
with entrepreneurs who had the vision to see that there was a market for such
modification. There is no doubt that the street racer had a close affinity with track Marketing manager: Charlotte Park
racing but that itself was in its infancy back then. It is clear for all to see that as these
Commercial director: Nigel Hole
two scenes developed, decade after decade, they worked hand in hand – one feeding
off the other. As they grew so did the industry that supplied them. There have been Published by: Mortons Media Group
some fantastic ideas, inventions and creations that have pushed the boundaries of Ltd, Media Centre, Morton Way,
these machines way beyond the limits of what they were ever designed for. At the Horncastle, Lincolnshire LN9 6JR.
same time there has been a catalogue of failures now consigned to the annals of Tel. 01507 529529
tuning disaster.
The work you are about to read is
It was not, and still is not, uncommon for owners to spend thousands of pounds
dedicated to all those who at one point
on a machine to try and eke out that extra bit of performance; quite often on an
in time improved the performance of
engine that had already had a significant sum spent on it. Not that this is a problem their Lambretta or Vespa with the sole
as it further pushes the boundaries, both of the owners and the tuners who create intention to make it go faster.
these machines. Likewise, the painters who create the dazzling artwork that adorns
the bodywork of these exquisite creations have gone further and further with each Many thanks go to the following people
passing year, quite often each craftsman attempting to outdo the others to set new whom without this publication would not
standards. have been possible. Nicola Owen,
James King, Steve Saffin, Dave Tooley,
Slowly but surely the street racer scene has spread to other countries, even
Chas De Lacy, Norrie Kerr,
continents, often mirroring what has happened in Britain, many taking their inspiration
Frank Osgerby, Dave Omerod,
from its rich history. Even here, many owners have turned back to the early times Dan Robotham, Walter Nelson-Aylott,
to recreate iconic machines and ideas of the past. Now there is both a modern and Colin Cheetam, Brendan McNally,
retro scene that happily work alongside one another – making up the world of the Adam Sheridan, Mark Broadhurst,
Lambretta and Vespa street racer. Richard Taylor, Tino Sacchi,
Duncan rose, Dan Clare,
Duncan Kilbride, Martin Murray,

Contents
Phil Mays, Gareth Gadd, Dave Close,
Frank Donaldson, Jane Skayman,
Richard Black and Andy Blake

PRINTED BY: William Gibbons and

4 Chapter one
1960s – The new generation tuning for speed
Sons, Wolverhampton

ISBN: 978-1-911276-44-9

24 Ch
Chapter
hapter two
two
1970s – Th
1970 The underground revolution
© 2017 Mortons Media Group Ltd.
All rights reserved. No part of this
publication may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any

42 Ch
Chapter
hapter three
hree
1980s – TS1 and
1980 d tthe T5: a new era of performance
means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying, recording,
or any information storage retrieval

68 Ch
Chapter
hapter four
fo
our system without prior permission in
writing from the publisher.
1990s – P
1990 Perfecting
f i the art

90 Ch
Chapter
hapter five
five
2000s – A surge of power

110
Ch
Chapter
hapter 6
2010 to the present day – beyond the realms of possibility

LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS 3

 1 960s

The new
generation
tuning for
speed
A
s with any culture or trend it
has to start somewhere and the
more appealing it becomes the
faster it grows. When looking back at
the history of the Lambretta and Vespa
street racer scene this is exactly what
happened. In the early days it may have
got off to a slow or somewhat modest
start but after a few years it exploded
into life. Once it got going, the
momentum has continued throughout
each decade up till the present day and
still shows no signs of slowing down.
Actually pinpointing where it all started
is almost impossible but there were
certain defining periods in the early days
that were a catalyst in allowing it to grow.
There is no doubt that the Lambretta
 ABOVE: The Rallymaster was
first introduced by Lambretta
Concessionaires in 1961. This
modified Series 2 Li 150 was the
first sports scooter to become
available in Britain. Aimed at the
sporting members of scooter clubs,
its engine was very mildly tuned
but showed that it was possible
to improve the performance of the
Lambretta engine.

➽
LAMBRETTA & VES
SPA STREET RACERS 5
ABOVE AND RIGHT: Two views of a modified Series 1 Lambretta adapted for scooter scrambling. Though the engine remained relatively
standard its chassis was heavily altered.
has been the dominant force in scooter
tuning in the main. Even so, the Vespa
has played an important role in how it all
evolved and at certain times over the last
50 odd years has been the main player.
To try and establish where it all started
we need to go right back to the beginning
of the 1960s.
Tuning Lambretta and Vespa engines
at the beginning of the 1960s was
virtually unheard of in Britain. There were
certainly no shops offering aftermarket
performance products and there is
very little evidence, if any, of owners
carrying out such work themselves. Track
competition didn’t exist and scooter
racing as we know it was almost a decade
away from commencing. There had been
a brief attempt at producing an aluminium
‘‘The first real step in the performance orientated market
was actually taken by a manufacturer
6 LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS
cylinder for the Lambretta by a company
called Ajax who made aftermarket barrels
for Villiers engines but it was a far cry
from tuning or performance upgrading as
we know it. It should be remembered
that the scooter was in its heyday of
popularity and at the time was seen more
as a vehicle of transport – not one of
racing or performance.
If you wanted to go faster, at that
time the simple answer was to go and
buy a motorbike instead. Also it is worth
bearing in mind that people were buying
scooters brand new and under
warranty – which would be voided if the
engine was modified in any way, shape
or form. This was something owners
were constantly reminded of by the
manufacturers. For this reason alone,
ʼʼ
the idea of any sort of engine upgrade
wasn’t given any consideration by
the majority of those who purchased
either the Lambretta or Vespa.
Probably the first real step in to
the performance-orientated market
was actually taken by a manufacturer,
or rather, its subsidiary: Lambretta
Concessionaires. In 1961 the
company launched its own unique
version of the upgraded Series 2
named the Rallymaster. In all honesty,
it was no racing thoroughbred – more
of a trials or off-road competition
machine. It did have a slightly
upgraded engine with what was
classed as a ‘Stage 2 conversion’ to
the cylinder which was carried out at
the Trojan works facility.
 ➽
LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS 7
 1 960s

ABOVE: Scooter scrambling was probably the first sport in Britain where scooter riders raced
each other competitively on a track circuit.

‘‘ The Lambretta engine had the potential to

be upgraded for performance.

With a slightly bigger carburettor

and improved exhaust, bhp was slightly
increased, but it was still no sports
machine. However, this did highlight the
fact that the Lambretta engine had the
potential to be upgraded for performance
with increased speed and acceleration.
The attention generated by this conversion
slowly tempted one or two other dealers
ʼʼ
into the same way of thinking.
The Rallymaster had probably been
created to cater for the growing trend
of regularity and off-road trials run
by some of the bigger scooter clubs.
These trials had started to become than Tarmac, was scooter scrambling.
popular as competition between clubs Machines were heavily modified around
had started to grow. The first real track the chassis to give more ground clearance
sport, even though it was on grass rather but the engine remained almost standard.

8 LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS

 Arthur Francis
‘S Type’ L ambretta

The Arthur Francis ‘S Type’ Lambretta was first introduced in late 1963
and was originally based around the Lambretta TV 200. Arthur Francis
was an official Lambretta dealer in Watford and had been offering
tuning services since the early 1960s. He was regarded as the first
business to cater for the performance market and his name is still
legendary to this day in the Lambretta world.
When introduced, the ‘S Type’ offered much more than a tuned
engine. There were a whole host of extras including 12V lighting, front
leg shield mounted spot lights and rev counter among other things.
By 1967 the ‘S Type’ was based around the Lambretta SX 200 and in
that same year offered the first 250cc conversion. The conversion
involved a Bultaco barrel being grafted on to a Lambretta casing
but this was never going to be commercially viable. It nevertheless
showed that Arthur Francis was way ahead of the competition when it
came to development.
The ‘S Type’ and all the extras that were available were a great way
of luring potential customers into the dealership, even if they were
only curious to see what was on offer. It was a great marketing ploy
as the mainstay of the business was selling standard scooters. This
business model would be copied by many others as they too saw what
benefits it had to offer. In later years it would be taken over by a young
employee by the name of Ray Kemp who would continue to keep the
business at the forefront of Lambretta tuning.

This took into account the rider’s ability
to win a race through skill rather than
the power of their engine. Even so, this
was a significant step in moving towards
machine modification by individuals and
proved to be the beginning of street
racer evolution.
One of the first shops to advertise any
type of performance enhancing changes
to a scooter, most notably the Lambretta,
was Francis and Woodhead of Watford. It
was only basic cylinder porting and tuning
– nothing too fancy. With virtually nowhere
else available to get work like this done,
it was almost guaranteed that once your
Lambretta left Francis and Woodhead it
would be faster on the road than any other
Lambretta, or other type of scooter for
that matter. This was the beginning of a
new era, the era of scooter tuning, and it
was ready to spread across the country.
Francis and Woodhead would
change name to Arthur Francis Limited
around the same time as Innocenti
launched the Series 3 Slimstyle. This
new, sleeker, more modern-looking
scooter would be the catalyst to take
Lambretta and probably Vespa tuning
to a new level. What started to really
change people’s way of thinking in
terms of speed and acceleration was
the introduction in 1963 of the
Lambretta TV 200. Though it was
created by Innocenti, it was prompted
by a request from Peter Agg the owner of
Lambretta Concessionaires.
He had demanded a 200cc Lambretta
to sell in Britain as he saw a gap in
the market place for it. As the decade
moved on most vehicle manufacturers,
whether they produced two or four
wheeled vehicles, became more
obsessed with power and speed as the
most effective marketing tool. Peter
Agg’s thinking was that the same could
be done with the Lambretta – and he
was right. Not only was the TV 200 more
powerful and capable of speeds up to
70mph, but it also came fitted with a
disc brake, the first production two-
wheeled vehicle in the world to do so.

➽
LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS 9
 1 960s

ABOVE: Don Noys on one of his record breaking runs using a modified GT 200 in 1965.

LEFT: Francis and Woodhead was one of the first businesses to offer scooter tuning. Later it
would change its name to Arthur Francis Ltd and produce the Legendary ‘S Type’ Lambretta.

‘‘ The promise of greater speeds was always

Rebranded the GT 200 by Petter Agg,
it not only had sports type perforrmance
but sounded like it did too, thank
ks to the
going to have genuine appeal.
name change. Even though it was the
most expensive Lambretta to date, that
didn’t matter as power hungryy enthusiasts
snapped them up. Though sco ooter
tuning was still in its infancy it was a
manufacturer that probably kic ck-started
demand by producing what, in n real terms,
was the first sports-orientated d scooter.
Arthur Francis, who o had now struck
out on his own, was keen to market the
machine’s potential by producing the
‘S Type’ Lambretta. Based around the
ʼʼ
GT 200 it would ha ave upgrad des that
would allegedly givve a top sp peed
approaching 80mp ph, althouggh this was
probably only likelyy when ridding downhill.
As scooters slowlyy became the vehicle
of choice for young g adults, th
he promise
of greater speeds was alwayys going to
have genuine appe eal.
In the ‘S
S Type’, Arthur Fraancis
knew he had a product that would
attract cusstomers who wante ed extra
performan nce. As a main Lam mbretta dealer,

10 LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREE

ET RACERS
 The A m a l M k . 1 C a r b u r e tt o r

ABOVE: The original advert by Amal Ltd announcing the new Mk.1 ABOVE: Directly bolted to the purposely-made manifold the
concentric carburettor first used on the Lambretta in 1967. carburettor sits in a perfect upright position.

The Amal Mk.1 carburettor was launched in 1967 running all the way down the fan cowl and onto the
and was made by Amal Ltd in Witton, Birmingham, floor before the engine fired up. Though starting the
a subsidiary of the vast Imperial Metal Industries engine was a pain, once it was running the Amal Mk.1
company. Amal carburettors were standard equipment greatly improved acceleration and speed.
on many British-built motorcycles, most notably BSA, It quickly became the popular choice of most
Triumph and Norton. scooter tuning businesses and being British-made
When the Amal Mk.1 was launched it was hailed it was easy to source spares quickly and affordably.
as the modern choice to replace many of the older Some shops would fit them to engines that were
cruder carburettors that graced thousands of old prepared for the customer or there would be the
motorcycles throughout Britain. Its simplistic design, option to purchase a full kit of carburettor, manifold
consisting of only a pilot, main and needle jet, and choke lever for the more discerning owner.
combined with a three position needle, made it easy Whichever way, the Amal Mk.1 was in reality the
to set up. The two-stroke version was ideal for the first performance oriented carburettor for tuned
Lambretta and it was the first time anything like this Lambrettas in Britain.
had been made available.
Quickly several businesses had their own manifold
cast, designed specifically to fit the Amal Mk.1 onto
200cc Lambretta engines. One of the benefits was
that the carburettor would sit perfectly upright and
not in an angled position, giving the float bowl chance
to fill completely up. The down side to being in this
position was it meant that the mouth would sit almost
flush against the side panel, greatly restricting air
flow. The solution was to cut a hole in the side panel
to allow the carburettor to breathe more easily and
this would quickly become a fashion among tuned
Lambretta owners.
There was no choke jet fitted as standard, only
an internal slide that blocked off air flow similar
to putting your hand over the mouth to richen the
mixture. There was another option, however, a prime
ABOVE: The only down side was it caused the mouth to sit too
jet fitting which filled the float bowl right up, allowing close to the side panel. The solution was to cut a hole in the
more fuel in initially for starting. Though this was the panel to allow the carburettor to breathe. This impressive looking
best method, it would not be uncommon to see petrol modification soon become a craze among owners.

➽
LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS 11
 The L ambretta Big
Bore Exhaust
offering tuning and bigger performance
machines gave him an advantage over
his rivals. Providing a choice of different
packages in terms of extras allowed
customers to choose how much more
they spent on top of the cost of the
Lambretta they were about to purchase.
It was a clever way to sell more machines
and for a while one that was almost
exclusive to Arthur Francis Ltd.
The only other mainstream scooter
at that time was the Vespa. The two
brands commanded the lion’s share of
scooter sales in Britain between them.
The problem with the Vespa in the mid
1960s was its aging model line-up. The
GS, which had been the flagship model
for several years, was becoming out-
dated. However, it was superseded by
the 180 SS, which was more powerful
and modern in appearance. This again
would appeal to the performance hungry
enthusiast as demand for more powerful
machines continue to grow.
With the introduction of the 180 SS,
the scooter buying public could now go
RIGHT: Advertising the Grimstead Imperial Vespa in 1967,
one of the first tuned Vespas that was made available.
‘‘ Piaggio would stun the market in
1966 with a smaller but even more sports
focused scooter.
ʼʼ
12 LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS
to either of the two main manufacturers if
they wanted a powerful scooter. However,
Piaggio would stun the market in 1966
with a smaller but even more sports
focused scooter: the 90 SS. This was
a beautifully designed machine based
around the firm’s small frame chassis
design, launched a couple of years
previously. Not only would the small 90cc
engine provide decent performance due
to its high state of tune, but the narrowed
leg shields and drop handlebars made
its handling first class. While the likes of
Arthur Francis were producing aftermarket
sports scooters with the ‘S Type’, Piaggio
was producing them straight from the
factory with the 90 SS.
While it was good that these scooters
were being built there were still limitations
concerning where you could actually use
them to their full potential. The first real
opportunity a rider had to legally find out
what they were capable of in terms of
speed was the annual Isle of Man scooter
holiday week. With several events taking
place both on and off road by the later
The Lambretta big bore exhaust
was first introduced by Arthur
Francis Ltd in the mid 1960s
under the guise of the ‘Clubman’
exhaust. It was also called the
reverse cone by some. With a
slightly larger bore on the down
pipe of 42mm from the standard
38mm, it now entered the box
section by means of a much
wider cone. The idea was to
allow the engine to rev higher
while at the same time improving
mid-range performance.
Not long after Arthur Francis
introduced the exhaust, a
similar version was branded by
Nannucci called the Ancillotti
Big Bore. One version boasted
a ridiculously oversize 50mm
down pipe which was more
commonly known as the
drainpipe exhaust it was so
large. Over the decades there
have been many versions and
formulas of the big bore exhaust
and it still sells well to this day.
1960s, the new breed of more powerful
scooters could finally be showcased not
only to other riders but also to the vast
crowds watching.
At the same time scooter sprinting as
a sport was slowly gathering pace. The
regularity trials held at different circuits
around the country were becoming more
commonplace too. There was always the
natural alternative to try and exploit the
potential of a scooter out on the road
but this was, of course, heavily frowned
upon by the authorities. Even so there
where many cases of this type of activity
regularly occurring, certainly from owners
of the more powerful models.
Scooter sprinting at that time was
slowly beginning to gain momentum

through the efforts of Fred Willingham but
only within the National Sprint Association
– not at scooter-only organised events.
There were a few others joining in but
Fred was way ahead of the competition in
all departments, particularly where engine
tuning was concerned. His modifications,
which were for the most part based on
his own ideas, were beginning to gain the
attention of the scooter press.
BELOW: The Vespa 90 SS launched in 1966 was probably the first pure sports scooter produced by a manufacturer.
This perceived ability to find extra
performance through apparently simple
tinkering was appealing to owners
of road going machines – who were
increasingly coming to regard scooter
tuning not only as a fun thing to do
but also something that could be done
within the realms of the garden shed.
Meanwhile, the regularity trials that had
been around a few years now were also
1 960s
starting to gain much more momentum
and interest. These were based on 12
and 24 hour formats, with the average
speed taken over the allotted time.
Though this took place at several
different circuits around the country,
it wasn’t racing as such but again
competitors present started to
tune their engines more and more for
these events. ➽
LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS 13
ABOVE: Marlene Parker who would pilot the ‘Atlanta 5’ world speed record attempt. It would never be certified as the governing body would not
accept a woman rider. Much controversy surrounded the attempt but it put scooter tuning all over the press at the time.
There was a significant change within
the official Lambretta club in 1966. Up till
that point it had been called the British
Lambretta Owners Association, but under
the leadership of Bob Wilkinson it would
now change name to Lambretta Club
Great Britain. This rebranding was seen
as taking the club forward and making it
look more modern in what was becoming
a fast-changing environment.
Wilkinson was quoted as saying: “The
club had become a bit out-dated and old
fashioned with its egg and spoon races
and slow rides. The members want a bit
more speed and conviction these days.”
This move would transform the club,
even if all that changed was the name to
start with. The emphasis would switch
increasingly to sports and both the
LCGB and Lambretta Concessionaires
would start to focus on performance
more than practicality.
14 LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS
That same year Lambretta
Concessionaires itself was involved in
trying to establish a world record speed
attempt on a Lambretta. It was, in truth,
something of a marketing exercise. A
woman rider was chosen to make the
attempt, namely Marlene Parker, and the
press were keen to report her exploits.
Though it was doomed to failure due to
inadequate testing and the fact that the
governing body wouldn’t recognise a
speed record attempt by a woman, it still
caught people’s attention.
Lambretta Concessionaires was seen
to be not only promoting scooter tuning
and performance, but also the idea that
scooter sport was accessible to both male
and female riders. With a factory works
team established, this point would be
pushed home more and more firmly, both
through articles and advertising in relevant
magazines. These publications were keen
to report on any form of scooter sport and
the adverts Lambretta Concessionaires
created would demonstrate this on a
regular basis.
Within the Vespa Club of Great Britain,
things were also taking on a more
sports-related theme. There was now a
sporting section which was starting to
become competitive as the club would
put on more events at rallies. Slowly
the nature of the competition between
the Lambretta and Vespa brands was
changing. It was no longer about
providing the cheapest way to get to
work – it was about who could come out
on top at the racetrack or at a trial. While
this was an encouraging sign, there was
still a lack of dealers offering performance
related products and services. Things
were about to rapidly change, however.
Eddy Grimstead, the London-based
Vespa dealer, introduced the Hurricane in
 The Wa l Ph il li p s Fu el I n je c to r
In the
th mid-1960s
id 1960 W Wall Philli
Phillips, the
th iinternational
t ti l Many owners would
speedway rider, invented his version of the fuel
injector. It was primarily targeted at motorcycles
and scooters and advertised to give a great boost
of acceleration over the traditional carburettor. Its
crude design of a butterfly valve and fixed jet allowed
fuel into the engine at a much faster rate through its
cigar shaped body. The problem was there was no
float chamber so once the fuel was turned on it
would run immediately into the engine, flooding it.
If the scooter in question was a poor starter it quite
often meant bump starting it down the road was
the only solution.
ABOVE: The Wal Phillips fuel injector,
commonly known as the cigar tube or half
moon injector because of its shape.
ABOVE: Here seen fitted to a sprint Lambretta in a down draft position.
ABOVE: A typical advert for the fuel injector. It is unclear why it was
more expensive to purchase one for a Lambretta than a Vespa.
M ld turn
t on the
th petrol
t l for
f a ffew
seconds to allow fuel in, then shut the tap off. Once
fired up, the tap needed to be turned on quickly to stop
it from running out. It was important when you pulled
up to turn the engine and fuel off simultaneously. If
you forgot then it would continue to keep flowing, the
majority of times all over the garage floor.
Many adverts carried claims of owners who had
purchased one seeing a significant rise in speed since
they had fitted it. In reality the fuel flooding issue
meant they were impractical to use, certainly on the
road. They were available well in to the 1970s and were
targeted at both the Lambretta and Vespa scooter.
BELOW: To help customers, Wal Phillips prepared a
special setting up guide specifically for scooter owners.
➽
LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS 15
ABOVE F
ABOVE: Fred
d Willingham’s
Willi h ’ heavily
h il modified
difi d
Sprint Lambretta in 1967. Fred would go on
to do over 100mph on a Lambretta by the end
of the decade and be renowned as a
pioneering scooter tuner.

RIGHT: Fred’s exploits were often covered

in the press as he made Lambrettas headline
news in the motorcycle world.

1967. Based on a Vespa 180 SS, it would

have significant alterations made to both
its engine and its appearance. This was
probably the first time such customisation
had ever been offered to the British
public by a Vespa dealer. Boasting an
upgrade to 200cc, 100mph speedometer
and two-tone colour scheme, it certainly
looked the part. Covered in the scootering
press, this no doubt boosted sales for
Eddy Grimstead’s dealership so in reality
it had a twofold effect. Firstly those that

‘‘ There was no
doubt that 1967 was
the year for the real
birth of the scooter
tuning scene in
Britain
ʼʼ
16 LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS
 Scooter World Magazine Practical
Scooter
Scooter World magazine first
started publication in the
and Moped
1950s and had been one of the
most popular scooter based
magazines since that time.
Though it reported on many
different makes of scooter and
Magazine
scooter ownership, in general
it predominantly focused on
the Lambretta and Vespa by
the mid-1960s. As the sporting
scene started to evolve, so did
the reporting of events within
the magazine. It began to play
a major role in the early tuning
revolution and was crucial in
connecting the readers with what
was happening out there.
wanted this souped-up creation would
be interested to read about it and at the
same time it put a free advert for his
dealership in front of those who might just
want to buy a scooter for commuting to
work on. It showed that free advertising
and promotion was available by going
down this route. It was a marketing
technique that would quickly catch on
and no doubt this lit the touch paper
when it came to the performance side
of owning a scooter.
Soon afterwards, Arthur Francis would
launch the ‘250 S Type’, incorporating
even more extras; much more than just
a bigger engine. However, the engine
was the big talking point due to what it
offered. Not only was it the first 250cc
Lambretta in Britain, it also used a
Bultaco motorcycle barrel. With the
aid of the newly introduced Amal Mk 1
monoblock carburettor, performance was
seriously improved. There were many
other extras but with the speedometer
changed to one reading 100mph, the
emphasis was always on impressing
the customer by any means possible.
In reality, the conversion was neither
practical nor economically viable to
carry out. That didn’t matter though; just
like the Grimstead Hurricane the idea
was to get customers into the shop and
get them to spend money on the readily
available tuning extras.
Around this time Supertune, the
Croydon-based shop run by Malcolm
Clarkson, produced something totally
unique with the ‘Low Line Special’.
Taking a TV 200 and lowering the front
end by 3.5in gave the scooter a much
lower centre of gravity. This improved
handling significantly and made it ideal
for cornering or fast overtaking. With
another conversion, this time up to 235cc,
and using a Wal Phillips fuel injector
the battle between the rival businesses
was ratcheted up to a new level. This
time a small seat was made for a single
passenger, making it a pure sports
machine rather than a two-up scooter.
The Supertune Low Line Special was
probably the first true single-seater street
racer built in Britain for the sole purpose
of performance.
Again this was reported in the
scootering media by the new publication
Practical Scooter which had featured
both the Grimstead Hurricane and the
Arthur Francis 250. Though the magazine
only survived for 12 editions it will go
down in history as it was instrumental
in reporting these ground-breaking
scooters. Not only did it showcase them
to the public, it also probably encouraged
thousands of scooter owners to tune
their own machines. Once it had ceased
publication the mantle was taken up by
Scooter World magazine, which reported
any type of tuning or sporting events.
It would continue to do this until its
demise in 1973.
There was no doubt that 1967 was
the year when the British scooter tuning
scene was born. There were now several
shops and official dealers offering
aftermarket tuning products and these
were soon to be joined by what was
to be the first company producing just
tuning parts and accessories exclusively
for scooters. Nannucci Limited was
a London-based scooter accessory
company and had been supplying
Even though it lasted for just
12 editions between the months
of January and December 1967,
Practical Scooter and Moped
magazine was instrumental in
reporting the beginnings of the
tuning scene in Britain. It not
only featured the Lambretta with
the Arthur Francis 250 and the
Supertune Low Line special,
but also the Vespa with the
Grimstead Hurricane. Up till
then no other magazine had
bothered much on reporting
dealer specials – but they would
do so in the future.
the market for years. After being told
about the Ancillotti brothers racing their
Lambretta at Monza in Italy, a deal was
done to bring them over to England to
attempt a world record. They accepted
the invitation and in October 1966 the
year previous at Elvington runway in
Yorkshire they established two world
records, their heavily modified Lambretta
reaching a top speed of 106mph.
Nannucci was run by Don Noys,
originally an official Lambretta dealer, who
himself had set several speed records on
➽
LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS 17
ABOVE: The final table for the inaugural LASCA 1969 scooter race championship, won by the late Nev Frost.
a modified GT 200 in 1965. Don had been
selling and promoting Nannucci products
for some time against the wishes of
Lambretta Concessionaires who frowned
upon any dealer selling aftermarket
spares. After several warnings, Don Noys’
Lambretta dealership was taken away
from him. This paved the way for him
to defect to Nannucci on a permanent
basis. It was actually Don himself who
had arranged for the Ancillotti brothers to
come over to Britain in the first place.
It was also Don who tied up the deal to
use the Ancillotti name on several tuning
products including their own which they
would manufacture. One of the products
was a tuned cylinder conversion, which
was one of the first off-the-shelf kits
18 LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS
ever made available in Britain. This dea
al
meant that scooter owners could now
buy tuning products direct from anyone
who stocked Nannucci products as more
and more businesses cashed in on the
new trend. By 1968 the scooter tuning
scene had well and truly arrived and the
scooter street racer was now becoming
more of a reality.
Though Scooter World magazine was
the main point of contact between the
tuning shops and the scooter owners,
there was another magazine that now
started to take notice. Motorcycle
Mechanics was one of the most popular
two-wheeled magazines in the country
and incorporated Scooter and Three
Wheeler magazine. Even though it
would onlyy feature a two page spread
in each edition it was nevertheless very
informative. Both Lambretta and Vespa
would have any new models exclusively
road tested along with maintenance tips
on subjects including brake renewal or
gearbox stripping.
By 1969, the format of this publication
was beginning to change, making more
effort to accommodate the burgeoning
interest in tuning. There were tuning tips
from the few shops that were offering
this service and greater coverage of the
sporting events that were now growing
considerably. The magazines where the
lynchpin connecting the scooter owners
with what was happening as the fledgling
scene steadily got into its stride.
 1 960s

‘‘We would deliberately slow down for several laps towards

the end so that we would need to drive flat out for the last thirty
minutes or so to get the average speed back up.
ʼʼ
ABOVE: Norrie Kerr attempting the water splash on board his Vespa at the Glasgow road trials in 1968.
He would go on to be a big name in Vespa tuning with his legendary liquid-cooled small frame Vespas.

