This Custom Yamaha-Engined Lambretta Scooter Is The Ultimate In Stealth

1 year, 7 months ago - 26 April 2023, RideApart
This Custom Yamaha-Engined Lambretta Scooter Is The Ultimate In Stealth
What do you get when you stuff an RD350 engine inside a Lambretta? Magic, that's what.

If there’s one thing that’s true about motorbike enthusiasts, it’s that, when given the right topic, we’re a sentimental group of people. Whether it’s family (human, pet, or both) or something else, many of us wear our passions on our sleeves—or, in many cases, our bikes. For an absolutely stunning example, you really need look no further than Jed’s custom Yambretta RD350, as lovingly detailed in this video by two-stroke motocross channel 999lazer. 

This bonkers and beautiful creation lives in Wiltshire, England, with its owner and lifetime motorbike enthusiast, Jed. While you may have seen an insane Lambretta 250 custom build by Casa Performance and other Yambretta RD350 builds in the past, Jed’s bike, which he calls the Envious Git, is a truly special tribute to his brother, Jamie. 

Jed tells the full story in this video, but the upshot is that his brother passed away, and he came into an inheritance. So, he did what a lot of people would do and created a memorial that he thought his brother would love—the Envious Git, which bears Jamie’s name on the front, as well as tooled into the leather roll mounted just behind the seat. 

The front end is all Lambretta, while the rear frame and engine are all taken from a Yamaha RD350. The exhausts were crafted by Casa Performance, and plenty of other customization has been done in order to get everything to play nicely together, which Jed goes into in this video.  

One important consideration was airflow, which is why the vents on the front and side panels are both functional and cool-looking, and aren’t just stickers. The shifting is one up, five down, and is accomplished via a foot shifter on the left-hand floorboard.  

What’s power like? According to Jed, it’s been dynoed at 60 horsepower at the rear wheel, and can get up to 120 miles per hour out on the road. He says he’s actually had it that fast exactly once, and that he probably doesn’t want to do it again because it starts to feel more unstable than he would like, and there’s no good place to put a steering damper.  

That said, one thing he absolutely loves is the stealth nature of this two-stroke wolf in sheep’s clothing, especially when pitted against other unsuspecting two-wheelers out on the road. Passing just about anything else is extremely easy to do on this little scoot—but it does drink fuel, so he says that whoever he’s passed will likely catch up to him at the next petrol station down the road. 

We do also get to see and hear this little Yambretta out on the road, so be sure to take 15 minutes and check this video out with headphones if you can.