Has Lambretta tuning really moved on over the past 20 years?

[Avantone]

Example: Feature on RS Tuning in a 1993 edition of Scootering.

Look at the spec of the RS250, that'd be wild these days let alone in 1993. Considering this was a road scooter and built by Ralph I'd wager that it was reliable too. Also, look at the clutch and the gearing, how did a spec like that run on a 4 plate clutch when so many people jump straight onto 5 and 6 plate clutch these days? Have Lambretta tuners really advanced any further over the years or are they just redoing the same ideas over and over again bearing in mind that the TS1 had already been out a few years at this point.

I'd been away from the scene for nearly 20 years and was surprised how little things had changed.

Things that I assumed would have been commercially available were:
1. 5-speed gearbox - this would have transformed the usability of tuned scooters and allowed an even higher state of tune
2. Kit cylinders with significantly more finned area (and matching cowls) - more power = more heat
3. Kit cylinders with power values - I know studs make it hard, but there is a way.......
4. Quieter expansion chambers - why do they need to be so bloody loud? (they don't)
5. Knock sensors - let the engine sense how much advance it can take
6. Bolt-on autolube
7. Any sort of aero advantage - screen/mudguard/under-tray etc
8. Cylinder head/combustion chamber design
9. Still stuck with that stupid inlet port location
10. No sign of a proper plenum-type airbox
11. Rear damper options

However I think we've moved forward on:
1. Dynos for development work
2. Use of EGT's/CHT's
3. Front brake options
4. Front damper options
5. Affordable ignition retarders
6. Choice of cylinders kits
7. Clutch options
8. Composite bodywork (except where the subframe weighs more than the original)

Just my view - feel free to disagree........... Understandably, more and more people are simply transplanting engines.

[ArmandTanzarian]

I would agree that the lack of a reliable five speed box is one of the biggest disappointments but there are huge technical and financial issues to overcome. It could be done but whether or not it could be done at a price that enough people would pay is another matter.

A more modest and no less useful development would be in the area of cooling. Lambretta cooling is barely adequate on a standard scoot let alone a tuned one. A high efficiency fan and some cowlings that actually fit and direct the air properly would be a huge leap forward.

[Train Driver]

Five speed gear boxes are available but most people won't pay the £1500
Mark at Mb said he would sell me one and it would be reliable

noisy silencers is down to them not being repacked and riders thinking if it's loud it must be fast, we need them quiter about 90db and we need to run less oil I think some of you are running your scooter and your car on chip oil

[Avantone]

I would agree that the lack of a reliable five speed box is one of the biggest disappointments but there are huge technical and financial issues to overcome. It could be done but whether or not it could be done at a price that enough people would pay is another matter.

Five speed gear boxes are available but most people won't pay the £1500
Mark at Mb said he would sell me one and it would be reliable

Yep, not really commercially available or financially viable - price would need to be sub £300 (but at that price you could probably shift a lot of units).

noisy silencers is down to them not being repacked and riders thinking if it's loud it must be fast, we need them quiter about 90db and we need to run less oil I think some of you are running your scooter and your car on chip oil

I meant going beyond a single stage end-can whilst maintaining performance.

Totally agree on oil quality/ratios

[Ian Hepworth]

To get the 5 speed boxes done for £300 you'd have to get them made abroad and anywhere like Indian or China most of the factories have bigger back doors than front doors.

[Avantone]

To get the 5 speed boxes done for £300 you'd have to get them made abroad and anywhere like Indian or China most of the factories have bigger back doors than front doors.

Yep, agree - and going back to the title of the thread, that's why so little progress has been made.

Sometimes you just have to accept that the market isn't there, or won't pay a price that allows you a reasonable margin.

[soosh]

To get the 5 speed boxes done for £300 you'd have to get them made abroad and anywhere like Indian or China most of the factories have bigger back doors than front doors.

Yep, agree - and going back to the title of the thread, that's why so little progress has been made.

Sometimes you just have to accept that the market isn't there, or won't pay a price that allows you a reasonable margin.

There are a lot out there that have more money than sense and will buy stuff even if its just this seasons "must have".
Wonder what this motor would do on the Cheam mile.It does make you wonder,the RB has been out a couple of years and some think its the most latest tech.Ralph nocked this up in his potting shed in 92/93 with just a bit of electric,let alone a dyno and yet looking at the gearing spec and what it did on the 1/4,why wasnt the RB this capable? There was an exhaust test done in Germany with Smallframes a couple of years ago and the best all round pipe was the Hammerzombie which was a copy of Norrie Kerrs pipe which was done in 83/84

[mawso]

Hail Ralph!

[Train Driver]

Hail Ralph!

[CPH Lambretta]

I think tuning has moved on in the last 20 years, now dealers can deliver what they said/thought they could deliver back then. I had work done by a couple of big name tuning shops in the 80s and the work was shoddy to say the least.