Eric Cope broke the 127mph barrier on his full-body, road-legal, sprint tuned Lambretta at Elvington airfield on 5th July 2020. For the full story on that epic event, see our report here: https://www.scootering.com/eric-cope-smashes-127mph-at-elvington-on-taylor-tuned-lambretta-250cc Following on from his 127+mph success, Eric decided to pitch his scooter on the same track, on the same day against the... ACU record holder Keith Terry. Both guys seemed in great form, sharing jokes and laughter between speed-runs. The fickle nature of sprinting was very apparent on the day, with each run being completed, and the respective rider dashing back to the pits exclaiming 'i could have pulled an extra tooth on that run!' before frantically removing the chaincase cover to quickly re-gear the scooter. The wait is then on to judge the conditions and keep an eye on the windsock which indicates prevailing wind direction. Once the estimated conditions to meet the gearing are met, then its time for a run.... however, by the time the rider has trekked the 1-mile distanced to the start line and made the return run... conditions may have changed, which leaves the rider then unable to pull that 'extra gearing' and having to again re-gear for the next run!
Combine these tricky elements with the fact that the power needed to add just a few measly extra MPH at those speeds, on a full-bodied Lambretta, rises exponentially, then you can see why the speed of 127mph is such an amazing feat. In a historical post made on the Scooterotica forum some 7-years ago, Darrell Taylor outlines perfectly in both words and images the suggested bhp required to propel a full-bodied Lambretta over 120mph. Take a look at the post, it's over 50hp! See post here: https://www.scooterotica.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=29198&hilit=dynabike
Well done to all involved in both the 127+mph run on 5th July 2020, and the 'meeting of the champs' at Elvington on 14th July 2020. Best speeds on the day, Eric Cope 118.9 and Keith Terry 111.9mph.
Erics 127mph scooter tech spec is as follows:
71.5mm RB225 tuned cylinder
62mm stroke crankshaft (249cc)
PWK 41mm carb HPI internal rotor ignition Hand made Darrell Taylor/Neil Pettit exhaust
Standard Li150 4-speed gearbox
Running on race fuel
Full bodywork as per regs
Standard Lambretta casing, and therefore stud positions, thus it runs no crankcase porting. Not surprising really, especially considering recent articles in Scootering magazine and current ‘ScooterFactory’ YouTube videos. See the ‘wasted tuning’ video here: https://youtu.be/SxQV0xz4q6E .
Best stats to date
Mile top speed = 127.591mph (205.33kph)
Half-mile top speed = 122.875 (197.74kph)
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