Carbon fibre, carbon kevlar and fibre glass products from MB Developments

Q Why have MB Developments suddenly started selling carbon fibre and carbon kevlar products?

A It is really a case of us finding a good manufacturer to subcontract the work out to.
Through Mark’s canoeing connections he found our last manufacturer, who was good but slow to deliver.
He then found our current one who makes the stuff fairly quickly and very well.

Q Why is it so expensive?

A You are paying for a labour intensive product that is made from expensive raw materials.
We don't cut any corners and the products are excellent quality, made in England.
It is made very quickly and we try to keep some on stock so you won't have the stress of having an item on back order for a long time.

Q I had a carbon fibre bodywork part and it didn't fit. Is yours any different?

A The moulds for all the GP bodywork we are doing are based on the bodywork from Marks own scooter Shrine which was a genuine perfect un-bent GP200 electronic.

Shrine, Marks own scooter.

Mark spent many hours making sure the bodywork for Shrine was perfect fitting so the molds have been made from that.
Unfortunately sometimes carbon items can move, twist or bend coming out of the mold.
This is so slight you can hardly tell.
All drill holes are marked to the genuine item.

Q Why Carbon Kevlar as opposed to Carbon Fibre? What is the difference?

A Carbon fibre is super-light but can be brittle so it is better for areas where there is not a lot of strength required.
Carbon fibre items are reinforced with Carbon Kevlar at necessary stress points.
Carbon Kevlar (as its name suggests) is super strong but is slightly heavier than carbon fibre.
We also do the "sandwich" type products, with carbon kevlar on the inside for strength and carbon fibre for looks on the outside.

Q Which is which?

A Carbon fibre is the black and silver looking one.

Carbon kevlar is the yellow and black looking one.

Q You say the carbon fibre and carbon kevlar is very light weight. Exactly how light?

A Have a look at the table below to see how much weight you can lose from your scooter by using carbon fibre bodywork.

Item	Metal	Carbon fibre	Carbon kevlar	Our fibreglass	Other fibreglass
Rear mudguard	684g	231g	235g	351g	372g
Rear mudflap	57g (rubber one)	30g	30g	-	-
Bridge piece	150g	42g	42g	-	-
Front mudguard	1206g	485g	465g	550g	535g
Flywheel cowl	235g	-	93g	-	-
Head cowl	565g	-	157g	-	-
Side panels, GP (pair)	2350g	934g	750g	-	-
Rear runners, GP (pair)	1420g	-	320g	-	-
Legshields, GP		-	1240g	-	-
Total weight of available bodywork	6667g	1722g	3332g	901g	907g

As you can see, comparing like for like, you can save nearly 4 kg by using carbon kevlar bodywork.

Please note the metal bodywork we weighed was all from Mark's shrine scooter and as such had been strengthened and welded and filled to perfection so it may not weigh the same as other metal bodywork.
We don't want to know if yours is lighter or heavier than Mark's, we are just using the weight as an illustration!

Q Can you supply these items in ordinary fibreglass?

A We can indeed.
The items should be about 2/3 the price of the carbon fibre items.
This is more than the metal equivalent but you have got the advantage that the fibreglass will fit and doesn't need panel beating, sand blasting and painting.
It is also much lighter.

All our carbon fibre / carbon kevlar items can be made in fibreglass.
The material used is not the old thick stuff you might remember, it is much stronger and lighter.
In fibre glass the bodywork will come in a white finish.
You just need to paint over it and you wouldn't know it wasn't metal.

Q I'm building a custom scooter. Why should I use this carbon fibre/carbon kevlar stuff?

A As well as being practical and functional and well fitting, it looks super trick.
If you don't like the finish you can paint over it and still have the advantage of good fitting bodywork which is much lighter than standard.

Q What bodywork do you offer at the moment and what is planned?

A See the table below but at the moment we have got :-

• Lambretta head cowls
• Lambretta flywheel cowls
• Lambretta series 3 rear mudguards
• Lambretta GP side panels
• Lambretta GP rear running boards
• Series 3 bridge pieces

Coming very soon will be :-

• GP front mudguards
• GP horncasts

After that will be :-

• GP legshields
• Series 3 toolbox doors
• Rally style legshield toolboxes for GP Lambrettas

Following on if demand appears enough will be :-

• SX200 side panels
• Li/TV Special side panels
• Li/SX/TV rear running boards
• S3 legshield toolboxes
• Vega legshields for sprinters/group 6 racers/cutdowns (will not fit on a Vega!)
• MBD Rear seat fairings for sprinters/racers/cutdowns
• Airscoops

From then there could be a range of series 2 items (Rear runners, rear mudguard, front mudguard, legshields, toolbox doors) but demand for these items would have to be quite high to get us making them.

Description	Fibreglass part number and price	Fibreglass picture	Carbon Kevlar part number and price	Carbon Kevlar picture	Carbon Fibre part number and price	Carbon Fibre picture	Carbon "Sandwich" part number and price	Carbon "Sandwich" picture
Series 3 Rear mudflaps	Not available	Not available	MRB0396 £18.80		MRB0380 £18.80		Not available	Not available
Lambretta head cowls	Not available	Not available	MRB0258 £84.60		MRB0373 £84.60		MRB0409 £94.00
Lambretta flywheel cowls	Not available	Not available	MRB0259 £65.80		MRB0374 £65.80		MRB0140 £75.20
Lambretta rear running boards, S3 GP type	MRB0412 £75.20		MRB0398 £122.20		MRB0397 £122.20		Not available	Not available
Lambretta side panels, GP type	Not available	Not available	MRB0400 £300.80 (Pair)		MRB0399 £300.80		Not available	Not available
Lambretta rear mudguards, S3	MRB0411 £47.00		MRB0351 £75.20		MRB0350 £75.20		Not available	Not available
Series 3 bridge piece	Not available	Not available	MRB0414 £28.20		MRB0413 £28.20		Not available	Not available

Please E-mail us with any questions or comments.