In this blog Michael turns the tables on our regular blogger Stan to discover more about his ten year test ride of a Polini 210 kit.
MD: Tell me how ‘Project Polini’ began?
S: I was freelancing on Scootering Magazine and Dan, who was editing at the time, was asked if he’d be interested in testing the touring version of Polini’s aluminium 210 PX kit. My PX was playing up so the timing was perfect.
MD: What was wrong with your PX?
S: OK, this is going to get confusing later on so I’d better start with a confession.
MD: Go on
S: All the vehicles in our family have names, the PX was known as ‘Alex’. She was a 1985 Motovespa, my celebrity crush is Keeley Hawes and at the time of the rebuild she was starring as the archetypal 80’s woman; Alex Drake in Ashes to Ashes. It all fitted can we move on now please?
MD: Of course!
S: Anyhow, in the summer I ride everywhere, and Alex had covered plenty of miles both attending events in the UK and Europe. All of those were without a hitch but she suddenly started to lose power and hole pistons. Cutting a long story short, I rebuilt the engine twice before giving up and replacing the Motovespa lump with one taken from a very low mileage and impeccably maintained PX200 with autoluble. That was a sad story really, the original owner had cosseted it but the new owner only had it for a week when a car ran into the back of it and the insurance company wrote it off.
MD: Did that solve the problems?
S: No! After all that I finally traced the problem to a faulty fuel tap. Lesson to be learned, always check the basics…
It was before I discovered the tap problem, and whilst repairing yet another holed piston in the autolube engine that the offer of a Polini 210 kit came in, I’ve been running it ever since.
MD: What parameters did the magazine set, if any, for the test?
S: We wanted to prove that it was possible to increase the performance of a ‘P2’ by simply bolting on parts, no matching of casings, cutting of crank etc. Just bolt on, dyno and go. Over the years we’ve tried a lot of parts on the engine but kept to that principle.
MD: How did simply bolting on the top end affect performance?
S: I have to say that the improvement was instantly noticeable. In standard form my motor was generating 9.5bhp and 12ft-lb of torque. Just bolting on the kit, with the standard exhaust saw that rise by over a third to 13BHP and 15.5ft-lb. More importantly the scooter became much more fun to ride, power delivery was smooth across the whole rev range and it was far more capable of holding its own in traffic. Even punching through the ‘bow wave’ of lorries on A roads and motorways became much easier. It felt like the PX Vespa should always have made.
MD: You said that was with the standard exhaust too?
S: Yes.The exhaust was the next thing to be upgraded
MD: What to?
S: We’ve tried a few pipes on the engine but I keep coming back to the Polini box exhaust. It’s well made, looks standard and has a really nice tone to it. More importantly, the effect on performance was incredible. Just bolting on the Polini exhaust and re-jetting saw another 23% increase in power to 16BHP: that’s a gain of 6.5 BHP over standard by simply bolting on two parts. I genuinely think that the Polini box is one of the most overlooked pieces of tuning kit on the market. Honestly, I’d be reluctant to use anything else.
MD: What was the next upgrade?
S: I ran that kit for a couple of years without any problems but began to notice some clutch slip. That was cured by fitting a set of CR80 plates, which were more than up to the task of dealing with the 210 kit. Personally, I didn’t feel the need to change the gearing either. It all ran beautifully.
MD: If I recall correctly, we changed the carb for you a few years ago?
S: Yes, I found that on short trips the standard, but obviously up-jetted, carb was fine but on longer runs I could feel it pinking. To get ahead of the curve you fitted a BGM SI 26/26 ‘fast flow’ carb, which solved the problem and paved the way for Alex’s next upgrade.
MD: Before getting onto that, are you still using autolube?
S: Yes, absolutely. I’m a big fan of autolube, it makes touring so much easier and because it’s a metered system it’s also more efficient. Personally, I think a lot of nonsense is talked about autolube’s reliability. Like any component it needs maintenance and whenever I split the casings, for example to replace a seal, I make sure it’s examined. The important thing is to use oil that’s suitable or injection systems. Oil intended for pre-mix only won’t atomise in the same way; it’s like trying to sift sand through a tea strainer. I’m convinced that’s where a lot of people’s problems with autolube stem from.
MD: The engine is now 221cc, how did that come about?
