PINASCO – Tuning für die Vespa
PINASCO – Tuning für die Vespa
PINASCO – Pure Passion! For more than five decades, this Italian company has been synonymous with Vespa tuning. Whether it’s Racing Cylinders, Pistons, Ignition Systems, Racing Exhausts or Shock Absorbers – PINASCO stands for quality, power and performance. Although company founder Andrea Pinasco sold the business to Bettella in 1999, the products for scooters continue to be developed in his spirit.
Made in Italy
Over 50 years’ experience
Successful racing as a testing ground
In-house research & development
PINASCO – From a home garage to the world
Andrea Pinasco gained his first hands-on experience with motorbikes at the age of 14, when he took apart and reassembled his Vespa 50 L. He didn’t achieve a significant increase in performance, but he got to know the engine inside out. At 16, Andrea Pinasco switched to a Vespa 125 GT and was frustrated by its rather modest performance. However, tuning parts weren’t available to buy back then, so he had no choice but to try his hand at optimising it himself. As a teenager, he attended technical college for a while, after which he maintained the machinery at the family business. So working on a Vespa engine couldn’t have been that difficult. The idea was to fit a naturally aspirated GS 150 Cylinder. This resulted – more by chance than design – in the first twin-carburettor model. His school results didn’t live up to his parents’ expectations, so Andrea had to work in the family pasta shop in San Gottardo. One day, he plucked up all his courage and rode his souped-up Vespa to Milan. He went straight to the editorial office of *Motociclismo*, where Piero Bacchetti himself sold him an advert for his invention. Andrea shelled out 37,000 lire – a whole month’s wages. This advert marked the beginning of the success story in 1969: The kit went down a treat and was shipped from his garage at home to all corners of Italy. Whilst the twin-carburettor kit was still largely assembled from off-the-shelf components, the 75cc kit for the V50, which appeared shortly afterwards, was an entirely in-house development.
In 1975, Andrea took part in the ‘Esposizione Internazionale Ciclo Motociclo e Accessori’ (EICMA) trade fair in Milan for the first time. At the age of 23, he was the youngest exhibitor, yet he sold over 400 cylinder kits that very same year. By 1980, with a range of over 20 parts and sales figures running into the thousands, he had to move to larger premises. Not only the cylinders, but also the exhaust systems from PINASCO enjoyed great popularity worldwide. Perhaps this was because they were optimised for road use and, despite their increased power, were hardly any louder than an original Exhaust. In 1981, Pinasco sold 60,000 conversion kits. In 2018, PINASCO took a major step and entered the Lambretta market. In 2020, the Bettella Group’s acquisition of the long-established Lambretta firm GORI Elaborazioni was another logical step. It will be interesting to see what PINASCO will produce for Lambretta owners in the future.
"We have been working with SIP for about 25 years, and I know Alex and Moritz very well. The cooperation with SIP is going perfectly and we are very happy to have this contact."
–Piergiorgio Bettella, CEO Pinasco
In 1984, Andrea Pinasco realised another dream and entered the world of motor racing. Riding a 200PE-based racing bike with twin carburettors and a long stroke, he and his team caused a stir in the Spanish Endurance Championship. Six hours on the street circuit, up against around a hundred competitors, at an average speed of 115 km/h – in the end, they stood at the very top of the podium by a narrow margin. The successes have continued to this day, and in both the Largeframe and Smallframe classes, the ‘Palmares Scuderia Pinasco’ is regularly among the champions.
Piaggio itself was initially sceptical about the ‘Pinasco venture’, as the Vespa was a ‘politically correct’ vehicle that didn’t need tuning. It soon became apparent, however, that PINASCO products made the Vespa even more attractive to the market, and Piaggio itself therefore benefited from this. In the 1980s, Andrea Pinasco was involved in a wide range of projects: he worked for various companies in the Middle East on the task of minimising the fuel consumption and emissions of scooters and motorbikes. He also worked for PGO, Bajai, the Ford Group and several Swiss companies. Even today, the name PINASCO stands for high-quality products, and ‘the Vespa’, Andrea is convinced, ‘is and remains practical, comfortable and economical. It’s not a question of nostalgia, but of quality.’ However, he views the current trend towards four-stroke engines with a certain degree of scepticism. He finds the engines too expensive and cumbersome and believes it would be better to seek more efficient solutions in the two-stroke sector. He does not, however, feel called to do so himself. Instead, he has settled down in a little cottage in the countryside just outside Genoa. Whilst he still spends his time with ‘horsepower’, these days it actually refers to four-legged animals. It’s a passion he shares with his daughter Rosa.
"With a SIP Road 2.0 Sport and 24 carburettor, you can easily outrun any 210 with the 177 racing cylinder from PINASCO. A buddy of mine installed it and rode it with the 210s on the SIP Barcelona Tour without any problems.
–Angelo, SIP Scootershop
PINASCO at SIP Scootershop
We have more than 200 PINASCO products in our range - from complete tuning kits to piston rings. There are tuning parts for beginners who want to get a taste of the subject, but also high-end accessories that are only suitable for the race track and experienced racers. Just click through the PINASCO pages and let yourself be inspired by the different possibilities.
The most popular PINASCO products at SIP Scootershop:
Long stroke shaft PINASCO for Vespa 200 Rally and others
Conclusion: The tradition created by Andrea Pinasco lives on to this day and has lost nothing of its innovation and quality.
