A Goldflake themed Lambretta with an RD 350 engine, truly a creation of a Frankenstein by Skindeep Customs

Yes, you read the title right… By definition of Wikipedia, Frankenstein is an 1818 novel written by English author Mary Shelley (1797–1851) that tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a sapient creature in an unorthodox scientific experiment. And when you hear the name, you surely do imagine a scientist, giving life to a big burly monster. If one may have read the novel, Frankenstein, the scientific creature was considered as the child of Victor Frankenstein… What is the relation here if you may ask..? Well, let me answer your question…

Skindeep Customs has been very well known for the variety and out of the box designs that they have been making over a couple of years. The Yambretta, as it is called, is the brainchild of Senthil, from Skindeep Customs, Bangalore. Just as Victor devised a very unconventional method of bringing to life a creature, Skindeep has given birth to a totally unventured species..!

As the name suggests, its indeed is a Lambretta, with a Yamaha RD 350’s engine, that too is a liquid-cooled version… Now you may think why would one do that..? It’s simple… because you can..! Because you want to go fast, in an unconventional way… And also, because you want to make your presence felt in style and swag

The design and process:

As the team sat on the drawing table, the idea of putting an RD engine into the Lambretta was immediately accepted and closed.

When the vehicle arrived at Skindeep, the Lambretta was completely raw, unpolished, and exposed. As the team sat on the drawing table, the idea of putting an RD engine into the Lambretta was immediately accepted and closed. As something like this was probably not done earlier, the vehicle had to have one of a kind look.

The work began by pulling all the body panels and assembly apart. To fit the RD 350 engine into the scooter was no joke and a lot of supports had to be custom created. Since the RD 350 LC engine produces an insane 59 Bhp’s with a healthy 40Nm of torque. Thus the most critical part of the build was to strengthen the chassis to compensate for the power. Even the underside of the scooter gets strengthening support.

Once the supports were in place, the gear and brake lever had to be installed in a clever way. The lever was thus installed on the footboard with a typical pattern of one down and five up. With the engine carefully in place inside the bodywork, there was no space for the fuel tank. Also, considering that the RD engine was fitted in the scooter, it meant that there needed to be space for a good amount of fuel.

The team thus decided to cleverly place a rectangular fuel tank on the front panel of the scooter, which kind of camouflages as the stock storage. All this power meant that the vehicle needed to come to a halt as quickly as possible, and thus disc brake was provided at both the wheels.

The scooter also gets two swooping proton exhausts on either side, making the attire look pretty burly. The headlight housing remains the same, although there is a Led inside the housing which acts as a DRL. Since the scooter is one of a kind, it had to have a color scheme that had to stand out.

Hence, the team chose a flashy yellow with a mix of Red in the center all with a gloss finish with a Gold Flake theme. The color scheme has been devised by Motomatic Restorations… The scooter also gets a special caricature done by Karan Lokhande on the front panel.

The Verdict:

The scooter is truly a Frankenstein’s creation. I for one, would not have been able to imagine a Lambretta with a super powerful engine. One can only imagine what it feels to ride a scooter with the insane power, esp the look of surprise on people’s faces when this monster in disguise swoops past them at unmentionable speed..!! Kudos to the team to conceive such a lovely beast..!

• Restored by: Skindeep Customs
• Paintwork: Motomatic R&D
• Caricature: Chiraag Rao
• Picture: The Camoholic