Retro Tech Archives

Close up of a wasp sat on the studs of a Vespa Quattrini cylinder. Of course, Vespa is Italian for Wasp.

SLUK’s Race-winning Quattrini M1L 60 ‘S’ engine build PART 3 | FEATURE

One of the things you quickly learn when working on scooters is that ‘Plug & Play’ is a misnomer. Only Lego is plug and play. Scooter parts from disparate manufacturers never go together as intended; chiefly because nobody ever builds to the standard specification. If you have an exhaust, carb…

iggy-grainger15 December 2022

Retro Retro Tech

SLUK’s race-winning Quattrini M1L 60 ‘S’ engine build: PART 2 | FEATURE

Sloppy Seconds (and 3rd and 4th) When it comes to traditional scooters, having a precise gearchange is a real bonus. The problem is that it’s not that easy to achieve due to all the linkages involved. Every linkage on a Vespa or Lambretta adds unwanted ‘slop’ until you end up…

Sticky Round30 November 2022

Retro Retro Features Retro Tech

SLUK’s Race-winning Quattrini M1L 60 ‘S’ engine build PART 1 | FEATURE

Recently, SLUK Racing took our second overall win at the BSEC 6-Hour endurance race. It’s the second one we’ve won outright, but the first using our new engine. Do you want to know what’s inside and why we chose it? It’s all about the ‘S’ A while back we ran this…

Sticky Round24 November 2022

Retro Features Retro Tech

PINASCO 251 BUILD PART 7 – CDI AND IGNITION | FEATURE

If you’ve been following our Pinasco 251 engine build features you’ll be as pleased as us that the engine is almost complete. We’ve just got a few more issues left to sort out in this episode. Building a standard or tuned engine? This is part seven of an eight-part series;…

Rory McIntosh28 March 2022

Retro Features Retro Tech

PINASCO 251 BUILD PART 8 – SHE LIVES! FEATURE

Our Pinasco 251 series has been running for longer than Forrest Gump but in reality it only took us three days to strip the old donor P2 engine and build the new 251 back in September last year. Three days of building, fettling, videoing and taking photos for this series.Once…

Rory McIntosh5 March 2022

Retro Features Retro Tech

PINASCO 251 BUILD PART 6 – CLUTCH FETTLING | FEATURE

Pinasco’s 251 Bull Clutch system solves one of the problems of the Vespa PX clutch design for powerful engines. Instead of simply mounting to the crankshaft using a woodruff key and a silent prayer, it uses a splined fit.As such, the Bull clutch is easy to assemble and dismount, but…

Rory McIntosh16 February 2022

Retro Features Retro Tech

PINASCO 251 BUILD PART 5 – BUSINESS END FITTED | WORKSHOP

The missing pieces of the jigsaw Sadly, the process of building and photographing an engine over several weeks and several venues means that pieces do inevitably get misplaced. When it came to hunting for the cylinder base gaskets (and the Pinasco instructions) for the 251 we may as well have…

Rory McIntosh9 December 2021

Retro Features Retro Tech

PINASCO 251 BUILD PART 3 – GEARBOX & PRIMARY DRIVE BUILD | WORKSHOP

So you’ve watched the previous part of Iggy’s Pinasco 251 engine build where we delved into the shady world of drive bearing shimming (yes, that’s a thing) and fitting of drive-side oil-seals. If not, go back to Part 2 here.You can also revisit the first part in the series here.For this episode…

Rory McIntosh25 November 2021

Retro Features Retro Tech

VESPA PINASCO 251 – ENGINE BUILD: PART 2 | FEATURE

We recently brought you the first part of this Pinasco 251 feature. For anybody building a large frame Vespa engine, or indeed a Pinasco 251 there will be plenty of useful info and tips contained in the articles and videos so it should prove to be a very good reference guide.This time…

Rory McIntosh11 November 2021

Retro Features Retro Tech

PINASCO 251 VESPA BUILD – PART 1 | WORKSHOP

Almost two years ago SLUK was the first scooter publication to test the Pinasco 251 engine. Essentially, the 251 is a kit of parts which you can use to build your own ‘super T5’ engine, because it is based on the T5 layout rather than the PX. Back in our…

Rory McIntosh27 October 2021