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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Is anyone interested in starting a Windows Live Group on a Piaggio/Scooter theme. I don’t hold up much hope for a Gilera DNA group but someone must do something related to the content of this blog. I know there’s probably something on Google or Yahoo groups but I’m not interested in that. I’m not going to set one up, so I want to join someone else’s.

If anyone has any information can they please let me know via the comments section.

Came across this on Picasaweb. It looks a lot of fun but I don’t know if I’d want my children in this sidecar. Good use for that big engine though.

More photos on the Picasaweb page.

This curious thing surfaced last November and hasn’t been seen since. I think it it was just a mockup to make a point and attract attention but there’s no sign of it coming to anything anytime soon.

My interest in this is more whether this is a good idea. Anyone reading my recent Scooters in Paris blog post will recall how crazy the Parisiens are for the MP3 so they may well have a market for such a curious beast.

Here in the UK we need the roof more because of the weather, but it ain’t gonna happen because the sentiment will be ‘if you want a roof and more than two wheels you should buy a car. ‘ It’s actually more of an extension to that huge windscreen than a roof and the huge windscreen is quite popular. The little trailer I would like better if it had two wheels. There are firms in this country who make motorcycle trailers and I’m sure they would make one for the MP3 if asked if they haven’t done so already.

I reckon the roof would sell if it was removable which I think it is, and Piaggio are stupid for not having it on the market right now. The trailer I don’t expect to see in production The two together…last year’s stunt.

I had reason to go to Paris recently, never been before. Main thing that struck me (after the fact that everything is huge, Eiffel Tower, Arc du Triomphe etc. and the predilection with ancient Rome in the architecture) was the massive number of bikes on the street. And by bikes I mean maxi scooters.

The’re everywhere, a dozen at a set of traffic lights is normal. Here’s the top five I saw:

1. Piaggio X8
2. Piaggio X9
3. T-Max – surprisingly common given the price: maybe the’re cheaper over there.
4. Piaggio MP3 – Amazingly common
5. Peugeot Satelis or maybe Geopolis- for obvious reasons

These are the most common bikes on the streets of Paris and the’re not geared and the’re not small scooters. Piaggio must be very happy. It’s completely different to England where sportsbikes rule.

Being French they have a certain way of riding as well. It’s called far too fast. The roads are broad and the traffic lights apparently optional and everybody races – it’s visibly different to central London. I’m not sure I could ride there it’s too frantic…and I’m a London commuter. Observe this video taken at the Arc du Triomphe…

Traffic at Arc du Triomphe

The roundabout at the Arc du Triomphe has about 5 lanes, no traffic lights and no white lines so if someone wants to turn off, all the traffic has to slow down grudgingly (or not) It’s crazy. Yet there are pushbikes and smaller scooters and all sorts on there and no-one seems to crash!

The dresscode on Parisen scooters is also hilarious. Dressing for the office is popular so the guys wear suits and the girls wear mini skirts and high heels (they like those apron cover things for obvious reasons.) I also saw roller blades on a pillion and a baseball cap worn under a helmet with the strap open. Cordura/leathers are rare.

The Republican Guard

Now to me the French Republican Guard are something that we fought at Waterloo.  Apparently they are now part of the gendarmerie and ride around on big blue police style BMW’s in semi Napoleonic uniform. And they look way cool.

Motorbikes_French_Republican_Guard_Bastille_Day_2007

It shouldn’t work, turned back facings and aiguillettes shouldn’t go with police BMWs but they do. Obviously we will have to get the Household Cavalry over here off there horses and onto some Honda pan Euros or similar.

Have they got it right?

Maybe, they have a lot less hangups about riding than in this country and bikes particularly maxiscooters are much more part of the scene. Visit recommended.