Two magazines dedic cating more page
space to the subject meant double the
coverage. Not only that, more and more
dealers and shops were beginning to
take note and realise that this could be
a very lucrative road to go down. Sure
enough, other shops did start to cater
for the tuning market as the demand
increased. Following on from Eddy
Grimstead, Arthur Francis and Supertune
were P J Oakley, Roys of Hornchurch
under the Royspeed guise and Rafferty
Newman with the Wildcat brand. Not
only were they offering porting work but
also their own unique products, which
had a knock-on effect as scooter owners
would become loyal to using the services
of a specific shop.
With the tuning side of owning a
scooter now expanding across the
country, so too was the sporting side.
Owners were able to compete in a
range of different events and the quest
for greater power and speed continued
unabated. Circuit racing as such still did
not exist in 1968 but the feeling now was
that this needed to happen sooner rather
than later. Up to this point the only track
or circuit competition of any sort that
existed was the reliability trials. These
were held in 12 or 24 hour formats and
were often sponsored by the leading oil
or petrol companies to showcase how
economical their products were.
Unfortunately they tended to be rather
mundane affairs as each rider or team
would attempt to keep to a fixed avverage
speed over the entire timed period. Chas
De Lacy, a regular entrant, explained how
they would turn it into a race of sorts:
“We would deliberately slow down for
several laps towards the end so that we
would need to drive flat out for the last
30 minutes or so to get the average
speed back up.”
The other option was to set the average
speed too high in the first place so riders
would need to push hard throughout. “To
us it seemed like racing,” he explained
and thanks to the majority of riders pulling
this stunt to a certain extent it was.
Soon enough there was considerable
pressure from the growing number of
competitive riders to try and get a proper

➽
LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS 19
 Th e S m it h s Rev Co u n te r

ABOVE: The drive bolted to the side casing but getting it to fix

securely was an awkward affair.

ABOVE RIGHT: The cable was required to go through a hole

in the bottom of the floorboards and rest on the inside of the leg
shields.

RIGHT: The other main problem was the rev counter would only
read up to 8000rpm even though the Lambretta was capable of
revving significantly higher.

Smiths was a British company that among other

things produced speedometers and various other
clocks for the automotive industry. One such
component, the rev counter, appeared on just
about every post war British motorcycle
manufactured. Towards the end of the 1960s they
started to appear on the Lambretta albeit through
a complicated conversion.
The rev counter was cable driven and to work
on a Lambretta it was required to drive off the front Due to the unsecure fixing there was a tendency
sprocket bolt. The idea was to cut a screw slot on for the drive to vibrate loose and leak oil in doing so.
the sprocket bolt head which would in turn drive The other main problem was a recess would now
the cable. In order to facilitate this, a hole have to be cut in to the top of the exhaust to fit the
needed to be cut in the side of the crankcase to drive while the cable would have to exit through a
fit the drive. Problems arose because the side of hole in the footboards.
the crankcase was slightly curved preventing a The conversion was never that popular and was
flat mounting. Also the drive was bolted from used more on track machines than on the road. Even
the inside but there was only a 1-2mm gap for the so, this was one of the first optional extras that was
bolt heads to fit. offered in terms of a performance-related product.

racing series introduced. The Federation
of Britissh Scooter Clubs (FBSC) was
the govverning body of all scooter sport
in the country and finally it agreed to
riders’ demands to set up a circuit racing
championship. The LCGB committee
was alsso starting to come under
pressurre from its members to get
involved in some way, against the wishes
of the club’s management.
The problem was though, the LCGB
had to join in otherwise it was going to
miss ou ut on what was happening. In the
middle of 1969 a few experimental
race meetings were organised by the
London Area Scooterr Clubs Association
(LA
LASCA)
A to see wheth
her the format
would work. There is no doubt that it
generated great intere
est among riders
and the tuning busineesses that catered
for them. The effect would be even more
profound for road going scooterists
who, through their loc
cal clubs, would
start tuning scooters in still greater
numbers as the comp petition to be
fastest heated up.
By now the Grand Prix range had d
been introduced into Britain by Lam
mbretta
Concessionaires. Outside Britain it
was called the DL, but the companyy
rebranded it. This stemmed primarily
from company owner Peter Agg’s evver
close affinity with Formula One, worrking
with Bruce McLaren. Even so, the Grand
Prix name was ideal for the new raccing
and tuning scene. Top of the range was
the Grand Prix 200, which offered sporty
looks combined with the most powe erful
Lambretta engine ever produced.

20 LA
AMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS
 The Snetterton Seat
The Snetterton
S seat was introduced
around 1969 by Nannucci, the
aftermarket accessory firm based
in London. Featuring a low flat base
with a ridge at the back, it was not
the most comfortable design and was
often referred to as sitting on a paving
slab. The side featured a set of rivets
along the bottom edge while the back
of the seat carried the Snetterton logo
from the race track it was named after.
The design allowed the rider to sit well back and so enable a much more
crouched position ideal for racing. Fitting a Snetterton seat to a Lambretta
meant, in theory, that it was intended for solo use only. It is still as popular
today and it has been said that the Lambretta was itself redesigned around
the Snetterton seat. Early original examples trade for big sums of money
as many were damaged or destroyed in racing incidents.

In standard trim it could reach a speed Conncessionaires took the scooter tuning new book. This was written by technicians
of 70m mph and with tuning modifications worlld by surprise and even further at the factory in Purley Way and
80mph h was a reality. reasssured the ordinary owner that it dedicated to improving the performance
Thiss new scooter couldn’t have come was okay to carry out tuning work for of the Lambretta scooter. It was called
at a be etter time ready to be introduced themmselves with the announcement of a The Lambretta Manual of Performance ➽
in to thhe newly formed scooter racing
champ pionship. For the dealers and tuning
shops it was a godsend as the younger
genera ation were keen to get their hands
on one e. It soon started to buck the trend
of the overall scooter market which had
been steadily going downhill since the
mid-19 960s.
Now w Lambretta Concessionaires
really started to take notice of what was
happen ning. With many owners of older
Lambre ettas wanting to upgrade their
engine to the Grand Prix specification,
converrsions were now being advertised.
These were made available by offering
both biigger cylinder capacity and
carbure ettor sizes.
In th
he past the company had never
contem mplated such actions, always warning
ownerss and dealers alike that any attempt
to tune e an engine would mean the warranty
was im mmediately terminated. By this time
the warranty on the majority of older
modelss had expired anyway so it didn’t
really matter. Lambretta Concessionaires
had finally woken up to the fact that
the tun ning scene was well and truly
establisshed as it belatedly attempted to
join in. Thanks to the availability of these
produc cts from the official source, even
ownerss of older second hand models could
now start tuning their own Lambrettas.
Justt before the end of the decade,
on Dec cember 5, 1969, Lambretta

RIGHT: Lambretta Concessionaires

announcing its intent to cash in on the
scooter tuning boom in the late 1960s.

LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS 21

 The S u p e r tu n e L ow L in e

ABOVE LEFT: The original magazine

article reviewing the Supertune Low Line
back in 1967. ABOVE: The actual scooter after its renovation. It was found in a loft in London
where it had lain hidden for over 30 years.

BELOW: Preparing a Supertune Lambretta

in the paddock area circa 1968.

ABOVE RIGHT: Still retaining its

A
ABOVE: The SX 200 Rallye – the next original number plate 666 CRK, known
evolution of the Supertune Lambretta. by some as the ‘Bike of the Devil’.

The Supertune Low Line first made its debut in

the September 1967 edition of Practical Scooter. It
featured many innovations not only to the engine but
also the frame and chassis. The engine was bored
out to the maximum to give a 235cc capacity and
ran on either a Wal Phillips fuel injector or the newly
introduced Amal Mk.1 carburettor. The front forks
were lowered by 3.5in which allowed the rider to
position themselves closer to the frame. This was
complemented by a much lower single seat that was
hinged at the back to allow access to the fuel tank.
Supertune was fi first set up b
by ex-Lambretta
L b
Concessionaires employee Malcolm Clarkson in
1966. The conversion was a one off but it showcased
the shop’s engineering skills and paved the way for
several other Supertune incarnations, most notably
the SX 200 Rallye. The original Supertune Low Line
was deemed lost forever until it was rediscovered in
a loft in 2006. It has since undergone a renovation to
keep it in its original condition and is still used on the
road to this day.

and Tuning Conversions and was subtitled
To Increase the Speed and Acceleration
of Your Lambretta.
Despite concentrating on many
other performance aspects such as
improving braking or add-on extras,
it was primarily focused on upgrading
and tuning the engine. Though shops
had been offering tuning services and
some owners with the right knowledge
had been taking up the challenge
themselves, this was aimed at absolute
beginners. If the street racer scene had
been steadily evolving it was now about
to get even bigger as this publication

22 LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS

offered every Lambretta owner in the
country the chance to join in.
In just a few short years, things had
moved considerably when it came to
tuning both the Lambretta and Vespa.
Since 1967 this had accelerated even
more quickly and everything was now
in place for it to continue. Demand for
more power was defiantly in fashion and
very much the way forward. There was
so much competition and rivalry between
club members and friends it was obvious
to see which direction scooter ownership
and modification was going to take.
The pilot race series had proved to be
a great success with talk of many new
entrants and teams forming for the first
full season in 1970. Every man and his
dog wanted to be part of the new
scooter racing movement even before it
had got under way. Tuning at both a shop
and personnel level was moving
at a fast pace as riders did everything
they could to be at the front of the grid
from the outset.
As club members took an interest in
the new sport, it was inevitable that this
would filter out onto the road. The street
racer scene was starting to gain more
and more momentum, fed by all the
events going on elsewhere. Owners
now wanted to tune their scooters not
only to take on fellow scooterists but
also motorcycle riders. With older
second-hand models becoming more
affordable it was now possible to pick
one up and tune it within an acceptable
budget. Many now owned a scooter for
the sole purpose of racing it round the
streets and nothing else.
The more tuning that was done, the
bigger the advances in performance that
were made. Soon those with exceptional
skills or knowledge in the art of two-
stroke tuning were getting noticed. It was
not uncommon for owners to take their
scooters round to the local tuner who
had gained a reputation. Many of these
individuals were working out of their own
garages or the shed at the bottom of their ABOVE: The Lambretta Manual of
garden. These were exciting times and as Performance and Tuning Conversions
released in December 1969. This publication
the new decade approached there was a for the first time gave advice that allowed the
pervading sense of optimism about what do-it-yourself enthusiast the opportunity to
the future might hold for scooter tuning. • have a go at tuning their own Lambretta.

Tyre Development
Scooter
cooter tyre technology and development back in the
1960s was a far cry from what it is today. They were
1950s, but towards the end of the 1960s introduced
the Avon Cling. With its softer compound and much
adequate for a standard factory machine on the road, better profile it was way ahead of any other scooter
but for any scooter that was tuned or for track use tyre in terms of performance and handling. It quickly
they were fairly useless. became a hit, certainly among the circuit racers,
The best road going tyre during that period had as the must-have tyre. It was used by Lambretta
to be the Michelin ACS. This was fitted as standard sprinters Fred Willingham and Peter Ham who both
equipment to both the Lambretta and Vespa and would got up to speeds of 90mph without any issues. Fred
continue to be so for the Vespa well in to the 1980s. Willingham finally
With its slanted block tread pattern and medium managed to
compound it gripped the road well and was fair in the push his top
wet. The problem was that when cornering its raised speed to 112mph
edge made the scooter somewhat twitchy, certainly in 1972 proving
at high speed. To be honest the alternatives paled in the tyres’
to insignificance, certainly in terms of longevity. This superior quality.
made the Michelin ACS popular on the
fledgling street racer scene to start with
as there was no other choice.
The Avon tyre company had been
producing the Spartan Cling since the
RIGHT: The Avon Spartan Cling was a far superior
tyre in terms of its softer compound and its more
rounded profile. It soon became the popular
choice on a tuned or race scooter.

FAR RIGHT: The Michelin ACS was a good

all-round tyre but its raised edge did make high
speed cornering difficult.

LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS 23

 1 970s

ABOVE: Dave Tooley on his Wildcat 150

leading Tom Pead at Snetterton, in the early
days when every man and his dog wanted
to go scooter racing.

24 LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RA

ACERS
 The
Underground
Revolution
T
he 1960s has been described as the busiest decade since time began and
whether that is true or not a lot of changes did occur during that frenetic
period. For the scooter scene in Britain this was a very true statement as
the tide of change swept through it. The purpose of two wheeled ownership had
gone from one of transport at the beginning of the decade to one more of leisure
by the end of it.
The scooter in general was affected but because of people’s changing
more than the motorcycle as it was only attitudes and circumstances. This was
ever intended to be a local commuter a time for both Innocenti and Piaggio to
vehicle – even if some owners had look carefully at their business strategy
proven that it could do much more if they were to survive.
besides. Both the Lambretta and Vespa For the younger generation of
had seen their sales fall dramatically, Lambretta and Vespa owners, all this
not because of the quality of the product was of little consequence as 1970 saw

➽
LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS 25
 1 970s

ABOVE: Les Rafferty, the man behind the legendary Wildcat five port barrel at Cadwell Park in 1971.

the beginning of a new era in scooter
sport an
nd tuning. This would be the
first yea
ar that a fu
ull race championship
season would be held and it would be
dominated by the Lambretta, due to
the fact that it was a much more stable its agility and the fact th
hat power wasn’t
machine at high speed and the tuning a requirement. As news s broke of the
options were far greater. Even so, the impending scooter racin ng championships,
Vespa had its place – certainly in off-rroad the queue to enter and be part of it
events where it was better suited due to rapidly lengthened.

AF Rayspeed
By the early 1970s most Lambretta-based
businesses were struggling in the aftermath of
business in 1977. This is when it became AF Rayspeed
the business we all know and love today. At the time
production ending at Innocenti. Arthur Francis Ltd the premises in Watford were in a bad state of repair
was no exception, seeing a massive downturn in and soon enough Ray knew he would need to locate
sales. Only Arthur himself and apprentice Ray Kemp somewhere else. In the latter part of the 1970s, Ray
remained on the staff books. With Arthur taking the noticed that the majority of his business came from
opportunity to move on, the business was now left the north of the country.
solely in Ray’s hands. Before making any decisions he ventured up to
Slowly he turned things around, paying off all Yorkshire to see if this would be a better area for the
the shop debts and finally taking full control of the business. Sure enough, he found the ideal place in
East Heslerton, North Yorkshire.
Situated on the A64 not far from
Scarborough it was ideal not just
for business in general but the
added passing trade as many
Lambretta owners often used
that road.
It didn’t take Ray long to
realise he had made the right
decision as trade picked up and
AF Rayspeed grew in strength.
With the continuation of the ‘S
Type’ range of models the future
looked ever more secure. Ray had
built the perfect platform to take
the business into the 1980s where
the company would gain more
momentum and take the Lambretta
further than anyone had before.

26 LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS

‘‘ Even for a
spectator, watching a
scooter go by at such
fast speeds would
get the adrenalin
pumping.
ʼʼ
It didn’t seem to matter whether you
had an old Lambretta or a brand new
one, the chance to go circuit racing
was just too good to miss. The only real
requirement, if you had a new machine,
was getting it run in before going flat out
on a track. Everyone was either talking
about going racing or else planning to
watch it. The knock-on effect would be
dramatic because, even as a spectator,
watching a scooter go by at high speed
would get the adrenalin pumping. At
the same time, onlookers now knew
there was a genuine possibility that
they could go home after the event and
tune up their own machine for a similar
level of performance.
The series was predominantly based
down in the south of the country, mainly
due to track availability and those who
organised it being based there. This did
little to deter those wishing to go racing
who were from other parts of the country
but the majority of clubs and spectators
watching would still come from London
and the southern counties to start with.
The clubs that took the greatest interest
in racing were ones whose members
were more likely to tune their machines
in greater numbers, the ones with
businesses situated close by to
cater for them.
However, with Scooter World
magazine taking such a large interest in
what was happening the tuning shops
were keen to advertise in the publication. ABOVE: Norrie Kerr in action at the Isle of Man showing just how competitive the small frame
This meant that readers at the other end Vespa really was.
of the country would not only see the
race reports but also the shops that were sprinting had its own unique championship season had proved that all the
advertising their services through which was both prestigious and well organisation and effort involved in
it. Though the 1960s had seen the birth supported. The regular Isle of Man getting it off the ground was worthwhile
of the tuning scene, it was the 1970s scooter week also benefitted as many and that it was here to stay. The
where it would take a firm grip on the riders flocked to the Island to see or following year saw numbers of both
nation as a whole. participate in the various events that competitors and spectators growing
As the circuit racing championship would be held. Scooter week had been significantly, with entrants now
quickly proved a success, soon enough going on since the 1950s but by this time outnumbering the grid slots that were
it led to more events being held. Straight it was predominantly sports-themed. available more often than not. The race
line sprinting and twisty sprints began Scooter sport in Britain enjoyed series was governed by the ACU and
to appear on the calendar; straight line massive success in 1970. The inaugural was strictly regulated.

➽
LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS 27
 1 970s

Though riders could easily compete
they did need the correct protective
clothing before being allowed to race.
The machine itself had to be mechanically
sound and to comply with strict
regulations before being certified track
worthy. This was a good thing as it led to
adequate track safety and riders who took
the racing more seriously. The emphasis
placed on safety was quickly proven to
be well-founded as some machines were
now capable of touching 90mph on the
faster straights.
The classes were divided into groups
based around engine capacity. There
were the 150cc and 200cc standards,
which seemed to be the most popular
as the scooters required a smaller
budget to prepare. The big class was
the specials where most machines
were 225cc and had heavily modified
frames. Scooter sidecar racing also
started to gain popularity with its own
class, made more affordable as the
budget could be shared between
both riders.
As Scooter World increased its
coverage of track exploits, it steadily
became a race report and tuning guide
publication. The readership were now
following the tuning tips more and more
and these became even more highly
regarded when legendary Lambretta
sprinter Fred Willingham joined the
editorial team. Each month he would use
his vast two-stroke tuning knowledge to
explain how to improve the performance
on a certain part of the Lambretta engine.
Keen to cash in on Scooter World’s

Carburettors
success, Motorcycle Scooter and Three
Wheeler Mechanics quickly followed
suit. Gone were the standard machine
reviews, to be replaced by scooter racing
articles or pictorial interviews with the top
tuning shops explaining how to squeeze
more power from your machine.
As always, the magazines would base
the articles round the most powerful and
dynamic tuning methods. Scooter owners
came to believe that following this advice
was the best thing to do – why not, if it
was going to give them a fast machine
afterwards? The most popular conversion
soon became a capacity change
from 200cc to 225cc. This was most
commonly done using the ‘dykes ring’
piston, a method which had a serious
flaw if carried out incorrectly. The ‘dykes
ring’ piston had two rings but the top one
featured an L-shaped design and meant
it sat at the top of the crown. Rather than
just push against the side of the bore it
would, in effect, scrape up it as well. The
theory was, it would form a seal between
the piston and bore – which sounded
good in practise.
The problem on a Lambretta cylinder
arose when the exhaust port was made
slightly too wide during the tuning
ABOVE LEFT: The Dellorto VHB carburettor with its odd looking square slide. process. Though a conventional piston
ring would happily ride over the port,
TOP RIGHT: Despite being difficult to set up, it was still a popular choice among there was a tendency for the ‘dykes
Lambretta owners in the 1970s.
ring’ piston to catch. If it did then at best
ABOVE RIGHT: The Jetspeed fuel injector more commonly known as the Mk.2. the ring would break. At worst it would
Acceleration was vastly improved, if you could get the set up right that is. shatter the piston and create all manner
of damage. This is probably where the
Carburettor choice in the 1970s didn’t vary too much. The Amal Mk.1 term ‘blowing up’ a Lambretta engine
was still popular even though the Mk.2 would replace it at the end of came from, because in extreme cases of
the decade. The other real option was the Dellorto VHB more commonly this problem that’s exactly what would
known as the ‘square block’. This was down to it having to house a happen. A solution was created by
rather large square shaped slide. It wasn’t the easiest carburettor to set bridging across the middle of the exhaust
up and was far more complicated to adjust than the Amal. port to suspend the ring.
Replacing the original Wal Phillips fuel injector was the Jetspeed This had successfully been done by
fuel injector, basically a more refined version. Again it had similar traits Fred Willingham and Peter Ham on their
to its predecessor, such as no fuel cut-off, but this time it did have an sprint Lambrettas to great effect and
adjustable jet making control better. Acceleration when set up was allowed the port to be made even wider.
vastly improved with great performance. Sadly the idea failed to catch The bridge was often made by cutting
on and there were no more versions created. part of a cooling fin off the outer cylinder
then welding it in place down the centre

28 LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS

ABOVE: Number 2, the 225cc Lambretta special of the late Nev Frost, one of the most talented
scooter racers of his generation.

of the port. The idea originally came
about after they saw a bridged exhaust
port on a motorcycle barrel. If anything,
it showed that ideas from motorcycle
two-stroke engines could be adapted
on to scooter engines successfully and
the practise would become ever more
common in later years.
In mid-1971 there was dramatic news
that would not only throw the tuning
and racing scene into turmoil but the
scooter industry in general. Innocenti
finished production of the Lambretta
with immediate effect in May of that year.
It wasn’t actually a decision made by
Innocenti but by British Leyland, which
had just taken over the struggling Italian
company. Without British Leyland’s
intervention Innocenti would have gone
bankrupt anyway but the way forward
was seen as being on four wheels not
two by the new management. The
decision was made literally overnight
and took everyone by surprise,
leaving no time to do anything about
it or prepare a contingency plan. The
overall effect would have disastrous
consequences for those involved selling
the Lambretta and change the scooter
industry in Britain forever.
The news soon came around that the
rights to the Grand Prix model along
with its production line had been sold
to Scooters India Limited. At that time
there were no plans to import them
back in to Britain. The Spanish Serveta
ABOVE: A year after it was first published
demand for the Lambretta Performance
Manual was so great a reprint was required.
factory had the option to produce its
own version of the SX 200, named
the Jet 200, but again there were no
immediate plans to start production at
that time.
The Spanish Li 150 had been
imported in to Britain during 1970
when production had been heavily
interrupted at Innocenti in Italy. Though
it was a helpful stopgap at the time, the
scooter was in theory an old outdated
model and would struggle to sell in
big numbers against the more modern
machines being imported from Japan.

‘‘ There was dramatic

news that would not
only throw the tuning
and racing scene in
to turmoil but the
scooter industry in
general.
ʼʼ
RIGHT: An example of how the pits at an early
scooter race meeting were full of both riders
and friends alike. The result was more and
more owners wanting to tune their scooters.

➽
LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS 29
 1 970s

ABOVE: Steve Saffin at the Barbon Manor park

hill climb. His heavily developed Lambretta engine was
one of the first to be fitted with reed valve induction.

This now left dealers in a precarious
position as they would need to secure a
new franchise if they were to keep their
businesses afloat. With the scooter now
less appealing as a commuter vehicle
than it had been at any time since its
introduction some 20-odd years earlier,
the majority of dealers took up the option
of one of the Japanese motorcycle
companies instead.
Some shops would continue to cater
for Lambretta owners on the servicing
side but the majority jumped ship.
Those that only offered tuning services
were hardest hit as they had nothing

T h e C e n tr a l P l u g H e a d

ABOVE: Access to the spark plug is

ABOVE: The original spark plug hole is limited and close to the exhaust down
ABOVE U
ABOVE: Using
i a TV 200 cylinder
li d head
h d was welded up and a new one created by pipe. Removal when the engine was
ideal as it already had a central squish. cutting out the centre fins. hot would often result in a burnt hand.

