There’s no denying that Matt Thompson’s GP 150 is an eye-catching scooter, finished in its coat of two-tone grey and silver in the style of an AF Rayspeed ‘S’ type replica. It’s a scooter that Matt wanted to look fast, even when it was stood still, and I don’t think anyone can deny that he’s managed to do just that. Dave at RR Graphics cut the race numbers and AF Rayspeed and S type decals. As with most things this wasn’t straightforward – Matt bought three typefaces from Linotype in order to get the right combination of fonts for the AF Rayspeed and the number 7s. It took two attempts to get the colours that Matt wanted to match to the numbers.

The specification for Matt’s scooter is, in a word, impressive and in another word long! The engine is an Indian GP 200 casing with a chrome plated chain case with new engine mounts fitted and a solid mount on the kick-start side. On top of the block are stainless fittings and fasteners from MB Developments, along with an MB gear and adjuster block. Matt opted for a Taffspeed stainless gear connector bar that he reckons looks tricker than the MB equivalent. A 35mm Mikuni TMX carb has been fitted along with a Ramair filter. Inside the casing is an AF Rayspeed TS1 225 barrel and piston, Readspeed centre plug head, polished ports, the exhaust port has been flowed to the manifold, MB Developments inlet manifold polished and flowed, Yamaha reed block, Boysen 2 stage reeds, 58 mm AF road race crank, heavy duty chain tensioner, and an 82 link chain.

A Li 150 gearbox has been fitted with an 18/47 set up and a Taffspeed lightened crown wheel. A Variotronic advance/retard ignition system has been fitted with the slots being significantly enlarged so that it works. Along with the Variotronic kit a lightened flywheel with a nylon fan has been fitted. The clutch is a five-plate item with Surflex motocross grade plates and to stop it slipping 11 springs have been fitted. The springs are a made up of five Taffspeed, five PX 200 and an AF centre spring – no wonder it doesn’t slip! The whole engine breathes though a stainless MB Developments Devtour exhaust that has been polished by London Chroming. The cylinder head cowling is a carbon fibre/Kevlar item from MB Developments that has had a hole drilled into it to accommodate the centre plug head. The flywheel cowling has had its centre cut out and has been chromed plated.

The exhaustive list of modifications doesn’t end with the engine. The frame and bodywork have also been extensively reworked. An Italian GP 150 frame has been used as the basis of the scooter. The toolbox door, airscoop hole, rear frame holes and all additional holes have been welded up, filled and smoothed. The fuel filler flap has been replaced with a billet filler cap from a Yamaha. Floorboard struts have been reworked to accommodate the alterations to the leg shields and floorboards. In fact the left rear floor runner strut has been completely removed and the right one has been altered to accommodate a fabricated bracket that Matt has made to support the left footpeg. The rear runner boards have been replaced with custom made chrome plated plates mounted to the floorboards. The frame bridge piece has been removed and the frame loop altered to allow access to the centre plug head. The leg shields have been cut, shaped at the rear and the rear brake pedal hole has been welded up and smoothed over. A new floor runner layout has been achieved by welding up the existing holes and redrilling new holes. The front mudguard has been replaced with a carbon fibre MB Developments item that in turn has been trimmed and reshaped. The right-hand side panel has been cut to accommodate the rear set brake pedal and air filter and to keep a sense of balance the left-hand panel has also been cut. The side panels have had panel locks fitted and the panel louvres are polished aluminium items.

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"Atlantic Gold"