BUILDING A LAMBRETTA OR VESPA STREET RACER BRAKES AND SUSPENSION PART 5
If your street racer started out in standard form chances are after it’s finished the power output will have at least doubled. That’s fine – the intention was to build a fast road going scooter all along. The brakes it was initially fitted with won’t have the stopping power to cope with the forces now going through them and neither will the suspension. The simple solution is to fit better brakes with stronger stopping power and a stronger shock absorber to alleviate the problem but unfortunately it doesn’t stop there. This is where the laws of physics take over and it can get quite complicated.
Understanding the law
When energy is produced it transfers from one component to the other. If the scooter is moving very quickly and the brakes are applied, all that energy of forward movement is now put through the brakes. As they slow the scooter, the force is transferred to the suspension and the tyres gripping the road. So it’s not just the brakes that need to be upgraded but everything connected to the chassis. Also remember the quicker you need to stop, the greater the force exerted on