The central plug head first came about in the late
1960s but was used more in the 1970s. The idea was
to give a much more central explosion of the gas
evenly over the piston crown. For 200cc big block
Lambretta engines, it required the TV 200 cylinder
head to be used as this had a central squish. On the
small block engines it would require a GP 125 head to
do the conversion.
By welding up the original spark plug hole and
drilling and tapping a new hole in the centre of the
head the conversion was easy enough. The problem
was it did make spark plug removal much more
difficult, which was hampered by the exhaust getting
in the way. The only way to remove the plug was if the
engine was cold otherwise it was easy to burn your
hand on the hot exhaust.
else to fall back on. Circuit racing had
been continually growing throughout
Double Engine Mount
the year but many scooter owners,
certainly Lambretta ones, saw the end
of Innocenti’s production run as a blow.
Though there were still many thousands
of second-hand Lambrettas around, the
fact that no more would be produced
signalled to some that the racing scene
had reached its peak, even though it had
only started 18 months ago at that point.
Not all riders were as pessimistic
though, and some thought the future
might be brighter than first thought. The
cost of a second-hand Lambretta was
dropping considerably, which meant
there were now plenty of bargains to
be had – in turn making it considerably
cheaper to go racing. Many of the riders
were so immersed in the new sport of
scooter racing that they didn’t bother to
give it a second thought. As long as there
was a big enough supply of machines to
go racing with, that was all that mattered;
and there was an abundance of them
lying around. Those who had thought
scooter racing would fade were soon
proved to be wrong.
For a while this helped as numbers
going racing continued to grow, but the
grim reality was that, from a business
point of view, trading in Lambrettas was
no longer financially viable. By 1973 the
majority of dealers offering servicing
had gone or switched to selling another
brand. The magazines suffered much the
same fate – Scooter World closing its
doors and the remaining ones no longer
bothering to run Lambretta features.
Piaggio had survived the downturn in
scooter sales thanks to the buoyancy of
its home market, with sufficient buyers
still using the Vespa as a commuter
vehicle. Though the Vespa was still
sold in Britain, the number of examples
passing through dealers had decreased
dramatically as these too took a back
seat to the by now dominant Japanese
manufacturers. With no advertising and
no magazine coverage, the inevitable The double engine mount was also an idea from the 1960s but again
decline in scooter ownership took became more popular in the 70s, certainly when circuit racing took
hold. With it would go the racing and off. Fitted on the kick start side, the idea was to make the tuned
tuning scene but rather than disappear engine more rigid and stop it flexing with the extra power. It would
completely these would now be driven run close to the side panel and sometimes the engine bar nut would
underground where they would continue foul on the inner edge of the panel.
to thrive for the next few years. It was made by cutting another engine mount in half, then welding
By the mid-1970s the price of a it to an existing mount. A longer bar would be made to fit the extra
Lambretta had dropped considerably. length. When the two mounts were welded together great care
It was not uncommon for a machine needed to be taken so as not to burn the rubber insert. That is why
to change hands for as little as £5. they would only be welded at points round the edge. The other option
With such bargains to be had, the was to make a sleeve to fit over both mounts which was a much
faint stirrings of life came to be felt more secure option.
once more in the scooter scene – but
now it was thanks to the younger

➽
LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS 31
 The Krober
Rev Counter
The Krober electronic rev
counter was a great
advancement over the old
Smiths chronometric type.
It first appeared on scooters
in the early 1970s and was a
significant help when racing.
It measured the engine revs by
pulses from the ignition circuit,
giving a much more accurate
measurement. It also measured
up to 12,000rpm, which helped
with the much higher revving
engines. With its straightforward
square dial, it was much easier
to look at while racing at high
speed. They are still made
today and many scooter owners
fit them to give that retro look.
generation. The racing scene still drew
in healthy numbers, though some of the
competitors who had been there at the
beginning of the decade had moved on to
motorcycle racing. It was still financially
difficult to own a tuning shop and
although some of the original ones had
struggled on, scooter owners themselves
now picked up the tuning baton. Instead
of tuning work being done in a shop, it
was done in the garden shed.
There were plenty of both technically
minded and creative people who felt
more than capable of carrying out their
own modifications at home. More often
than not they would undertake tuning
work for friends or fellow members
of their local scooter club too. When
32 LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS
ABOVE: The Wildcat GP 125 flat out on the
straight at Cadwell Park. The look of the
scooter with its mud flap showed you could
race even the most standard looking machine.
RIGHT: Legendary sprinter Fred Willingham
was the first person achieve a sub 14 second
quarter mile on his Lambretta. His tuning
exploits would land him the role of technical
editor at Scooter World magazine.
word spread about an individual’s
skills, owners from far and wide would
approach them in the hope of enlisting
their aid.
As for the Vespa, while it was still
available to buy, the option to purchase
a new unmodified one at full ticket
price wasn’t very attractive for those
who wished to go faster. The range of
models was rather dated by then too, as
was the technology. If the company was
to progress, certainly in Britain, then
the line-up needed a major overhaul.
Piaggio faced a dilemma however –
was there a strong enough market for
the investment needed? The Rally 200
was fairly powerful in standard trim and
reliable to boot. Was there any need to
take it any further? As for being a
racing machine, it was too heavy and
rather cumbersome. The 90 SS was
long gone and its replacement was
nowhere near as good, but even so, the
small frame Vespa did still appeal to the
odd tuner; this was due to its lightness
and greater manoeuvrability more than
anything else.
Those who did own a Vespa seemed
more content to cover them with
accessories than trying to make them
go faster. This was fair enough but it
would be years before Vespa tuning
would gather any momentum. There
was little or nothing in the way of
performance products made for them
either – it just never happened in the
same way as it did for the Lambretta.
Even with a Lambretta there were
limited options available when it came
to buying tuning extras during the
mid-1970s. Arthur Francis and Rafferty
Newman all but had the trade tied up
between them by this time, even though
demand wasn’t that great. Those ‘Fred
in the shed’ tuners continued to grow
in number, with owners getting extra
tuning work wherever possible.
It was a strange time for all
concerned, one way or another. If you
were a tuner working from home you
were kept rather busy catering for all
the other local owners. If you owned
a shop it was a worrying time as there
was hardly enough trade to pay the
overheads. Circuit racing was still
popular but didn’t really bring any new
blood to the sport.
 1 970s

‘‘ Frank Osgerby launching off the

ʼʼ
line at Baitings Dam hill climb.

➽
LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS 33
 Club and Circuit
Club and Circuit magazine was a short-
lived publication that came about when
scooter racing really took hold. Produced
by Malcolm Pyke aka ‘Spyke’, it become
popular with racers at the time and was sold
at race meetings. It was aimed purely at
Lambretta riders or the Lambretta Clubman
according to the title. It lasted until 1973
when most other similar publications
finished.

Scooter World
Scooter World magazine
in the 1970s had changed
dramatically. It was
predominantly full of tuning
tips and race reports. They
would cover any type of
scooter sport event from
racing to sprinting, hill
climbs and off-road events.
The majority of the time
the front cover would
feature a racing image. The
magazine would produce
its last edition in May 1973,
blaming a downturn in the
general scooter scene for
dwindling sales.

The street racer itself it was a very
personal thing. You could have your
engine tuned and develop the rest of it
yourself. This could be anything from
modified brakes to a shiny paint job but
the only ones who would see it would
be your mates; there was no media
outlet to promote what was going on.
The LCGB, which was one information
source, had been mothballed since
1974 due to dwindling numbers and
was therefore completely absent from
both a membership and magazine point
of view.
The magazines from the early 1970s
were either gone or no longer offering
anything much in the way of events
coverage. Norrie Kerr’s publication,
Scooter and Scooterist, had started
after the demise of both Scooter World
and Club and Circuit and although it
was hardly mainstream, it proved to
be essential reading as the only lifeline
connecting scooter owners to one
another. Yet while it was important to
those racing and tuning it couldn’t reach
the masses. A fresh injection of scooter
owners was sorely needed but there
was no impetus for such a thing and
without it numbers would continue to
dwindle and both the racing and street
racer scene would eventually die off.
A lot of teenagers would get on the
road at the age of 16 aboard their first
scooter, whether it was a Lambretta or
Vespa, but after happily riding it round
for a few years the majority would move e
on to buying a car. Though there was
a scooter scene around, it was really
teenager based and the majority of it up p
in the north of the country. There were
pockets of owners and clubs down south uth
h
but the scene was badly fragmented. It
just wasn’t the main fashion any more,
things had moved on since the 1960s and
there were other trends in the limelight.
For things to change and the scooterr
scene to become mainstream once again, ain
n,

‘‘ The street racer itself was a very personal thing.

ʼʼ
34 LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS
Motorcycle and Scooter Mechanics
Motorcycle Scooter and Three Wheeler
Mechanics had been around for years
and during the 1960s covered the launch
of any new Lambretta and Vespa models.
They would often combine this with
features on technical and maintenance
issues aimed at helping readers service
their scooters. Most were two or three
page articles that were a smaller part
of what was primarily a motorcycle
magazine. By 1970 they had switched the
articles to ones based around scooter
tuning and racing. Though the magazine
would continue, they also ditched
scooter-related articles around 1973.

LEFT: Fred Willingham

the Lambretta tuning
pioneer would switch
to motorcycles
by 1974.

➽
!

LAM
LAMBR
AMBR
AMBRE
BREET
TT
TTA
LAMBRETTATA & VESPA
TA VES
ES
ESPA
PA S
STR
ST
TRRE
EET
EE
ET RA
STREET ACE
CER
CER
ERS
RACERS 35
35
ABOVE: Norrie Kerr at the Druidale water
splash in the mid 1970s.
LEFT: A Royspeed Lambretta GP circa 1977,
the two-tone paintwork and Snetterton seat
were reminiscent of an early Lambretta
street racer.
BELOW: Frank Osgerby on his beautifully
prepared Lambretta GP at Baitings Dam
hill climb.
it needed something that would grip the
entire nation as a whole. This seemed
The Quick Action Throttle
unlikely, yet sometimes the unlikeliest
things can happen. In no uncertain terms,
scootering in Britain exploded back into
life in 1978. There were many reasons for
what took place but, whatever the cause,
this year would change the scene forever
and there can be no doubt that today’s
scooter scene would not be where it is
today without the events of that year. The
full effect on Lambretta and Vespa street
racers would not be felt for several years
but the wheels of change had been set
in motion and in the long run the surge in
interest would be immense.
In the short term, there were two
important changes. Firstly, the LCGB was
back in business. In late 1977 Kevin Walsh
and fellow members of the Widnes Saints
Scooter Club agreed to take over running
the club. After gaining permission from
Mike Karslake, who had been trustee, they
were sure there was a chance to resurrect
the once-great club. By 1978 they were The quick action throttle was certainly a help but also a great myth to
ready to start taking on new members and many scooter owners. The idea was it would open the throttle slide
the club would not only grow quickly but quicker as the pulley was much bigger in diameter. It still required the
also play a major role in future events. It rider to open up the throttle as quick as possible though. What it did do
was a bold move which made it possible away with was the long rod that went through the headset to the pulley,
for Lambretta owners across the country often rubbing on the wiring loom. This would also help the throttle self
to unite once again. return, an important part of scrutineering a race scooter and much
At the same time, the Grand Prix better for safety. The first ones to become readily available were made
was re-launched in Britain. It may have by Amal and these were also far better quality then some of those
been produced in India by SIL and been made in the 1980s.
slightly different to the one last made by The quick action throttle was a big selling point in adverts for scooter
Innocenti, but nevertheless it showed shops in the 1980s. The myth came from riders not fully understanding
intent. Small quantities of Indian GPs had how it worked – they could be heard opining that they pulled the
been imported to Britain for a while but throttle back as quick as possible anyway. Even though some didn’t
now there was a big marketing campaign understand how it operated, it didn’t deter them from buying one. One
behind it. The machines themselves of the quick action throttle’s legacies was that thousands of Lambretta
would be imported through a company headset tops were damaged as a hole needed to be drilled in the side
called Two Four accessories run by of it to fit the cable through.
Arthur Francis, who had now sold up his
business in Watford. Bob Wilkinson, the
ex Lambretta Concessionaires publicity
manager and one time head of the LCGB, The importers of these machines now styling dramatically improved and so
would be drafted in to promote the GP stepped up their own advertising did the technology. Though the layout
and a whole range of products associated campaign so not only was there interest would be similar, virtually every part
with it. being generated thanks to the re- had been changed one way or another.
As if that wasn’t enough, the Spanish formation of the LCGB but also by two The P-range as it was named now
Lambretta manufacturer Serveta was also rival manufacturers joining in too. boasted a much more squared off but
beginning to export its revised version The long awaited upgrade of Vespa’s slimmer look.
of the Jet 200, similar to the Indian GP, model range finally happened as well With improvements throughout the
into the country in larger quantities. and was a significant step forward. The engine, there was more power and the
suspension and brakes were upgraded
accordingly. Now the Vespa had

‘‘
both performance in terms of power,
1978 was the year that scootering especially on the 200cc variant, and the
potential to be developed. As the Vespa
in Britain in no uncertain terms was sold throughout Europe there was
exploded in to life.
ʼʼ
now the distinct possibility of major
manufacturers making performance
parts available on a much wider scale.

➽
LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS 37
 Rafferty Newman – Wildcat Tuning
Wild t Tuning
Wildcat T i was the
th brand
b d name for
f Rafferty
R ff t
Newman, the Lambretta shop based in Fareham,
Hampshire. Co-owner Les Rafferty was the man behind d
their now legendary race machines which ventured
further into motorcycle racing after the scooter heyday
y
had passed. Not only were they a successful team on
the track but also as a business.
Many Lambretta owners wished to have their
machine tuned by Les himself or to purchase some
of the many Wildcat branded tuning parts. Wildcat
was also one of the first scooter dealers to push the
mail order system which is so important to many
of today’s scooter businesses. This included Vespa
accessories such as the Ancillotti seat.
One of the most revolutionary and unique Wildcat
creations was the five-port barrel. Based around a
150cc Lambretta cylinder, it included two extra boost
ports. Les himself would take on the job of creating
the conversion, which took a lot of man hours to
get exactly right. It was far too time consuming
to do on a commercial scale but was hailed as a
major breakthrough in Lambretta tuning at the time.
A forerunner of Lambretta cylinders that are in
production today, Rafferty Newman’s product was
definitely way ahead of its time.

LEFT:
Announcing
a major
breakthrough
in Lambretta
tuning. The
Wildcat
five-port
barrel. ABOVE AND BELOW: The Rafferty Newman tuning parts catalogue
from 1971, featuring a wide array of tuning extras. Most if not all
were aimed specifically at the Lambretta.

LEFT: The time consuming but clever work by Les Rafferty to create the extra
boost ports which would aid gas flow through the transfer area.

38 LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS

 1 970s

The final news of 1978 would be

the announcement of a new film being
produced about the Mod culture of
the 1960s, Quadrophenia. With many
scooterists getting involved as extras,
there was an air of excitement within the
scooter scene that hadn’t been seen in
a long time. The film’s release in 1979
would spark a massive Mod revival
and rejuvenate scooter ownership right
across the country. Not only would this
be good for the manufacturers but also
those that had scooter-based shops.
No one knew at the time what huge
implications the film would have but it
was about to reignite the scooter scene
and with it the Lambretta and Vespa
street racer.
In the meantime, the new range of
Vespa models and to a certain extent
the new Indian Lambrettas and Servetas
increased scooter ownership on a grand
scale. The tuning scene was still happily
ticking over but remained underground.
The lack of a media outlet was one
reason and also the small number of
shops offering tuning services the other.
These went hand in hand though – if
there was a magazine then you could
advertise your business and make it
pay. The more lucrative the market
became, the more businesses that
would open and the more they would ABOVE: Late 1970s street racer style saw the introduction of more signwriting on the side
advertise. In theory the whole thing panels. The Snetterton was still the must-have seat for the Lambretta.
would snowball but for the time being
that was still a long way off.
Racing was still strongly supported,
with the grid full at circuits and other
events like sprints and hill climbs. By
the end of the 1970s, many riders
had accumulated almost a decade of
experience to hone their skills. The
knock-on effect of this was to help
develop a big group of talented tuners
both for the Lambretta and Vespa. If
there was to be a resurgence in
scooter ownership, many of these
skilled tuners were now in a prime
position to set up businesses to cater
for the needs of those who would,
inevitably, want to go faster. For those
that were already established like Arthur
Francis, the greatest years were surely
still ahead of them. If the oft hoped-for
revival did happen then those willing
to take the plunge could find it very
lucrative and rewarding.
In 1979 there was an air of
excitement as production of
Quadrophenia had finished and was
due to be launched in the summer. The
scooter scene across Britain held its ABOVE: Dan Robothams five port water-cooled Lambretta from the late 1970s. Built with help
breath in anticipation of what was about from Mel Brown it was one of the first Lambrettas to have this type of conversion.

➽
LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS 39
 Reverse Cone
Clubman
The Reverse Cone Clubman
was the final series of big
bore exhausts designed by AF
Rayspeed who had taken over
Arthur Francis of Watford in the
1970s. This was similar to the
Clubman except it would be
fitted with a 48mm down pipe.
The end of the main box section
would have a cone fitted, hence
the name. It would incorporate
a tail pipe which was originally
fitted to the VW Beetle.
Though it would allow the
engine to rev more, its ear-
shattering sound could be
heard from miles away. It was
not uncommon for scooters
fitted with one to be stopped
by the police who it seemed
had a great dislike for the noise
it created. AF Rayspeed still
produces them and it is a great
choice for anyone building a
retro custom Lambretta.
ABOVE: Late 1970s hot rod influence started to creep in with names
adorning the paintwork, in this case Hot ‘n’ Bothered.

BELOW: Scooter racing gained big popularity throughout the decade as more
and more influence from track machines filtered out on to street racers.

40 LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACE

ERS

to happen next. If the film could reignite
interest then a teenage revolution could
be sent sweeping across the nation
the like of which had not been seen
in decades. For some who had spent
the last few years in the underground
period it was not the best of news. They
had happily got along with the limited
resources available and were happy for
it to stay that way. If the film did create a
revival of some sort the scene that they
knew would change overnight.
These hard-core enthusiasts drew
comfort from the idea that when fashions
had boomed in the past they usually
didn’t last long. The country had just got
over the punk explosion, which finished
as quickly as it started. However, if
the predicted Mod revival went the
same way the chances were that the
accompanying scooter boom might
survive in a different form, one way or
another. As the decade came to a close,
these were exciting times. It was hard to
predict what the 1980s would bring to
the scooter scene or ho ow it would evolve
but one thing that was for sure, it would
be memorable. •
1 970s
Two Four Accessories
Two Four Accessories was a London-based company that became
the sole concession for the Indian Lambretta GP. It was run by
none other than Arthur Francis who had sold his Lambretta based
business to Ray Kemp. The intention was to re-launch the Lambretta
brand back in to Britain in 1978. It couldn’t have happened at a better
time, just as mainstream interest was beginning to build up in the
scooter scene.
Though the younger generation were interested in purchasing it,
it struggled to gain mass market popularity. By the late 1970s,
transport had moved on significantly to car ownership and those who
opted for two wheels had far superior modern motorcycles to choose
from. Bob Wilkinson, the old Lambretta Concessionaires public
relations officer, was hired in an attempt to promote it but even he
couldn’t turn things around.
It was plagued with reliability problems and inconsistent supply
only made the situation worse, with Two Four eventually giving up.
The twist in the tale was that AF Rayspeed and Ray Kemp would
take over the concession, running it successfully until SIL stopped
production of the GP all together in the 1990s.
LA
AMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS 41
 1 980s

42 LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS

 A
LEFT: Norrie Kerr on board ‘LC1’ His first ny type of nostalgia trip has
liquid-cooled small frame Vespa. the potential to bring pleasant
memories flooding back of the
way things used to be. The nostalgia
trip that was Quadrophenia did much
more when it hit cinemas in 1979 – it
kick-started a revival that would grip
the nation. It was bound to attract
attention and it did, from music and
fashion to the newspapers albeit
unwittingly.
The press coverage was not
necessarily interested in how the scooter
revival was progressing though; rather,
it focused on publishing accounts of
trouble at various seaside resorts. In
fact, the negative spin arising from
these skirmishes had a positive effect
as teenagers from all over the
country joined in. While the music and
the fashion were crucial, the mode
of transport was just as important:
the scooter.
Ownership of both Lambrettas and
Vespas increased significantly in 1980,
almost overnight. For the Lambretta
there were several options for how to go
about getting involved. You could buy
a new one – an Indian GP or Spanish
Serveta Jet – or revive an old Italian
one out of someone’s garden shed.
There were still many left lying around
forgotten but surviving in good condition
and a bargain was there to be had if you
took the opportunity. It was a similar
situation with the Vespa. Various models
of the P-range were available or again
there was the option to purchase an old
second hand one from the 1960s/70s.

TS1 and the T5:

a new era of
Performance
➽
LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS 43
 1 980s
Rallies around the country, though
often marred in trouble, saw a big
increase in attendances. The scooter
scene in general had gone from
being underground to mainstream as
quickly and easily as if somebody had
flicked a switch. Like anything that
goes mainstream, it suddenly became
commercially viable, attracting many
new entrepreneurs.
Businesses began to spring up
nationwide, many started by those who
had worked from home but now saw a
shop as a viable option. And with them
came a resurgence of the magazines.
Scooter and Scooterist was already
established but would become better
both in printing quality and content,
the latter being readily available with
everything that was now going on. The
LCGB, who had seen membership
increase significantly, were now once
BELOW: The Arthur Francis ‘Extra S Type’ owned by Craig Ellis. It was not uncommon to see ‘S Types’ with learner legal
44 LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS
again producing their own magazine:
New Jetset.
More importantly to the scene
as a whole was the new magazine
Scootermania run by Martin Dixon. This
was the mainstay for rally news and just
about anything else going on. It also
displayed colour images of the latest
custom scooters which were starting
to influence the way many owners
would alter their own machines. These
magazines once again offered a platform
where businesses could advertise and
reach the scooterists they needed to
make it pay.
Most fashions spring up and grow
quickly, before soon tapering off as
the next trend takes their place. That’s
exactly what happened with the Mod
revival, even though it wouldn’t tail
off completely, more just fade into the
background. However, what it left behind
125 L-plates even though chances were it had a 200cc engine fitted.
was thousands of new scooter owners
who quite happily mingled with those
who remained from the underground
scene of the 1970s. Some just wanted to
be part of the club and rally circuit, some
wanted a good-looking machine with an
emphasis on paint and chrome work, and
others wanted a high performance speed
machine. Some wanted all three.
There was now a renewed interest in
scooter racing and those new scooterists
who joined in were eager to prove to
the veterans from the decade before
that they could be just as good as
them – if not better. The healthy racing
scene would start to encourage more
development from the tuners in an
attempt to gain any extra performance
possible over rivals. Inevitably a lot of
this technology found its way to the shop
owners, who used it to their advantage.
Whether the business was purely
 A f R a y sp e e d 2 5 0 ‘ S Typ e ’

The AF Rayspeed 250 ‘S Type’ engine was a

rather complicated conversion and once done the
modifications to the engine case couldn’t be altered.
To get the required 250cc it would need a 60mm stroke
and a 73mm piston. Here was where the problem lay
because if you bored the cylinder to fit the piston, the
wall of the barrel would be a thin as paper. This would
almost certainly cause the cylinder to warp and create
a seizure.
To get round this a wider sleeve was inserted in to
the barrel, half of its length in total. This would then
mean there was enough thickness on the cylinder wall
to solve the warping issue. The down side was the
mouth of the engine casing needed to be bored out
to fit the bigger sleeve, which when done couldn’t be
reversed. The top half of the cylinder would have four
supports to help strengthen it by being brazed across
the fins. Even after all the modifications it was difficult
to stop the heat build up and give good reliability.
Combined with the time consuming work to carry out
the conversion, it was never going to become available
on a commercial scale. Those that did purchase one,
however, had the kudos of owning a genuine 250cc
Lambretta that at the time was not available anywhere
else. Fewer than 10 were built in total but several
examples still exist to this day. What the 250 ‘S Type’
conversion did prove though, was that there was a
definite market out there for bigger powerful Lambretta
engines if there was an easier way of doing it. The
issue now was how that problem would be solved.

➽
LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS 45
 Th e A m a l M k . 2 C a r b u r et to r

The Amal Mk.2 carburettor was the successor to the
Mk.1 that had given excellent performance for well
over a decade. Though the Mk.2 was introduced in
the late 1970s, it would be the 1980s where it would
make its mark on the scooter tuning scene and in
particular the Lambretta. It would prove to be both
reliable and easy to use and soon become the must-
have component with any tuned engine.
It was a massive improvement over the Mk.1 in
many ways and most notably the fact that it had a jet
controlled choke system, making starting far easier.
There were also greater options with the main jet
needle and slide, making fine tuning of the setup
much more accurate. With spares readily available it
was ideal for any shop wishing to either stock them
or use them on tuned engines.
One of the main problems the carburettor suffered
from was the top coming loose from the body. Made
of plastic, it had a screw thread which corresponded
to one on the aluminium body. Quite often it would
come loose and suck in air at a rapid rate, weakening
the mixture and causing a heat seizure. In an attempt
to combat the problem many owners would crudely
secure it tight with a jubilee clip.
Years later the power jet version was made
available which enticed customers even more, mainly
for the fact that it sounded good if nothing else.
The system revolved around the idea of sucking
fuel through a small jet in to a channel round the
outside of the air intake adapter. This would then
flow through a small tube in to the mouth. The idea
was to then lower the main jet and raise the power
jet, working on the induction theory, giving a better
balance at certain revs, thus allowing improved
acceleration. Problems arose from the lack of
knowledge in setting it up correctly and the rubber
tube round the air adapter falling off, preventing
the system from working. Many owners gave up
and blanked the power jet off, returning it to the
conventional system.

performance related or just a general
scooter shop, by offering tuning parts and
accessories once again this would lure
in scooter owners eager to upgrade their
machine. Many were happy to part with
their hard earned money in an attempt
to make their pride and joy go as fast
as possible.
Lambretta owners could now choose
how far they wanted to go in terms of
performance. The easiest way to improve
both acceleration and top speed was to
change the exhaust and carburettor. The
choice for the exhaust was either the big
bore or the Fresco. The big bore was
offered by several shops but the most
noted example was that of AF Rayspeed.
Their version was renowned for being
well built and long lasting and branded as
the Clubman or Clubman Track exhaust
system. The Reverse Cone Clubman
that was introduced in the late 1970s
would be the top of the range, with its
VW Beetle tail pipe. The downside of
this exhaust, as ever, remained its ear-
piercing sound.
The other readily available exhaust at
that time was the Fresco. This was to
all intents and purposes the first readily
available off-the-shelf expansion pipe
made for the Lambretta. Its design not
only improved performance dramatically
over the conventional box pipe clubman
but looked and sounded good too.
Unfortunately, it was let down slightly by
poor fitting and it was not uncommon
to see one that had been mounted to
the engine with a mallet or hammer.
Originally they came finished in bright
red with a chrome end can, but if the
whole exhaust was chromed it looked
even better. It soon became the popular
choice of the custom scooter owner.
Other exhaust manufacturers would
soon join the party. Most notable was
Mickeck with regular upgrades labelled
as Mk.2, Mk.3 and so on. Dave Webster
with his DJ brand would also become
popular with many custom scooter
owners. Finally, there was PM Tuning
with its all-in-one expansion and end

46 LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS

TOP: Even the ‘S Type’ was often
accessorised by its owners to a certain
extent, the ‘flip flop’ or ‘Bradford’ back rest
as it was known being one of the most
popular parts to fit.

ABOVE: Many owners would pay homage to

the racing scene on their street racer.

