HIPER 2 TUNING GUIDE

INTRODUCTION This tuning guide is intended for the latest Piaggio/Gilera year 2000 scooters which have the Hi-Per 2 engine with anti-tamper and catalytic converter exhaust with air bleed system. The performance parts that have been used will also fit earlier engines without having to modify the crankcase. These early engines have 12mm carbs and therefore a new 17.5mm carb is required to obtain the same performance as the modified Hi-Per 2 engine described in this guide.

Dyno photo Air Cooled Piaggio 50 Motor Standard v. Tuned with and without Torque Driver Tuning Parts: DR Air-Cooled 75cc Kit, Eurocilindro 0.25mm Reed Petals, LeoVinci ZX Expansion, Malossi Front Pulley and Gear Kit The Hi-Per 2 engine is available in both air-cooled and water-cooled format. The air-cooled motor is used in scooters such as the Zip 50 2000 Catalyst. The water-cooled engine is used in scooters (?) such as the DNA 50. The modifications we have detailed below were carried out in our workshop on the Zip 50 2000 scooter. Please note that general tuning and derestricting information for earlier models is detailed in our other tuning guide titled Piaggio Auto 50s & 80s. DERESTRICTING The standard motor gives approximately 3.2bhp and 30mph top speed. The gearing is restricted by a spacer washer (nylon) that limits the travel of the front pulley. Removing this will add 10mph to the top speed. However, the catalytic exhaust and the air bleed system into it reducing emissions is an

integrated system, which means that changing the exhaust requires removing the air bleed system as well. In the carb mouth in the air filter hose mounting flange there is a brass plate with several 7mm holes drilled into it. I cannot make up my mind if this is a restrictive or emission orientated item. The area of the holes works out at 17mm. The carb is 17.5mm but a 12mm carb will give 5bhp on older standard motors, so removal will affect carb jetting (too much air) and may spoil the way the catalyst works. The catalyst exhaust has a very small resonant pipe around 3.5 inches long. Again, Im not sure if that is to make the air bleed pulse system through the reed work or not, as the air into the exhaust system front pipe is not pumped but sucked through by the exhaust chamber pulses working through the reed valve in the pipework. If the exhaust is going to be changed then removing the brass plate is not going to affect the then non-existent catalyst and air bleed system. This will require a much larger main jet, and the new exhaust will need roller weight alterations to suit the new operating RPM. Size 50 is the standard main jet - be aware that the needle, atomiser and slide fitted are all different to the 17.5mm carb fitted to other earlier models and used as aftermarket add-ons, so do not use these for jetting comparisons. Start with a main jet of 75 and expect to be close. Adjust according to any modifications that have been made. It will depend on the exhaust used. (Use the standard airbox without modifications.) Because of the original catalyst exhaust a CO meter will not detect air-fuel mixtures accurately, as the CO is absorbed and burnt by the catalyst, and the system also bleeds in fresh air. So I cannot give any guidance on what jet to use with a catalyst exhaust. On our Dynojet rolling road the CO reading for the standard engine on full throttle was 1.5% instead of the normal 6 to 6.5%. Yet when the motor was stripped for modification it looked to have been running extremely rich. Experiment at your own peril !!!

Fitting a 70cc or 50cc Cylinder Kit Having made the decision to fit a 70cc cylinder kit the problems start. Piaggio, in an effort to create anti-tamper, have used a smaller spigot (52mm) on the cylinder compared to the normal 50cc motors (54mm), so the 70cc kits will not fit into the crankcase. The first 10mm into the case on the transmission case half is at a smaller diameter, so only a 52mm spigot will fit. The case needs to be ground back, which means an engine strip to avoid aluminium finding its way into the crankshaft or main bearings. Once the engine case is stripped, modified and rebuilt, then the choice of kit can be made. In this case a DR 75cc cylinder kit was used (48mm bore), a Multivar 2000 Front Pulley and the Zip 2000 Gear Kit was chosen. Subsequent dyno running convinced us to add a Malossi Torque Driver Rear Pulley (highly recommended for this motor setup). This transmission setup has almost no engine RPM variation between 30mph and 75mph. With the LeoVinci Handmade ZX exhaust (E-Marked and road legal) used it runs at 8,500 to 8,600rpm all through this range. To go with the cylinder kit, Eurocilindro 0.25mm reed petals were fitted to the standard block

and the reed block openings trimmed of excessive rubber to make the block more gas-flowed. The air injection inlet hole in the transmission crankcase side was blocked off with a grommet. The air filter box had the inlet rubber removed and a second hole 14mm in diameter added to the hole already in the dividing wall of the lid of the air filter to improve air flow through the air filter box. A main jet of 85 was fitted to the carb and no other modifications were made to it. For the oil pump we have set the cable adjustment to maximum at full throttle. This means that with a closed throttle the alignment marks are mismatched by around 4 to 5mm. As oil can destroy the catalyser in the exhaust, we believe that Piaggio will not be very generous with 2-stroke oil delivery, so extra oil is required. As the oil pump is engine driven and revs have gone from 6,000 to 8,500. Then it is already pumping in around 45% more oil and the extra cable adjustment will ensure good protection when fully synthetic oils are used. For this purpose we recommend Putoline TT Scooter Plus or Putoline TT Extra Injection (used in Aprilia RS 125 and 250 motors), although Silkolene Pro Scoot or Comp 2 Plus are alternatives if Putoline is difficult to obtain.

The Performance Improvements The resultant dyno curve, still with a tight and slightly rich jetted motor, gives over 8.5bhp, which is more than the Peugeot 100s or 125 ET4s give. As the Zip 50 only weighs 76kg as standard, the power-to-weight ratio is very good and acceleration is excellent for this kind of modification. Considering that the cost of the Zip on introduction to the UK was 1,100, the performance that can be obtained with these modifications is extremely cost-effective. Parts cost around 400 in total. Labour cost is 300 because of the need to remove and strip the engine to modify the crankcase. But for a DIY man with the necessary tools who can do the stripping, modifying and rebuilding himself then it represents excellent value for money. .

Dyno photo Water Cooled Piaggio 50 Motor DNA standard curves will be less in derestricted form. However, the Tuned curve will be the same for a tuned DNA or Runner, as the parts used are identical.

If the motor is water-cooled (DNA 50) rather than air-cooled the performance would be 1bhp better (no cooling fan drag) and the cost approximately 30 more. The gear kit used in this example is that recommended by Malossi and with the 8,500 operating RPM it means that the motor is on the pulleys up to 70+mph. If a higher revving exhaust was used or top speed was not relevant then the slightly lower gearing from a Runner 50 could be used (14/39 versus 15/38 ratio). This would drop 10mph off the top speed but would make acceleration from 0 to 15mph more rapid. If a standard Piaggio non-catalysed exhaust or Sito Plus was used then the lower engine revs and power output would mean that either gearing could be an option depending on the use and rider weight