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2000 Aprilia SR Vs Italjet Dragster 50cc Part 1 (with thanks to 2wf.com for this article) Words by Mike Emery ~ Dodgy Photo's By Dave Weaver
There seems to be a new mode of two-wheel fun that's sneaking up on the motorcycling community. It's always been around, but just recently has been a little more prevalent. I'm talking about scooters. Not your average shopping kind either. Sports style, a style that hangs out at the AMA and WSB pit's and the kind you don't mind being seen (and heard) on, and the certainly kind you lust after when you see your favorite factory rider whiz by, usually on one wheel. | |
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Chick Magnets
I do hope you're not shy. This two-wheeled wonder turns you into Tom Cruise. All missions are possible, you can even do your own stunts (if you want). The attention you'll get is pretty incredible. I don't know if it's the cute factor of the bike or whether I'm getting more shaggable with age, but I enjoyed more Q and A's about this bike far more than any other exotica I've owned or ridden. I had a tremendous amount of boyfriends pull their girlfriends away from me (and my new ride.) We got lots of positive attention too. Even old grannies love our new scoots. Maybe it's a shopping basket short of their dream bike, who knows? | |
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Practicality? No, err yes; actually I'm not sure. The main problem seems to be speed. Yes, I know most motorcycles are never fast enough, but in most instances you must at least be able to keep up with traffic. Sadly, on a modern day 50cc scooter, you can't. With our current moped laws most scooters are restricted to about 30 mph, and that, ladies and germs is the first problem. Whilst riding these vehicles it becomes immediately apparent that with the decent suspension and braking that they enjoy, they could handle two or four times its stock output. Instead you're reduced to a rolling road block that just frustrates you and more importantly the large Buick or three stuck behind you. For shits and giggles we strapped the Aprilia to Full Spectrum Racings dyno. Stock was 4.1 BHP.
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More Power! Please.
Most of the modern day scooter's come with the same style Minarelli motor that is either air cooled like the Yamaha Zuma's or Vino or water-cooled like the Italian jobbies. Restriction for the US market is usually in the form of a simple exhaust plug and a little something something within the variator that inhibits top speed. Remove one or both of these and you can achieve an extra 10 to 20% more power, for free. Imagine that sort of increase on your current sportbike. That would certainly put a smile on your face wouldn't it? Well this is scooter world buster, and speed is relative and that smile still comes with that increase, even when we are only talking around 10 mph.
Is it enough? Nope. 'Fraid not. It's still a tad dangerous in traffic, acceleration is better and on par with your average SUV, however, you're potential road kill if you can't top at least 50mph. More speed?
We only want another 10mph...
OK, go get your credit card now. We'll still be here when you get back.
We did have an "incident" with this bike. The centerstand ground out during some knee down showing off and we levered the rear wheel off the road with some spectacular results. We don't condone this sort of riding, totally unnecessary, but top laughs. The bike crashed well too.
Part 2
Italjet Dragster
I know the word "dragster" conjures up 0-60 times at you local drag meet, but put away all thoughts of going fast, especially whilst in stock form. This became immediately evident in my first "restricted" ride. I was cruising at 50 mile an hour and congratulating myself on having a faster "scoot" than my fellow editor. Unbeknownst to my good self, it was actually 50 KPH (30 mph) and I had a traffic jam behind me that had to be seen, to be believed. Now, I can exaggerate with the best of them, but I probably had 15 cars racked up behind me. As soon as the two-lane road appeared, it wasn't friendly waves, it was at least 15 middle fingers to confirm my progress. The major point about the Dragster, is its unique look. Styling is from the same pen as Miguel Galluzzi… yes, the same Argentinean who designed the Ducati Monster, ciao baby! The trellis frame is oh so similar to a Ducati counterpart and was a major draw to Ducatisti.
The Italjet looked the part, but unfortunately didn't go the part, having smaller tires than the Aprilia meant it struggled, gearing-wise to hang with the SR. It might get the slight jump on acceleration from standstill, but the SR always pulled it with at least a 5 mph difference. Handling was better than the Aprilia though, right down to knee drag angles, although, like the Aprilia, judicious hanging off was necessary to avoid dragging hardware. Instrumentation was similar to the Aprilia, but with a fuel light instead of level indicator.
Never mind stock, what about the go fast bits?