RIGHT: One of the early ‘project’ Lambrettas

built by Tom Petch from York. Tom would do
everything from the engine to the painting and
his creations were always well accepted on
the street racer scene.

can. Though the competition was great,

each manufacturer was kept busy due to
the fact that most of their products were
hand built, with only the Fresco being
produced on a truly commercial scale.

➽
LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS 47
 1 980s
ABOVE: The Dyrospeed, produced by Dyrons, was a hugely popular machine throughout
most of the 1980s.
BELOW: The Japanese connection is clearly seen on this Lambretta GP. The connection
was made by the make of motorcycle the piston originated from.
The next basic step in tuning was
to add a larger bore carburettor to the
equation. The choice was between the
Amal Mk.2 and the Dellorto PHBH 30mm.
The Amal first appeared in the late 1970s
48 LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS
and gained a rather good reputation
mainly because it was easy to set up and
there was a large availability of spares.
The Dellorto on the other hand was seen
by many, particularly those who had
‘‘ Here was where
the skill of the tuner
came in and if they
got it right the
results could be
astounding.
ʼʼ
been tuning longer, as the main choice.
The problem with the Dellorto was in the
setup. Many were set up for four-stroke
motorcycles and quite often jetted wrong,
certainly by owners who were attempting
to fit one themselves.
This would often cause the engine
to start poorly and quite often seize
because of incorrect jetting. It was
once said that the Lambretta gained
its reputation of being unreliable purely
because of the Dellorto carburettor. One
advantage the Lambretta did have was
its engine’s ability to happy accept either
make of carburettor. Exiting on the left
hand side of the machine, there was
ample room to fit both makes without
a
any obstruction.
a
Once an expansion pipe and larger
bore carburettor were fitted there was
a notable gain in performance, even
without
w any work being done to the
cylinder.
c The cylinder was where these
two
t additions could have their potential
fully
f exploited though, certainly if tuned
correctly.
c Here was where the skill of the
tuner
t came in and if they got it right the
results could be astounding, with speeds
reaching well in excess of 80mph.
There
T was a great deal of competition
though
t and any means of luring in more
customers
c would be an advantage.
Soon the term ‘stage tuning’ began to
appear
a in dealer adverts. As a concept
it was nothing new and had been used
in the car and motorcycle world for
decades,
d even in the scooter trade to
a limited extent. However, it was now
being talked about more frequently in
Lambretta tuning circles and to owners it
c
certainly sounded impressive, regardless
o what each ‘stage’ actually did. It was
of
labelled in numbers – stage one, stage
two etc. up to the fabled stage six.
Customers who possessed a stage six
Lambretta engine could be guaranteed
several things. Firstly, a big expense as it
 Armando’s Special

Armando’s Scooters is a Sheffield-based Lambretta
and Vespa scooter shop and dates back to the
1960s. Already an officially-appointed Vespa agent
in the early 1980s, it took the opportunity to create
its own dealer special based around the PX range.
When Pinasco, the Italian performance manufacturer,
introduced a tuned cylinder kit for the P 200E
Armando’s knew this would be the ideal time to create
a unique and attractive scooter.
Using
U i the services
th i off M
Maca att DTC
DTC, a stunning
t i
paint design was created and the Armando’s special
was born. Sales and variants of the special sold in
big numbers and it was an important part of the
1980s Vespa street racer scene. Today Armando’s
still produces examples based around the original
design. Along with the AF Rayspeed ‘S Type’ it is one
of the longest standing dealer specials ever produced.
Having gained iconic status many Vespa owners are
heavily influenced by its design when it comes to
customising their own machines.

was by far the most costly ‘stage’ to add.
Secondly, that all their mates would be
envious and spend hours either asking
how fast it was or if they could have a go.
Finally, some sort of heartache as more
often than not something on the engine
would let go and result in a break down.
Stage six Lambrettas often spent more
time in the back of a club van en route to
a rally than they did actually being ridden
there. Whatever the consequences, stage
tuning a Lambretta in the early 1980s
was in vogue and helping to shape the
decade where the street racer scene
really came in to its own.
To make stage tuning sound even
more impressive, motorcycle names
started to appear. This was in relation to
the Japanese pistons being used for the
conversions. Adverts would appear for
‘Suzuki stage 5 225cc’ or the ‘Kawasaki
240’ for instance. Whatever the tuning
option might be, the more elaborate
it was, the greater its appeal. Curious
passers-by would often ask owners,
‘What’s in that mate?’ whereupon the
answer would often incorporate a rather
long description of numbers and names.
The more spectacular it sounded, the
more envious those asking were and the
more they were likely to want the same.
Choice was not so great for the Vespa
initially as many owners still had new
machines that were under warranty.
Despite that being the case, the Vespa
had a much bigger market throughout

➽
LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS 49
 Bitubo Rear 1 980s

Shock Absorber
owners were not deterred from wanting
to go faster. Quite the reverse. Tuning
began to take over within the confines of
the scooter club. Members would often
discuss nothing else on club nights and
get to know their friends’ tuned scooters
well. This would come about, more often
than not, by way of thrashing them at full
throttle up and down the road outside
the local pub.
This practise would take centre stage
on the way to rallies, certainly on the
much longer roads or dual carriageways.
Owners were keen to get past their
mates no matter how much they strained
the engine, quite often driving for miles
flat out. This was a good healthy thing to
happen; it may have involved breaking
the law but now the acid test of proving
just how fast a machine actually was did
not depend on the availability of a race
track. Performance trials had shifted into
the real world – the open road. The term
‘street racer’ really did mean something
now and the more the competition
hotted up between owners, the bigger
the scene became.
The idea of a fast machine has always
been most strongly associated with
racing cars or motorcycles, with most
The Bitubo rear shock absorber was one of the must-have parts on any of those displaying bright fresh colours
Lambretta street racer in the 1980s. Its strong build quality and greater and a race number or a set of sponsor’s
damping effect were perfect to cope with increased power output. logos. Racing scooters had been subject
There was also, for the first time, the option to adjust the tension of the to the same treatment, certainly a race
spring to either make it softer or harder. number if not anything else. Now this
Handling at the rear end improved tremendously and it proved to was slowly starting to make its way out
be reliable under prolonged use. Aesthetically they looked good too, onto the tuned road scooters. Owners
which also played an important part. They are still available to this day were not content with simply owning a
but often get overlooked in what is a highly competitive market within quick scooter – they wanted it to look like
the industry. one as well.
As the scooter industry in general
was growing at a fast pace so too was
the number of painters offering their
Europe so major manufacturers were to ring someone who might know. That services. Dealer specials were nothing
willing to produce performance cylinder was often a long shot though. new but apart from the AF Rayspeed
kits for the mass market. This made The popular choice of expansion ‘S Type’ there hadn’t been any for quite
tuning pretty simple with the term was the Pitone, which seemed to have some time. However, it was inevitable
‘bolt-on power’ being particularly apt varying results according to owners. with the way the market was growing
in respect of the Vespa. Both Andrea There was a baffle-less version which that they would soon become in vogue
Pinasco and Polini were big producers of made the Reverse Cone Clubman sound again. Unlike the dealer specials of the
aftermarket performance products and positively easy on the ears. It quite past, which were pretty plain in colour,
were happy to add the Vespa to their list. often made the owner think they were the influx of painters would soon change
It was simple to buy the complete going fast because of the intense noise, all this. The competition between owners
kit from the shop, fit it along with an even if they actually weren’t. As for the would not only be about the engine but
expansion pipe and carburettor and ‘hey carburettor there was only one choice – also the way the overall scooter looked.
presto’: significantly improved power the 30mm Dellorto – due to the fact that This rapidly escalated to the point where
output. It wasn’t as easy as it sounded the Amal was an almost impossible to fit. the paintwork was just as important as
though. Once you’d got everything back Even the Dellorto was a struggle to cram the performance.
at home you were left to get on with into the limited amount of space on offer To a painter, and certainly to one
it – instructions being either very limited and it would have to sit at an awkward with creative talent, the scooter was
or entirely absent. Unlike today, with the angle if it was to be positioned correctly. the perfect blank canvas. Unlike the
internet and countless places to find Despite all the problems of owning motorcycle with just its tank, mudguard
advice, back then your best chance was either a tuned Lambretta or Vespa, and fairing available, the scooter offered

50 LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS


‘‘
A bolt-on kit
would certainly
sell in its
thousands
ʼʼ
ABOVE AND RIGHT: The PM Tuning
Rothmans Special was one of the stand-out
Vespa street racers of the decade.
a host of wide open spaces upon which
the painter could showcase their skills.
In the case of the Lambretta, especially
the Grand Prix, the vast area to work with
on the side panel was a painter’s dream.
Soon scooters would start to appear that
looked fast standing still; emblazoned
with a race number, decals of
performance products and vivid colours
adorning the whole machine. Though the
custom scooter was in its element, it was
now joined by the custom street racer.
Rivalry among owners of street racers
really started to intensify and as it did the
businesses that supported the industry
soon followed suit.
52 LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS
Tuning the Vespa, as has already been
mentioned, was a simple exercise of
buying the parts that were manufactured
and fitting them. With mass marketing
of most components, as long as a shop
kept them in stock then availability was
not a problem. There was a certain
degree of Vespa tuning done most
notably by Norrie Kerr at Midland Scooter
Centre and Terry Frankland at Taffspeed,
even though the majority of it was for the
race track.
For the Lambretta it was a totally
different procedure, one that could take a
great deal of time and a degree of lateral
thinking on the tuner’s part. If a customer
ordered a ported cylinder it would take
time to complete, certainly if the tuner
had a lot of work on. A piston would
need to be matched and in a lot of cases
modified to fit correctly. The head would
then need to be machined to match the
piston. Finally, an inlet manifold would be
opened up and blended according to the
size of the inlet port. Quite often owners
would wait months for their cylinder
kit – even longer if they were having the
engine built.
If someone was going to mass produce
an off-the-shelf kit for Lambrettas,
something to match the kits already
available for Vespas, they would need a
lot of time, effort and resources. Not to
mention a great deal of financial backing.
If it could be done then no doubt the
reward would be great and it would keep
any company that achieved it well ahead
of the competition. Given the number of
Lambrettas on the road and with many of
those owners keen to make their steed
go faster, a bolt-on kit would certainly
sell in its thousands. In the meantime,
‘stage’ tuning would still be the number
one option when it came to making a
Lambretta go faster.
In the north of England, two brothers
from Sheffield were about to launch their
own dealer special that would change
the style of the Vespa street racer forever.
Guilio and Guido Pastorelli, who now
ran their father’s business Armando’s
Scooters, embarked on developing the
P-range. Armando’s had been a main
Vespa agent for years and was one of
the first businesses to really exploit the
potential of this range of models. They
had been dealing with Pinasco products
for some time when the chance came
to improve the P200 E as Pinasco
launched its first tuned cylinder to fit
directly onto it.
Up till this point there had been no
aftermarket kit directly aimed at the
P200 E but all this was about to change
and Armando’s was in a prime position
to take advantage. With an engine in
hand that was already better than the
proven standard one, the next step
was to come up with a paint scheme
to match the performance. Brendan
McNally was a very skilful painter who
had just set up his own business Down
Town Custom or DTC, as it was better
known. Commissioned to paint the first
Armando’s dealer special, he would
 DTC
Down Town Custom or DTC as it is better known
was the paint shop that was run and owned by
Brendan McNally. Maca as he is more commonly
known was responsible for creating some of the
most iconic paint schemes to adorn both Lambretta
and Vespa scooters during the 1980s. With the
Lambretta, his ‘Rosa Bianca’ design was created
several times. To this day it has to be one of the
most copied paint schemes in Lambretta history. His
design for the Armando’s Vespa special again has
stood the test of time.
By the early 1990s Maca needed a break
from painting literally hundreds of scooters and
disappeared from the scootering radar altogether.
He has recently returned to the scene with his ‘New
Breed’ paint design. More stunning than ever, it goes
to show he still has that creative touch that has
made his name legendary in the world of painting.

come up with a scheme so iconic that
it is still used 35 years later. It was a
work of art and set the standard others
would follow.
Keen to showcase this stunning
creation and exploit its potential, the
brothers would take one of these
specials in its full livery to the majority of
national scooter rallies. Rather than just
be placed in front of the stall. quite often
it would be positioned on wheel stands
– raising it right off the floor. With the
dealer area quite often rammed with
hundreds of scooterists, the Armando’s
dealer special could often be spotted
above the crowds of people.
Having wowed Vespa riders with
the chance to buy into the street
racer scene, orders unsurprisingly
came flooding in. The benchmark
had now been set and the Vespa itself
firmly planted right in the thick of the
street racer scene. This was the mid-
1980s, with scootering in general at
its peak; anything that could propel
the performance side even further was
certain to receive a warm response.
Piaggio itself was the first to push
the boundaries to still greater heights
with the launch of a new model, the T5.

➽
LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS 53
 1 980s

Exhausts
The 1980s was the decade where
both the Lambretta and Vespa
exhaust systems really started to
develop. Taking ideas from Japanese
two-stoke technology by the end of
the decade, carefully crafted handmadede
expansion pipes started to appear on a regular
basis. These not only unleashed the power of
tuned engines but also looked aesthetically more
pleasing to the eye.
Though the old clubman box pipe was still
produced for the Lambretta to take advantage
of the latest tuning methods the expansion pipe
was a natural progression. Many manufacturers
started producing their own variant for both
makes of scooter. Some used strong advertising
to try to emphasise the extra power that could be
gained by using their specific pipe. However, some
were not as good as they claimed, often leaving
the customer disappointed. Unfortunately, in the
days before proper dyno testing was available
there was no other choice but to believe what the
manufacturers said.

54 LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS

ABOVE Th
ABOVE: The ddash
h off th
the T5 looked
l k d th
the
part with its new design now offering a
fuel gauge but more importantly a rev
counter.
RIGHT: With drop handlebars and a
motorcycle rear seat frame this type of
cut down was seen as the pure way to
build a Lambretta street racer.
‘‘ In the T5, Piaggio
had produced
a pure racing
machine
ʼʼ
Styling was to change slightly, most
notably at the front of the machine with a
much wider and more rectangular-looking
headlamp. The enlarged headset would
now feature a revised speedometer, a
fuel gauge and most impressively of all a
rev counter. It would be finished off with
a small sports screen which made the
front end look much taller. The front
would also have a much more pointed
horncast while the back of the frame
behind the seat would feature a raised
squarer back with the addition of a new
section to the existing PX frame. It was
clever and a totally different look, even
though the main frame was unaltered,
and cut production costs dramatically.
The real difference between the T5
and its predecessors was in the changes
to the engine. For the first time a Vespa
would have a Nikasil-lined aluminium
cylinder. Not only that it would also
incorporate five transfer ports compared
to the traditional three port layout, hence
the name T5. It was only available as a
125cc engine but nevertheless would
produce amazing results with almost as
much power as the PX 200E.
With a lighter flywheel it would rev
much higher to reach peak power but
acceleration would be greatly improved.
It did lack the grunt of the PX 200E most
notably when two up, however. Despite
this, as a solo machine it was fun to
ride; great acceleration combined with
a good top end made it an excellent
sports scooter.
Some of the traditionalists didn’t
like the new much wider headset and
squared off back end though, saying it
was odd-looking. With the greater use
of plastic, it was labelled ‘cheap’ by
those who didn’t like it. Traditionalism
aside, the general scooter population and
certainly the majority of Vespa owners
loved it. Though it wouldn’t arrive in the
Britain till early 1987, soon enough there
was a big waiting list to get one. The
upshot was, if you wanted performance
out of a Vespa you didn’t need to do
anything else apart from buy one. In the
T5, Piaggio had produced a pure a racing
machine straight out of the box. Even
before the first ones arrived there was
talk about whether it might be possible to
improve performance even further. This
would only encourage more and more
people to want one.
It seemed quite ironic when word
came of a new purpose-made Lambretta
performance kit at around the same
time, one that had many similarities to
that of the T5 cylinder. AF Rayspeed
had been working secretly for some
time to develop a cylinder kit that would
bolt directly on to the Lambretta engine
without any modifications. Developed
with renowned two-stroke tuner and one
time GP racer Terry Shepherd, the idea
of the kit was to incorporate Japanese
motorcycle technology into a Lambretta
cylinder. This would be the first time a
purpose-built off-the-shelf kit had ever
been made available for the Lambretta.
News was slowly leaked out through
Scootermania and the new publication
Scootering magazine but details were a
bit sketchy at first. Even so, there was
enough information to create a buzz
among Lambretta owners. What was
known at this stage was that it would
be an aluminium Nikasil-lined cylinder
which would use reed valve induction.
This would enable multiple transfers,
giving the cylinder greatly improved
power output. Claims of 25bhp were
made, thus in theory doubling the power
of a standard Lambretta. Whether or not
this was exactly true, it was going to be
impressive in performance compared to
anything that was already available.
However, there was one stand-out
comment that grabbed everyone’s
➽
LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS 55
 ‘‘ If you now wanted to significantly improve the performance
of your Lambretta you could at last do so
attention: “With the rider laying prone to
the machine the rocket like acceleration
took it up to 92mph.” Regardless of
whether this was fact or fiction, AF
Rayspeed was deluged with inquirers
asking when it would be made available.
One thing was for certain, if you now
wanted to significantly improve the
performance of your Lambretta you could
at last do so in an instant by purchasing
an off-the-shelf kit. It sent shock waves
throughout the Lambretta tuning world as
many predicted it would be the death of
traditional cast Lambretta barrel tuning.
What it would do was secure the future of
the Lambretta tuning scene and open up
a new era for the street racer.
The kit would make its debut in front
of thousands of Lambretta owners who
had gathered at AF Rayspeed’s open day
in the summer of 1986. They watched in
56 LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS
awe as Ray Kemp himself made several
high-speed runs outside the shop on the
A64. It didn’t matter what the top speed
actually was, everyone viewing it was
mightily impressed by what they were
witnessing, many signing up on the day
to purchase one. Branded the TS1 after
the kit’s designer Terry Shepherd, it was
a clever piece of marketing. The name
alone sounded impressive, regardless of
its performance.
The kit would go on sale in mid-
August of that year and require a
complete package of the Dellorto 34mm
and revised Fresco exhaust. This was
because the exhaust stub on the cylinder
would now be a different design. Also
the mid section of the main pipe would
be angled and now be called the ‘over
the kickstart’ Fresco exhaust. Due to the
unique design of the exhaust, this would
ʼʼ
be the only one available for the present
time but it wouldn’t be long before other
manufacturers would start producing
their own.
Although this is what many Lambretta
owners had wanted for years, there
was still a slight downside to it all.
It was ‘bolt-on power’ all over again
but at the same time other problems
were created. The first real issue was
the fitting of the carburettor due to its
exit angle. Traditionally the Lambretta
inlet was from the left hand side and
there had never been fitment issues,
even with the largest body carburettor.
However, to stop the reed block hitting
the top of the frame tube it would now
have to exit on the right hand side. The
problem was, this is where the battery
tray sat. There was no alternative but
for it to be cut off.
 1 980s

ABOVE, LEFT AND

RIGHT: Three different
Vespa T5 street racers
showing how diverse
the paint schemes
could be.

This wasn’t an issue to most owners

though, as the 1980s had already seen
plenty of Lambrettas subjected to the
hacksaw treatment. Even then, the
manifold came close to the frame and
in some cases with poor alignment or
different shock absorber length the rear
6mm fixing bolt would rub the frame.
Though most Lambretta owners saw
this as a small price to pay it did leave
the problem of where to put the battery.
It must be remembered a lot of people
were still using DC battery systems at
this time. The only answer was to shove
it in the tool box, which was not the best
option as it was so small and the only greater performance. Using an electronic too was starting as the electronically
place to carry oil and spares that on a ignition made by Ducati, it did away created spark was far more efficient and
Lambretta were so often needed. with the DC system and as a bonus the accurate than the traditional points style
AF Rayspeed came up with a solution new AC system offered 12V lighting. setup. The kit was an ideal companion
which unfortunately involved more Combined with a much lighter flywheel, to the TS1 but even so could be used on
expense but importantly offered still acceleration was greatly improved. So any Lambretta. It proved an overnight

➽
LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS 57
 1 980s

Hydraulic Front Disc

it only pushed a static pad on to the
disc. Improved damping on the front
end was required and up till now
Kawasaki steering dampers had offered
the best option. It was a vicious circle –
as one weak spot was sorted it
The increase in improved engine performance saw the need fo for the opened up the next one, continuing
same with the braking system. This was especially important for the throughout every aspect of the
front brake which is the most used on a two wheeled machine. The Lambretta’s original construction.
Lambretta disc brake had one static pad and one moving pad. However, It took a while for the problems to
the cable-operated system couldn’t exert enough force on the moving start filtering through among owners but
pad to cope, even if it was reverse pulled. as more and more people purchased a
The idea was to control the moving pad hydraulically, which greatly TS1 kit the more it got talked about. AF
improved stopping power by means of a hydraulic slave cylinder. Rayspeed had initially produced 1000
This was threaded in the outer housing of the brake where the cable- kits split between 200cc and 225cc
operated calliper once sat. This was an improvisation from the track options. With many of them selling in
which made the transition to the road and showed just how important the first year it didn’t take long for both
racing was to the street racer scene. shops and engineers in the industry to
realise the potential to make and sell
components or products associated
with this extra performance. The race
was on, not on the road but in the
workshops because by producing the
TS1 AF Rayspeed had just started a new
revolution in Lambretta tuning and the
street racer scene as a whole.
Not long after the launch of the TS1,
the Vespa T5 started to turn up in
showrooms. Even though there was
still a lot of negativity from purists it
didn’t dissuade those who wanted to
experience one in terms of its great
performance. Once it started to appear
on the road and more importantly at club
meetings or rallies the word soon spread
about just how good it was, helping sales
increase further. As it was only available
as a 125cc machine, it was presumed
that at a later date a 200cc option would
become available. Despite the rumours it
would happen, unfortunately it never did.
Tuners saw the potential of the
125cc cylinder, however, as there was
success and sold in its thousands well place and many were proving the point at plenty of scope to raise the capacity
in to the 1990s until Ducati stopped an alarming rate. AF Rayspeed had tried as well as fine tune the ports. Soon
producing them. to eliminate the problem by offering the enough, most notably through Mark
Then there was the fact that many option to fit a large centre spring from Broadhurst and his company MB
Lambretta engines had been untouched a Lambro van in the clutch centre. This Developments, a 172cc conversion was
for years and fitting the kit without beefed up the tension but the down side launched. Combined with an improved
upgrading the rest of the engine meant was it was almost impossible to pull the expansion pipe and in some cases
that the high bhp produced found the clutch lever in, some literally snapping off bigger carburettor, performance was
weak points in an instant. This hadn’t in the process. outstanding – often touching 80mph
been the case for the Vespa when kits In the TS1 kit, AF Rayspeed had taken with lightning acceleration.
had first appeared as quite often they Lambretta cylinder performance to a new Reliability did become a slight issue
would be fitted to fairly low mileage if level; the next step would be upgrading but that seemed to be down to owners
not almost brand new engines. On the all the other the engine components to abusing the hell out of the engine. The
Lambretta, every component was under compensate. There was also a need for temptation in many cases was just too
far more stress and if tired or worn after increased stopping power. Many owners much as the throttle took over the owner
decades of use was prepared to let go, used the reverse pull system on disc – allowing them to experience a huge
often with dire consequences. brakes, which was now inadequate. adrenalin rush each time they rode one.
The biggest problem area was the Though the hydraulic conversion In reality, the T5 was in every respect a
clutch. It was never designed for this sort championed by circuit racers was race engine on the road. In its standard
of power to be put through it in the first available, this was still not enough as trim it could cope with prolonged abuse

58 LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS

 Kawasaki Steering Dampers

Four settings were available from soft to hard which

Kawasaki steering dampers were exactly that,
however in the 1980s they made their way on to
Lambretta forks. Up till that point the original
dampers were adequate enough but with higher
speeds and acceleration improvements in
braking meant that they couldn’t cope with the extra
demand. With no natural alternative the best fitting
option was the Kawasaki steering damper.
could stiffen up the front suspension to cope with
the improved braking power. The problem was they
only worked in one direction so on the hardest setting
they could make the front end too hard, certainly
over bumps in the road. Like the rear shock absorber
there have been many new makes of front damper
introduced on to the market. Even so, they do appear
on the odd Lambretta from time to time.

but once tuned that wouldn’t last very
long. The extra strain exerted on the
engine components was overwhelming.
Soon enough, T5 street racers soon
started to appear in varying liveries of
bright paintwork and an array of extras
supposedly to boost performance. Some
dealers were now starting to produce
their own specials and in most cases
would have highly tuned versions to
lure customers in. It was giving the
scene a healthy balance as before
the introduction of the T5 it had been
swinging in favour of the Lambretta.
Though there had been plenty of tuned
Vespas around, the introduction of the
T5 had given the make a significant
boost and put it on a par with Lambretta.
There had been rivalry among lovers of
both brands since the 1960s and this
continued. However as rival development

BELOW: A Vespa owner ridicules the Lambretta with murals on both side panels, showing the Vespa winning the race.

‘‘ The introduction of the T5 had given the make a significant boost

ʼʼ
➽
LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS 59
 Magazines
In the 1980s there were many publications that
played an important role of getting the street racer
scene across. Scooter and Scooterist magazine was
published by Norrie Kerr and was pivotal in the racing
side of events. It had been around since the demise of
Scooter World in the early 1970s and for a while was
the only scooter publication that existed.
Scootermania was the brainchild of Martin Dixon
and his magazine was the first to offer colour
images of the latest custom scooters. Though based
more round the rally scene it was nevertheless the
magazine that helped the 1980s scooter scene grow.
Scootering magazine, introduced in 1985, was the
first scooter-based magazine to be sold nationally
through retail outlets. It is still published today and is
the biggest selling magazine throughout the industry.
All were as important as each other as their
popularity made them a perfect platform for
manufacturers, tuners, painters and many others
to advertise their services. This would be the last
decade before the internet evolved which would
change the way information was sourced forever.

continued unabated, the street racer
scene would continue to grow relentlessly.
Keen to exploit the TS1 further, AF
Rayspeed now started to produce the
TS1 ‘S Type’. Done in the usual two-tone
metal flake colour option, it was a natural
progression of the now famous brand
but more significantly was their idea of
the ‘Genesis’ TS1. With scooter racing
gaining more and more followers the idea
was to set up a production class round
the TS1. Doing so would require a set
number of road going machines to be
sold, all to the same specification. Taking
the Yamaha Genesis paint scheme as
an inspiration, AF Rayspeed produced

‘‘ The street
racer scene would
continue to grow
relentlessly.
ʼʼ
LEFT: ‘All that Jazz’ the Lambretta that was
tagged with the term “the street racer has
arrived” when first featured in Scooter
Scene magazine.

