Piaggio Scooter Tuning Guide
Categories: 50cc Tuning, Featured, General Tuning
Written By: admin
Piaggio Performance Tuning Guide
To compliment to the Moped & Scooter Tuning: The Facts article, here is my personal reccomendation on how to tune Piaggio scooters, at my old work we have used this setup literally on every 50cc scooter we tune and have never had a kid come back from his test ride without a smile on their face.
This article covers any Piaggio engine based scooter, so will apply to all Gilera, Vespa and come Aprilia scooters, but beware that exhausts may be specific for certain Vespa & Aprilia models due to bodywork differences.
Although a little different in order from the previous article, these are the three main things we to do Piaggio scooters, and most people do not require anymore!
1. Fit a performance Race Pipe / Sports Exhaust
We reccommend the Giannelli Reverse (or the Giannelli Extra if your budget can’t quite stretch that far) for Piaggio motors (Remember all Gilera, Vespa and later post 2004 Aprilia’s use the same motors).
Firstly, this exhaust is sold as a legal aftermarket exhaust, not technically a race pipe by law, so it’s got a nice little stamp on it which means it’ll pass an MOT, as well as coming with a warrenty, so if it breaks, you can get it sent back and replaced (providing its fitted by a qualified mechanic)
Alongside this, a larger jet is required on the cat models, we usually go up from a 56 main jet (standard) to a 62 size jet. These usually cost around £3 and many places will trade in your old jet for a pound off or so.
Lighter rollers are then fitted, and the variator transmission restriction ring is taken out whilst we’re in there if it already hasn’t been. These rollers should be 5.5g and Piaggio actually supply a genuine parts lighter rollers kit, so there is no need to mess around with cheap inferior rollers which can wear out quicker, otherwise we reccommend Malossi rollers are fitted. Remember to keep your original rollers safe too unless they’re worn out.
All this done should see your scooter gaining a good 7-8mph normally, with the liquid cooled models doing nearly 60mph on the speedo, and the air cooled models doing 50mph, give or take for conditions.
2. Fit a performance Malossi 70cc big bore kit
Notice Malossi there, I would not reccommend any other manufacturer as much as I do Malossi, if you ever have a choice and are unsure, choose Malossi everytime. They’re not always the cheapest, but they are the best by far. Almost every scooter in the Italian scooter races runs Malossi race parts, and for good reason, they work closely with Piaggio when developing their products and come finshed to nothing short of the finest standards possible, the inside of their cylinders are like works of art.
With a big bore kit you have a piston rubbing against a barrel machined to percise tollerances at over 9000rpm, protected by a thin film of oil a few micrometers thick, would you really want to take your chances with a cheap taiwanese knock off cylinder kit?
After fitting the 70cc big bore kit, your scooter will be making more torque lower down, so will no longer need to rev its nuts off to go anywhere, so we will re-fit the original rollers into the variator, alongside an even larger jet into the carb, this time generally around a size 68.
Since all Piaggio Hyper2 engines come with a 17.5mm carb, there is no longer any need to upgrade the carb to a bigger one for normal road tunes, unless you have one of the older engines with a 12mm carb, in which case upgrading to the larger Dellorto 17.5mm carb would be beneficial, either from Piaggio genuine parts, or as a Malossi kit.
3. Fit a performance variator and torque spring
Malossi again make the best kit here, with an aftermarket performance variator, rollers and torque spring available as one kit. And not only that, but the rollers that come with in work perfectly with your existing setup, so it’s literally a bolt in kit.
The performance race variator not only gives you better acceleration by smoothing out the transmission, it also gives you an ever so slightly higher top speed as well.
After fitting this kit, if you still require some extra “bite” off the line, it might be worth fitting a slightly stronger set of clutch springs, although we have found this is more a personal preference.
4. Go have some fun!
This setup will make it very quick off the mark, with even enough power for the odd little wheelie. If you do prefer to go faster in a straight line, or do a lot of A road riding, then it is probably a good idea to fit a gear up kit now, which will add another 10mph or so onto your top speed
Also remember riding a tuned scooter isn’t cheap, it could now be making over 4 times the power it originally had, so things will wear quicker and it will need more regular servicing, including belts, rollers, pistons, and even brakes! Remember you’ll be stopping harder when your scooter is tuned as you’ll be riding faster! For better brake pads, either go for EBC HH or Malossi Sintered compounds.
If you’ve completed all this and want to do more, consider upgrading your brakes, tyres and suspension.
My little brothers Piaggio Zip SP has all the tuning in this guide done, but without the gear up kit, and it will quite easily clock over 65mph when following it in a car (Zip speedos only go up to 50mph). I’ve also done these exact stages on countless Piaggio NRG Powers, Zip’s, Typhoon’s, NRG MC3’s, Gilera Runners etc, etc, nobody has complained yet!
