(While it doesn’t have the largest displacement in the land, it’s definitely the sportiest scooter out there. Can’t wait for them to sit on the GP 800!)
I love how Tim starts this story off:
As a teenager, I had a friend with a mechanical obsession – he wanted to install a Porsche 911 engine in his 1971 Volkswagen Beetle.I told him such surgery would turn the car into a death trap but Gordon grinned and kept checking the scrapyards for the Porsche unit he couldn’t afford.
I just wanted a Porsche; he craved the thrill of humiliating sports cars in a vehicle that looked mundane.
The Gilera Nexus 500 Maxi scooter helps me to understand what Gordon meant. Gilera promotes this beefy 460cc urban warrior as “a scooter with the soul of a motorcycle”.
My initial reaction was to dismiss it as silly. I ride sports motorcycles every day. They have fighter-jet acceleration, sumptuous steering geometry and handling that leaves me grinning from ear to ear.
Would I swap that for a twist-and-go scooter with linked brakes and a centrifugal clutch?
The first hint of an answer came when a chubby chap in a gold Jaguar tried to beat me away from the lights
I yanked the throttle wide and the big, single-cylinder engine did the rest. Bye, bye Jag.
He tried it again. Same result. Even the biker on a red Ducati 999S was laughing. He gave me a big thumbs-up before leaving Jag – and Gilera – in his wake.
Besides the limited Europe only availability, there was only one gripe… but I’ll let you click on the title link to read the whole story for yourself. Thanks to Clay in India for the scoop!
22. August 2008 at 4:03 pm
I’ve owned one of these in London, UK for about 18 months now and it does go like stink. The downside is lack of comfort – after 90 minutes in the saddle your arse will be hanging in tatters – and I’ve replaced every piece of electronics and wiring on it over that period because it all went to rat-shit as soon as it saw bad weather.
But when it goes…….aaah…..when it goes…