60 LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS


a stunning machine which would be
the production model. Despite it being
advertised, however, not enough orders
were received and the idea never took off.
Despite this, it did serve to highlight
how you could take an idea from
something totally different and interpret it
on to a Lambretta. It may have only been
the paintwork but that’s what is most
clearly on display. From now on both
the Vespa and Lambretta would start
to draw on wider influences, particularly
from other forms of racing machine,
to make their paintwork stand out.
Street racers were becoming a much
bigger part of the custom scene in
general and quite often how they looked
started to take precedent over how
they actually performed.
With the TS1 slowly starting to take
over from traditional cast barrel tuning, it
left many dealers in a bit of a quandary.
How could they adapt to the changes
that had been brought about by its
introduction? The easiest option was to
start selling it and AF Rayspeed did offer
a good trade discount. However, there
was a seemingly new area of tuning to
BELOW: If people weren’t already sure then as the name suggests this Vespa is a street racer.
1 980s
exploit that the TS1 couldn’t touch. As
it was only available in either a 200cc or
225cc option, it could only fit a 200cc
Lambretta case. At that time there was
a shortage of 200cc casings as the only
source was old Italian examples. These
were already starting to fetch a premium,
making the overall cost of an engine
quite expensive. That wasn’t the case
for inexpensive small block engines
though – and there were literally
thousands of these lying around.
It wasn’t long before many tuners
started to offer a small block conversion
➽
LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS 61
 f the Lambretta. More often than
for
not a Suzuki piston was used, which
n
would take the capacity up to 185cc.
w
This conversion had most probably
T
been developed on the race track in
b
tthe 1980s in the competitive Group 5
class. Now that there was a gap in the
c
market,
m those who had developed it
were
w the first to take advantage. Just as
there
t was a mass of casings available,
it
i was exactly the same for barrels with
a seemingly endless supply. Quite often
tuned
t to stage 5, the Suzuki Lambretta
185
1 was very affordable but offered good
performance
p to match. Soon enough it
became
b the viable option for small block
Lambretta
L owners with many tuners
offering
o their own version of it.
Elsewhere PM Tuning, who had
developed
d quite a wide range of both
Lambretta
L and Vespa performance parts,
was becoming a big name in the industry.
The firm’s idea now was to try and take
things one step further. It started to
advertise a new conversion, called the
Mig 1. This was carried out by taking a
Kawasaki KDX 200 barrel and grafting it
on to an existing Lambretta case. It was
advertised as offering potentially great
power – to a degree that nothing else
could rival. In reality, it was an extremely
complicated conversion, one that was
costly and at the same time almost
impossible for the owner to maintain.
It soon faded in to the wilderness with
only a handful ever made. However it did
raise the question of how far Lambretta
performance could be taken.
The answer came from the late Alan
ABOVE: Race numbers started to appear more and more throughout the decade. More than Rosser. He had been developing the
anything else this made both Lambrettas and Vespas resemble race machines. idea of shoving a complete motorcycle

Scitsu Rev Counter

The Scitsu rev counter first came to prominence in the street racer
scene around the mid to late 1980s. Unlike previous rev counters, the
Scitsu measures the pulses from a wire tied to the HT lead. This meant
fitting was simple and it appealed to both Lambretta and Vespa owners.
With its large round face and easy to read needle, it was ideal for racing
and started to be used more than the old Krober rev counter.
However the Scitsu needed power from an internal sealed battery,
which only had around 10 hours’ life before it needed charging. This
was fine if you were going racing but it made it more difficult to stop
the battery going flat on a road scooter, certainly on a long journey.
This stopped a lot of people using it as they sought a better alternative.
Despite the name suggesting otherwise, the Scitsu rev counter was
made in Britain – Sheffield to be exact.

62 LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS

 1 980s

TS1 Cylinder Kit

ABOVE: Roly Caldecutt’s Group 6

championship-winning Lambretta signalling
that the TS1 era was about to take hold in
scooter racing and push the kit’s development
even further.

ABOVE: Water cooling an older Vespa, in this

case the Rally 200. Somehow its larger more
rounded frame didn’t quite fit the modern
street racer look.

engine into a Lambretta. This had been

tried before but Alan’s idea was to
mass produce this radical conversion.
A Yamaha 350 YPVS engine was
shoehorned into an existing Lambretta
In 1984 Ray Kemp, alongside two-stoke tuner Terry Shepherd, started frame. It was much more difficult than it
work on a new type of bolt-on performance kit for the Lambretta. sounded; not only getting the engine to
Based around Japanese two-stoke technology, it would incorporate fit but also the twin exhausts and water
reed valve induction as well as multiport transfers. Made from cooling system.
aluminium and plated with a Nikasil bore its cooling characteristics It required newly fabricated foot boards
were far better than those of the old cast iron cylinder design. and an enlarged bridge piece to get
With power literally double that of a standard cylinder, its it looking cosmetically right. Despite
performance took Lambretta tuning to a new level. Selling in its a few orders being taken and several
thousands it had become the kit of choice by the end of the decade. actually produced, this idea never took
Still produced and in demand today, it is by far the biggest selling and off either. Though it offered immense
most important piece of Lambretta tuning equipment ever made. power it wasn’t quite the same as tuning
a Lambretta engine and owners failed to
see its appeal.

➽
LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS 63
 Tuning
Manuals
Both Norrie Kerr and Dave
Webster would produce their
own tuning manuals, following
their success both on the
track and in business. Norrie
produced one dedicated to the
Vespa and Dave the Lambretta.
Both had great success,
winning many titles in the British
scooter championships year in,
year out. With their business
Midland Scooter Centre being
one of the main players and
a vital part of the street racer
scene as a whole, there was no
one better qualified to produce
such a publication.

ABOVE AND BELOW: Martin Murray’s Vespa street racer ‘Rumours’. Taking a P-range
engine and fitting it in to a small frame chassis was a great piece of engineering. With the
light frame but powerful engine, performance was breathtaking.

By the end of the 1980s component
manufacture for Lambrettas was
developing at a much faster rate. This
was bolstered by the sheer number
of people going scooter racing. With
many shops fielding teams of their
own, the track was the ideal place to
test components before attempting to
market them. Plenty of unique ideas
that were proven to work under race
conditions made their way on to road
going machines. Many shops quickly
realised the potential of advertising the
fact that their product had been used
on a race-winning machine.
For the Vespa though this wasn’t
so easy as it was only the small frame
models that were predominantly
used for racing. The bigger machines
proved to be uncompetitive in the

64 LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS


‘‘ The street racer scene had progressed massively
higher capacity classes against the
during that time
better-handling Lambretta. This didn’t
matter to a certain extent, as Piaggio
itself had produced a stunning race
scooter with the introduction of the T5.
With the company selling machines
all over Europe, the big aftermarket
manufacturers were happy to develop
products as there was such a vast
market place to sell them in.
ʼʼ
As the 1980s came to a close,
looking back, it had been an
unbelievable decade for scootering
in Britain. The resulting boom from
the release of Quadrophenia and the
Mod revival had now swelled scooter
ownership in Britain considerably. Every
avenue of its social side from rallies to
racing to customising was now at its
peak. How long this could last before
1 980s
ABOVE: Tom Petch produced
‘Project 7’ towards the end of
the decade, the first time he
would use the TS1 kit in
one of his creations.
an eventually tailing off was impossible
to gauge.
There were no signs of any slowing
down for the foreseeable future though,
or so it seemed. The street racer scene
had progressed massively during that
time and the introduction of the TS1 and
T5 had established the idea that this
trend would continue well in to the
next decade. •
➽
LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS 65
 ABOVE: Another stunning DTC creation
painted by Maca who throughout the
1980s had created many beautiful examples of
artwork for both the Lambretta and Vespa.

‘‘ As the
A th 1980s
1980 came to
t a close
l looking
l ki back,
b k it had
h d been
b an
unbelievable decade for scootering in Britain
ʼʼ

ABOVE: The Rossa 350 YPVS

Lambretta. Though it gained a lot of
attention both from owners and the
scootering press when it first
appeared, enthusiasm soon faded
with only a handful ever being built.

66 LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS

Vespa Race Accessories
A whole host of parts and accessories started to appear in the 1980s
aimed at making the Vespa PX range sportier. This included everything
from seats to screens to the often bizarre items such as a radio. While
to some they looked good, it didn’t necessarily mean they improved
performance. Some items were, if anything, slowing the scooter down.
Not always made of the finest quality material, the finish of some
products was far from good.
It was not uncommon to see wheel discs, screens and other various
assortments of plastic add-ons adorning garage walls having been
removed as the craze faded. However, in recent years some items have
fetched huge sums due to a return of the retro 1980s Vespa scene.

ABOVE AND BELOW: The Super Gordon screen

produced by Driver Italia. This was one of the
better accessories as it did improve streamlining
over the rider. Who, exactly, Gordon was remains
ABOVE: The Vespoiler as it was commonly known sat underneath the front uncertain.
of the leg shields. Many owners claimed it made the front end more stable as
the idea was to push the front wheel into the ground.
BELOW: The Yankee seat was ideal for two-up comfort and speed.

BELOW: Probably the strangest product

available was the radio. For the rider to hear
it over the engine noise it would need to be
turned up to full volume. It was one of the
most enduring sounds at a 1980s scooter rally
as any Vespa with one fitted would sound like
a mobile ghetto blaster as it passed by.

ABOVE: The Super Corsa seat was

probably one of the most popular
aftermarket seats for the P-range Vespa.
Not the most comfortable but it gave the
best riding position.

LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS 67

 1 9 90s

I
f a fashion or trend is to continue
it needs to continually evolve
– otherwise its popularity soon
starts to fade. The scooter scene in
Britain thrived during the 1980s and
so too did all the factions that made it
up. As the 1990s dawned, no one was
sure what the next 10 years would
have to offer. For the street racer
scene everything looked fine, with
plenty of continued development and
investment from both companies and
dealers alike.
Dealers knew that those who were
prepared to seek out the next must-
have product, or develop around those
products already out there, would be the
ones who stayed in front. Competition
was intense but if you got it right then
the rewards could be financially great.

Perfecting
the art
 LEFT: The AF Rayspeed race
team Lambretta’s DTC paint
scheme remains popular
even today.

➽
LAMBRETT
TA & VESPA STREET RACERS 69
ABOVE: A T5 fitted with an AEVC exhaust valve. The short-lived modification was another gimmick destined to join the endless list of
aftermarket products which sounded better than they actually worked.

Circuit racing, where a lot of the it stayed this way to make sure the source ch
hange when Norrie Kerr had left too set
then-current market prod ducts had of parts makiing it from the track to the up
p on his own. It came as quite a sh
hock
started development, co ontinued to be shop continu ued. to
o the scootering population in gene
eral
popular with around 400 0 racing licence One of the
e biggest tuning shops, bu
ut once again highlighted the needd for
holders still competing. It was vital that Midland Scoo oter Centre, had seen a major ch
hange to ensure survival. Despite this

BELOW: At the beginning of the 1990s scooter racing in Britain reached its peak with full grids in every class.

70
7 0 LAMBRETTA
LA
LAM
L AMB
AM BRE
BR
RE
R ETTA
ETTA
TT
T TA & VESPA
TA VE
VES
V ESPA
ESPA S
ST
STR
STREET
TR
T RE
EE
EET
ET
ET RACERS
RA
R AC
CE
CER
ERS
ER
 1 9 90s

supported it. Many tuners had developed else to compare to it; there still wasn’t for

‘‘
a whole host of extras to complement
Quite often they the kit, making the scooter better able to
cope with the extra power it produced.
wanted to look They were a combination of the most
frequent parts to fail such as the crank,
better than the piston and clutch.
opposition, certainly At the same time exhaust systems
were now being produced by several
on the custom companies to exploit the kit’s power
that matter. It was now coming up to four
years since its launch but nothing had
been changed to take it further. For AF
Rayspeed there was no point – anyone
purchasing a TS1 for the first time was
going to be mightily impressed with its
performance anyway.
Yet there were always going to be
those who wanted more, those that

ʼʼ
circuit
news, all other businesses seemed to be
doing okay for the time being.
With the TS1 now the real choice if
you wanted a big block tuned Lambretta,
the demand for cast iron tuning slowly
started to diminish. Even though small
block demand was still high there was
less and less call for anything 200cc and
above. This problem was compounded by
the fact that a large amount of Innocenti
200cc cast barrels had been used up
potential. It didn’t just stop there though;
there was now a need for better tyres and
shock absorbers not to mention a whole
host of other components. Many of these
newly designed products would start to
adorn Lambretta street racers. Whether
it was to aid performance or just to have
the latest specification, it didn’t matter to
most owners. Quite often they wanted to
look better than the opposition, certainly
on the custom circuit.
However, the top tuners now saw a
new way forward with the TS1. When
it was first produced there was nothing
just wanted to go faster. This could be
done to a certain extent by changing the
exhaust system but some tuners had
already starting working on the cylinder
themselves. There was always going to be
room for improvement or ways of making
the TS1 kit more powerful. That was what
had happened to Innocenti’s cast barrel
and was common with any type of engine
regardless of the make.
This is what made the street racer
scene so appealing – the fact that it was
constantly evolving. Clever experienced
tuners and engineers were prepared to

Continental Zippy 1
during the boom of the 1980s. With
the pattern alternatives nowhere near
as good, quality Innocen nti ones were
becoming harder to find d and as a result
becoming more expensive too.
The TS1 had started a thriving industry
and as its supply was se eemingly endless
it made a safe investme ent for those Th Zippy
The Zi 1 was Continental’s
C ti t l’ answer tto the
th sports
t ttyre ffor scooters.
t
willing to produce the prroducts that The company was renowned for making good long lasting tyres and
this one was no exception. The channelled tread pattern allowed good
grip in both the dry and the wet. Its outstanding quality was no doubt
the strength in its side walls. This not only gave the rider much more
stability when cornering but also stopping the weave effect at high
he Michelin S1.
speeds, a trait of the
able in three
It was also available
different diameters s and
thus enabled a much ch
wider profile if
fitted on the rear
wheel. It was also
possible to fine-
tune the gearing
if all three sizes
were made
up, just by
changing the
rear wheel,
depending
on the riding
conditions. It
was discontinued
around 2009 to
be replaced by the
Twist which had a
ad
totally different tread
pattern.

➽
LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS 71
 ABOVE AND LEFT: A neat PX street
racer reminiscent of the PM Tuning
Rothmans special.

‘‘ There was always

going to be room
for improvement
or ways of making
the TS1 kit more
powerful.
ʼʼ
tak
ke what actions were necessary to
co
ontinually improve a prodduct. This was
ob
bviously done to lure cusstomers to their
buusinesses but there was also a great
deeal of competition between the tuners
whho wanted to be the bestt.

72 LAMBRETTA & VES

SPA STREET RACERS
 Electronic Ignition
Electronic ignition for the Lambretta was nothing new. It had originally
appeared thanks to the early Ducati system that was fitted at the end
of GP production at Innocenti to a few models. In the 1980s a Vespa
conversion system was made available for a short while but with the
introduction of the Ducati 12V system by AF Rayspeed in 1987, that
took over entirely. When production of that system ended it was not
possible to buy one new, with second hand ones changing hands for
big sums of money.
In the later 1990s, SIL started offering its own version of the 12V
electronic ignition system. For many Lambretta owners, this solved the
problem of poor starting and dim lights. For tuned high revving engines
it was essential. It had been produced by SIL originally for the Lambro
van and so used much longer fins. This meant those selling them in
Britain would need to get the fins machined down.
Other problems arose from poor soldering, so most businesses that
sold them had to rewire them first. Also the CDI and regulator were
not the best of quality, often failing even after just a few miles. Luckily
Ducati still made both items so this was not a problem. Many tuners
now offered a complete reworked package with a good and reliable
ignition system for the Lambretta which had been needed for quite
some time.
On high-powered engines the flywheels were too heavy and prone to
fatigue and cracking. The solution was to weld the rivets that held the
boss on to the flywheel. Machining down the outer of the flywheel gave
it the optimum weight for use on a tuned Lambretta engine.
For a while there was no other alternative to the Indian electronic
system which sold by the boat load as virtually every Lambretta owner,
whether they had a tuned engine or not, fitted one to their machine.
Though it is still popular today there are for more advanced systems
which offer variable timing compared to the static timing of the Indian
system. Even so, without it there would have been a big gap in the
market so it played an important role in the modern Lambretta street
racer scene.
BELOW: The SIL electronic stator; once BELOW: Using it with a Ducati CDI rectifier
rewired it worked very reliably. made the system almost bulletproof.

To start off with this was done through

a combination of revising the port timings
and altering the stroke most commonly to
60mm from the standard 58mm. Results
were good and top speed was well over
80mph but with the extra power and
torque, gearing could be altered to suit.
This would allow the Lambretta to sit at a
happy 70mph cruising speed with spare
power still in hand to overtake. It made
the TS1 ideal for the motorway and long
distance rally touring and this made the
kit more appealing now than it ever had
been. The TS1 had a unique quality that
meant development of the cylinder could
be taken even further than had first been ABOVE:
AB
A BOVE: Lightening the flywheel from 2
B 2.5kg
5k g
5k
imagined: it was made from aluminium. ABOVE W
ABOVE: Welding
ldi up the
th centre
t boss
b rivets
i t to 1.8kg gave it the optimum weight for
Up till now on a cast cylinder the prevented them from coming loose. acceleration and inertia when slowing down.
ports could be taken to their limit but no

➽
LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS 73
ABOVE: The early 1990s Formula One inspiration can be clearly seen here on this PX range Vespa.

further. It was quite common to see the
edge of the gasket face only 1.5mm
wide as the full potential of the port
was used. However, with the aluminium
TS1 cylinder that didn’t matter. The
ports could be welded up and made
significantly bigger; grinding and
reshaping them was not an issue.
The transfer ports, which had always
been the major obstacle on a Lambretta
cylinder, could be made almost twice their
original size. This was easy to match by
welding the cases up and the gains in
power were immense.
The TS1 by this time was fully
integrated and accepted within the rules
that governed scooter racing in Britain.
This is where the kit’s true potential
started to be unleashed, out on the track.
The problem was though, as more power
from the cylinder was generated, so too

74 LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS

Michelin S1 was the heat that was produced as a
1 9 90s

This time the engine had the power but

The Michelin S1 tyre was a
revelation when it was first
introduced in the early to mid-
1990s. Up till that point there
were not many options when
it came to a good road going
race tyre. Though there had
been good tyres like the Dunlop
TT series scooter race tyre,
by-product. Forced air-cooling, the only
option available, was sometimes simply
not enough; certainly over a whole
race distance where the engine would
significantly lose power as it tried to
seize up.
This led to the idea of water-cooling
as a solution. Though it had been done in
the past with the odd cast barrel, building
a water jacket was a significant amount
of work to even attempt. Water-cooled
heads were already starting to appear
more frequently on race machines but
not on the cylinder. More and more
tuners were looking at the idea of cooling
the cylinder and knew that the aluminium
construction of the TS1 now made this
a distinct possibility. Sooner or later
someone was going to make it work.
The track debut of Guy Topper’s
Group 6 race Lambretta at the end
of 1990 shook the racing scene. Not
only was the whole top end massively
revised but it was now fully water-cooled.
Despite initial teething problems, its full
potential was unleashed in the 1991
season leaving most others in its wake.
no problems arose from overheating.
The Cooler, as it was known, was a
significant advance in Lambretta tuning
and technology which others were quick
to replicate.
All of this started to flow out on to the
road and it became fashionable to have
water-cooled technology on a street racer.
That was easier said than done because
of the complex amount of pipework
required, not to mention the mounting
of the radiator. With the cost of this
conversion running extremely high, the
fashion only lasted a year or two but again
showed the significant lengths owners
would go to in order to have what was
generally considered to be the ultimate
machine. No sooner had it appeared on
a Lambretta then it appeared on a Vespa,
that’s how intense the competition was.
What it did leave was the technology to
significantly improve the bhp output of the
TS1 kit for road use without the need for
water-cooling. Quite soon it was possible
to buy an engine off the shelf from a
tuner that had well in excess of 25bhp,
something that seemed impossible only a

‘‘
it wasn’t designed with road
use in mind. The other popular Quite soon it was possible to buy an
tyre had been the Bridgestone
Battlax which, with its soft
engine off the shelf from a tuner that had
well in excess of 25bhp.
ʼʼ
compound, was one of the best
gripping tyres ever made for a
road scooter. The problem was
its wear rate, which was far
too quick. In some cases, on
powerful hard-driven engines,
the rear tyre could be bald after
300 miles.
The Michelin S1 offered
both good grip and great wear
rate. This made it the popular
choice as its longevity offered
good value for money. Its
downside was a slight weave
at the back of the scooter
due to the sidewalls of the
tyre not being able to cope.
This only seemed to occur at
speeds over 90mph so was
not going to bother the vast
majority of scooter owners. As
time went by, many other tyre
manufacturers got in to the
scooter performance market
and the S1 lost its original
appeal. It is still produced and
currently available to buy.
ABOVE: Two-tone paint schemes with rather bright clashing colours; typical of the early 1990s.

➽
LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS 75
 1 9 90s

ABOVE: Suspect Device was a popular Lambretta on the street racer scene; its uncomplicated design gave it an appealing look.

RIGHT: The cutdown theme was still a big part of the scene at the beginning of the decade but would become less and less prominent as
the price of Lambrettas rose.

few years earlier. Though the cost of these
engines was fairly high compared to what
a Lambretta would fetch, it didn’t deter
people. The street racer scene had always
been about speed and one-upmanship so
cost didn’t matter too much to those that
wanted the best.
In the meantime, the Vespa got on
happily, with the T5 still in production and
the development of kits for it continuing,
making sure it continued to ruffle the
Lambretta’s feathers. The P200E was still
going strong and was now a firm favourite
with rally goers. Its substantial pulling
power, aided by a slightly bigger capacity
kit and exhaust, meant it to was a reliable
and fast touring machine. The big engine
developments were still being made to the
small frame Vespa though. This had been
championed on the track by the likes of
Norrie Kerr with his LC 1 and its Yamaha-
based paint schemes were popular
among road going small frame owners.
PM Tuning had been big within the
Lambretta and Vespa tuning circle,
certainly when it came to expansion
pipes, but the company was now starting
to get more involved in the Vespa small
frame market. Being the only UK agent
for Zirri, the Italian cylinder manufacturer,
it launched their new small frame MR
2000 kit to the public. With massive
transfers and equally large reed block, it
reputedly kicked out 30bhp. Coming with
its own specially designed expansion and
fitted with a huge magnesium Dellorto
carburettor it was advertised as being
capable of reaching a staggering 105mph.
Whether or not it kicked out that
kind of power, or did those kinds of
speeds, it once again showed how far
manufacturers were prepared to go to
sell their products. However, a hefty price
tag of over £600 put most people off
buying one. This was an out and out race

‘‘ With massive transfers and an equally large reed block,

it reputedly kicked out 30bhp
ʼʼ
76 LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS
 ➽
LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS 77
ABOVE AND RIGHT: By the 1990s the retro
street racer had begun to appear, harking back
to the early days of the scene in the 1960s.

‘‘ Some of those who

had started out nearly
20 years earlier were
now finally hanging
up their racing kit and
moving on.
ʼʼ
engine by the time it was finished, so it
was largely impractical for daily use in
any case. These two major factors alone
meant that its popularity was short lived. take off. It was obvious there would be numbers going racing. Some of those
By 1993 things had started to change some sort of migration as some wanted to who had started out nearly 20 years
significantly across the whole of the explore different avenues. Naturally, many earlier were now finally hanging up their
British scooter scene. Rally attendances of those from the 1980s scooter era had racing kit and moving on. The problem
had been steadily tailing off since the now become house owners and started was, whichever aspect of scootering you
1980s and although there was still a big up families too. looked at, as the numbers declined no
hardcore following, many scooter riders Money was much tighter, as was new younger blood was joining. There
had gone off to pastures new. Many were spare time, and this now began to affect were simply no replacements coming
now opting to follow the VW and camper every part of the scene. Customising through for those who had left for
van circuit, which had started to really was starting to tail off, so too were the whatever reason.

78 LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS

 The street racer scene wa as no
exception. While there would d still be
those who wanted to be parrt of it, there
was no doubting that numbe ers were
onn the wane. This was a worrryying g time
for dealers as it meant their trade was
begin nning to tail off. The like
es of AF
Raysspeed, who had been ro ound since
the 1960s, had done enough h to diversify
and were able to settle down n to ride out
the storm, but for those with h nothing
to fall back on the writing wa as on the
wall. It was not nice to see dealers
eitheer packing it in all togethher or selling
prodducts that had no significance for
perfoormance, just so long ass what they
sold helped to pay the bills.
Th
his had a twofold effect. Firstly, the
pricee of a Lambretta started to drop
as de emand fell. Secondly, th here was
a dec cline in development and, more
alarmmingly, the number of sk killed people
around who could do it as th hey went off
to finnd employment elsewhe ere. There
was nothing that could be done about
this mid-90s decline, given the cyclical
reaso ons behind it, so in the meantime
it waas survival of the fittest as the
sayinng goes.
Th
he hard core following of
scoo oterists would always be e there and
those e who did stick with it certainly
entertained the hope that so ome of those
who had left would one day return. To
compound the misery of the e street racer
sceene, Piaggio took the decision to
end production of the Vespa T5.
During its seven yea ar run it had
transformed Vespa a tuning and
performance in Britain and
made thousan nds of owners
happy, not to mention
the dealers it helped to
keep in business. Its

‘‘
This was a
worrying time
for dealers as
their trade was
beginning to tail
off.
ʼʼ
LEFT: The outboard front disc
and anti dive system which first
appeared on the Vespa.

80 LAMBRETTA & VES

SPA STREET RACERS
replacement was the T5 Classic, which
used the same engine but carried it in a
standard PX-looking scooter. Though the
performance was there, the looks were not
and it never had the appeal of the original
T5. This move confined the Vespa street
racer to the doldrums, from which it would
never fully return.
The Lambretta market was also set to
change significantly from 1993 onwards
due to the European Union borders being
relaxed during the previous year. This
now meant free trading across European
countries with far less red tape. A handful
of British scooterists began to realise

RIGHT: The RS Tuning 250 produced by

Ralph Saxelby – arguably one of the best
tuners ever to work on a Lambretta.

