MB Developments forthcoming products

This page is to help you find out about the products under development at MB Developments.
We are obviously not going to give every detail about every little product we are working on but rather we want to give you a taster of the bigger products that are in the pipeline.

Although we are probably at the forefront of alternative piston use in Lambrettas this is not without it's problems.
Most of the pistons we have found to use in Lambrettas do not go straight into the standard Lambretta configuration (58mm stroke crank, 107mm long conrod, 16mm gudgeon pin and a crown height (the distance between the gudgeon pin and the piston crown) of xyz).
This makes things complicated for everyone - for you because you just want to buy a barrel kit and it's all "you need this crank with that rod and this crank pin and that machining or that packplate" and for us because we have to make the cranks and machine the barrels.
We keep about 6 different types of conrods and over 10 different crank pins.
To be honest, Japanese piston conversions are good but a pain!
This problem, coupled with a general supply problem with decent popular Lambretta pistons (62mm 175 conversion pistons, TS1 225 pistons) has lead us to look into getting our own range of pistons made.

We are currently working on a range of pistons designed to fit onto a "normal" style Lambretta crank.
These pistons will initially be launched in the largest sizes (68, 68.5, 69, 69.5, 70, 70.5, 71mm) but will eventually be available in sizes from 62mm to 71mm in 0.5mm sizes.
This means they will fit ANY Lambretta barrel (LI/SX/TV/GP) from a 175 conversion, 190 conversion, SR barrel, Imola, Monza, TS1, Rapido, to Cast iron 200 conversions.
These pistons will be able to be used in barrels that might have otherwise been scrapped for a lack of oversizes like old Honda 205s for example or original 200 barrels that have got to 67.5mm and have run out of oversizes.
Using the factory tuned stage 4 200cc kit as an example we can now offer nine oversizes to that kit using our pistons so the barrel might end up lasting longer than you!!

The pistons are going to be made in England by a company that makes pistons for 500cc moto GP bikes.
They will be forged rather than cast and will be rated to survive use up to 180hp, more than a Lambretta will ever do.
Because they are forged they are three times as strong as a cast piston and are also much lighter so you will get a lot less vibration. They will not be prone to cracking like some pistons in use now.
Put simply, the difference between forged pistons and cast pistons is in the manufacture.

Cast pistons are formed by pouring molten metal into a mould under normal gravity.
Forged pistons are formed by injecting molten metal into a metal mold. At the same time a punch (as pictured below) is forced into the mold under a lot of force.
This makes changes to the metal at the molecular level. Under a microscope all the metal particles in a cast piston are nicely resting on each other. The metal particles in a forged piston are all tangled together. It's like locking your fingers together and getting someone to pull your hands apart - it's quite hard.
This is what makes the forged pistons three times stronger.

We will be using rings freely available through our sources without having to remake them.
These are drawn wire ring, you can tie knots in them without them braking and they are available off the shelf in the range of sizes we need.

Well, we are in the preliminary stages of getting the tooling made so we estimate they will be available in the next few months.

We estimate they will sell for about £120 inc VAT which sounds like a lot but when you consider that you are buying probably the best Lambretta piston ever designed, which is rated to more power than your scooter could possibly produce and will fit onto a normal Lambretta crank without modification then it begins to look like a better price.
Also if you like at the price of the Honda MTX piston kits or some of the Kawasaki pistons used in Lambretta conversions then they start to look like a bargain!

Piston update February 2004. We are still waiting for the prototype to be made. The tooling has become a lot more complicated than we thought, leading to a trip to the states to get some tooling made there.

MB Developments have been at the forefront of Lambreta crankshaft work for over 15 years.
A look at our crankshaft info page will show you the work we have put into Lambretta crankshafts over the years and the knowledge we have gained as a result.
Our current two favoured type of Lambretta crankshafts are the AF road race crank (for most road type engines) and cranks made by us using Mazzuchelli webs with our crankpins and Japanese type conrods.
The AF cranks are sometimes prone to twisting on the webs (which can damage your ignition) and our hand assembled cranks are time consuming for us to assemble.

Neither of these types of cranks really solve the problem we are up against - We are putting two or three times the horsepower through a crank based on a 40 year old design!
The problem with the cranks twisting on the webs is down to the crank pins not being tight enough in the webs.
Over the years we have tried different webs and crank pins but the basic problem is that there is not enough area on the crank webs to grip the pins properly.

