Bring me sunshine
This isn’t just a TG300, it’s a PM Tuning TG300. Can the first Royal Alloy to break the 30bhp barrier make Stan smile…?
This isn't just a TG300, it's a PM Tuning TG300. Can the first Royal Alloy to break the 30bhp barrier make Stan smile…?
It's easy to believe that big horsepower engines are the exclusive domain of two-stroke tuners. In the past two decades a multitude of kits and bespoke engines have put an easy 20bhp within the reach of most enthusiasts and only slightly deeper pockets are required to cross the magic 30bhp barrier. For auto riders the choice has been more limited, but there are a number of tuning houses quietly working away to address the imbalance. At the head of the pack is Morecambe-based PM Tuning and its owner Paul Melici requires no introduction to the majority of Scootering readers. Since establishing PM Tuning back in 1984, Paul and his team have become well known for their tuning parts and were among the first to see the four-stroke auto's potential. To date they've concentrated on the Scomadi range and Vespa GTS, but this machine marks their first foray into the world of Royal Alloy tuning. When Paul invited me over to Morecambe for a look I couldn't grab my keys fast enough.
A bright new brave tomorrow
The majority of British scooterists have been raised on a strict diet of twostrokes. We may not all understand the mathematics of port timings, but most of us know that bolting on a big carb and fitting an expansion chamber will improve performance. Unfortunately disappointment is the common emotion experienced by anyone who's bolted a new exhaust on to their GTS in anticipation of significantly improved performance. The four-stroke engine is an entirely different beast from its two-stroke cousin. To improve performance, both need extra fuel and with a four-stroke that means starting at the head. Here, fuel flow is controlled by valves and if two-stroke porting seems like a dark art, manipulating a four-stroke head is positively satanic.