BELOW: The flowing lines of the Lambretta

clearly exploited here on Dave Harrison’s GP.

➽
LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS 81
 ‘‘ There were literally thousands of Lambrettas still in Italy that
had lain unused and unmolested for decades.
ʼʼ
that there were literally thousands of
Lambrettas still in Italy that had lain
unused and unmolested for decades.
Up till now, getting one out of the
country had always been a problem due
to the paperwork issues. This problem
was no more, so soon enough they
started to make their way over to Britain,
by the lorry load. Not only were many
of them in original condition, they were
cheap too.
The 200cc models, namely the SX
200 and the GP 200, still fetched a
premium (this did not apply to the TV
200 as it was only ever a British model)
but the rest like the Li 150 were only
a few hundred pounds. This came
at a time when the scooter industry
throughout the country was trying to
ABOVE: A T5 by Street Beat, who produced a lot of street racer paintwork at the time. re-establish itself. Just as the scene

82 LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS

 1 9 90s

Nylon Chain Tensioner

The problem with the Lambretta chain has always been one of ne neglect
mainly because it is hidden from view. A chain goes slack in time and
so requires tensioning. The original chain tensioner Innocenti fitted
to the Lambretta, while perfectly good enough on a standard engine,
wasn’t up to the job on a tuned engine where the chain would be under
much more strain.
In the 1980s several tuners had come up with their own version using
an aluminium mount with a nylon top bolted to it where the chain would
ride over. However in the later 1990s a far easier option was made
available with the introduction of a one piece moulded nylon tensioner.
If fitted correctly, it would last for thousands of miles without any
wear problems. It was also far easier to fit and adjust than the original
style. This allowed even the novice mechanic to adjust their own
chain tension with ease. Because the cost to produce was so cheap
they were great value for money and have sold in their thousands and
continue to do so.

ABOVE: A Mix of T5 front end

bodywork on a PX frame made for
an impressive look.

had changed, with the 1980s well and
truly gone, so too had ideas of how the
scooter itself should look.
It was a confusing time to say
the least; people still wanted to own
scooters but there seemed to be a
lack of direction. Maybe this was the
hangover from the 1980s, because
scooter customisation and tuning had
moved at such a fast pace during that
time. It was beginning to feel a bit
like the underground movement of the
1970s again and no one wanted to
see scootering take such a large
backwards step.
Things were different this time round
though, as there were big organisations
like the NSRA and the LCGB, and not
forgetting the established magazines
that connected everyone. It was a
time for consolidation, a transitional
period. The question remained though
– what direction would scootering in
general and street racing in particular
take? There was no doubt that with
the demise of the T5 the glory days of
tuned Vespas were over. The T5 had not
disappeared entirely – there were still
many around – but from now on it would
play only a minor role in the overall
tuning market.
Shops that had catered for the T5
would shift allegiance to whatever could
make them a living, so less time and
investment was spent on the Vespa.
The decline would be gradual but would
continue regardless. For the Lambretta
the choice was simple, if you wanted to
go faster you bought a TS1 and got on
with it. If you wanted to go even faster
then one of the big names still going
would tune it for you, but you would find
that this was no longer the mainstay
of their business. All of this equated
to the street racer genre being left on
tick-over, with only the occasional new
introduction to the custom circuit.
The decline in the British scooter
scene seemed to reach its nadir around
1995/96. If anything could shake it back
into life, it would be music, but the days
of strong movements in music seemed
to be coming towards the end. What did
help was Britpop which, though it was
not really scooter-related, did seem to
awaken faint stirrings of a new kind of
Mod movement. This was combined with
television ads starting to use scooters to
advertise products, certainly using them
more as background props.

➽
LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS 83
 It was a rather strange time as people
were beginning to associate with scooters
who never had the desire to do so before,
especially with the formation of Lambretta
clothing – which created a great deal of
consternation from those who had used
the name in the past. The Lambretta
name went mainstream and seemingly
into the public domain. The majority
who bought the clothing did so for the
brand rather than any association to the
scooter but even so it must have made a
connection for some.
Slowly but surely things did start to
pick up as scooter ownership began to
once again increase. This time though,
there were far more people who wanted
to restore them rather than tune or
customise them. After decades of
modification, factory standard machines
were suddenly in vogue. This may have
been partly due to the influx of near
standard Lambrettas that were now
arriving from Italy. It did seem a shame
to destroy the originality of these
survivors but as long as people were
‘‘ After decades of modification, factory standard machines
were suddenly in vogue.
84 LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS
getting in to the general scooter scene,
whether returning to it or getting involved
for the first time, that was what was
most important.
For the time being the street racer
scene continued to snooze the years
away. There were no major developments
in the pipeline and it looked like it would
stay that way. By now the Vespa had
become almost redundant when it came
to tuning. There were still those that
wanted to gain more performance but
the halcyon days of the T5 era were
long gone. The new breed of Vespa
owner was happier to simply upgrade
the exhaust, jet the carburettor to suit
and leave it at that. This would give a
good 65mph anyway and reliability was
assured, which most wanted.
It was different for the Lambretta
though. A lot of the machines that had
been imported from Italy were only 125
or 150cc models and as a result they
were significantly down on power. This
was compounded by the fact that a lot
of the engines were old and tired.
ʼʼ
Sooner or later there would be an
upsurge in demand for parts and skilled
hands with which to upgrade these small
block engines, but where was the supply
going to come from? The majority of
tuners had either got out of this type of
trade or were too busy concentrating on
the more lucrative restoration side.
It was easier for them to sell masses
of standard spares to make their living
than it was to stand for hours grinding
and porting a barrel. Not that this type
of work wouldn’t be taken on but if the
demand started to really grow there
would be no way they could cope. What
was needed now was a good small block
kit off the shelf to boost performance,
similar to the way it had been with
the TS1 during the 1980s. TS1 type
performance was unnecessary though
– all that was needed was something
that could take the speed up to 60+ mph
and provide acceleration to keep up with
modern traffic.
Elsewhere, the Lambretta street
racer look started to take another
 1 9 90s

ABOVE AND LEFT: The Vespa cutdown when

done right looked stunning. These two
examples are no exception.

RIGHT: The vividness that made up the

United Colors of Benetton scheme, bright but
very complicated.

direction, one that would return it to its
roots. For a while there had been one or
two restorers who had been tuning the
old fashioned way with cast barrels and
old tuning techniques. The result was a
Sixties street racer look and creating it
was a trend that was beginning to grow.
It had started off with owners taking
ideas from the 1960s tuning methods
but had now moved more to recreating
the iconic machines of the era. The likes
of the Arthur Francis ‘S Type’ and the
Supertune Low Line were now beginning
to appear in the shape of replicas. Rather
than just copy the paint scheme and add

Pre-Tuned Components

ABOVE: Cylinder heads, inlet manifolds and reed blocks were just some of the pre-tuned parts produced by MB Developments in the 1990s.

Pre-tuned components were undoubtedly what started
the mass component revolution that is currently in
progress on the Lambretta scene. The first person
to do this or take advantage of what it offered was
Mark Broadhurst with his company MB Developments.
Rather than take a manifold for example and machine
it to the required specification he would have the part
made that way in the first place. This freed up the time
it would otherwise have taken to modify it and also
meant that each one produced was exactly the same.
Though it was only done in a small way initially, this
showed the way forward when it came to producing
certain components on a larger scale. Slowly but
surely other manufacturers would follow suit and
today almost all components are pre-made without
the need for any additional modification.
➽
 Six Plate Clutch
While all the extra power that was being created
by Lambretta tuners was a good thing it was pretty
pointless if it couldn’t be transferred to the rear wheel.
The standard Lambretta clutch was pretty useless
with anything over 15bhp and even if using upgraded
springs didn’t last for long.
The solution was to come up with more plates. This
development had first appeared on race scooters but
there was a big problem in making it available for the
road. The clutch spider and crown wheel would need
extending to take the extra plates, which was the
easy part. This meant that the side case would not fit,
however. To get around this problem, an aluminium
packer was made to give clearance. But the problems
didn’t stop there. The kick-start shaft was now too
short to engage on the first gear cog so that also
needed lengthening, as did the side case studs.
Though this all fitted and worked, now the exhaust
wouldn’t fit so that too would also need packing out.
The final twist was the exhaust would now catch on
the footboard so this in turn would need an area cut
out to stop the exhaust from fouling it.
With extra gaskets needed to seal both the packer
and the side case, this was made an even more
difficult task as the studs had been replaced with
long bolts. Despite all the problems though, it was a
worthwhile exercise as the scooter now had a clutch
capable of handling the extra power that was being
created. Several tuners and businesses claim to
have been the first to come up with the conversion,
which was championed by Mark Broadhurst of MB
Developments fame. Precisely who was responsible
didn’t really matter to Lambretta owners as they
now had a viable solution to what had been a long
standing reliability issue.
With the advancement in CNC technology years
later, the six-plate clutch would fit into the same
crown wheel size originally produced by Innocenti.
This made the side case packer six-plate conversion
redundant and highlighted more than any other
component why development of the Lambretta street
racer needs to continue relentlessly.

ABOVE: On the left the original Innocenti clutch spider, compared ABOVE: The fully assembled six-plate clutch in the engine, which
to the longer much more beefed up one on the right. was too high for the side case to fit.

ABOVE: The full six-plate conversion that was offered by MB

ABOVE: With the packing plate in place the side casing now Developments. Advances in design meant that years later this type
fits perfectly. of conversion was made redundant.

a bit of modern tuning, the majority were
painstakingly researched to create an
exact reproduction of the original.
It was good to see the old traditions
still being kept alive as owners began to
see this as a different side of Lambretta
restoration. Though there were more
and more Lambrettas
being reverted back to standard
factory specification, this was now
mingled with the retro street racer
look. It was almost as though the street
racer had gone full circle as the interest
this new trend created started to gain
more exposure.

86 LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS

 1 9 90s

Soon retro street racers started to

feature in the magazines as well as custom
shows and even on the odd Paddy Smith
rally patch. They were never going to
replace modern day Lambretta street
racers and neither was the technology
but it was good to see another side of
the scene develop. Diversity helped the
scootering scene to grow and improve
during the late 1990s, just as it does today.
As the decade, and the century,
came to a close things had significantly
changed for the street racer scene as
a whole. The Vespa side had slowly
declined, many T5 owners having abused
the power of their engines and driven
their scooters in to the ground. By the
end of the decade good examples were
now becoming sought-after and in some
cases undergoing restoration. As for the
ABOVE: Any Lambretta that uses a white background always allows the images to stand out
PX range, it was a case of mild tuning better, clearly seen here.
to make them reliable for long distance
touring as the majority of the time they use your Lambretta. It proved to be little anyway. Fitting the race exhaust just
would be two up with heavy luggage. more than a sales gimmick however, meant you could thrash it all the harder.
The Vespa had become the reliable as whichever exhaust was bought the By the end of the decade, the
workhorse of the rally scene. PX tuning owner tended to thrash the engine majority of tuning shops had diversified
now was a case of simple bolt-on kits and
exhausts provided by the big suppliers
such as Malossi, which would later
become VEUK. The small frame Vespa
would now become the benchmark
for Vespa tuning but would never be
mainstream like it was in the T5 days.
The source of these products was smaller
Italian manufacturers and privateers.
Eventually, their innovations would see
Vespa tuning taken to a new level but this
was still a few years away.
For the Lambretta, things continued
to move forward but rather more steadily
than had been the case following the
introduction of the TS1. Development of
the engine as a whole had come to the
point where reliability was the key issue
and by this time it was becoming quite
good. Even so, the Lambretta engine
would always need a higher degree of
maintenance to keep it on the road.
The emphasis now was on making the
Lambretta engine equal to the Vespa as
a touring machine. This would require
higher torque and a bigger spread of
power. With the gearing altered to suit,
fast reliable touring machines were
now possible.
The exhaust would now be used
to control power delivery and this
was clearly evident from the way
manufacturers were advertising them.
Soon there would be road exhausts,
touring exhausts and race exhausts.
The idea was, you bought the one that
ABOVE: A Jade dealer special
best suited the way you intended to always stood out whatever
colours it was painted in.

➽
LA
ABOVE: The Jaguar HSBC Formula One scheme is interpreted well on this Vespa, which is not always the case and harder to do than it looks.
or made tuning a much smaller part of
their business turnover. The likes of MB
Developments were now producing parts
in bulk to go with the TS1 kit. In this way,
ABOVE: Anything connected with the scooter scene in general can be used for inspiration. In
this case, Dr Martens footware.
88 LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS
all the lengthy hours of work could be
done away with. A customer could buy
a part pre-tuned to complement their
engine – for example a reed block. It
was a clever way of enticing in those
who wanted quick and easy engine
performance. It allowed the tuners
providing these parts to gain a bigger
share of the market and encouraged
their rivals to see that this was the
way forward.
If the tuners could come up with easy
bolt-on solutions for the tuning market,
then surely it was a more profitable
way of doing business. Unfortunately,
profitability wasn’t that easy to achieve
when big development costs were set
against the limited number of Lambretta
owners who might buy the parts. Mass
producing even one product required
significant investment. Those that got in
first would be the ones who benefited
most from this new innovative way of
approaching Lambretta tuning.
As the world entered the new
millennium there were many changes
predicted for the future, but what would
they be within the scootering world? No
one was sure but there were those already
planning their assault on the tuning and
street racer side. •
 The Sp r in g M o u n te d E x h a u st
The spring mounted
exha aust was one of the
bigge est developments to come off the
racetraack and benefitted the Lambretta
no end. Until it was introduced, all Lambretta
exhaust systems had been solidly mounted.
Expansion n pipes made this way suffered greatly frrom
vibration – often cracking or falling off
ff.
f The solutio
on
was to proviide several slip joints that were spring
mounted. Thiis would allow the exhaust freedom to o securing bracket.
move against the viibration and exttend its life wh
hile at
the same time stop it from falling off.
The other unique design was the stub mount.
Previously, on all exhaust designs the down pipe had
bolted directly to the Lambretta cylinder. With the
left hand securing nut greatly obstructed, securing
it tightly became a big problem. Also it could only be
done with head cowl undone, which annoyingly had to
be lying in position at the same time.
ABOVE: The end can of the JL pipe could be removed in an instant
and replaced as a separate component to the rest of the exhaust.
ABOVE: The upswept end can of the spring mounted exhaust was
a major symbol of 1990s Lambrettas.
LEFT: By
offering
a spring
mounted slip
joint at the
cylinder and
tail pipe,
flexibility
was allowed
on the main
The new way meant the head cowl didn’t need to
be in place for the stub to be fitted. When the exhaust
did need moving, from now on it was released by two
tensioning springs making maintenance quicker and
much easier. The end can became its own separate
piece and when it wore out it didn’t mean that the
whole exhaust would need replacing.
The first one to be made readily available for the
Lambretta was the Kegra KRP range (later becoming
JL) followed by the Taffspeed. Soon enough the
majority of manufacturers would follow suit and make
their exhausts the same way. This development has
to be the one that has been most warmly welcomed
by the Lambretta street racer scene. Not only has it
allowed greater longevity of the exhaust but also far
easier fitting and removal.
ABOVE: By releasing the spring clips around the manifold stub
exhaust, removal was made quick and simple compared to the old
direct bolting method.
LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS 89
 2000s

90 LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS

 LEFT: The AF Rayspeed race
team Lambretta’s DTC paint

P
scheme remains popular
lanes didn’t fall out ofeven
the sky
today.
as predicted when the new
Millennium arrived and
everything soon got back to normal.
Scootering got on as normal too –
unfortunately this meant rather boringly.
The tuning scene was once again in the
doldrums, not because people weren’t
building new projects but more because
product development didn’t have much
direction. In the past, new products
or ideas had provided a big incentive
for more owners to get involved. And
the more who did, the more new street
racers appeared. Fresh impetus was
needed to make sure that’s exactly
what happened; but who would lead
the new crusade?
It was never going to happen with the
Vespa as, slowly but surely, the two-stoke
engine was being phased out due to
emissions laws. Though Piaggio was still
producing the PX range with two-stroke
engines its days of development were
numbered. To get through the stringent
regulations, later examples needed to be
fitted with catalytic convertors. Piaggio
had by this time switched the main focus
of its production to automatic scooters
which were powered by reliable
four-stroke engines.

A
surge
of
Power
➽
LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS 91
 You could still get a two-stroke Vespa
and tune it but it just didn’t seem worth
it. It was and still is easier to buy an
older PX, restore it and tune it to your
own specification. Those that wanted
ultimate power and continued to follow
the street racer ethic would use the
small frame models in the main. Older
PX and T5 examples were still appearing
re-done to a certain extent though.
With the Lambretta, there was still only
one manufactured cylinder kit available,
the TS1. It had been over 15 years since
the idea was conceived and it was
becoming old technology. The market for
the small block casing was the first area
to see a new introduction. There were
literally thousands of engine casings lying
around and these could be had for very
little cost if you wanted one.
Tino Sacchi, who had at one time
been in business with Casa Lambretta,
had decided to go it alone and produce
his own cylinder kits. His first venture,
the Imola, was specifically designed
for the small block engine and proved
to be quite revolutionary. It offered an
aluminium Nikasil lined cylinder with
reed valve induction and 185cc capacity.
It was nicknamed ‘the baby TS1’ due

‘‘ With the Lambretta there was still only one

manufactured cylinder kit available.
ʼʼ
92 LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS

to its striking similarity to AF Rayspeed’s
legendary kit. Its performance with a big
bore exhaust was comfortably within
the 17bhp area and over 20bhp with an
expansion pipe.
The kit was not cheap, with the whole
package coming in at around £650,
but it served to unleash the potential of
thousands of small block Lambrettas
which were still increasing in number with
the constant flow of imports from Italy. The
other effect was a sharp rise in the cost of
buying a small block casing as demand
for them exploded almost overnight.
Though it would take a while for the
kit’s true performance and more
importantly its long term reliability to filter
A
ABOVE, LEFT AND BELOW: The AF Rayspeed style street racer was still a popular theme as
m
many paid homage to the legendary name.
through, it was undoubtedly a breath of
fresh air to the tuning market. All those
small block Imola-fitted Lambrettas now
required a host of additional parts to
cope with the extra power – exhausts,
carburettors and more – once again
creating a lucrative market for the
dealers. This would take time but it had
to start somewhere and the Imola kit was
just the beginning.
The market potential was huge on a
scene that for several years had been
dominated by the standard restoration
look. Lambretta ownership had been
increasing year on year and was showing
no signs of slowing down. By now, many
original 1980s scooterists who had left
2000s
the scene at the end of that decade were
starting to return. Many had got out due
to family commitments and becoming
homeowners; with their families now
grown up and mortgages well on the way
to being paid, it was now time to get back
into scootering.
For many, it was a case of reliving their
youth or getting the scooter that they
wanted back then but couldn’t afford at
the time. This led to the price of buying a
Lambretta rising considerably, certainly for
the premium 200cc models. As demand
outstripped supply, the price would
continue to rise despite some saying it
wouldn’t. Many among this new influx of
owners had a big surplus of disposable
➽
LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS 93
 2000s

BGM Front Dampers

With improvements in disc brake design came far greater stopp
stopping
power. To help cope with the extra force exerted, much better front
‘‘
Manufacturers
saw what was
happening and
end damping was required. Up till then most owners had made do with decided that the time
steering dampers adapted off motorcycles. Because they only offered
damping in one direction, the front end could become uncomfortable was right to invest
on the return.
BGM first introduced a purpose-made damper for the Lambretta in the tuning market
again.
ʼʼ
in 2007, transforming the feel of the front end and making it far more
stable and comfortable. With several adjustment settings it could be
set up specifically for the rider’s needs. A unique product at the time,
demand was so high dealers would constantly sell all their stock in an
instant. This resulted in a waiting list to get them. designed to replace the gap that the old
cast barrel had left behind. It was made in
two pieces: a steel liner that could be re-
bored with ease and an aluminium jacket
on the outside for extra cooling. This was
supposed to provide the best of both
worlds in cylinder kit design and there
were several different versions made with
different capacities and states of tune.
Unfortunately it suffered from variation
on the tolerances during production,
although most tuners who supplied
them would clean the cylinder up before
offering it to the customer. With cheap
production costs, it fitted very well in to
the market without having any impact
on the company’s flagship product –
the TS1. Though the Rapido was never
going to be a true race kit it could quite
readily produce 20bhp. It had its place
for those who wanted that bit extra but
still demanded reliability. In addition, AF
Rayspeed’s excellent trade account
policy opened the way for any dealer to
stock it even if they didn’t specifically do
tuning work.
Sacchi was now trading under the
name Lambretta Evergreen or ‘Lambretta.
it’ to those who were getting on to the
Internet. With the success of the Imola, he
ploughed the profits in to another small
block kit, the Muggello. In principle, it
was the same layout as the Imola except
traditional piston port induction would be
used instead of the reed valve method.
Though it had less power than the Imola,
income, which could now be spent on to get noticed and sell in ever larger it could still deliver 15bhp and would
their new scooter purchase. Some went as quantities, proved the point. AF Rayspeed prove to be super reliable. Soon enough
far as to buy several models, rather than a announced that a new big block cylinder another kit followed, the Monza – a big
single machine. kit would soon be in production and it block version of the Imola. There were
Manufacturers who saw what was was rumoured to be powerful. those who said it was too similar to the
happening began to revisit their risk versus As news filtered through, owners were TS1 but regardless of what they thought,
reward calculations and decided that already thinking of placing orders despite Lambretta.it in a short space of time had
the time was right to invest in the tuning a lack of details. The kit, as it turned out, injected life once again into the tuning
market once again. The potential was there was named the Rapido and it proved market and more importantly the street
and the Imola kit, which was beginning to be somewhat underwhelming. It was racer scene.

94 LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS

ABOVE: The heavy influence of chrome can be seen here
here, even though it was not that common on street racer paintwork
paintwork.

The whole scooter movement was on
the rise from ownership to the number of
rallies and shows being organised. Soon
there was a new breed of scooter dealers
as the potential to earn money became
much greater. Whether or not this was
a good thing it was still too early to say,
as usually when there is a boom in an
industry it draws in a few unscrupulous
business people. Regardless of all this,
the whole cycle of buying a Lambretta
was starting all over again for many
people. Getting a Lambretta on the road
and getting used to it at first, followed by
the inevitable efforts to make it go faster
was the well-established procedure. It
was different this time round though, as
the owners were much older and more

Carbon Fibre
Carbon fibre is one of the greatest
achievements in modern day
racing. With its great strength
and super light weight it is ideal
for producing bodywork. The first
carbon fibre bodywork introduced
for the Lambretta was by PM
Tuning. Due to awkward fitting
and high costs it never quite took
off as expected though.
Today it is used on some
Lambretta and Vespa applications
usually to a customer’s specific
needs. It should be used more
as it helps significantly improve
the power to weight ratio
compared to steel bodywork and
components.

➽
LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS 95
 2000s

iimportantly the majority had more money

tto spend. This time those that would go
d
down the path of building a street racer
w
were able to lavish much more time
a
and money on building it or getting it
b
built for them.
There was still an underlying problem
w
with building big powerful Lambretta
e
engines – the shortage of casings. The
g
greater the demand for big block engines,
t more the cost of a 200cc casing went
the
u It was the classic supply and demand
up.
s
situation. However, this was about to
c
change in an instant and the flood gates
w
would open, not only to solving the casing
sshortage but really opening up the market

LEFT AND BELOW: The background of these

two images from the mid-2000s clearly shows
how big the move away from tuning Vespas
actually was, with the majority of them
now standard.

96
96 LAMBRETTA
LA
LAM
L AM
AMBRE
MBRE
BR
BRET
RETT
TTA
TA
TA & VESPA
VE
VE
VES
ES
SP
PA
ASST
STR
STREET
TR
T RE
EE
EET
ET
ET RACERS
RA
R AC
CE
CER
ER
ERS
GT 186 Kit

The GT 186 kit was designed and produced in Britain
by Richard Taylor. The initial design process for the
kit first started in the late 1990s but it wasn’t until
2002 that the first one actually went on sale. The
idea was to produce a cast iron cylinder but one
that used reed valve induction. Allowing the
manifold to exit on the left hand side of the
Lambretta engine, it would still retain the traditional
look. The other benefit was it could still use the
Lambretta air box if preferred.
If it was used with the right expansion pipe
results were impressive at around 18bhp. A bigger
capacity version was created by boring the cylinder
out to its maximum and this produced over 20bhp.
Production of the kit finished towards the end of
the decade with 300 having been sold. Richard
later made the step up to producing the big block
version of the GT kit, which can easily produce
27+ bhp when set up right. With a good torque
curve to match, the kit became a favourite of those
wishing to go long distance touring as it would
pull well two-up. Richard continues to develop and
produce various Lambretta kits and products all
thanks to the success of the GT 186.

Fast Flow Fuel Tap

Th fast
The f tfl flow fuel
f l tap,
t though only
a few pounds in cost, can mean
the difference between an engine
running correctly or seizing up. With
the large size carburettors used,
fast fuel flow is an important part of
the engine’s running requirements.
The original Lambretta design has
nowhere near enough flow rate
to fill the float bowl up quickly
enough. This often resulted in
the fuel mixture running weak,
causing the engine to seize. With
the introduction of unleaded fuel
this could cause the piston to hole,
resulting in untold damage to the
cylinder and top end. In the past the
only way to improve fuel flow was to
literally tune the fuel tap. This was
not the ideal answer and so the fast
flow fuel tap was introduced. By the
2000s virtually every Lambretta on
the road had one fitted.
➽
 Hydraulic Outboard Disc Brake

While going faster has always been a requirement
for owners of both tuned Lambrettas and Vespas,
slowing them down is just as important. The
Grimeca outboard disc for the Vespa first
appeared in the 1980s. Piaggio produced its own
factory version years later so it has never been
a problem.
For the Lambretta the cable-operated disc was
woefully inadequate and even the 1980s hydraulic
conversion struggled to cope as the Lambretta got
faster and faster. Outboard front disc brakes first
appeared on race Lambrettas in the 1990s with
one-off conversions making their way on to road
going machines. However, mass production of direct
fitting outboard disc brakes happened in the 2000s,
solving the issue of stopping on the spot. Many
manufacturers have continued to develop them and
there are now several on the market.

for development too. Scooters India
Limited (SIL) had decided to start re-
casting the 200cc engine casing.
They had the tooling to do it after
originally purchasing it from Innocenti
in the early 1970s. The move had been
instigated by Paul Brierly, whose business
Scooter Restorations had placed a
significant order for them. Originally it
was alleged they had given his business
an exclusive deal on the casings, rightly
so as it was a big investment to make
and this was the only way to protect
it. Unfortunately that exclusivity didn’t
seem to last long and soon there were
hundreds of casings being produced and
made available to any scooter dealer who
wanted them.
Now there was no need to go hunting
round for an original casing. Though
there were still some owners who
wanted an original casing, the majority
were not bothered and were just glad
to get one for a reasonable sum. The
price when the casings from India first
appeared was around £250 but this soon
dropped. Anyone who had a website for
their business was bombarded with
offers of 200cc casings. Motorcycle
dealers from all over India were starting
to offer them too as the market became
ultra competitive.
The price inevitably continued to drop
and at one point some dealers in Britain
were offering them for as little as £75
each. Along with the casings, also cast
were the side case and the magneto
housing. All three were manufactured
to an exceptionally high standard and
would make engine building far easier and
cheaper. The exact number of casings
cast was unknown but it seemed as
though even if all were exhausted then
more could be produced without much
fuss. Owners could now build the engine
of their choice without much problem, or
if they wanted they could get a dealer to
build one for them on demand.
The bigger picture though was what
this meant to the manufacturers. Any that
were thinking of producing new products
for the engine, certainly cylinder kits, now
had an even greater market to aim for
thanks to the regular supply of casings.

