Racing Vespas
#1
Posted 16 February 2014 - 03:07
Were they Competitive? The caption on the pic was that a 180cc Vespa won the Junior class.....
Their engines were disc valve were they not? Possibly they could have been tuned to go hard. Couldn't they?
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#2
Posted 16 February 2014 - 04:10
More than just Vespa's, but looks like at least in the UK, scooter racing had some support.
#3
Posted 22 February 2014 - 10:43
I don't know about racing Vespas, but a couple of factory Lambrettas got here about 1950 and wrought havoc in the 125 class once the Hinton brothers had converted them to alcohol fuel and a ferocious 24:1 compression; the Two Wheels story is reprinted in this forum thread: http://www.forums.il....php?f=4&t=1042
Vespa engines are conventional piston-port two strokes. They can take a fair bit of tuning but the handling is still pretty evil! The Lambretta would have appealled because the engine is centred in a tube steel frame, making it much more predictable in corners.