Modern Vespa

Time to stir the pot? Over on the LML Owners club Of GB, there's an interesting thread. It appears that Scomadi is putting a more Mass produced bike into production with help of a Chinese company called Hanway. They appear to be building the body's for Scomadi. Hanway also has a lammy type model in production but looks a bit shit.

These bikes could be more reasonably priced modern alternatives to the 946 but who wants a bike with a auto trans? Not me.

www.lmlocgb.co.uk/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=10499&p=117757

I'd like one!

The red and white one looks sweet!

Scomadi is the shit! In love with that one lammy build they had with a 300cc lump.

There are always people around who will buy anything.

Made in China with plastic body and Sym engine. My type of scooter. Sym will prob import to US soon with maybe a 300cc engine?????

I think I like the original carbon body Scomadi better.

Those are not hand formed panels made with thermoplastic on wooden bucks. They look to me to be vacuum moulded so they're off finished dies. Could be rotomoulded but the finish suggests otherwise. Whatever, this is a serious manufacturing effort.

Would I buy one? I really don't know. It's kinda like the 'new' Beetle or the 'new' Mini or the 'new' Fiat 500 or then again, maybe not. I'm really unsure how I feel about it.

One things for sure, I'll never, ever, ever, be able to replicate the feeling I had at 17 years of age when I picked up my brand new SX200 from Horners of Manchester (UK) in 1968. A Horners 'Hornet' dealer special, ported barrel, hi-comp head, AF clubman exhaust, reverse pull front disc brake, 12 volt zener diode conversion with 2 Lucas spots on the front legshields. It got overcast, started to sleet and was freezing cold, but I didn't give a hoot - I had to go to Edinburgh and a couple of other Scottish cities the next day and I had just the machine for the trip. And, it'd be run in by the time I got there

It certainly was. It was also a filthy mess because of the gritted/salted roads. Rode back to Cheshire five days later, took it back to Horners for it's 500m service and the mechanics jaw nearly hit the footpath when he saw over 2000m on the odo! One month later despite being my workhorse it was being flogged mercilessly around Snetterton in a 24hr race

TCC

Great comment! How does a Lambretta compare to a Vespa in reliability? (By all means jump in if you have an opinion.) I've always wanted one but I'm not prepared to get into the mechanical end of it. I was told to buy a PX or Stella if you didn't know what you're doing, so I did.

Sym engine? I thought they used the Vespa GT300 motor.

Lammys.....

You just got to remember there is a price to pay for how bitchin they are.

Really though...vespas are easier to tinker, and in my opinon, less amount of times. you just got know what your doing. I surley do not have a clue....but im now a lammy guy.

I stand corrected. 300 with piaggio engine since made in UK. Other engines are gy6 since made in China. There trying to make affordable with with Sym version... I guess. I can see Sym bringing smaller size to US maybe, if they sell. It does have that vintage look the general public likes.

Yea, all shiny and new.......

Iv'e noticed some cool things to look at when gandering one of those things but.............

the amount of industrial carbon based pollutants to manufacture any of them and then ship them world wide is part of the BIG problem.

I remember folks would snub their noses at my 2t 50 year old pig and id just ignore them as they masturbate all over their new pile.

No thank you.

Me and my old 2t pig are part of the solution. All these modern things are part of the problem.

With that said, some of my friends have some of these modern scoots. I just saw a 946 last weekend. Nice wheels.

HA......see through like a window!

I heard the 300's are 10k.Bet if you tried to sell it after 2 yrs,you'd have a hard time getting 5k back out of it.Oh then there's shipping too $? All I'm saying is I don't think they will hold value very good,just like new cars.Something like 3k when you drive a new car off the lot.

Ha too funny! Hell I started out a Huffy kid.Many yrs ago,hehe

if its plastic how do you make a cutdown

^Hot butter knife.

I think its a great idea in theory. I think the world needs more great looking scooters to set the ball rolling in the direction of getting more people excited about small displacement utility transport. I'm not a fiat 500 fan but hey at least its got people thinking outside the SUV. Price may be a sticking point. At ten grand its dead out gate. Price needs to be where its affordable transportation. I'd also like to see it in an electric version. I'm seeing ample battery space.

The semi-mass produced model will not be 10 grand. The 300 is the handmade 8 or 10 grand model. Interesting post though, I would agree we need more small displacement vehicles. A lower carbon footprint and a hell of lot of fun.

I did a search for a used one and couldn't find one. I'd buy it in a heartbeat at 5k even with an auto trans.

Like I said.

10 Large for plastic? No.

According to Scomadi, they'll cost about what the equivalent 300 gts costs. Unless they mean the 946 ofc.

From their facebook page: "Regarding the 300cc expect that to be similarly priced to the equivalent Vespa models and sub assembled in the EU more details to follow as and when we have them. All updates can be found right here!!"

I like it. A lot! I'll buy myself a scooter (first one! Motorcycles before for me) of some sorts soon(ish), so this Scomadi's got my attention absolutely.

Oh and hello, and nice forum ya got here!

This may finally be what Scomadi was effectively looking to accomplish years ago.