‘‘ Owners could now build the engine of their

choice without much problem.
ʼʼ
98 LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS

And SIL continued to produce electronic
ignitions too. This was a great help as
none had been available since Ducati
had stopped producing them in the early
1990s. It was another headache out of the
way for engine builders and completed
the package required to produce engines
on a regular basis.
The stators did benefit from a rewire
and flywheels from lightening to make
them more usable though. The tuning
and street racer scene, certainly for the
Lambretta, was now as strong as it had
ever been. If anyone had doubted its
potential for longevity into the future, they
had now been proved wrong. All of this
happened early on in to the new decade
and now it was time for proceedings to
step up to the next level.
By 2005 there was an avalanche
of parts being manufactured for the
Lambretta in general and its engine
in particular. Some were coming from
abroad and some were coming from
Britain but wherever they were coming
from they were helping owners to
BELOW: The 1980s revisited with this stunning
g Lambretta built byy Nathan Warriner.
produce some great machines. In this
country, leading the way for component
manufacture was MB Developments. By
now the internet age was well and truly
upon us and they were one of the first to
exploit the potential of the online shop.
Every week they would introduce a new
component that helped to make building
a Lambretta so much easier.
Abroad there were also one or two
good creations but one of the best was
the introduction on the outboard disc
brake. Up until now, this had required a
lengthy and complicated conversion. It
had been used on track Lambrettas for
quite some time but was far too expensive
to produce commercially. Now the whole
brake was being cast as one in the Far
East, purposely made to fit straight in
to Lambretta forks. It was necessary
due to the increased performance and
power of the engines that were now being
produced. The old reverse pull system
was no match for modern engines and
even the old hydraulic conversion couldn’t
give enough stopping power.
2000s
It was a clever design and if anything
it was too good, giving immense
stopping power. The upshot was that the
suspension on the front forks would need
improving. This is what producing more
powerful components did; it highlighted
all the other areas that would need to be
developed as well. For the manufacturers,
as usual, it was good news as this meant
more performance related products that
they could produce and sell.
By the middle of the decade the
Lambretta street racer scene had reached
a happy medium. Those who wanted
the most powerful engines and all the
latest products were producing some
great modern looking machines. Those
who wanted the retro look did the same
but with less emphasis on the modern
technology. Overall, there was an increase
in the retro look but using modern engine
components. This was fine but it did go
against the grain of the purists who felt
that if you wanted the older look then you
ought to use older technology. Regardless
of the rights and wrongs, there were
➽
LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS 99
 ‘‘ Modern day
Lambretta street
racers were
starting to use
more and more
technology from
the motorcycle
world.
ʼʼ

100 LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS

 2000s

some stunning creations being produced,

Imola Cylinder Kit

adorned with some of the finest paintwork
yet seen.
There had been some great painters
and paint workshops around since the
late 1970s/early 1980s but there now
seemed to be more than ever. Some
of the work that was being done now
was to an extemporary standard. This
was no disrespect to those that had
produced great work in the past but just
like anything else, paint technology had
moved on. New techniques and paint
formulas gave the opportunity for paint
design to be taken even further than
ever before.
Some of the high-end car
manufacturers and even Formula One
teams had spent vast sums of money
developing paint products and in the end
these became available on the general
market – to eventually appear on both
Lambrettas and Vespas courtesy of the
new wave of street racers.
For years, the ideas and influence of
Formula One cars and MotoGP bikes had When first introduced in 2000, the Imola Lambretta kit received a
been reinterpreted through the medium somewhat quiet reception. Its cost at the time was seen by many as
of scooters and now this seemed to too great for the performance it actually had to offer. Once the true
be on the increase. Not so much the facts were known however, and it was seen to be covering thousands
actual designs of the cars and bikes of miles under its creator Tino Sacchi, the scooter population finally
themselves, but more and more the woke up to its potential. A small block kit that could create over 20bhp
products that sponsored them and their could not be dismissed.
liveries. Quite often a team would get a Once the glowing reviews began to appear, the kit soon started to
new title sponsor and so for a few races sell. It was Tino Sacchi’s first foray in the tuning world and once the
paint the car or bike purely in their colours kit was established he knew he had made the right choice in getting
before reverting back to the original team involved. With the success of the Imola, a quick succession of other
colours. More and more scooters were cylinder kits quickly followed. The Mugello and the Monza each offered
starting to appear with these colours something different and did equally well. This provided the foundation
and logos, with designs based around a for Sacchi to produce a whole raft of other performance related
specific product. products that can be seen on many Lambretta street racers today.
On occasion the result far exceeded
what anyone expected. So a street racer
now had to have the best engine, best
equipment and best paintwork. As the to the time it takes for an idea to be could be implemented in the existing
competition grew even greater so did the accurately drawn up, produced, then TS1 design. During that meeting at the
designs and every time a new machine tested before going on general sale. Even international motorcycle show in Milan,
was unveiled it seemed to raise the bar so, it was obvious that within a year or Ray came across the Airsal stand. Airsal
for the others following on behind. two there would be more competition was a Spanish producer of two-stroke
By now the TS1 kit was 20 years old from a variety of sources. kits and after a quick meeting they were
from a design point of view. Even so, it Though AF Rayspeed could have just sure that they could produce a kit that
was still selling well – probably because, sat back and continued to plug away with would be way beyond anything previously
as an off the shelf kit, it was still the best the TS1 as it was, the company knew conceived. Despite major improvements,
available. In business though there is that in order for it to retain its position as they were confident that it would still
always the chance that others will try to the top seller it would now need to be fit in the original Lambretta engine
move in on the same market. Tino Sacchi taken further. Initially Ray Kemp asked space, which was vital. It was pointless
had done that to a certain extent with his Terry Shepherd, the kit’s original designer, producing something that wouldn’t
three cylinder kits. At this time he was to come up with a revised edition of the fit in the existing space without major
rumoured to be doing even more and TS1. Several ideas and concepts were modifications to the frame. One of the
taking what he had already even further. put forward but none that improved TS1 kit’s key attributes was that it would
Other companies too were rumoured significantly what they already had. fit directly on to a Lambretta without
to be developing kits of their own, soon Nevertheless, they took the revised any problem.
to be launched on the market. This was plans to the kit’s original manufacturer Rumours soon circulated that the TS1
never going to happen overnight due Gilardoni to see if the improvements was to be replaced but little else was

➽
LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS 101
 Iwis Chains
Lambretta chains had always suffered from neglect –
mainly due to the awkwardness of gaining access
to them. As they were not visible without removing
the chain case, this meant more often than not
they would be left stretched and unadjusted. This
problem was more greatly exaggerated on
powerful engines.
Though Iwis chains had been around for a while there
had never been great availability of them, preventing
their use on a larger scale. That situation was
remedied in the 2000s when they were made accessible
to every Lambretta tuner and dealer. Offering great
strength and durability, they became almost standard
equipment in any tuned Lambretta engine.

known at the time. Talk surrounding its
performance quickly began to do the
rounds and soon it was being called the
TS2. A lot of what was said proved to be
untrue – especially the idea that the TS1
was going to be replaced. AF Rayspeed
wanted to continue with the TS1 and
it would have been stupid not to do
so as it was still such a big seller. The
company already had the Rapido range,
which was the cheaper line, and the
TS1 which was more expensive
but more powerful. Now they could
introduce the new kit at the top of
the range and so in theory cover the
performance requirements of almost
every Lambretta owner.
When details of the new kit were
released a few months prior to its
launch, everyone was shocked to hear
what it had to offer. After well over a year
of rumour and speculation, no one was
expecting to hear what they did. The
new kit would feature an eight petal reed
valve block and be aided by two extra
boost ports. There was also much more
transfer area in to the cylinder and two
extra ports on the exhaust. Claims of
20% more power over the existing TS1
kit were claimed, a staggering increase
on an already tuned kit. It was aluminium
in construction and Nikasil lined, just like
the TS1.
The biggest revelation was how they
managed to fit the large reed block and
manifold without it hitting the frame,
even though it was close. Several press
releases were put out to the scootering
media well in advance, backing these
claims. It had been two years in the
making and by the beginning of 2007
many Lambretta owners were now
making enquires to AF Rayspeed
about purchasing one. This was hardly
surprising given that the claimed power
output was said to be over 25bhp. In
standard form a realistic 90mph would
be achievable, all from a bolt-on kit.
Regardless of what it could do out of the
box, tuners were already looking at the
idea of getting well over 30bhp with
little modification.
The kit was launched in the summer
of 2007 as a 225cc version and was
named the RB after Ray and Ben
Kemp. The excitement it created was
phenomenal, unlike anything seen

‘‘ Talk surrounding its performance quickly began to do the rounds

and soon it was being called the TS2.
ʼʼ
102 LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS
 2000s

before. By now the internet virtually themselves. Engine builders were offered performance-related products
controlled all the instantaneous news busier than ever – some doing three a were selling out, all because
and forums and chat rooms were week. Painters were getting commissions something new had arrived to capture
dominated by what was happening left, right and centre. All those that the imagination.
with the RB kit. Even before any kits
had appeared on the road or the
dealers’ shops for that matter some
Lambretta owners had commissioned
full custom machines based around an
RB engine.
Meanwhile, the race was on to develop
a new exhaust to complement the kit.
That wasn’t all though, with the power the
kit was kicking out and its potential even
greater almost every component needed
looking at again or upgrading. Ray Kemp
was quoted as saying: “The RB kit has
taken the Lambretta casing to its very
limit.” What he should have said is that
it had taken the Lambretta as we know it
to its limit.
There was no doubt that the kit’s
introduction rejuvenated the street racer
scene, certainly that of the Lambretta.
A flurry of custom Lambrettas being built
and featured in the scootering press ABOVE AND BELOW: These scooters, built in the 2000s, prove that there were still those who
seemed to stir up others to have a go wished to hark back to the early days of the street racer image.

➽
LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS 103
 Mikuni Tmx 35

ABOVE: Whether used on a road going or race Lambretta engine,

the setup and response of the Mikuni TMX 35 carburettor is
impressive.

The Mikuni TMX 35 carburettor had been around for
years but started to be used more commonly on the
Lambretta in the 2000s. It soon became the popular
choice of many tuners as it had many great qualities
the other makes didn’t possess.
The pilot jet remained virtually the same whatever
engine it was fitted to, so the fine tuning came by way
of the main jet and needle. With a range of several
needles from weak to rich and easy main jet removal,
set up became much easier. As it did not suffer slide
or main body wear compared to other makes, the
Mikuni’s longevity was far greater.
An added bonus of the Mikuni carburettor was
fuel efficiency being significantly improved, which
was important considering the many thirsty
Lambretta cylinder kits that were now being
produced. Rubber mounted like all other carburettors,
it benefitted from being much lighter and so caused
less strain on the rubber, reducing the chance of
it splitting.
Today the majority of tuned Lambretta engines,
certainly the big block ones, use the Mikuni
carburettor because of its ease to setup and the
great crisp throttle response it offers.

All the other manufacturers now
began to think about the future. Any that
were thinking of developing a new kit
needed to do something truly special to
produce something of equal or better
performance. Those who were producing
other components knew that if they got
the design right then their wares would
sell. The RB had effectively secured the
future of the Lambretta street racer as
everyone from owners to manufacturers
and developers was now prepared to
invest in its future.
It soon became apparent that bettering
the RB would be a hard task and one that
was not easily achievable. The only kit
manufacturer who was even prepared to
attempt it at the time was Tino Sacchi,
who was still investing heavily in new
products. The rest seemed to concentrate
their efforts of powerful but reliable
kits as there was still a big market for
these. There would always be the speed
heads who wanted the fastest and most
powerful machine but that came at a
price. Though there were initially a few
niggles with the RB, it soon proved to
be reliable as a kit. However, keeping
it on the road required a high level of
maintenance. A lot of owners didn’t want
that and were happy to sacrifice some of
the speed and power for a slightly less
maintenance-intensive option.
Where did all this leave the Vespa
though, which had played such an
important role throughout the 1980s and
into the 1990s? The answer really was
nowhere, which was a sad state of affairs.
Looking back just 20 years before, the
Vespa was the most popular scooter of
the two but that had now turned full circle.
One of the reasons was possibly because
it was still available to buy, whereas the
Lambretta hadn’t been for almost 40
years. The Lambretta had gained cult

‘‘ The RB had effectively secured the future of the

Lambretta street racer.
ʼʼ
104 LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS
 2000s

➽
LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS 105
 Pulse Engine Tachometers
Puuls
se eng
gine
e tacho
omeeters
s or re
ev countters
s are
e fa
ar better fo
or me
easuring
g
engine revolutions. They don’t require a power source from the stator,

‘‘
draining power. The idea has been around for a while and is how
the Scitsu system works. However, with advances in electronics the With multiple
measuring device can be as small as a matchbox and self-powered for
many thousands of hours. Its small size benefits both Lambretta and ports and a large
Vespa owners as it can be directly mounted on the headset. There are
many different types on the market and most will run on any type of reed block the
ignition system.
power created
was phenomenal
for a small frame
Vespa.
ʼʼ
street racer; people would build them but
they would not be seen out on the road
very often. That was left to those who
wanted to restore a T5 or turn an old PX
in to a street racer. Though there were
far fewer in comparison to the Lambretta
they tended to be fantastic creations
that helped to keep the Vespa side of the
scene alive.
Within a year of the RB being
launched, a 250cc version appeared.
This would require the casing mouth to
be bored out to accept the wider spigot
so any casing that had this conversion
carried out couldn’t be put back. This
wasn’t much of a problem as new Indian
200cc casings were still readily available.
Though the 250cc version sounded good
it didn’t offer much more performance
than the 225cc so it wasn’t as big a seller.
However, it did appeal to the tuners who
saw this as the peak specification engine
available at the time. Both versions when
status by now – something the Development would continue, with slightly tweaked and using one of the
Vespa could never do while it was still small frame engines in the main, and now several aftermarket pipes available
in production. most of this would come from Europe were able to achieve well over 30bhp
Back in the 1980s it was easy to where there was still a big demand. Most without too much work; certainly without
tune a traditional Vespa for fast rally manufacturers were small businesses having to modify the casings as had been
touring. With Piaggio’s big investment based in Italy dedicated to producing necessary in the past.
in four-stroke automatics, the GTS was race cylinders and performance related There was also a new breed of engine
quickly becoming the chosen rally touring parts. There were still big race and sprint tuners starting to appear who were
machine. Originally ridiculed by traditional championships held in Italy where the looking at revolutionary new ideas when
Vespa owners, its powerful and reliable market for this kind of product thrived. it came to tuning a Lambretta. With the
engine with high cruising speed had Since the Zirri kit championed by PM Lambretta being a two-stroke, in theory
started to lure in many of them. Anyone Tuning, nothing major had been brought any and every performance modification
who regularly attended rallies and did in to the UK, but soon enough a new made to any form of two-stroke could
a lot of mileage could do so in comfort generation of kits by Quattrini arrived. be applied. This movement was led by
and without any effort or excessive With multiple ports and a large reed Charlie Edmonds, who had dominated the
maintenance. This now left a smaller block the power created was phenomenal BSSO scooter racing championships for
majority who would treat the old two- for a small frame Vespa. Just like the Zirri several years. Though scooter racing was
stroke Vespa with the same cult status before it though, these were basically struggling with the number of entrants
as that of the Lambretta. Though dealers race engines. They were ideal for those falling there were still enough to make it
would cater for their needs it was a far cry that wanted power and performance worthwhile doing.
from the glory days with only a few really but impractical for daily road use. This Charlie was honing his skills out on
specialising in tuning products. would be the pattern for the small frame the track while at the same time creating

106 LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS


Modern D a y S ix - P la te C lu tc h
The modern day six-plate clutch took over from the
older side case packer plate clutch first used in the
1990s. With far greater clutch plate technology, this
allowed thinner plates to be made compared to the old
thicker cork type ones.
With improvements to the crown wheel clutch
housing, this allowed a six-plate clutch to fit in the
original space designed by Innocenti for its four-plate
ABOVE: The deepened and much lighter spoked
crown wheel enabling more room for clutch
plates to fit.
2000s
version. This has made the clutch much easier to fit
and maintain.
Many manufacturers began to create their own
unique version which could withstand modern day
Lambretta power output. To this day, it is still one
of the most heavily contested and competitive
component areas with new designs constantly coming
on to the market.
ABOVE: Six plates can now comfortably sit in the same space originally
designed for four thanks to technological advances in design.
BELOW AND LEFT: Two views of Richard Taylor’s
seven-plate Lambretta clutch. One of the many
different designs now produced to cope with the
power of a modern day tuned Lambretta engine.
➽
LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS 107
 2000s

‘‘ The choice for the owner was greater than ever with more
power being created along with more products.
some powerful engines. This was done
by using new techniques carried over
from what the successful motorcycle
tuners were doing. Though this proved
controversial on the track, as other
racers couldn’t work out why he was so
dominant, for owners it was a godsend.
Taking their Lambretta engine to a tuner
who could get vast power out of it was all
that really mattered.
There was now the possibility that
engine tuners could become redundant.
So many manufacturers were now
announcing cylinder kits for the Lambretta
that it seemed demand for their skills
must surely diminish. However, whenever
any kit was launched someone would
inevitably work out a way of improving its
performance. While that continued to be a
reality there would always be some sort of
demand for tuners one way or another.
Before anyone else could produce
another kit however, AF Rayspeed
launched the final version in the RB
series – the RB 20. This was the small
block version and now meant that
they had covered every option that a
Lambretta owner would need. Its 66mm
bore meant that for the first time a
small block kit would have a genuine
200cc capacity.
Again this opened up the door to more
options when choosing a tuned engine
for the Lambretta. As 2010 dawned, the
choice for the owner was greater than
ever with more power being created along
with more products. When Lambretta
ended production almost 40 years earlier,
no one in their right mind could have
imagined that it would turn out like this.
When building a Lambretta street
racer, the choice was so great it could
ʼʼ
at times be confusing to know exactly
how to go about it. Of course anyone
who manufactured a product would
tell you theirs was the best, even if it
wasn’t. The forums which by now were
the main way to find anything out were
awash with opinions and it was difficult
to know who to believe and what to do.
Now more than ever, businesses that
built scooters would try to use specific
brands that they knew and trusted.
The problem was, customers often
specified what they wanted fitted, or
had already bought it and handed it
over, demanding that their part be
installed. If confusion reigned now then
it was only going to get even more
complicated as more options than ever
were about to become available to
the world of the Lambretta and Vespa
street racer. •

RB Kit

ABOVE: The RB engine would happily fit into ABOVE: As tuners began to

a Lambretta frame even with its larger develop the RB kit,
eight-petal reed block. The carburettor still exited some wished to keep the
on the right hand side, the same as the TS1 did. capacity a secret.

In 2007 AF Rayspeed introduced the successor to its
TS1, namely the RB. Never before had a bolt-on kit
offered so much power and performance out of the
box for the Lambretta. Made of similar construction
to the TS1, it offered a much more efficient reed block
and multiple transfer ports.
Power from a standard kit offered 25+bhp if set
up right and could easily allow the rider to achieve
90mph. In subsequent years, some tuners have
developed this kit’s potential immensely with over
40bhp being achieved. Though there are now other
kits offering more power, when it was first
introduced it set the benchmark others would have to
reach. Today it still sells well and is undoubtedly the
cylinder kit that has kept the Lambretta street racer
scene going.

108 LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS

ABOVE AND BELOW: Specials of the 100mph Lambretta Club always displayed the team’s current sponsors.

LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS 109

 2010 to t he
Pr esent Day

I
t is hard to imagine what Britain
would be like without a scooter
scene – particularly for all those
thousands of people who have been
involved in it over the years. It has
gone through ups and downs since
the 1950s but it has always recovered
in the end.
Every aspect of the scene has had
peaks and troughs and the street racer
is no exception, certainly when it
comes to the Vespa. The Lambretta
though seems to exist in its own unique
world and continues to go from strength
to strength.

Beyond
the realms
of
Possibility
 ➽
LAMBRETTA
A & VESPA STREET RACERS 111

ABOVE AND PREVIOUS PAGE: The old 1970s Yamaha speed block theme has always been
popular among Lambretta owners. The black and white one is a modern interpretation of it.
Any vehicle that is now regarded as a
classic or which has cult status seems
to attract manufacturers who are ready,
willing and able to produce products
for it. The majority of these are specific
components that will either allow the
owner to restore the vehicle or allow
it to be kept running and road worthy.
In the case of the Lambretta, when
this started to happen there was some
BELOW: Paying homage to the cafe racer which in reality is where the roots of the scene began all those years ago.
criticism that its originality was being
taken away.
While it was fun for those who enjoyed
hunting down that elusive original part, it
eventually became an almost impossible
task to complete a restoration due to
the rarity of the parts, let alone the cost.
The aftermarket parts industry emerged
because there was a demand and one
that keeps growing.
During the early 2000s, the availability
of Lambrettas imported from Italy
along with newly made components to
support them secured the next wave
or generation of owners. Again it was
the repeating cycle of initial ownership
then a need to modify or customise the
machine. It was obvious that tuning
would play an important role and by
2010 the next cycle was ready to
peak. This time though, the number of
manufacturers involved would be bigger
than ever – allowing the Lambretta to be
taken further than ever seemed possible.
Everyone would always look to what
AF Rayspeed was doing to give an
indicator of which direction the
industry was likely to take. For
decades this company had been the
biggest player and cleverly invested
in ideas that would improve the
performance of the Lambretta. However,
with the RB now fully settled into their
product range, was there any need to
take things further? The whole range of
products for Lambretta performance
was now covered.
 Belt Drive
2010 he
o tthe
tto
Pr e
Pr se
es ennt D
Daay

The belt drive idea was first adapted for the Lambretta by Lambretta.it now had the time and resources to
in 2010. The idea was to make power delivery through the transmission tackle them.
much quieter and smoother. The other advantages would be fewer Maybe there was an element of envy
moving parts and longer servicing intervals. It was possible that on the part of the other manufacturers
the much lighter weight of the components would also mean less about what the AF Rayspeed had
percentage loss of power through the transmission, although this achieved. Perhaps it was more an
hasn’t been proven to date. ambition to enjoy that degree of
The initial test machine, a Stage 4 200cc GP, covered several success themselves. Lambretta
thousand miles without any problems or wear. There were doubts that ownership was still continuing to grow
the belt would be able to take the power of the high bhp Lambretta and showing no signs of slowing down.
engines now available so a stronger belt was made available. Despite LCGB membership was at a record high
the almost perfect test results, the belt drive system has never really since its re-formation in 1977 and rallies
taken off but is still available to buy. were as busy as ever. All this translated
in to continued product development
with many thinking now must be the
time to take the plunge.
Tino Sacchi, the other big investor
in cylinder kits, was going to continue
regardless of the market strength as he
was so passionate about the Lambretta.
His next rumoured project was to be an
upgrade of the Monza kit aptly named
Super Monza. This had been developed
in conjunction with Charlie Edmonds
and was said to produce over 30bhp
off the shelf.
The idea of this kit was to produce
a full top end package or as it was
There was the Rapido for those really exploited the full potential of the labelled “a total engine solution”. This
who wanted the traditional cast barrel Lambretta engine. Maybe for them it was would consist of cylinder, crankshaft,
approach, at an affordable price. The time to concentrate on other areas of carburettor, ignition and expansion
TS1 remained, now the backbone of Lambretta performance instead. There pipe. Up till now any kit that was
Lambretta performance for almost were plenty of other aspects of the available could have a multitude of
three decades, and last but not least engine that needed bringing in to the components that would fit from several
the RB which was the cylinder kit that 21st century and at least AF Rayspeed manufacturers. This always led to the

‘‘ There were plenty

of other aspects of the
engine that needed
bringing in to the
21st century.
ʼʼ

ABOVE: Formula One has been a huge

source of inspiration for street racers over
the years. Here the 2012 Ferrari scheme has ABOVE: Street sleepers, as they are labelled, have become more popular in time on the older
been adapted. Series 1 and 2 Lambretta models. Under the panels of this example lies a Targa Twin engine.

