A cutdown is a customised
scooter (usually an Italian
Vespa
Vespa () is an Italian luxury brand of scooter (motorcycle), scooters and mopeds manufactured by Piaggio. The name means wasp in Italian. The Vespa has evolved from a single model motor scooter manufactured in 1946 by Piaggio & Co. S.p.A. of ...
or
Lambretta
Lambretta () is the brand name of mainly motor scooters, initially manufactured in Milan, Italy, by Innocenti.
The name is derived from the word Lambrate, the suburb of Milan named after the river Lambro which flows through the area, and wher ...
) with parts of the bodywork removed or cut away. Cutdowns were popular amongst
skinhead
A skinhead is a member of a subculture which originated among working class youths in London, England, in the 1960s and soon spread to other parts of the United Kingdom, with a second working class skinhead movement emerging worldwide in th ...
s and
scooterboy
A scooterboy (or scooter boy) is a member of one of several scooter-related subcultures of the 1960s and later decades, alongside rude boys, mods and skinheads. The term is sometimes used as a catch-all designation for any scootering enthusiast ...
s during the
mod revival
The mod revival was a subculture that started in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s and later spread to other countries (to a lesser degree). The mod revival's mainstream popularity was relatively short, although its influence lasted for deca ...
of the 1970s and 1980s. While the style-obsessed British
mod
Mod, MOD or mods may refer to:
Places
* Modesto City–County Airport, Stanislaus County, California, US
Arts, entertainment, and media Music
* Mods (band), a Norwegian rock band
* M.O.D. (Method of Destruction), a band from New York City, US ...
youth subculture of the 1960s prized the glamorous, metropolitan image of scooters, many skinheads and
scooterboy
A scooterboy (or scooter boy) is a member of one of several scooter-related subcultures of the 1960s and later decades, alongside rude boys, mods and skinheads. The term is sometimes used as a catch-all designation for any scootering enthusiast ...
s viewed their bikes as simply a form of transportation.
![Naked Lambretta 01](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/Naked_Lambretta_01.jpg)
While some scooter enthusiasts have focused on the stripped-down look, with just a bare frame and visible engine and mechanical parts, some scooterboys put back almost as much hardware as they had taken off, by adding customized chrome-plated accessories and racks.
Modifications
Many cutdowns have unneeded parts removed to improve
power-to-weight ratio
Power-to-weight ratio (PWR, also called specific power, or power-to-mass ratio) is a calculation commonly applied to engines and mobile power sources to enable the comparison of one unit or design to another. Power-to-weight ratio is a measuremen ...
. Typically the front mudguards, leg shields, floors, rear section and side panels are removed. Cutting away body parts is the easiest with Lambretta scooters, because they are built on a tubular frame, which means that the body parts do not have a structural role. Vespa scooters, on the other hand, are usually built with a
unibody
A vehicle frame, also historically known as its '' chassis'', is the main supporting structure of a motor vehicle to which all other components are attached, comparable to the skeleton of an organism.
Until the 1930s, virtually every car ha ...
design, so the body panels give the bike its structure. This means that when Vespas are cut down, they cannot be made as bare-bones as a Lambretta. The body panels of a Vespa are modified by slimming them down or giving them a different shape, in such a way that the structural soundness of the bike is not compromised.
Cutdowns are often tuned – much like a four-wheeled
hot rod
Hot rods are typically American cars that might be old, classic, or modern and that have been rebuilt or modified with large engines optimised for speed and acceleration. One definition is: "a car that's been stripped down, souped up and made ...
– by overboring the cylinders to increase engine power or adding performance exhausts, modified
carburettor
A carburetor (also spelled carburettor) is a device used by an internal combustion engine to control and mix air and fuel entering the engine. The primary method of adding fuel to the intake air is through the venturi tube in the main meterin ...
s, or aftermarket shock absorbers. Some enthusiasts replace the standard drum front brakes with hydraulic disc brakes or add water cooling radiators. Lambretta owners may replace existing parts with a
Nikasil
Nikasil is a trademarked electrodeposited lipophilic nickel matrix silicon carbide coating for engine components, mainly piston engine cylinder liners.
Development
Nikasil was introduced by Mahle in 1967, and initially developed to allow Wankel ...
plated aluminium barrel with radical porting, large
Dell'Orto
Dell'Orto is an Italian company, headquartered in Cabiate, specialized in the construction of carburetors and electronic injection systems. The company was founded in 1933 as "Società anonima Gaetano Dell'Orto e figli" (Gaetano Dell’Orto and ...
or
Mikuni carburettors and bespoke (custom-made)
expansion chamber
On a two-stroke engine, an expansion chamber or tuned pipe is a tuned exhaust system used to enhance its power output by improving its volumetric efficiency.
