LightBiker

MCN Piaggio hybrid scooter

I think part of the 55-56 new models I blogged about last month may in fact be hybrid revamps as described below:

MCN Piaggio hybrid scooter

or slight remakes like the XEvo.

You can’t help but feel a bit conned.

Here’s hoping.

This will make for a busy years blogging.

From scooteringusa.com

May 08, 2007

Piaggio to launch 55-56 new models this year

MILAN — Piaggio SpA’s chairman Roberto Colaninno said the motor bike and scooter firm will launch 55-56 new models this year, including 25-26 completely new products for the group’s various brands.

Speaking at the annual shareholder meeting, he said the recently-launched three-wheel MP3 scooter is ‘a big success’, while in September, the Gilera brand will launch a scooter with an 800 cubic centimetre-sized engine, which will reach a speed of 200 kilometres per hour.

In India, he said production is expected to reach 160,000-170,000 units, up from 140,000 in 2006.

Posted by Frank at May 8, 2007 04:24 PM

Piaggio XEvo

When I first saw this bike I thought it was just another version of the X9. In a sense it is, but more correctly it is a blend of all the other Piaggio maxi-scooters thrown together to create not something new really, but something different. It’s an odd way to create a new bike but makes sense. There isn’t much detail on the bike out there and it’s all in Italian, Spanish etc. but this is what we find:

It has the X8′s boot and rear layout (as does the MP3) while the front is in theory derived from the X9 though in practice the headlights remind me of the Gilera Nexus. The front mudguard is fixed to the front bodywork giving an effect a little like the BMW F650 GS.

The dashboard has a nice effect I believe taken from the X9 500 Evo. The silly little backrest looks way uncool but is probably very practical. Colours are grey, black and dark blue.

There are three engines: The 400cc MASTER engine from the X8 400, the 250cc QUASAR engine from the Vespa GTS 250 and Gilera Nexus 250, both 4 valve plus a 125cc unit, not sure which one but it delivers the full 14.9 CV/11 kW allowed to those on ‘L’ plates.

For some reason they are generally more expensive than the X8 series:

Verdict

It’s a nice bike but why not just get an X8 and save your hard earned. Perhaps I’m missing something. I can understand people wanting the avoid the deep v shape of the X8′s front but the X8 just appears to be a better proven bike for less money. I’ll wait until some decent reviews and specifications come out in English before I bury it completely but at the moment it’s no contest.

Technorati tags: Piaggio, Scooters, X Evo