June 18th, 2008 at 11:52 pm
I have a stock 05 piaggio typhoon 50,the variator ring was already taken out I suppose if its behind the front cone, I have installed a performance muffler (Techigas next muffler) And installed the rollers and 3x tighter springs into the clutch,I had 2 sets of rollers that came with the muffler but ended up putting the biggest ones in being they seemed lighter and the engine ran best with that, the top end has dropped some I am a big guy and it’s now doing 32 MPH maybe, was 34MPH, start seems a little better, you say I need to install a Jet into my carb is that right? I am in the USA so will be hard to figure where to get that if its a hard part to get. I want to know should my next step be focusing on the Jet? I do want to add the 70cc but not at this very time, anyway any advice is greatly appreciated, I am a little bummed out the muffler and rollers alone didn’t add top end, but getting advice from someone who has already done this maybe can save me some mistakes in the future.WDGayden@aol.com
June 19th, 2008 at 5:47 am
Hi there,
Piaggio’s take 19×15.5mm rollers, so not sure why your exhaust came with two sizes :S
Either way, the Technigas Next isn’t the best exhaust on the planet, infact I’d probably put it at one of the worst exhausts available if I’m being brutally honest, they’re not built with the same amount of R+D as the proper exhausts are, and I won’t even bother telling you how cheap dealers buy them for.
Your bike deffinately needs an upjet however, because it is now running lean and this is dangerous, don’t ride it like it currently is! Go from a 56 to a 62 main jet and then see how it runs, it may require fine tuning on the rollers, although I still wouldn’t expect a lot from a Technigas Next either way.
When it comes to buying a big bore kit I suggest you do not skimp out on price and quality, deffinately buy a Malossi kit (Cast Iron 70cc Malossi kit is £99 here in the UK). If you buy a cheap taiwanese knock-off kit and it goes bang, it can potentially cost you a LOT more in repairs if it drops any bits into the crankcases.
July 3rd, 2008 at 7:08 pm
I have a 100cc piagio 4t zip and was wondering if there was any way to make it speed up!
July 4th, 2008 at 4:02 pm
Hi, unfortunately the Zip 100 is a new engine out, so Malossi only do an aftermarket variator for it now
This will help improve things slightly, but not a great deal to be honest
It might be worth upgrading to a 125cc Piaggio bike, especially if you do a lot of A-road riding, the 100’s are more designed for around town / city riding
July 31st, 2008 at 7:14 pm
i ave a typhoon 2002 50cc an i was really annoyed because it was only going 26mph so i looked if i could derestrict it so i decided to take the variator ring off but it already was if you could me some advice it would be super
July 31st, 2008 at 9:53 pm
Hi,
Something is wrong then, does it have any other parts fitted etc? Make a post on the forums http://forums.tunemyscooter.com and I’ll try and help you further
August 4th, 2008 at 7:21 pm
Yo, not to up with everything so got a few questions….
I want my bike to go faster than 30 coz its just anoying lol, but i want to know about the laws and things, i got an 08 nrg liquid cooled, first owner. So if i put just a new exhaust on it as long as its road legel can i get done for it? Or what will happen etc??
ty
August 4th, 2008 at 9:45 pm
i have a piaggio nrg mc3 2003 and the speedo is in km/h can i buy a different speedo in m/h and will it work and be acurioute? and were do i get really sick vynals from ?
August 5th, 2008 at 12:08 am
http://forums.tunemyscooter.com
August 30th, 2008 at 6:18 pm
ello i got a piaggio zip 2 stroke 70cc 2002, when i first brought my moped i was abit bummed that i didnt have enough for something like the gilera, however i would not change to a gilera now at all piaggio zips are amazing. there is not a 50 or 70cc which can beat me at all lol.
ive got a pm 360 pipe, 5,5g rollers mallossi, 70cc mallossi kit, maloosi air filter and a malossi air filter, bike which are more tuned dont beat me and it is the easiest bike ever too wheelie. the only down fall to the zip is looks are quite hard to compare to the gilera and the nrg however i do have a custom white and bike spray job but the front like is a bit of a pain does anyone now how to improve this. fanx mikeal
September 6th, 2008 at 3:40 pm
i ride a dna 50 but it struggles to pull away and its slow uphills, i have changed the rollers to 5.5 grms an di have put a sports pipe on it but still has the same probs what else can i check or change ??
October 5th, 2008 at 7:10 pm
hi i currently have a 2006 Piaggio NRG Power DT (Air Cooled) and it has had a derestriction on it, (washer taken out and exhaust pipe cut). i am now thinking of putting a race pipe on it but having a hard time deciding what to buy, i have my eye on Gianelli Reverse, LeoVince ZX and Stage 6 Pro Replica. i know i need to buy 5.5g rollers and need to upjet it but what upjet would i have to do, and could you tell me what exhaust to buy out of the ones listed above
thank you.
October 17th, 2008 at 4:21 am
hi i currently have a 05 50cc typhoon. i was wondering how much it would cost approximately to have this done in a shop, parts included and what should i tell them to do? is there some kind of term for this or should i just ask them to do what is says here individually? and is there any other upgrades you would suggest? to make it cleaner looking or just better looking iv been looking into different lights and things like that. is there certain brands i should try not to get?
if anyone has any suggestions i would really like to hear them my email is hobokiller_101@hotmail.com (i know its childish but i would rather not give out my main email and this one will automatically send it to my main email address)
November 10th, 2008 at 7:53 pm
hi ive got a 56 plate nrg mc3 air cooled and i have put a leo vince pipe and derestricted it in the variator!!it currently hits 50-55 depending on weather how can i get it wheeling i have 200 quid to do it with and dont mind losing any speed as i want more fun !!!and i dont need to worry about mot as it doesnt run out until next june
December 19th, 2008 at 6:28 pm
hi, i have a gilera dna 50, and am thinking of getting a leo vince ZX handmade exhaust, just wondering what else will i need to do to fit it? jets? these roller things? am really confused. all help will be very gratfully appreciated.