Gilera Fuoco or Piaggio MP3 500 S
November 29, 2009 at 7:19 pm | In Gilera, Piaggio, Piaggio MP3 | Leave a CommentTags: Gilera, Piaggio, Piaggio MP3
Motor Cycle News reckons the Gilera Fuoco is to be rebadged as a Piaggio MP3 (500 S) and sold over here in the UK.
This may be true, but I think it’s more likely that the USA is getting the rebadged machine and we’re carrying on as before. Either way has it’s pros and cons but I’m confused and buyers may be confused also.
Answers anyone? 
Modern alternatives to the Gilera DNA
August 1, 2009 at 11:43 am | In My Gilera, Off Topic | Leave a CommentTags: Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki
My Gilera DNA 180 hasn’t been available new for a good few years now and the thought of what you could possibly replace it with is going to become more and more pressing. Ideally I would love to buy another one but that isn’t going to happen. The obvious thing to do would be to get a Gilera Runner 200 or a Gilera Nexus 300 but I’m not convinced these are a genuine replacement for a DNA. The point of the DNA is the motorcycle type layout and the above two bikes are most definitely scooters.
Interestingly, new worthwhile 250cc motorcycles seem to be on the verge of starting to be sold again in this country, a trend commenced by the Kawasaki Ninja 250. Now the well established Honda VTR 250 (popular on the other side of the world for years) seems to be on the verge of coming to Europe and I see a rumour on MCN that Suzuki with throw their hat into the ring with a bike probably to be called the GSR 250 with a new motor.
This means people like myself who want a midrange bike will now have a meaningful choice. My personal favourite is the Honda VTR 250.
To me this bike is a natural replacement for my old DNA: it’s small, light (139 Kilos) manageable through the tight urban traffic, won’t cost a fortune to run and looks good. It seems to be a developing market however and something even better may yet come out. It’s nice to have a choice though.
Aprilia Mana – The Truth
May 31, 2009 at 1:48 pm | In Aprilia Mana | Leave a Comment
I’ve been blogging about this bike for some time now but it was only yesterday I physically saw the bike for the first time and had the chance to inspect it closely.
My impression: it’s big, wide and chunky. It reminds me of a Suzuki GSX1400 (okay, I exaggerate a little) or a Kawasaki ER-6n. I know there’s an 1150cc engine on the horizon and it looks like it needs it.
I believe the lineage from the Gilera DNA is valid, but this machine bears no resemblance whatsoever to the principles that made the DNA worth having i.e. it’s small, light and has scooter response within a motorcycle like frame. This bike is a heavy, long distance cruiser. Most medium size motorcycles would be easier to live with than this unless you want to use it just for long distance touring.
I couldn’t go to work on this everyday. I could go international touring on it in full kit (see my previous post from 2007) but I don’t see me doing that, this lifetime. I won’t be buying one.
Don’t try this at home!
April 12, 2009 at 5:58 pm | In Gilera | Leave a Comment
This stuff is really hard to do because the bike is just not built for it but he does it anyway. Not sure where he’s from, I supect he’s Italian or Spanish.
New cool Gilera Centenary paint jobs.
March 18, 2009 at 6:00 pm | In Gilera | Leave a Comment
Gilera fête ses 100 ans avec 3 maxi scooters exclusifs – Actualités Scooter System
Came across these pictures on the French ‘Scooter System’ site. It’s Gilera’s 100th anniversary and all the bikes made this year will apparently get a new logo. (see below.)
Additionally the Nexus 300, Fuoco 500 and the GP800 will get as a premium option, what is described as the ‘Centenary Italy’ paint scheme. Details are sketchy at the moment but I’ll keep an eye on this one. I see no reason why they should not be available in the UK at some point this year.
BMW SCT 800 Scooter not real
February 8, 2009 at 10:40 am | In Media, Off Topic | Leave a Comment
Came across much chatter on the net this morning about a new BMW superscooter on the Motor Cycle News website. Thought this looked fishy and checked out the scooterdesign website I blogged about way back in 2007.
Yep, it all rings true, it’s not real. Shame.
Suzuki Bergman 400 Review
December 19, 2008 at 5:06 pm | In Off Topic | 1 Comment
I had reason to ride one of these recently. It’s the most powerful bike I’ve ever ridden and having been aware of the of the bike over many years and aware of the fact that it has a way bigger fan base than my DNA, I was very interested to try it out.
What a disappointment! It’s not that it’s a bad bike – it’s that it’s an incredibly flawed bike. I can see why the Americans like it because it’s like a Harley: it’s big and noisy, people see you coming, you ride it like an armchair and it has a very low seat; it goes like the space shuttle in a straight line but doesn’t want to turn corners. It’s the first bike I’ve ridden that will comfortably do motorway speeds, yet if you try and overtake a truck on the M4 as I did this morning, you’re so buffeted by the truck’s slipstream that you don’t want to do it again!
I’d like to try a 400cc Piaggio to see if this is better because I do like that engine. You could happily go hundreds of miles on that engine if it had a decent scooter wrapped around it.
-
ByLightbiker -
Google Reader
My Shared Items
Blog at WordPress.com. | Theme: Pool by Borja Fernandez.
Entries and comments feeds.