S: Once again fate smiled on me. I was preparing the motor for Vespa World Days in Pontedera and noticed some end float on the crank. Just as the casings were split SIP offered one of their ‘Premium Sport’ cranks to test. In for a penny, I opted for the 60mm long-stroke crank with a 110mm rod. This increased the capacity to 221cc.
MD: How did that affect performance?
S: Once again, it was a case of bolting it on and up-jetting the carb (the 26/26 now being a must). We now recorded 17.25BHP but the gains weren’t evenly spread; mid range (5,000 rpm) the performance had increased by 4 BHP making it very tractable to use.
( Dyno charts courtesy of Scootering Magazine )
MD: Were there any other knock-ons from the increased power?
S: Yes. Almost immediately I noticed that the CR80 plates, which had been great for 210cc, were struggling. Quite literally a week before setting off for Pontedera I decided to get in front of the problem and fitted a BGM Superstrong clutch. At 221cc the gearing was also a little short so at the same time I changed the primary drive to 24 tooth. It’s never missed a beat since.
MD: How did it perform on the trip to Pontedera?
S: It was flawless. My riding companion, Brad, has some family in the South of France so we’d taken Alex and Brad’s PX down by van to there house and rode the coast into Italy. Unfortunately, Brad’s PX blew a main seal in Pontedera so I rode back for the van. In one day I covered 353 miles, all on motorways at full throttle and the Polini never missed a beat (My plug cap earthed out at one point but I can’t blame Polini for that!).
MD: What’s next for the project?
S: Sadly, I must report that Alex has succumbed to frame rot. I’d noticed the signs a few years ago but chose to ignore them. Unfortunately, at the end of the 2024 season I could ignore them no longer. I was very attached to Alex and did a lot of soul searching as to whether I should repair her frame or buy a fresh scooter and transplant the engine. Once again, fate played its part when my riding companion Brad came across a PX200 Disc that had only ever been used for commuting and had been well cared for. I took it for a ride and realised just how much flex Alex’s frame had. As the saying goes, a deal was done and the rest is history…
MD: I assume the new scooter has a name?
S: Yes. Olivia. The TV celebrity I’d most like to have dinner with is Andi Oliver. She knows her food and looks like good fun to be around. Once again, let’s move on..
MD: Where is the Polini engine now?
S: The Polini engine from Alex is now in Olivia. Now retired, Alex is acting as a ‘mule’ for Dan and Olivia’s engine is in her whilst he works on a ‘bang for buck’ tuning project for Scootering. I told you it would get confusing…
MD: Wasn’t Olivia white when you bought her?
S: Yes, originally I’d no plans to repaint her but part of the previous owner’s maintenance regime was to make sure that any scratches or rust spots were painted. I never knew that there were so many shades of white until I got up close!
MD: I think we helped with the choice of her new colour?
S: Yes. I wasn’t sure what colour to go for and would probably have settled for white but then I saw the Officina 8 special editions. I really liked the story behind them and thought that the colour was perfect. I decided to adapt the scheme to suit the PX. It’s not a slavish copy of the Officina 8, but my interpretation of it; for example I prefer gloss to satin paint.
MD: Were there any challenges in the rebuild?
S: You know the answer to that. It took forever and dozens of emails before Piaggio would release an Officina 8 badge to you!
MD: Who applied the paint?
S: The main colour was a back to bare metal respray by Rich and Owen at Hobnob Racepaint. We struggled to get the Officina 8 paint-code so in the end settled for a close ‘eye match’, which is Land Rover Tasman Blue. I love it.
The sign-writing is by Lloyd’s Kustom Art in the Isle of Wight; I can’t recommend him too highly.
MD: One final question, what does the logo on the toolbox mean?
S: This answer comes with a nerd alert. My other passion is for aviation history. As I was struggling to pick a schemeI became aware of a project that had recreated a WW1 Caproni bomber in Italy. The replica had been finished in the scheme of an aircraft flown by Maurizio Pagliano and Luigi Gori. They were pioneers of long-distance flight and their aircraft carried the inscription ‘Nulla via Invia’. That translates as ‘No road is impossible’. It sums up my approach to Vespa touring. As for what’s next, you’ll have to wait…
For more information on any of the parts mentioned in this blog, feel free to explore our website, give our sales team a call on: 01226 203377 or drop them a line at: sales@rondaleyscooters.co.uk
