KX500 POWERED LAMBRETTA

[streetsleeper]

This isn't my scooter. I've had one helluva lotta Lambrettas in my lifetime. I used to tune and race them back in the UK. But this in in another league.

I wouldn't do this to the one I bought a while back, but it wouldn't be a problem picking up another KX500 engine in the UK. The problem is the guy built this back in about 2012. He fitted an alternator to it (since there was room) to run the lights. He also fitted a decompressor I've mentioned in "How to Start the Hundie 500" thread. The other thing that wasn't available back then was a starter, so he welded a 1/2" Snap-on extension bar to the kickstart, and ran it through the running board, with a support bracket. A truly terrible idea and perhaps one of the reasons there don't seem to have been any updates on the scooter in recent years, because it just wasn't very practical.

A friend of mine built an RD350LC engine Lambretta GP, but he's suffering from a neurological disorder and had to sell it. Other conversions include a Yamaha RD500LC YPVS Lambretta, as well as a Suzuki RG500 and a Kawasaki GPZ 500 powered Lambrettas.

[Brute]

That is AWESOME!

[Foxx4Beaver]

That is quite the "sleeper"....I could have fun at stop lights pullin up next to rice rockets, and jumpin em off the line 

[umberto]

That is quite the "sleeper"....I could have fun at stop lights pullin up next to rice rockets, and jumpin em off the line 

I'll bet you could get out of tickets with it too.  No sir, I wasn't racing.  It's just a scooter, they won't go very fast...

[Foxx4Beaver]

It'd have to be an awfully dumb cop to believe that, that is, if he actually witnessed it.

[streetsleeper]

Hallo fellers! You guys are like the "Usual Suspects" because if anyone is ever gonna make a comment, it's either you two or sandblaster!

So yeah, you're right. I used the "Streetsleeper" moniker when I was on the LCGB (Lambretta Club Great Britain) site, because although my scooter looked like an Li 125 (Lambretta Innocenti 125 - Innocenti being the name of the guy who started the business in Italy), it was anything but. Instead of the 125 engine I changed it to a 200; had it bored to 225; used a cut piston; changed the standard exhaust to an Arthur Francis expansion and the carburettor from the original 22mm to an Amal MkII 34mm powerjet; ported the inlet, exhaust and transfers myself, skimmed the head to "up" the compression ratio, and 'cause I lived in Kent (that's between London and the south coast) I ran it on 5 Star (100 octane in UK) that I bought from the petrol station outside Brand's Hatch circuit, or at Biggin Hill aerodrome (a small airport where the spitfires and Hurricanes were based during WWII).
 
Like you say, pulling up at the lights and blowing everyone away was such fun. It was easy at the end of the 70s & early 80s with some riding Honda Dream or Superdream 250s, but when some of those boy racers got Suzuki X7s and RD250LCs it was no longer possible. Hence the idea of changing the engine.

Regarding the cops, your right. Here's a quote from the book I've just finished writing (still editing at the moment):  In all these cases, the most serious thing I’d got done for up until then was speeding. It’d go something like this: “We've just clocked you doing eighty-five in a forty-mile-an-hour-zone.” Oh Yeah? “Officer, the official Lambretta specs for this scooter say its top speed is only forty-five MPH. You must’ve misread it.” And it usually worked, unless they asked me to take the side panels off to check, which kind of gave them an inkling and made them change their tune. “No way, look at the size of the carburettor on your scooter – what the Hell have you done to this thing anyway?!”
 
I'm sure you guys know that in Europe and Asia tuning small capacity 2 strokes is BIG. In Asia they bet on street drag races. Fellers, I haven't forgotten this is called KXRIDERS.com for nothing, but my interest in 2 strokes is pretty wide. If like me, your interest stretches to all 2 stroke/2 wheel stuff then take a look at this for drag races in Indonesia: https://youtu.be/FQNC_KNgSJY

I dunno what it is about small capacity 2 strokes, but I think it's just the challenge of getting as much out of them as you can.

There has been more written on tuning the Lambretta scooter than ANY other bike by miles and miles, and though you can't buy a new 2 stroke over 100cc, the tuning market is HUGE, and business gets bigger every year.

While I'm at it, check out this video for laughs and giggles. I'm the bloke (#395 in the Kawasaki leathers) at Lydden Hill racetrack, also the black chopper (WXW59) is mine. It was a 1959 Lambretta Series I which I chopped and is where my engine ended up : https://youtu.be/OK_QqnJf_ZI.

Once again, sorry, I know this is KXRiders but like I say, it's the whole 2stroke/2 wheel thing which is so appealing. My next book is going to have this subject at its heart.

[Brute]

Even though that is the name of the site I am pretty sure the two strokes folks have messed with here runs the gamut. I have had quite a number (including 3 KX500's) but one that I often think about was my Honda MB5. It was one of those bikes that just made me smile to ride.
I have a friend that occasionally we would take the 'little' bikes out for an all day ride. She called it the "Clown Ride". Fun stuff. Sure wore you out for the distance covered though!

[streetsleeper]

Even though that is the name of the site I am pretty sure the two strokes folks have messed with here runs the gamut. I have had quite a number (including 3 KX500's) but one that I often think about was my Honda MB5. It was one of those bikes that just made me smile to ride.
I have a friend that occasionally we would take the 'little' bikes out for an all day ride. She called it the "Clown Ride". Fun stuff. Sure wore you out for the distance covered though!

That's the problem with the small cc stuff. It used to take us 24 hours solid to go from SE England to NW England. The trouble is when you're in a club with say 20 on a rally then there's gonna be a lot of breakdowns, stops for food, stops for the loo, stops by the cops, stops for more breakdowns, so a journey that should take 12 hours flat out all the way takes all day and night. You arrive exhausted and shaken to bits. That's half the reason people tune them though, because if you don't go silly you can make a fast, reliable machine for the long runs. We were lucky in England because pretty much all the rallies were within doable distance, even on a 50cc Vespa!