The SuperMonza Kit:
ultimatemonza by Scooterotica Scooter Garage, on Flickr
The SuperMonza Exhaust:
exhaust-ultism by Scooterotica Scooter Garage, on Flickr
SuperMonza, Ultimate or otherwise......as far as i know, and correct me if i'm wrong, but it is to date the most powerful kit commercially available, as a bolt on item. That's not to say that the 'bolting on' process is either cheap or simple, and whilst these factors are a consideration, they are not not my primary focus on this thread, what i'm interested in is the development, the engineering, and thus the power, and its delivery!
But lets at least look at the build options first, for years the TS1 has been the most versatile and widely used kit amongst most Lambretta owners and builders, and with good reason....its well priced, easily available and can be bolted on with reasonably priced components to get a 'good boost' above a standard (or tuned) cast barrel. The original Monza was CamLams version of the TS1. Then came the RB20, 22 & 25. For me and many others, the Monoport 250 cylinder was a great piece of kit , which lends itself to great tuning options and big power curves. All of these kits can be tour tuned, and race tuned alike. But just like the SM, if you want 30bhp plus, it pays to get the best casings, gearbox, crank, bearings, pipe and carb etc.....because big power needs quality components. You add up the bill for ANY big BHP build using quality components, plus cost of tuning, building and dynoing and it aint cheap!! Some options are cheaper than others, and some offer better 'bang for buck'......but not many (if any at all) offer a 'complete package'. In a big BHP build i might for example buy an RB250 kit at £550, and a Ron Moss head at £150, plus an LTH clutch at £300, a Pipedesign exhaust at £400, a PM tuning 62/116 crank at £300 and so on....it gets expensive! But these are parts i have chosen to source separately, from companies who may never have even intended for these parts to work 'together' the way i want them to. Its always a compromise when done this way, and so you work to get the best result you can with the parts, knowledge and skill available to you.....although that doesn't mean GREAT results are not to be had, but that comes down to the skill and knowledge of the guy building/tuning your engine and his components selection list. The SM to a certain degree negates that part of the process, the package is done for you.
So....that aside, moving onto the SM......i have to say i am in awe of the design and development with regard to this package. And to be honest, without wanting to ruffle anyone's feathers, I'm always surprised that it isn’t marketed better, and more widely available. I'd love to work with these kits on a regular basis, but the opportunities seems few and far between.
Moving on.....In regard to the design, as had been said before by other tuners....when looking for more power out of a 2-stroke, all you need to do is look at the current crop of GP bikes and its all there. The epitome of 2-stroke tuning in my opinion is the Aprillia RSA125 as developed by Jan Theil and Frits Overmars. circa 55bhp from a 125cc bike. Here is a picture of one:
Complete engine:
200841rsa by Scooterotica Scooter Garage, on Flickr
Cylinder (i like the main ex port shape....almost like a chefs hat!
)
8805_10200094129422026_1665023485_n by Scooterotica Scooter Garage, on Flickr
These are beautifully crafted cylinders, the absolute epitome of 2-stroke engineering. Its easy to see where any 2-stroke tuner would look to gain insight into how to develop their own engines, and it looks to me like the Super Monza benefits from such engineering advances. The main points for me are the angle of entry on the transfer ports which allow for much better scavenging, and the obvious 'blow down' benefit of triple exhaust port design. And NOT might i add, like the RB22 triple port which i never liked, as it crammed all 3 ports into the stud spacing, but the properly shaped and flowed design of the SuperMonza which uses a different stud fastening to allow the ex-port subs to be properly positioned.
See here for a 3D image of the Aprillia cylinder, look at the sub ports:
89413056 by Scooterotica Scooter Garage, on Flickr
This one also which shows quite clearly the entry angles for the ex-subs and the transfers, look how the B ports kick back towards the exhaust:
kep110 by Scooterotica Scooter Garage, on Flickr
This screen shot shows an explanation of various transfer angles, and then an example of a cylinder layout:
scaven10 by Scooterotica Scooter Garage, on Flickr
So where does this leave us with the Super Monza? Well the Aprillia tuning concepts were good enough to win world titles, and other scooter tuners knew this also, just look overseas at certain small-frame Vespa tuners and see what port layouts they use in their newest kits!
Which leads nicely into our own UK stable of tuners. As far as i know NO ONE else has brought out a commercially available Lambretta cylinder with this type of triple port layout, and re-worked the transfers in such a fashion either. Let alone developed a pipe and ignition system to work as a complete package, as far as im concerned this is a fantastic achievement and one which should hail a bit more respect and thought. Here is a cast of the SuperMonza port layout:
1 (3) by Scooterotica Scooter Garage, on Flickr
Closer look at the transfers:
1 (2) by Scooterotica Scooter Garage, on Flickr
Sub ex-aux exit point into main exhaust port:
1 (4) by Scooterotica Scooter Garage, on Flickr
See from a cast of the ports how the aux-ex ports are similar layout/design to the Aprillia:
65412_300302653367624_283800066_n by Scooterotica Scooter Garage, on Flickr
And the angle of the transfers, see the converging angle in the middle, and then the tiniest kick-back angle on the B trans to fit inside cylinder stud spacing:
423581_301159356615287_1779984567_n by Scooterotica Scooter Garage, on Flickr
Its an amazing feat of engineering to have developed such a cylinder for a 40 year old shopping trolley, to have trialled it, perfected it, and to have brought it to market........one which surely deserves more attention and recognition. I cant comment on the marketing of the kit, or how its add-ons have been introduced, and what effect on power those add-ons may or may not have....i am not privvy to that kind of info, and i would say that it would be interesting for everyone to know what effect each 'upgrade' offers, power/delivery related or otherwise. But what i can say, is that the kit in its commercially available form, is the finest Lambretta kit that i have personally seen to date. And bearing in mind, its standard form is introduced to the 'fast touring' brigade (i think?) with power coming in at a reasonable RPM range and holding a lovely flat torque curve.....which in essence means, that when someone decides to tune the pants off this kit, and put one onto the race track in a FULLY ported/tuned and pushed to the limit fashion.......well, i can only assume that the results will be mind boggling.