They built the Series 4 on a fully fabricated frame (using a SR125 subframe) and a Piaggio quasar engine (not gts engines though), found it to be exhausting and costly so they continued modifications until they made their Series 5, which apparently the Scomadi is an proper extension of. (note though it would make sense to call the next step a Series 6, a Series 6 is primarily a motorcycle engine-powered Lambretta)

They took their finalized "Phase 0" series 5 build and sent it to Pontedera, Italy for extensive testing and an engineering review before shipping it to Preston, Washington (CMSI headquarters - Scomadi entered into a Design and Engineering Agreement with CMSI back in June 2004) in January of 2005 for further testing before they presented it at in February at the 2005 Indianapolis Dealer Expo.

It's been my understanding that they were looking to break into the US market by offering up modern/auto Lambrettas around the same cost as modern/auto Vespas, but despite any positive feedback they got, they never made any headway with manufacturing deals so they (or Lambretta Innovations at least) continued creating Scomadi in small numbers - they're up to 15 or 16 at this point. I remember reading something in the form of a press release of some sort about how the Indianapolis show wasn't the grand slam they expected it to be.

Looks like these new bikes are modified if only slightly to be similar to what the lesser known Lambretta-Evolution was working on with a removable frame loop - though they did alot with fiberglass rear bodies on both Vespa and Lambretta.

Costs aside, there are apparently a few bits of red tape that you've got to jump through if you wanted to get a Scomadi state-side, something about how a bike has to be registerred in the UK for at least a year, modifications to pass US regs, etc... Hopefully they've got it locked down to get some US distribution.

Lets hope that this doesn't turn out to be a La Vita Hammerhead fiasco.

Somebody check out those panels (pic below)

More pics on the trade show album of Scomadi's facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152001580443545.1073741826.150062568544&type=1

Scomadi aside, I'm working on my GTS250-powered Serveta. Suck it jabronis.

Everything about it looks cheap cheap cheap.

The turn signals.
The headset cluster.
And why anybody would ride something with cheap ass shiny tin metal over their exhaust pipe is beyond me.

No taste whatsoever.

And that's coming from someone that can be know to have no taste.

Personally, I think all modern scooters look cheap.

My friend is currently shoehorning a BV 500 into a series 3. No one could talk sense into him.

I thought Scomadi and Lambretta Innovations are the same people?

Lambretta Innovations have been doing RD350 etc implants for some time, it's a shame this latest stuff can't be geared. I'd certainly be interested in one of those... but then I don't hold Lambretta on a pedestal.

scomadi and lambrettainnovations are effectively they are the same people, though some of the things they offer up on their site are not so ready available. recently i inquired about a lambretta-ready px glovebox and they claimed they lost all the molds for all of their lammy gloveboxes, especially the radiator-ready ones.

you can put an rd350 engine in a lammy on your own. rd engines are pretty readily available, at least stateside, as they are commonly used in racing and when the bikes get wrecked, the engines stay sound. i saw one in north jersey for 400, a fully functional rd350 before, but you have to modify the lambretta frame with a custom subframe to accomodate any alternative engine really. its why lammys are so prone to engine swaps because of the slew of possibilities you can have done up with them.

^^^ that actually looks like a quite tidy fit! I'd like one of that too!

i fully agree



all this must have new and shiny is driven by government policy , good for the economy etc and i dont understand it so i just stick to growing food n ignore the mess

I don't have to like it to get one right? It could be like a back up right, like when your 45 acp runs out of clips and you dig into your pocket for that last clip called a Taurus 38 special? This product if successful could draw a nice sized crowd to scooters. That would not be such a bad thing would it? Ok, at first - but in the big picture? I think that company may sell so many scooters in the EU that the holding companies of Lam could likely resurrect. Fuel prices are going one direction. That looks like the best 80 mile per gallon station wagon I have seen in a long time. Will Honda and Toyota or VAG or Porsche enter products? ( you know we will see them in Popular Sci only) Too bad the use of plastic and not aluminum. Do I hear Kickstarter?

Where's the rear break on that350?? I ZooM'd..

Check out their web page. It has specs on the bottom.

http://www.scomadi.co.uk/

Bout the same as one of my old bikes.

Its a 4t auto folks......need I say more.

You give it gas and goes and sounds the same all the time.




No cadence.

DIY

http://www.2strokeworld.com/forum/index.php?topic=16399.0

How can you ride a YZ engine on the street with all the noise? I had a Suzuki RM80 when I was a kid and the neighbors hated me.

Check this madness out. Few others in the suggestions section to the right.

Lambretta GP 350 YPVS
www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfCKYaAo1C4

Thanks G! that's too funny! I know Arne from SF! he's cool!

The vespa 300 gts has a sticker price of $6199. A honda cbr500r will run you $5999, a cbr250 $4199. A new fiat 500 is just over $15k. A made in China scooter in the 150 cc class can be bought for $995. I don't want to ride a made in China scoot but I can't see vespa selling tons of gts's either. I hate to say it but I don't really know anything about Scomadi. I suspect many other people fall into this same class as well. Vespa has a dealer network, name recognition and available parts. If I were to buy a high end scooter these are things I'd be looking at. Sorry Scomadi you fall closer to the American Liffan who? side. If you want to brake into the market on a larger scale I think you have one of two choices. Either go high end, opting to use alm, and carbon fiber and truly make this a rolls royce of scooters and market it as such. Or Lower the production costs in any and every way you can and run with the made in China crowd. This mean competing for lowest price not highest standards. As for making scooters more main stream, I'd like to see motorcycle laws change in the states so maybe at 16 yrs you could get a motorcycle licence to say ride a 350cc or less bike/scooter. But that's a subject for another post.