Athena Sprinter, 94cc Dragster

We thought we would give you a chance to take a look at Athena’s sprint bike “scooter” and let you see what thinking out of the box can lead to. After only 4 months they have beaten some of the strongest competition in Europe with an engine hybrid Moto X meets Auto scooter. Take a look at the carburettor manifold position, hopefully all of this testing leads to some interesting cylinder kits in the future.

The project to create an ATHENA dragster “sprint bike” began a few months ago from an Italian-French team including Athena’s Technical Chief Mr Luigi Vangelista and the French mechanic Mr Stéphane Fort with the support of Athena’s Mr Matteo Mancassola and Athena French sales representative Mr Jean-Paul Bourdoux.

The Athena cylinder kit fitting Minarelli engines is a prototype based on a KTM 65cc cylinder kit, fully revised in its porting as well as diagrams and of course using special racing parts in order to reach a displacement of 94cc.

• Frame: aluminium
• Engine: Minarelli Horizontal engine - long type MBK Ovetto”
• Piston: diameter 50 mm
• Cylindre kit: Athena DRAGSTER Prototype BIG BORE cylinder kit, bore size 50mm
• Displacement: 65cc
• Crankshaft: Athena Prototype crankshaft 48mm stroke
• Rad valves: BOYESEN
• Carburetor: Dell’Orto carburetor VHST 30 MM
• Variator, clutch, transmission and belt are all Athena prototypes
• Rear brake: drum
• Front brake: disc
• Radiator: Fluidyne Radiator
• Current power @ the wheel: 29.5 HP tested on a DYNOJET bench, the target is to go over 30HP
• Total weight: 42 kg

When Athena began its sprinting adventure they promised they were there to win.
And so it is, after only four months from Athena’s first appearance at the 150-meter track they have taken to the highest step of the podium in Salbris where it all began with an excellent third place in July.

The competition, which took place on October 27th and 28th, was particularly intense. Riders were welcomed to the track by a winter’s day with an icy road bed and lashing winds, all of which made it difficult to control the drag bikes road holding on the start. In qualifying Athena demonstrated it was heading for success, reaching the first place with their rider Guillaume. With competition much more challenging than expected changes were made in the team-play, from the rider to all the technical staff and of course things were made a little easier due to the power and reliability of the Athena engine.

So with the final sprint came the victory with the time of 4.8 seconds.

Athena parts

New Polini Carburettor's Launched at Eicma 2012

It looks like Polini have managed to meet the needs of what everyone is striving for nowadays, sophisticated technology neatly packaged into a small body with lots of quality and great performance.

A carburettor! really, for us this is a big win in terms of  what you guys need, we have included below all of the information that Polini have provided but in short there are two types of carb available, one with a flip choke and the other with a cable attachment. Both are being released in the following diameter sizes 15, 17.5, 19, 21, and 23mm.

Suggested RRP will be approximately £72.00

Polini's information

This was the Polini’s great idea, and this is the great result: an innovative carburettor, whose every single component has been designed, developed and manufactured by the company of Bergamo.

 Available in a wide range of diameters - 15/17.5/19/21/23/24 - it is entirely made of aluminium, it has compact dimensions and it is 40% lighter than a traditional carburetor.

The inlet pipe is very short and it features an exclusive concentric design and a geometry that optimises the air flow when the gases passes through. The overflow of petrol in the atomiser has been designed to ensure correct flow dynamic at every position of the throttle valve when open. The hole where the petrol enters and the larger needle allow the constant draft even in the most extreme conditions. The float level, completely made of plastic, and the needle seal are carefully controlled in the production department to ensure the same standard of efficiency over time. These features considerably simplify the setup of the carburetor. Thanks to the extremely sophisticated calibration, the petrol-air flow, main and low jets have been designed to achieve the best performance with a lower consumption. The compact size of the new carburetor is the result of a careful and meticulous management of the inner space and the maximum efficiency of all the components, subjected to strict controls.

To ensure an easy and precise assembly on the best sellers engines and its compatibility to different filter boxes, both originals and racing, flanges with different diameters are available. A prestigious project like this has required a deep synergy of competences in this field. An extraordinary teamwork between the technical and the racing department to reach the goal which is visible to everybody: a technologically advanced product and of absolute reliability.

Moped and Scooter Inlet Manifolds

360° swivel manifolds allow you to change the position that your carburettor takes, this helps when fitting larger carbs or air filters and can solve the problem of getting open filters wet along with clearing parts of the moped like the rear damper.

Derbi Senda DRD, Xtreme, Pro, GPR Nude, Racing etc
Derbi  EB050 & D50B0 engines with 32mm union – STP650 - £18.00

Ludix, Jetforce Ctec, Speedfight 3 2t models
Peugeot horizontal with 23mm union – STP644 - £18.00

Piaggio Intake Manifold - 360 Degrees Swivel

360° swivel manifolds allow you to change the position that your carburettor takes, this helps when fitting larger carbs or air filters and can solve the problem of getting open filters wet. On Piaggio engines flexibility in the manifold position is a great help when you need to clear the casing beneath the bowl of the carburettor as well as guiding the filter away from the rear mudguard.

Piaggio 50cc 2T with 23mm union – STP535 - £18.00
Piaggio 2T engines with 32mm union – STP536 - £18.00
Piaggio 2T engines with 23mm and 28mm union – STP649 - £22.90

RS 50 AM6 Inlet Mainfold - 360 Degrees - Swivel

360° swivel manifolds allow you to change the position that your carburettor takes, this helps when fitting larger carbs or air filters and can solve the problem of getting open filters wet along with clearing parts of the moped like the rear damper.

Minarelli AM6 with 32mm union – STP645 - £18.00

Aerox, Jog R Inlet Manifold - 360 Degrees

360° swivel manifolds allow you to change the position that your carburettor takes, this helps when fitting larger carbs and air filters and can solve the problem of getting open filters wet.

Minarelli horizontal with 23mm union – STP641 - £18.00

Yamaha Aerox Water Pump Cover Units

With an even bigger range now available you have the choice of the standard design in four different anodised colours or for a custom look we have slotted and holed units which allow full view of the flywheel as it spins. Each unit has all the tricky internals already installed allowing you to fit the part in just a few minutes. Suitable for all Minarelli horizontal liquid cooled engines.

Carbon effect – STP635 - £40.00
Anodised blue – STP632 - £40.00
Anodised green – STP634 - £40.00
Chrome – STP690 - £40.00
Holed Chrome – STP636 - £47.00
Holed carbon – STP692 - £47.00
Slotted carbon – STP691 - £47.00

Yamaha Aerox Handlebar Grips

These neat looking grips are specific to the Aerox in every way. The shape and design fits perfectly in place of the originals and still allows for correct use of the standard bar ends and switch gear.

Available in 5 different colours

Red – STP718 - £6.45
Grey – STP720 - £6.45
Yellow – STP719 - £6.45
Black – STP716 - £6.45
Blue – STP717 - £6.45