Quattrini 210: The Giant Slayer
Hare and tortoise
Unlike some TV motoring shows there’s no need for Scootering to manufacture personalities for its contributors. While Dan’s never happier than when squeezing the last morsel of power out of an engine, pulling wheelies and getting his knee down, I’ve got very different requirements. A good scooter will take me and my luggage halfway across Europe and back with minimum drama. By minimum drama, I don’t just mean reliability – I also want something that doesn’t need a petrol tanker following close behind and I certainly don’t want to be revving it hard simply to set off without stalling. When Chiselspeed invited us to test one of the first roadworthy examples of a Quattrini 210 kitted Lambretta, I was fairly certain it would be Dan who would be enjoying himself the most.
Different thinking
When looking at a dyno test graph there are usually two forces measured. In very simple terms these are ‘torque’, the force that gets a scooter moving and ‘bhp’ the power that keeps it going. The problem with most tuned engines is that they tend to generate power at high revs. When someone with a street racer says their engine performs best when ridden hard they might not be bragging. The revs at which power’s generated has a big impact on the practicality and longevity of an engine. Running anything at high revs inevitably means more engine wear
