ITALJET DRAGSTER 500
He turned out to be the owner of the Vespa GTS I had found online, which was equipped with a 260mm floating disc brake setup. He had custom-made it, so I couldn’t just buy it off the shelf. Fortunately, I was able to order this setup from Jurgen himself, including the conversion kit for the Frando brake caliper with 4 pistons. I then bought the rest of the brake components directly from Frando in Taiwan, including the adjustable brake levers, lines, and calipers.” Mashi can vividly recount his extensive Italjet project, but what really stands out is his attention to detail. Nothing is left to chance, and everything has a purpose. Take the handlebars, for instance. They are entirely self-designed and significantly wider than the original ones. The shape is inspired by the B2 stealth bomber and made from stainless steel. On the handlebars, you’ll find the original Nexus instrument cluster along with various Koso gauges, including a lap timer. There are also various Rizoma accessories, such as mirrors, grips, and blinkers. A nice touch is the use of a transparent windscreen, an original Italjet Dragster accessory that looks as if it was always meant to be there. For cooling, neither the original Nexus nor Dragster radiator could be used. The Nexus radiator was too wide, and the Dragster 180’s was too small. With the help of a mold, a new cross-flow radiator was constructed by a specialized company. To further improve cooling, copper intermediate pipes were used, and the Nexus cooling fan was reused on the new radiator. As a result of the larger radiator, the original headlight unit could no longer be used. A new LED illuminator unit was needed, which was custom-made in-house. In keeping with the times, new LED spots were used, three in total, with the middle one serving as a high beam.
Inspiration from Koenigsegg and Pagani The fact that Mashi has not only paid a lot of attention to the technology, but also to the appearance is evident from the photos. Rarely have we seen such a perfectly fabricated project. The eye for detail is therefore great, and Mashi was inspired by manufacturers of exotic sports cars such as Koenigsegg and Pagani. There is also a nice story about the creation of carbon elements in, among other things, the saddle: “I wanted to integrate carbon elements into the contours of the saddle and also refresh the saddle by adding more volume and sharper lines. All this to bring the proportions back into balance. To achieve this, a new saddle pan had to be made. Jeroen Bouwmeester of Silver Machines followed the new lines I had drawn in a newly fabricated saddle pan. The original saddle pan was stripped and covered with a layer of carbon by a carbon worker in Germany, finished with a matte finish. The back part was also redesigned, following the shape of the new saddle, and provided with the same carbon finish. Since he wanted to open the saddle from the handlebar contact from now on, the original opening on the side of the saddle was closed. To make the unlocking system work completely, a cable slide mechanism had to be made on the saddle latch. To finish it off, the saddle was equipped with a gas spring system so that it opens automatically when unlocked.”
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