As host of a party you rarely get the attention you deserve. There’s always some show-off that flounces in with a new dress on and steals the limelight. As an example, I give you the Casa Performance Twin.

Scooter Center have been busy in the kitchen though, cooking up good stuff for Vespa riders; particularly those who’ve taken to riding middle-aged Spanish maidens.

The other thing the BGM technicians did was give a glimpse behind the curtain at the development process. Displaying the stages from original idea, through different generations of prototypes and testing to end up with a definitive product. Most companies try to keep this sort of stuff under wraps, hoping you believe that they produced a miracle product first time out. In reality it takes everyone a few attempts.

From my perspective, I prefer to see the embarrassing failures. At least it proves that they’ve done some level of testing and improvement.

Above you can see the new BGM piston port kit for the MotoVespa 160 engine and a prototype reedvalve inlet for it.

Above is their MotoVespa 160 kit and a smaller-bore version of the same kit to suit piston-ported MotoVespa 125 engines.

BGM Vespa GS150 kit

While they were about it, BGM figured that it was easy enough to modify the same moulds to produce a kit with details like the transfer entries adjusted to suit the Vespa GS150 engines.

All these kits will take the original downdraft carbs. However BGM’s design for a rear-facing reedvalve inlet means that in the future it will also be possible to fit a range of conventional carburettors (Polini CP or Dellorto PHBL/PHBH). It looks like there’s a lot of interesting stuff coming to help soup-up these old motors to a 21st-century specification.

CNC clutch cover

A regular task for those upgrading their clutch to the BGM Superstrong is grinding-out the original cover to remove the internal rib to ensure enough clearance for the CNC clutch.

Like every little detail of the Vespa engine, the internal rib was there for a reason. It is designed to catch oil thrown off the clutch and to let it run down and lubricate the clutch plunger and pressure plate.

What BGM have done with their new cover design is to make a clutch cover large enough for all the popular CNC clutches, but also to re-incorporate a means of lubricating the thrust mechanism.

BGM also showed their new clutch lever with a choice of cable connection positions so you can alter clutch operation to taste

Vespa Smallframe Gearbox

The technical guys at Scooter Center are fairly upfront about the trails and tribulations about finding partners to manufacture parts who can do so in the required timeframe and quality. This is a difficult process and has caused them to move manufacturers several times. Again, that’s something that other brands also do but very rarely admit.

Their latest project has been to reproduce the standard 4-speed gearbox for the Vespa smallframe V-series and PKs; including the layshafts. It’s really difficult to know if gears have good metallurgy just by looking but they’ve gone to the trouble of getting these tested in a professional lab. The test applies pressure and vibration across a small number of teeth to find out what it takes for them to break. The results show these ones to be far stronger than standard.

In future BGM also plan to offer close-ratio options from the same factory.

Exhausts

BGM have also been quietly upgrading the performance of their BigBox exhaust range for Vespa, modifying the various PX versions to increase power output to compete with the highly-effective Polini boxes.

This image charts the development phases of a new, much more powerful, box exhaust for 50cc-105cc Vespa smallframes. Power is on par with the popular banana-style exhausts but in a standard-looking package. In some countries the standard look is important.

Exhaust slip joints

BGM have also started to produce weld-on exhaust slip-joints that include O-ring seals in both clamp-fit and spring-fit versions. These are useful either for repairing old worn exhausts or manufacturing your own pipes. There are rumours that forthcoming BGM exhausts will come with this type of fitting.

Engine mounts

BGM also make a big range of engine mounts, often with stiffer rubbers on the kickstart side to improve handling. The latest additions to the range are specific offset ones for the Vespa T5 casing.

We’ve just fitted a set of the smallframe type to the Quattrini casing in SLUK Racing’s Underdog Vespa for the forthcoming BSEC Endurance race. We’ll let you know how that goes. Alternatively, you can watch the live feed of the race here on Saturday.

Sticky

[et_pb_shop posts_number=”8″ _builder_version=”4.17.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][/et_pb_shop]