Our solution is to use wider crank webs and longer crank pins but the challenge then becomes to fit the new crank into a Lambretta casing without major modification.
We found that if we got rid of the drive side seal plate and replaced with just an oil seal, replaced the drive bearing and made some minor modifications to the mag housing we could fit the new crank into the Lambretta casing. The crank widths have gone from 11.5mm to 16mm.

The cranks are being made by a major British crankshaft manufacturer. They are being made to the same specification as the ones they make for a 45hp Villiers engine which revs to 12,000rpm.
One benefit from our cranks is that we are confident they will cut right down on vibration. The crankshaft people got in touch after we sent them some cranks to look at and they said "Does the Lambretta piston run vertically or horizontally?".
"Horizontally, why" we said.
"These cranks are balanced to work best on a piston that runs vertically" they said.
So it seems that for whatever reason when Innocenti went for from vertically running pistons (like in a D or LD) to horizontally (like li's from 1959 onwards) they didn't make any changes to the crank balancing features.
This problem will be much reduced on our new cranks.

The cranks will probably be available in 58 and 60mm stroke versions with a 110-115mm conrod.
We are waiting for a prototype crank to be made as a one off then this will be extensively tested before we go into full production.

It is too early to say how much the cranks will be but we are confident it will be money well spent as the cranks will be able to cope with anything a Lambretta can throw at them!
It will be somewhere in the region of £300.

As part of the changes to the drive side seal region it is possible that a new super drive side seal would be launched to compliment the crank.

	A view from above which illustrates the difference in width between a standard Gp crank (left) and a prototype supercrank (right). The wider webs will grip the crank pin better and should prevent the crank spinning out of line (a common problem on high powered Lambretta engines.
	A view of the same two cranks from slight angle.
	This prototype features the design that does away with the normal drive plate and drive plate seal. It will mean using a different oil seal and bearing but it means the crank fits without having to use packers or without having to modify the magneto housing. This particular crank is 60mm stroke but we have a 62mm version as well. It is properly balanced to cut down the vibrations common in single cylinder engines.
	This prototype is based around the normal design but features crank webs which are as large as possible to fit into the crankcase without having to modify it. This crank is 62mm stroke. It is properly balanced to cut down the vibrations common in single cylinder engines.
	We fitted a "stepped" type crank to this cutaway casing to illustrate how the crank fits into the space gained by leaving out the drive seal plate.
	A close up to show how the "stepped" crank fits into the drive side sealing plate space. There is still plenty of room for a bearing and a seal.

Gearing for Lambrettas can be bewildering. The gearing page explains just how bewildering it can be!
The long and short of it is that people mainly need gearing similar to Li 150 Italian or SX200 for most road applications.
These gearboxes are getting harder and harder to find, gearboxes have gone from when Mark cleared out Rob Skipsey's (legendary 2nd hand parts dealer) gearbox pile by the vanload to people paying £50 or £60 for a complete 2nd hand gearbox.
We have even heard of new old stock loose gears being sold for £80 or more EACH.

Our recent range of close ratio clusters (using a modified cluster with 4 loose gears) was successful and most folk with them would not part with them now but the problem with them was that the supply of loose gears dried up.
Added to this is the fact that Lambretta gears are prone to spitting teeth out on tuned engines. This is again because we are putting 2 or 3 times as much horsepower through them as they were designed for.

We are currently getting quotes to have complete gearboxes made (4 gears and a cluster) based on Sx200 1st, 2nd and 3rd with a close ratio 4th gear and special cluster.
To have them made to the strength we require is proving hard and the current quotes we are getting would mean a gearbox that would retail for about £600! This is more than most roadgoing scooterists would pay, even for a perfect gearbox so we are hunting around to see if it can be done cheaper.
It is unlikely that the retail price will fall below £300. This still seems a lot but for a bulletproof gearbox that will be a pleasure to use.

The ignition systems on Lambrettas are still relatively undeveloped.
There is a history of them on our ignition page.
In short, the standard ones on Italian GP electronics were unreliable, so were the spanish ones.
The Genuine AF ducati ones were good while they lasted and the Indian ones available now need modification to get them up to a reasonable standard.
Even then they can have mysterious faults despite testing fine on a multimeter!

We have experimented with various types of advance retard ignition systems.
The early ones we tried had plenty of advance and retard but would only work with certain types of flywheel.
The later ones we sell now work with any Lambretta electronic flywheel but have a smaller working range.