Obviously these scoot's are big in Italy, so who to turn to for tuning bits was immediately obvious. Malossi is a big name in hop-up parts for these psuedo racers. The local importer for Malossi was NY based, but we managed to track down a fruit loop in California, who goes by the name of Kregg Williams. Now Kregg runs Californian Speedsports, he's been there, seen it, and done it, as far as hopping up minerelli engined scooters are concerned. Kregg kindly sent us some "stuff" to feed our speed habit.
Yeah, but what did you get?
Well, we received two of everything. 65cc big bore kits, 22mm carburetors (up from 12mm), straight cut final drive gears, adjustable variators, Arrow performance exhaust systems and beefy drive belts to manage the explosive power delivery we were hoping for. In order to address the speed differential (due to the aforementioned tire circumference) we also got an overdrive kit for the Dragster.
Installation of the Malossi parts was pretty much straight forward. Take a stock part off. Replace it with the appropriate hop-up part. Trial and error is called for, with reference to the variator, a system of weighted pulleys to achieve a low enough gear to pull away and maintain drive at the optimum RPM. We had to adjust ours several times, well worth the extra effort to set up right though.
So now they're perfect, right?
You betcha. Kinda sorta. Power is addictive, and the Malossi kit offered the ultimate fix. The bikes are more pipey now and have lost that soft and cuddly edge. Acceleration is pretty quick and will see off any traffic from a standstill. The scoot's pull fairly hard up to about 40, tail off a tad, and then pull again up to about 65 - 70mph. They are a little noisier, but not too much. They have sort of lost their fluffy exhaust note and are now leaning towards that purposeful, but angry, bee sound. They require a little more attention and a fresh spark plug every then and now. Power jumped to around 9BHP.
Conclusion?
This is the handy bike to have in your garage, that'll stop you racking up miles on your favorite steed. There is a definite danger of it becoming your favorite steed though. As far as performance mods and your bank balance are concerned, buyer beware. Bride on a budget? Exhaust and variator. Donald Trump style taste? Buy everything.
The Aprilia is easiest to find and buy. The Italjet takes effort. (Aprilia 1 - Italjet 0).
The Italjet is easy to work on, due to the open trellis frame. The Aprilia takes time and the patience of a saint. (Aprilia 1 - Italjet 1).
The Aprilia is fast. The Italjet isn't. (Aprilia 2 - Italjet 1).
The Aprilia looks good. The Italjet tops it on style and handling. (Aprilia 2 - Italjet 2).
The Aprilia has absolutely superb build quality. The Italjet is a little bit "iffy" in places . (Aprilia 3 - Italjet 2).
The Aprilia can be had for less than three grand. The Italjet three and a half. The Aprilia gets it by 4 to 2. But if you're a fruit loop, you'll buy the Dragster.
Hey, I did.
Mike Emery
History of Aprilia
Aprilia was founded immediately after the Second World War by Cavaliere Alberto Beggio, as a bicycle production factory at Noale, Italy in the province of Venice.
Alberto’s son, Ivano Beggio, took over the helm of the company in 1968 and he constructed a 50 cc "motorcycle" with a dozen or so collaborators. The first production Aprilia mopeds were named Colibrì, Daniela and Packi. Aprilia later produced a motocross bike in 1970 called the Scarabeo. Produced until the end of the 1970s, the Scarabeo came in 50 and 125 cc versions.
In 1977 Ivan Alborghetti from Milan, Italy won the Italian 125 and 250 cc motorcross championships on Aprilias. In 1978 Alborghetti closed the season with two third places in individual races and sixth place in the World Championship.
In the 1980s Aprilia added enduro, trials and road bikes of between 50 and 600 cc. In 1981 Aprilia introduced the TL320 trials machine. In 1983 Aprilia launched to St 125 road bike. In 1984 Aprilia launched an improved model called STX, and an enduro, called the ET 50.
In 1985, Aprilia started outsourcing engines for some models to the Austrian company Rotax. In 1985 Aprilia launched a 125 STX and 350 STX. In 1986 Aprilia launched the AF1; a small sports model, and the Tuareg; a large tanked bike for African rallies. Aprilia rider Philippe Berlatier contended for the trials world championship reaching fifth place, and Loris Reggiani rode an Aprilia GP 250 with Rotax engine to sixth place in the road racing World Championship. Two seasons later, on August 30, 1987, at San Marino Grand Prix in Misano Loris Reggiani’s AF1 won the first World Speed Championship.