History
Expansion chambers were invented and successfully manufactured by Limbach, a ...
s, hydraulic clutches, and modern low-profile
tyres
A tire (American English) or tyre (British English) is a ring-shaped component that surrounds a Rim (wheel), wheel's rim to transfer a vehicle's load from the axle through the wheel to the ground and to provide Traction (engineering), t ...
. Some scooterists use aluminum Fabrizi racing barrels, because they use a rotary induction mechanism. Stock gas tanks may be replaced with increased capacity tanks, which put the weight of the fuel further forward.
Some riders install a small fairing to reduce wind resistance and enable higher speeds and stability. To reduce weight, some scooterists use lighter-weight aftermarket parts, such as carbon fibre sports seats and other parts made from carbon fibre, carbon kevlar and fiberglass.
Some cutdowns have been used for
drag racing
Drag racing is a type of motor racing in which automobiles or motorcycles compete, usually two at a time, to be first to cross a set finish line. The race follows a short, straight course from a standing start over a measured distance, most c ...
. At scooter races, cutdowns often race in a separate category called the "specials", which is for cutdown and heavily modified racing scooters. The other scooter race categories include stock races with relatively unmodified larger scooters (152 to 250 cc) and "small frame" races for scooters with 136 cc or smaller engines. For races, scooters usually have to have accessories removed, such as center and side stands, mirrors, turn signals that stick out, and luggage racks. Scooter races often disallow performance-enhancing fuel additives such as octane booster.
Related scooter types
![Twist N' Go Baja 150cc 1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/Twist_N%27_Go_Baja_150cc_1.jpg)
A cutdown scooter resembles a "naked scooter", which is a scooter designed without panels covering the engine and with little or no bodywork. The difference between the two types is that while a cutdown scooter started as a regular scooter with body panels and bodywork, before it was customized, a "naked scooter" is designed and manufactured as a "bare-bones" vehicle. In the 1960s, Lambretta models A through D were in this category. In the 1990s, Italjet produced a stripped-down scooter called the Dragster. In the 2000s Honda produced the
Ruckus, which had the motor mounted in a skeleton-style metal frame.
![Honda ruckus-side](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c3/Honda_ruckus-side.png)
Another scooter type which is related to cutdowns is the "chopper", which is an extreme cutdown scooter with extra-long front forks. These bikes are mostly made using Lambrettas, because when the bodywork is removed from their tubular frame they resemble smaller custom style motorcycles. "Rats" are cutdowns which are made by putting together old parts to create a rough-looking, unpainted bike. In contrast to many other scooter enthusiasts, "rat" builders view blemishes and unrepaired dents as attractive. The "rat" approach to scooter customizing is similar to the
rat rod
A rat rod, as usually known today, is a custom car with a deliberately worn-down, unfinished appearance, typically lacking paint, showing rust, and made from cheap or cast-off parts. These parts can include non-automotive items that have been re ...
style of
hot rod
Hot rods are typically American cars that might be old, classic, or modern and that have been rebuilt or modified with large engines optimised for speed and acceleration. One definition is: "a car that's been stripped down, souped up and made ...
ding, in which old cars often have original paint with rust patches, or even just bare rusty metal. Major
scooter rallies
Scooter may refer to:
Vehicles
Ground
Human or gravity powered
* Eccentric-hub scooter, propelled by a standing rider making a bouncing motion
* Kick scooter, propelled by a standing rider pushing off the ground
* Knee scooter, a mobility device ...
which give prizes to scooters sometimes put "chopper" and "rat" scooters in a separate category from the rest of the cutdowns.
See also
*
Hot rod
Hot rods are typically American cars that might be old, classic, or modern and that have been rebuilt or modified with large engines optimised for speed and acceleration. One definition is: "a car that's been stripped down, souped up and made ...
*
Skinhead
A skinhead is a member of a subculture which originated among working class youths in London, England, in the 1960s and soon spread to other parts of the United Kingdom, with a second working class skinhead movement emerging worldwide in th ...
*
Scooterboy
A scooterboy (or scooter boy) is a member of one of several scooter-related subcultures of the 1960s and later decades, alongside rude boys, mods and skinheads. The term is sometimes used as a catch-all designation for any scootering enthusiast ...
*
Kustom Kulture
Kustom Kulture is a neologism used to describe the artworks, vehicles, hairstyles, and fashions of those who have driven and built custom cars and motorcycles in the United States of America from the 1950s through today.
It was born out of the h ...
References
{{Types of motorcycles
Modified vehicles
Skinhead
Youth culture in the United Kingdom
Custom motorcycles