We are now working on a totally new electronic ignition system with adjustable advance and retard system and with the option for a DC feed for a battery (for mod lights, water pumps, stereos or whatever).
Work on this system is in the very early stages but we are hopeful the system will be available for the winter.

Electronic ignition update 2004. We put in a lot of time making a one off ignition system using the components that will go into the production version. We couldn't do a lot of testing as the flywheel did not have a fan but the lights were dazzling, without the flicker you get with AC systems. Mark thought the engine picked up a lot better, maybe the engine was getting a decent spark for the first time!

The prototype is away being assessed for manufacture at the moment and we are hopeful the first batch will be ready by the summer.

All our exhausts are extensively tested on the road and on the dyno.
We have worked closely with our current manufacturer over the last few years but due to health problems with his staff we have had to look elsewhere.

We have just negotiated to have our latest range of Lambretta exhausts made by a major UK exhaust manufacturer, Scorpion.

Mark visited their factory in July 2003 and was extremely impressed with their professional setup and facilities and was very pleased to give Scorpion the go ahead to make our exhausts.

There are three types of exhausts under manufacture (due at the end of July 2003).

The devtour and revtour will retail for £288 including VAT (£245.11 without VAT).

To follow, in the autumn, will probably be a version of the retro pipe for full bodywork Lambrettas and also replicas of a race type exhaust we have developed which puts out 28hp on the dyno.

The devtour is an updated version of our popular touring exhaust.
Designed to give its best power from 5,500 to 8,000 rpm for one or two-up touring.
This equates to 55 to 80mph if using the equivalent of SX200 gearing.
This exhaust has the power for you to be sat in 4th at 30mph and to wind it on to 80mph without having to drop to 3rd to get the revs up.
The devtour is designed to fit all full bodywork Lambretta, TS1/Imola or cast, Series 1,2 or 3, with or without a 6 plate clutch.

	This shows how seriously we take making sure our exhausts fit full bodied scooters. One of the half frames is a Spanish Li150 that we use for exhaust work, twin tanks and other development work. The other half frame is a genuine Italian Sx200 frame that we have given to Scorpion to use as a jig. This was a write off in the eighties. I am sure if it had happened recently the frame would be worth repairing! It's had that many brackets welded on it'd take ages to restore!
	Yes thats an SX200 panel and no you can't buy it. This picture shows the mockup devtour (remember production ones will be stainless steel). It also shows the care we take to make sure the exhaust will fit a full bodied Lambretta with panel handles.
	This picture is just to show how the devtour and revtour pipes will not spoil the lines of the rear runners by being too visible.
	Although the exhaust stub end of the exhaust is quite low slung we are confident that you would touch your rear runners on the ground before the exhaust. Don't try it though.
	This picture might look a little confusing as it is upside down but we though it was better to look at an upside down picture than to strain your neck trying to look at it! This just shows the general fitment of the devtour.

The revtour is basically a slightly modified devtour which will rev to about 9,000 rpm. This is at the expense of a little bottom end power.
These exhaust would be more suitable for one-up, fast road riding.

The CCC (cutdown, chopper and custom) retro pipe is an over the kickstart, 80s styled pipe.
It is a very grunty exhaust with bags of power from low to middle revs but it still pulled to 9,500 rpm on a cast iron barrel.
It is therefore ideal for pulling higher gearing.
The version under production is designed for Lambretta without any side panels or rear running boards.
There is a reasonable amount of demand for a full bodywork version of this exhaust but it will have to wait until the first three exhausts are launched.

	This side view just shows the way the exhaust fits in relation to the kickstart. You can see why it won't fit with rear runners on.
	Just a general view to show we've allowed room for the stand.
	This view shows the general sweep of the retro pipe.

Exhaust update February 2004. At long last we got the first batch of the devtours, which are nearly all gone. The 2nd batch of devtours is on its way. We are still waiting for prototypes of the revtour and retro pipes but we don't expect they will be much longer.

	This is an picture of the early design of the piston, based on a TS1 with square holes.
	This is a picture of the later design of the piston. The main differences are that the holes in the piston are now oval. This is to prevent stress cracks. Also note the cut holes between the gudgeon pin and the crown of the piston. This is to lighten the piston a little which will cut vibration slightly.
	This is a picture of the 'punch', part of the forging tooling that is used to press the inside of the piston.
	Another view of the 'punch'.

MB Developments forthcoming products

Super Lambretta pistons

Super Lambretta cranks

Close ratio Lambretta gearboxes

Lambretta electronic ignitions

Lambretta exhausts