In 1988, the first Aprilias were imported into the United States, starting with the TRX312M observed trials model. The following year, Aprilia introduced The Climber, the first "mass-production" liquid-cooled trials bike.
In 1990, Aprilia launched the Pegaso 600, a road bike derived from off-road mechanics.
In 1992, Aprilia rider Alessandro Gramigni won the World 125 Road Racing Championship title. Also in 1992, Tommy Ahvala won the World Trials Championship on an Aprilia Climber. Since then, Aprilia has 124 times won 125 and 250 cc class Grand Prix, 15 Road Racing World Championship titles, and 16 European speed titles. Many world champions started on Aprilia such as Biaggi, Capirossi, Gramigni, Locatelli, Sakata and Rossi.
Also in the 1990s, Aprilia entered the scooter market starting in 1990 with Italy’s first all-plastic scooter, the Amico. In 1992, Aprilia introduced the Amico LK and the twin cylinder Pegaso 125, both with catalytic converters. In 1993 Aprilia launched a large diameter wheel scooter reusing the name Scarabeo with a four-stroke, four-valve engine. Later Aprilia launced additional scooters such as the Leonardo, the SR and the Gulliver, to name a few.
In 1995, Aprilia commission Philippe Starck to design the Motò which was shown in New York’s Modern Art Museum. Also in 1995 Aprilia launched the two stroke RS 125 and RS 250 sports bikes.
In 1998 Aprilia launched what is its current flagship model the RSV Mille, a 1000cc V-Twin Superbike, and the Falco, a 1000cc V-Twin sport tourer with emphasis on sport. Both bikes used a variation of a Rotax 1000cc engine.
In 1999 Aprilia entered World Superbike Championship racing with its RSV Mille, and during 2000, Aprilia acquired Moto-Guzzi and Laverda, both historic heritage Italian marques.
In 2000 Aprilia launched the 50cc DiTech (Direct Injection Technology) two stroke engine for scooters which provides high milage and low emissions, and also the RST Futura; true sport tourer, and the ETV 1000 Caponord; an "Adventure Touring Motorcycle" (also known by some as a "Trailie.") Both of these latter two motorcycles used a variation of the Rotax a 1000cc V-Twin.
In 2003, Aprilia launched the RSV Mille Tuono which was essentially an RSV Mille with motorcross-style high handlebars and only a small headlight fairing. Most of the major motorcycle magazines picked it for the best bike of the year.
As of 2004 Aprilia was acquired by Piaggio & C. SpA, to form the world’s fourth largest motorcycle group with 1.5 billion Euro in sales, an annual production capacity of over 600,000 vehicles, and a presence in 50 countries. With the acquisition by Piaggio, the newly nominated President of Aprilia is Roberto Colaninno (President of Piaggio & C.), and the Managing Director is Rocco Sabelli. The founder, Ivano Beggio, is the Honorary President.
Racing
Despite being a relatively small company by global motorcycling standards, Aprilia is very active in motorcycle racing. It contests many formulae, including the FIM 125 cc World Championship, the FIM 250cc World Championship, the now-defunct FIM 500cc World Championship, and from 2002-2004 the FIM MotoGP World Championship.
Aprilia Racing saw varying successes. They were extremely successful in the smaller displacement categories, winning numerous races & championships in the 125 cc Grand Prix and 250 cc Grand Prix classes. However, their 500 cc Grand Prix bike was less competitive, and their MotoGP effort - dubbed the RS3 - was technically advanced but difficult to ride and performed poorly in the championship. The RS3 did, however, feature many advanced technologies either not seen or only being seen now in other MotoGP bikes - technologies including fly by wire throttle and pneumatic valve actuation systems.
Aprilia also feature in the off-road racing world, with their 450cc V-Twin motocrosser producing respectable results (including race wins) in both off-road (Motocross) and on-road (Supermoto) categories.
The company is also notable for choosing somewhat atypical engine configurations. For example, they progressed with development of a V-Twin 500 cc Grand Prix bike when other teams were moving to V-Four configurations for what some believed was better & more usable power outputs. Aprilia continued this trend, taking advantage of lighter minimum weights with the introduction of their RS3 MotoGP bike - featuring three cylinders in an Inline triple layout, the bike had the least number of cylinders on the Grand Prix paddock. Yamaha had gone ahead with an inline four layout, whilst Suzuki and Ducati went for (differently-designed) V-Four layouts. Honda took the idea even further, producing the championship-winning RC211V, powered by a V5 cylinder engine.