Vintage Vespa Performance Mods

There is currently an interesting discussion ongoing on StellaSpeed about adding vents to the engine-side cowls of classic Vespas. StellaSpeed has implemented a very low tolerance policy towards lurkers, so too really dig into the discussion, you will have to register over there. (And to keep your registration active you will need to post as well.)

I'm going to hit some of the highlights here, for those of you that don't feel like registering.

Above is pictured the bike of StellaSpeed member Grimesy. You can find more pics of this beautiful custom scooter here.

A member started the conversation, wondering about drilling holes in his cowl for extra cooling of the engine during an upcoming trip through the desert. A conventional means of doing this is to just remove the sucker whilst wandering through the barren wastes, but then you either have to haul the piece with you, or do without once you get to your destination.

Anyway, the consensus seems to be that just drilling holes in the leading edge of the cowl will have a negligable effect. Either vents akin to what Mr. Grimesy has implemented above or perhaps best of all airscoops should be installed. There is some discussion of using airscoops designed for maritime purposes, which sounds pretty interesting. These will be resistant to corrosion as they are usually plastic, stainless steel, or brass... Mmmmm... Brass...

The Dragon's ongoing P200 project is, if you couldn't have guessed, going to have a steampunk theme, and what says "steampunk" better than brass?

Anyway even when this discussion gets off-topic (as scooter forums invariably do) it still produces some interesting mods and pictures of gorgeous bikes. For instance this mod to the left side cover which can be found over at P-Town Scooters' projects page.

Now that's a performance mod!

Seriously, some great DIY scooter goodness over at StellaSpeed.