Earlier this week Sticky showed us some of the new developments at BFA in Italy, you can catch up here if you missed it. Today he shows us what else the BFA boys have been up to and rides some seriously quick Vespas. Before that though here’s something that may excite any Lambretta riders out there.
Read on and if you like to see quick Vespas and scooter porn be sure to watch the two videos within this feature.
The old CNC BSG 305 Lambretta engine will be remade as a cast item by BFA
Those of you who’ve bought my Complete Spanner’s Lambretta Kit Book will already know about the BSG 305 project; which was the first replacement mega-engine for Lambretta. That featured a CNC engine casing.
BFA still have all the designs and the current plan is to transfer the design to sand-cast production; reducing both cost and weight.
The engine will still be crankcase reed induction, and still be compatible with the old BSG/BFA cylinders. It will run a 72mm stroke crank and is expected to go on sale in 2022.
Back in 2015, I rode the first BSG 209cc smallframe with its CNC-produced engine casing. Since that time, and now working as BFA, the guys have pushed the performance and capacity envelope further.
BFA’s big smallframe cylinder is 288cc now and mounts to special sand-cast casings. You can complete this engine almost entirely with BFA-made products. The BFA 4-speed gearbox features thicker, stronger teeth but still fits into the original space. BFA also produce a 5-speed gearbox.
Unlike the original selector which features 4-legs, the BFA shaft and gears use an 8-leg design. For sprinting it’s good to have as many solid contact points as possible.
“There was a Sicilian guy that sent us a gearbox for maintaining. He wanted a shorter first and longer fourth gear. He’d done 300 starts with that gearbox but it was still in perfect condition.”
BFA uses a 4-sided square drive machined onto the end of the gearbox input shaft to avoid using a Woodruff key. Obviously, you have to use a matching clutch centre too. BFA also produce parts with the original conical fit, but square-drive can handle a lot more power and is faster to fit and dismount.
BFA’s reinforced smallframe primary drive gears run on needle roller bearings. They have them in 58, 59, 60 and 61 teeth. There are three matching crankshaft drive sprockets for each driven sprocket.
“We offer the mathematically-correct gear and also +1 tooth and -1 tooth on the drive gear; no more than that. Many manufacturers do +2 and -2 but mechanically that’s not very good and the teeth are weak. It’s very dangerous if you have lots of torque and horsepower. With an under-30hp engine no problem, but we make only for maximum strength.”
The best part of this sort of ‘factory’ visit is getting to play with the products that they produce. In the case of BFA, Alessandro had lined up a trio of customer scooters to try.
The test-track they found to use was somewhere on the moon, at least in terms of road surface. It was also dotted with cyclists, tractors and other road users. So, not exactly ideal.
The difference between Parma – which is another country in terms of Vespa tuning passion – and the rest of the planet, is the attitude of the locals. The cyclists smiled and were completely unfazed by the rapid scooters. One woman came out of her house and asked if these noisy insects were racing scooters “Vespa da corsa?”, and seemed genuinely pleased to find out that they were. In Britain, she’d have called the police.
The truth is that all three are street scooters, even if they may contain race-level engines.
PX 260
First up was Alessandro’s own Mk1 PX with the following set-up:
• Malossi cases
• BFA 260 kit
• 35mm carb
• PX gearbox
• 24-63 primaries
• BFA clutch
• Polini classic box exhaust
The 260 is a long-stroke version of their 72mm bore 244 kit fitted with a 64mm (128mm conrod) Kingwelle “pear shape” crankshaft.
From my perspective this felt like a lovely road engine and ideal for touring; though I suspect that the 35mm carb will make it quite thirsty. With a box exhaust power was low down the rev-range, easily accessible and deceptively fast. Apart from little power-wheelies in first gear it wasn’t intimidating or unmanageable. I’m sure with a little effort you could get it there though, as the video below shows…
Marco Furlotti arrived on his lovely grey 50 Special. Apart from the 5kg weight bolted to the spare wheel mounts on the frame you’d struggle to know it was tuned. Then it starts, and the noise leaves you in no doubt.
The spec is as follows:
• Cylinder: BFA/FRT 150cc air-cooled
• Cankshaft: 56.7mm BFA 110mm conrod
• Carb: 32mm
• Exhaust: BFA by Vezzola for ET3/Primavera glovebox frames
• SIP VAPE variable ignition
• BFA 5-speed box
• BFA/FRT 4 discs clutch
The power delivery of this one belies BFA’s background in sprinting. With a crisp motor and 5-speeds it absolutely flies. The only bad aspect was a little gear-jumping which Marco put down to choosing the softer ‘touring’ detent spring for the gear selector rather than the uncomfortably stiff one that BFA prefer for racing.
Marco says that he can manage to ride it without it jumping out of gear, but it requires real precision. Precision that a novice (to this scooter) riding on a bumpy road can clearly not deliver.
Apart from that issue the engine was a peach; fast, furious and thrilling. While Alessandro’s PX may be quick and practical, it just doesn’t sound as true to the 2-stroke howl as a tiny motor accumulating a mass of rpm before making a one-wheeled assault on the horizon.
Francesco Bianco brought his turquoise 288cc 50 Special across from the other side of Italy’s Apennine mountains for the day. Unlike Marco’s it came with the added comfort of a hydraulic front disc brake. It too carried heavy weights to keep the front down, but this time hidden inside a legshield toolbox.
Francesco’s engine spec is:
• BFA casing
• BFA 288 kit
• BFA exhaust
• BFA 60mm 120mm conrod crankshaft
• BFA 5 discs clutch
• 39mm Dellorto carb
• Crimaz 4-speed gearbox
Let’s just say, the legshield weights don’t work that well.
Despite being massively over-rich for the altitude we were riding at, as soon as the 288 cleared its massive throat, it took off skywards. 49hp is a lot in a scooter that’s little more than metalwork origami.
BFA tell me that they can usually find even more power with a 41mm Keihin carb and SIP ignition on this configuration, but let’s be frank. If the front wheel lifts in every gear then you probably have enough power already.
The Crimaz gearbox has a relatively short primary meaning that it will wheelie in every one of the four available gears if you aren’t sat forwards enough.
As a ‘giant-killer’ for disposing of slow or poorly-ridden motorcycles from the traffic lights; what could be better than a humble Vespa moped?
Want to see how they go? Enjoy the video above…
Text, photos and video: Sticky
Thanks to Alessandro, Marco and Francesco for a chance to test their scooters.
You pay nothing to enjoy the articles from SLUK. If you’d like to support us please share our articles on social media and either buy from the SLUK shop or our advertisers.