➽
LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS 113
 Digital
Speedometers
In the last few years the
move to digital speedometers
has become more and
more prevalent both for the
Lambretta and the Vespa. In
the case of the Lambretta with
its poor history of inaccurate
and unreliable speedometers, it
has been a welcome shift. The
leader in this seems to be SIP,
which makes the speedometer
to fit in the original shape, and
Trail Tech. The Trail Tech Vapor
is not the original shape but is
small enough in size to fit in to
the headset.
Both makes offer more than
just a speedometer though,
including a temperature gauge
and rev counter among other
things. This does away with the
other option of loads of different
dials and clocks, and less
power is required to run it.
problem of inconsistency in performance
from one kit to the next. For example,
a kit using a Dellorto carburettor could
vary in performance vastly from one using
a Mikuni. The idea of the Super Monza
was to use one unique set of components
so that every engine built would be
virtually identical.
The kit though was dogged with
problems during development which
didn’t help as all the usual internet hype
was built up. From incorrect casting of
the kits (port layout) to getting the correct
exhaust manufactured, there were hold
ups and delays throughout. The kit’s
biggest problem lay in the fact that while
114 LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS
the prototype produced the quoted
power, that was difficult to translate in
to production. It carried a hefty price tag
and needed to deliver from the outset.
The popular Internet forums of the
time acted as both judge and jury, and if
a product didn’t live up to expectations
in a few swift posts it could be virtually
sunk. That was probably the Super
Monza’s downfall as it didn’t live up to
the expectations of some of the first
purchasers. It was a warning to other
would-be manufacturers to make sure
their product did exactly what it said on
the tin.
Though the Super Monza was a good
product, it required a strict setup process
if it was to perform successfully. This
took the do-it-yourself owner out of the
equation so immediately it had a much
more limited market. Even though it is
still available its sales have never been
as good as it was thought they would
be. At the same time, Sacchi was busy
producing a whole host of other products
aimed at performance.
It seemed hard to believe he had
the time to produce so much but by
working closely with product testers,
somehow he did. Soon enough a new
cleverly designed rear shock absorber
was launched. Many manufacturers had
previously produced their own version of
this part but there had been a tendency
in the past for these to be converted to
use on a Lambretta from other vehicles.
Tino’s answer was to specifically
design one suited to the Lambretta’s
needs. With a load settings options
and adjustable lengths it showed that
the best way forward was to design a
product from scratch rather than convert
a product used on a different application.
No sooner was that done then he started
working on the front dampers. One or
two other manufacturers had started
to produce their own, such as BGM.
Before that the only answer had been
to use motorcycle steering dampers,
which were not ideally suited. Again
Tino produced a purpose-designed
product and though initial testing showed
it needing improving, once this was
done it proved to work flawlessly. With
good reviews and great reliability both
products sold well and still do. It showed
that when you get a product right, its
reputation alone will almost be enough
in the heavily contested market of
Lambretta performance.
Not content with all this, Tino’s biggest
product was ready for launch after almost
seven years of development. It was a
complete engine, built from the drawing
board up, and paid homage to Innocenti’s
Project 137. This had been Innocenti’s
attempt to produce a twin cylinder engine
for the Lambretta. Though it was ready
to go in to production in 1968, due to
manufacturing costs it was shelved
and unheard of till the prototype was
discovered during the 1980s.
Tino felt like there was unfinished
business and, for him, producing a twin
cylinder Lambretta engine was more of a
personal crusade. With the engine taking
ideas from the original, a total of 50 were
to be produced. Its price tag of around
£8000 put it out of the reach of most
Lambretta owners and some questioned
whether anyone would buy one at that
price. To most people’s surprise they did
and to date more than 150 have been
produced and sold. Technically, it was
not a tuned engine and the cost was
always going to prevent it from being
further developed.
However, due to increased sales,
slowly it has had some improvements
made mainly around the exhaust which
had been holding the engine back. The
Targa Twin, allegedly so-named because
Tino had to sell his Porsche Targa to
finance it, has cemented its place in
the street racer scene slowly but surely.
Though not the most powerful Lambretta
engine available, its unique attributes will
always give it some sort of desirability.
It made people realise that it is possible
to create a Lambretta engine from the
ground up. Though the cost made it far
harder to produce, owners were willing to
pay for the right product.
Soon enough as the second decade
of the millennium got under way, so did
the manufacturers who were producing
kits. MB Developments was now
producing several versions of the RT kit,
as it called it, with BGM. Ron Moss was
soon to launch his Avanti 225 kit; this
being specifically designed to run cooler,
thereby resolving a consistent problem
suffered by Lambretta engines. Richard
Taylor, who had fair success with his GT
185 kit, was ready to step up production
to a 200cc and 225cc big block version.
Harry Barlow of Pro Porting fame was
also producing an aluminium multi port
barrel with a huge capacity.
The list was getting longer and
longer, almost by the day, with rumours
appearing on social media about who
would be next to take the plunge. Tuners
were no longer simply building on and
developing existing kits – they were
producing their own.
 ‘‘ The popular
internet forums
of the time acted
both as judge and

ʼʼ
jjury.

ABOVE LEFT AND BELOW: Vespa street racers in 2017 have

begun to take on a more stealthy, moody look.

➽
 2010 he
o tthe
tto
Pr e
Pr se
es ennt D
Daay
Nevertheless, the problem remained
that significant initial investment was
necessary to produce a big enough
quantity to pay for all the tooling and
keep the overall cost down. With an
already established market for kits,
adding more would only dilute sales for
each manufacturer. Though Lambretta
ownership was still significant and
owners were prepared to spend big sums
ABOVE AND BELOW: No matter what is new to the scene you will always get the classic AF
metallic paint approach, now and in the future.
116 LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS
of money, the market was never going to
increase enough for all the manufacturers
to sell their kits in big numbers.
The only way to guarantee sales would
be to try and offer something better
than what the opposition had. Going
down the power route would always be
tricky because, as the Super Monza had
already proved, if it didn’t deliver what
was quoted right at the very beginning
then the reputation would suffer. A sporty
name helped it sound good but that
wasn’t enough on its own. The choice
was now vast, with up to 30 different
options available between small and big
block engines.
Most kits would be advertised or
promoted with some sort of nice power
graph to back it up. The question
remained though, was this a true
reflection of the kit’s real performance or
something concocted to make it seem
better than it actually was? The other
problem was, sometimes if a kit wasn’t
set up to the exact tolerances specified
then it could be lacking in power through
no fault of the kit, just poor build quality
of the engine.
More than ever, owners would wait to
see a kit’s review in Scootering magazine
or the reactions on the forums of
those who were the first to have one
fitted. Quite often, the reports would
significantly sway the decision of the
majority of those who were thinking of
purchasing a specific kit. However good
the write up was though, it still wouldn’t
be enough to sell hundreds of kits
instantly. There were way too many on
the market now for that to ever happen.
Tuners would soon take a look at the
latest kit and give their opinion. Quite
often they would say a kit needed this
 DTC New Breed

After two decades away from the scooter scene,
DTC owner Brendan McNally finally made a
comeback. In the meantime his name had become
legendary, being associated with some of the finest
race paint schemes ever to adorn either Lambretta
or Vespa. It was a welcome return under the DTC
New Breed moniker and it’s clear to see that Brendan
hasn’t lost his touch. The idea was to take a more
relaxed approach this time round but enquires
are flooding in. With the man himself showing no
preference for either make over the other, his new
method of using different colours is clearly paying off.

or that to make its performance better,
which would beg the question: why
wasn’t it done in the first place? Possibly
this was done to get the customer to buy
their tuned version of it and this kind of
practise was nothing new. These type
of tricks had been around since the TS1
days; the problem was though it left the
customer even more confused. There
were more kits available than ever before,
more modified versions available from
tuners and hundreds of opinions readily
available to read.
And if that wasn’t enough the support
product side went in to overdrive once
again. The perfect example was the
clutch, which now seemed to have
its own separate mass market. Again,
reviews would vary widely as to which
offered best value for money. Every week
rumours would surface of a new product
or version of one which was due out
shortly. This would confuse customers
more and more, with many waiting for
a few months to let the dust settle on a
product before deciding whether it or
not to buy it. The good thing to come
out of all this was manufacturers had
to keep the quality of their products at
a high standard. If they didn’t, a poor
reputation would almost finish it in the
wake of the competition.
With all that was going on within the
Lambretta ranks, the transformation
that was happening with small frame
Vespas was just as significant. Though
big production of kits continued, it
was concentrated in the European
market with very little sold in Britain by
comparison. The racing and more so
the sprinting scene was very much alive
in mainland Europe and dominated by
the Vespa. The small frame Vespa was
the ideal choice for sprinting and in Italy
the rivalry was intense. This had led to
several tuning shops producing not only
high-powered kits, but now complete
engines. Many designed on CAD and
machined from billet, allowing kits to be
fitted that had immense power output
well in excess of 30bhp. Though only
a few would be sold here, those that
purchased one had the sole intention of
sprinting them.
Scooter sprinting in Britain was going
through a renaissance, just like circuit
racing. This was the first time that
the Vespa could compete against the
Lambretta competitively and quite often
they did – winning regularly over their

➽
LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS 117
 Engine Casings
ABOVE AND LEFT: The Misano case
produced by Lambretta.it. using ideas
first introduced on the Targa Twin engine.

For decades Lambretta owners had to make do with

the standard Lambretta casing first designed and
introduced by Innocenti some 60 years ago now.
Though it has served well, those wishing to get more
power – certainly from the 200cc big block – have
been hampered by its limitations.
With the development of vastly powerful kits the
need to improve the crank area has always been a big
concern. Using modern methods of CAD design, it has
now been possible to get a lot of the solutions needed
drawn up before casting commences. Lambretta.it first
came up with their answer in 2013 using technology
they had derived from designing the Targa Twin engine.
This has been followed by Richard Taylor with his GT
Intercontinental casing and Casa Performance which,
out of the three, seems the most advanced.
All three manufacturers have played their part in
making sure that Lambretta engine development ABOVE AND BELOW: Casa Performance’s casing, the latest on to
continues long into the future and so to the the market allowing a wide array of cylinder options to be fitted.
continuation of the Lambretta street racer.

LEFT: Richard Taylor’s British-made Intercontinental casing which

complements perfectly his growing ‘GT’ brand.

Italian counterparts. Though the Vespa
street racer was more of an underground
scene now, it was nice to see the old
rivalry sparked up, just like in the 1980s.
It was also reassuring to know that there
were still people out there willing to keep
the tradition alive that was once so great.
Whether or not the development
that was going on in the Vespa tuning
houses had any impact, the already
busy Lambretta market was about to
get even more congested, if that was
possible. Having already created the
Targa Twin using a brand new casing,
Tino Sacchi was now ready to introduce
his new Misano Super Case – a single
cylinder Lambretta casing. With room
to fit a bigger crank and the option to
change seals from both sides without
removing the crank, it showed significant
improvements over the original design.

118 LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS

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It was a bold move to make but the

technology had already been produced
and proven with the Targa casing. By
this time production of the SIL 200cc
casing had ceased, leaving a gap in the ABOVE: The small frame still leads the way for the Vespa and modification using the best
market. Even so, there was still a risk engineering continues relentlessly.
that the Indians could restart production BELOW: Madspeed proving that the SX style can look just as good as the GP with the modern
in the future but in the meantime there Lambretta street racer look.

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LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS 119
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ABOVE: This Vespa 90SS looks retro but is

fitted with a works Quattrini engine.

BELOW: A perfect example of how the

retro image and modern day technology
can marry up to create a stunning ABOVE: Eric Cope’s sub 13 second quarter mile street racer, going way beyond
b yond
be d th
tthe
he lilimits
its off
Lambretta street racer. what the Lambretta was ever meant to do.

‘‘
It’s a reassuring sign when manufacturers come along
and invest heavily in the future.
ʼʼ
were no indications this would actually
happen.
All of these improvements to the
Five-Speed Gearbox
Having just four gears has long been the Lambretta’s biggest
bigg
Lambretta certainly helped to stir up disadvantage. The idea of a five-speed gearbox has been the dream
the imagination of owners. There were of Lambretta owners since the 1960s. Several early attempts to create
some great street racers being produced one were made as far back as the early 1970s with the Royspeed and
and this was seen not only on the road Omega five-speed boxes. However, both relied on thinning the original
but more competitively on the custom gears to make space for the fifth. This made them too weak and
circuit, which was equally important. resulted in failure.
Lambrettas that were built to be shown Since 2012, several new five-speed gearboxes have been produced
were always flamboyant and when it which have the gap reduced between each individual gear cog,
came to a street racer that equated to thus freeing up enough space to fit a fifth gear without reducing the
every trick part that was available. thickness of the rest. Though it has been tough to develop and has
From the latest specification engine not been without its problems, the advantages are worth the effort.
down to the highest quality hydraulic The extra gear means there is less need to produce such a wide
hose, every component was carefully spread of power when tuning the cylinder. Acceleration through the
selected. Then there was the paintwork gears is greater and so too the top end speed as the gap between the
and competition between the painters top two gears is far less, preventing the engine from dropping out of
was just as intense. A street racer that the power band.
was winning at all the shows was good The cost of producing one is substantial and getting the fitment
advertising for them. The painters were 100% accurate is crucial – which has put a lot of owners off buying
willing to produce the most complicated one. However, like all areas of the Lambretta engine that have been
and elaborate designs to showcase their developed in the past nothing is ever as easy as it sounds. Without
work. It was good to see the competition manufacturers pushing the boundaries, everyone would be riding
hotting up once again and it showed around on near-standard machines.
that the scene was well and truly alive.
Whenever the scooter scene enters
one of its slumps, there are always those
who fear that this might be the end.
Those in the industry worry about the
future of their businesses and owners
with multiple machines worry about
their investment going down in value.
However, it is a reassuring sign when
manufacturers come along and invest
heavily in the future – and this had been
happening for several years by the
mid-2010s; not just in the performance
arena but on the restoration side as well.
Both had seen heavy investment which
looked like it was going to continue. The ABOVE: The Cyclone Five, first introduced ABOVE: The latest five-speed gearbox to
by Rimini Lambretta Centre in 2012. enter the Lambretta market in 2017, by
dealers would follow suit as they felt Lambretta.it.
sure that all would be okay. If anyone
was still unsure about the future, the
best way to gauge what was going on
was to look at the rallies and events.
There were so many these days it was a
wonder where all the people came from
to attend them. High participation was a
signal that the scooter scene in general
was healthy.
There was also a significant return to
the number getting involved in scooter
racing. For years it had struggled, only
surviving by piggybacking on motorcycle
racing events. One of the main problems
was the cost; racing wasn’t and never
will be cheap. With riders investing large
sums to go racing, a small grid would
be off-putting to say the least. Numbers
had slowly been growing for a while
and a more encouraging sign was an ABOVE: MB Developments’ bespoke made-to-order five-speed gearbox, based on the
increase in the number of riders getting company’s 2007 design and available since 2016.
involved who were new to the sport.

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LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS 123
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In the past the track was where the
development took place for products
which would eventually find their way
onto road. This didn’t happen as much
now because the manufacturers had
far greater technology to produce the
product in house. What was still needed
though was the advertising opportunity
afforded by the sight of a kit or product
performing well on the track.
The governing body of scooter sport
in Britain, the BSSO, had worked hard
for several years to not only get more
riders involved but also to promote the
championship and give it the recognition
it needed. With a higher profile generally
and widening coverage, it would be far
easier for riders to gain sponsorship.
The more sponsorship, the more people
who would go racing and the whole thing
would start to gather momentum. Crowd
numbers had started to rise significantly
too, which was just as important.
With all the kits and products now
available, there was no better place
for them to be demonstrated. Many
riders would fit a certain product to their
machine as a form of sponsorship. The
manufacturer would get advertising and
the chance to test their product for free. It
was a happy arrangement for both parties
as once again the track became a hotbed
for prototype parts.
While there was plenty of enthusiasm
on the part of all those involved, scooter
racing still needed fresh impetus to keep
it going in the future, and in 2016 two
things happened which would provide
that impetus. First Casa Lambretta,
the Italian parts manufacturer run by
Vittorio Tessera, decided to enter the
performance market.
For years they had only concentrated
on remaking original Lambretta parts
even though they had briefly produced a
cylinder kit a few years earlier. The reason
for this decision possibly had something
to do with a rivalry with Tino Sacchi
and Lambretta.it. Whatever the reason
though, this was good for the road going
Lambretta owner as a wealth of new and
innovative products were about to be
introduced. Under the Casa Performance
banner, there was no holding them back.
Not only were several kits produced but
also new casings, cranks, ignitions,
hubs, disc brakes and a whole host of
other parts.
What took everyone by surprise was
not only the sheer number of clever and
innovative ideas they were coming out
with, but the speed at which they were
being launched. More often than not,
most manufacturers would produce
one or two ideas a year; Casa Performance
was launching one or two a month. The
kits were producing great power – well
over 40bhp with the complete engine
package. While this was great news it
still needed promoting though as Casa
Lambretta had never had any connection
with the performance market before.
Advertising would play an important
role of course but to get the point over
more directly they needed to be seen to
be involved in some way. This was done
by entering the 2016 BSSO scooter class
in the most spectacular way possible
– with two riders from Italy on fully
prepared machines using as many Casa
Performance products as possible.
With a full motorhome and a mobile
workshop that wouldn’t have looked
out of place at a MotoGP race, it was
impressive to say the least. The budget
for the season was huge and something
that had never been seen before in British
scooter racing history. It was good to see
such involvement and it attracted great
numbers of the scootering community to
come and see. The team had a good year
and spent the majority of the races at the
front of the grid.

Push Down Chain Tensioner

All Series 1, 2 and 3 Lambrettas originally had the transmission chain tension
adjusted by means of pushing the tensioner upwards. Problems arose when fitting ng
different sprocket combinations which meant that quite often half link chains or in
some cases stretched chains were the only option to get the correct fit. With greater
ater
gearing options required as the power of Lambretta engines has increased, this
problem has become increasingly evident.
The solution was to follow the idea of the J range Lambretta, which has a push
down tensioner. This allows a far greater option of sprocket combinations withou ut
the need for odd chain sizes. The result was the development of a strong push do own
tensioner to enable this to happen. Several have come on the market over the las st
few years, making the job of varied sprocket combinations and chains to fit them ffar ABOVE: One of the new
easier to achieve. types of push down chain
tensioners now available.

ABOVE: Pushing down on the chain makes sprocket combinations ABOVE: With more power has come the need for bigger
far easier to achieve as one chain length fits several options. front sprockets, up to 21 teeth from the original 15.

124 LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS

 ‘‘ Once again the competition
was being stoked up.
The second major event to hit racing
in 2016 was long time Lambretta
enthusiast and entrepreneur Andy
Francis’ success in pushing forward
a production class. It should have
happened before with the TS1 and the
T5 but somehow never did. Though a
class had to be established, which takes
time, the BSSO was not going to turn
this opportunity down. Based around the
Lambretta Series 3 and an RB20 engine,
it would allow riders to start racing on an
even footing and also limit the budget
that needed to be spent.
The idea of a production class was to
highlight the riders’ skills as the
machines would be technically equal.
This bought forward the interest of
ʼʼ
several racers who were keen to showcase
their riding talent. Not only were old time
racers entering, but also newcomers
which was more important than anything
for the sport’s future.
With so much going on, this meant far
greater coverage in all areas of the scooter
press and the forums and social media
were alive with discussion. All this would
filter out on to the road as the new and in
some cases old technology was constantly
put on view. There was no doubt that
both introductions had boosted scooter
racing hugely and helped secure its future.
Just to add fuel to the fire, it was also to
be a great year for scooter sprinting.
With several riders using different
tuners, once again the competition was
LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS
ABOVE AND TOP: Both the Lambretta and the
Vespa are still used for sprinting and often
shock the motorcycle world with the times
they can achieve.
being stoked up. Both Charlie Edmonds
of Performance Tuning and Darrell Taylor
of Taylor Tuning were about to go head
to head in a year that would see road
going scooters complete the quarter mile
in under 13 seconds and in top speed
events reaching 110mph. With both the
Super Monza and RB 250 cylinder kits
being used, together their tuning skills
were producing more than 40bhp out
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of the respective kits. This proved that
tuning was still an option to create great
power out of a Lambretta engine and
that the art of two-stoke tuning within the
scene was well and truly still alive.
All these developments pushed others
to produce more and more tuning related
products. Richard Taylor finally produced
his Intercontinental GT Lambretta casing
which matched perfectly to his recently
introduced GT 200 and 225 kits. Tino
Sacchi continued to develop other areas
of the engine and Lambretta in general,
possibly reacting to Casa Performance
entering the fray. All this competition
created even more choice for the owner,
which could only be good news.
There was no doubt that 2016 had
been a pivotal year for the Lambretta
street racer. Results both in terms of
power output produced by the tuners
and manufacturers, and the speeds
achieved by the riders could never have
been imagined just a few years earlier.
BELOW: Vittorio Tessera and the Casa race team flying the flag for modern day scooter racing.
126 LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS
There was no doubt that what had
been achieved had taken the Lambretta
chassis way beyond the performance
and power it was designed for. The
question that now had to be answered
was, did it need to be taken any further?
That answer would lie with the owners,
as it was they who ultimately drove
the industry that supported continuing
development. It was clear that any
further development would now need to
go way beyond just the engine. Those
who saw an opportunity to improve any
component in any way possible would
now do so – and if it worked it would
sell. Some ideas were not always the
best but if you look back over the years
there have been hundreds of Lambretta
performance enhancing products that
have failed.
Yet if every now and then one comes
along that genuinely works then surely it
must be worthwhile. By 2017, the need
to improve all aspects of the Lambretta
chassis was the way forward if the
basic design was to become even
more powerful and faster. This was the
same for the Vespa, not to such a great
extent as the market was smaller but
with the amount of power being created
by the small frame engines they had
virtually outgrown their chassis. Luckily
manufacturers have responded by
developing products with safety in mind
where possible.
Where does this leave the future of
the Vespa and Lambretta street racer
scene? It’s fair to say the majority of
owners are from the older generation,
which is the same for the scootering
community in general. It seemed for
a long time as though no new young
blood was getting involved, but over
the past few years thankfully that
seems to be slowly changing.
Regardless of this, the majority of
current owners certainly show no signs
of packing it in just yet.
 Targa Line Shock Absorbers
The Targa Line rear shock absorber first came on to
the market in 2010 and was quickly followed by front
dampers to complement it. Designed specifically to
fit the Lambretta and not adapted from another
source, the rear shock absorber had many unique
features. Not only does it allow the spring tension to
be altered, it also has the option of a soft, medium
and hard spring.
The top mount can also be removed and alters
the overall length of the unit by means of differently
sized spacers being fitted. This helps when the inlet
manifold on some cylinder kits comes close to hitting
the frame and by altering
alter the length gives better
clearance. Changing of springs and spacers can
be done in a matter of seconds and it just goes to
show that clever design and thought was all that was
needed when producing a new product like this for
the modern day Lambretta.
The front dampers were designed to have multiple
settings from hard to soft, which would complement
the action of the front disc no matter how efficient
it is. Fitting both front and rear units transforms the
handling no end and makes high-powered Lambrettas
far more stable when cornering and braking.

ABOVE: The first prototype front

ABOVE: The rear shock absorber has the option absorbers, which were too soft and ABOVE: The revised type front absorber
of different springs, tension settings and overall unable to cope with excessive force of which was an immediate success and
length, all changed in a matter of seconds. the modern Lambretta disc brake. improved front end handling significantly.

Many are still willing to commission owners willing to spend, there can be no The development of both the
and spend heavily on new projects. investment from the manufacturers who Lambretta and Vespa engine that has
Performance related items for any type create the products; they both go hand happened in the last five years has been
of vehicle are expensive and scooters are in hand. phenomenal, certainly helping to secure
no exception. The cost of building them
never has been nor ever will be cheap;
that’s just the way it is. There have
been many times when people in the
scootering community have questioned
the amount of money that is spent on
both the Lambretta and the Vespa. If it
wasn’t for the people willing to put their
money into it, the scene would never
have got to where it is today. Without the

‘‘ Without the
owners willing to
spend, there can be
no investment from
the manufacturers
who create the
products.
ʼʼ ABOVE: Over the last decade auto engine conversions have started to appear more and more.
This may not be to everyone’s taste but it could be the way forward with mass production in
the future.

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LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS 127
 The Targa Twin Engine
The Targa Twin engine
was produced by Tino
Sacchi and was the result of
a personal crusade to finish off
what Innocenti had started over
50 years earlier. The idea came from om
Project 137, which was Innocenti’s s
answer to the twin cylinder Lambretta.
retta.
Though two prototypes were built,,
it failed to go in to production and
was shelved in 1968. Tino resurrectedcted
the project in 2003, albeit using modern
odern
engineering methods. Nonetheless, s, a lot of the
ideas of the original engine were incorporated
ncorporated in
to the Targa Twin’s design.
The Targa would finally go into production
roduction in 2010
with 50 being produced. The hefty price tag of £8000
was seen by many as excessive and nd put most people
off. However, the unique qualities of the engine were
enough to sway some Lambretta owners and soon design. A 275cc option is now available and advances
enough all 50 engines had been snapped up. This in its exhaust design mean it is easily capable of over
prompted Tino to build more and to date over 150 have 30bhp, even though the real potential of the engine
been produced and sold, many fitted in to street racers. has yet to be explored.
The main advantage of the twin is the smoothness Though it is a tight fit, the engine will go into all
of its power delivery, virtually eliminating vibration. Series 1, 2 or 3 Lambretta frames with the only
The other advantage is it produces its peak power modification being that of cutting the footboards to
by 6500rpm – considerably lower than is the case on suit. Though not the most powerful Lambretta engine
most single cylinder Lambretta engines. Using two ever built, it is by far the most radical and still
125cc cylinders, maximum power is quoted at 23bhp delivers enough power for impressive acceleration
but this is from an unmodified ‘standard’ production and top speed.

128 LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS

the future.
future It’s hard to say exactly how ABOVE AND BELOW: This is the Life and the Nexx Carbon Racer setting the standard for the
much further it can be taken but one next generation of Lambretta and Vespa street racers.
thing is for sure – people will continue
to try.
No one could have imagined back in the
early 1960s just how far the development
of these two Italian commuter machines
would actually be taken; not just the
performance of the engine but the
customisation of the bodywork. The
challenge to push the boundaries further
and further each and every decade has
continued relentlessly – from the early
pioneers to the tuning engineers of today,
all have played an important role.
Likewise, the owners who had the vision
and creativity to produce such great
machines have been instrumental in the
on-going vitality of the scene. There is no
doubt that the Lambretta and Vespa
street racer scene has had a great time
during the past six decades and one must
hope and believe that it will continue to
do so in the future. •

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LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS 129

ABOVE: Here’s to the future.
Modern Day Vespa Cylinder Kits
Though cylinder conversions are still available for
the majority of Vespas, the type remains less well
catered for than the Lambretta. Most wishing to
have high bhp engines choose kits made by
European firms specialising in the more radical
type of tuning. With the European sprint and racing
scene much larger than it is in Britain, many of the
smaller tuning houses can offer impressive, often
bespoke, products.
The most popular over the last few years seem
to have been the Falc and Quattrini, even though
there are others available. With massive reed block
assemblies and multiple transfers, output is way
130 LAMBRETTA & VESPA STREET RACERS
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over 30bhp. The results attained by fitting the
engines in to lightweight small frame Vespa chassis
are phenomenal. It is now possible to see these
machines do well over 100mph and low 13 second
quarter mile times.
The biggest problem they pose for the rider is how
to cope with the power delivery. It may be okay to
use wheelie bars on the sprint track, but that’s not
possible on the road, making the machine virtually
airborne as the front wheel can often lift up. Though
the Vespa street racer scene is not as big as it used
to be, there are still those that continue to push the
boundaries of it even further, thankfully.