Eagle-Wing Sport 125

Scooter News

Suburban GP

Jason Tubnor

For the sports-minded scooterist, there is now another choice in the urban sports market that is not going to break the bank - the Eagle-Wing Sport 125.
First impressions always help to form an overall opinion of a scooter and the Sport was no letdown. The fit and finish was of a high standard along with the faultless two-tone paint scheme. I could not find any imperfections in it or the panel fit. The shipping and pre-delivery are obviously performed with great care as other brands of scooters have shown scuff-marks on panels where they have rubbed on packaging during shipping.

The test scooter had 1km on the odometer when I took it out so the true potential was not to be discovered but I was amazed how it performed straight out of the box.
The suspension is well sorted for a budget sports scooter using a single spring/dampener set-up on a single swing arm rear unit. The front has a simple, non-adjustable fork arrangement as found on many scooters in this category and seemed tuned to handle the 100kg mass of the scooter and the 76kg dead mass of the rider with ease. Surprisingly, the suspension works well in holding the tyres to the road giving the rider confidence when cornering at speed on typical urban Australian roads.

Complementing the suspension is a well-fabricated chassis with better than expected welds for a scooter in this price range. The chassis is rigid enough not to twist and flex under high speed cornering, giving the rider a greater feel for corners.
The wheels are of the twelve-inch variety shod with 120/70-12s on the front and 130/70-12s on the rear adding to the stability and handling of this spirited little performer. The brakes consist of a hydraulic disc set-up on the front with a cable-activated drum on the rear. The brakes were vague initially but further into the test as they were bedding in and became very competent in hauling up the moving mass.
On the size, this is not a large scooter despite the current market direction towards larger models. It is compact in size helping keep the weight down and keeping it agile. Being compact made flicking and filtering of parked cars and stationary traffic a breeze. Parking is a joy with the Sport 125; its lightweight and compact size made pushing it onto the footpath a simple task and finding a suitable space relatively easy.

Seating on the Sport is comfortable and upright giving you great visibility in traffic. The footboard is large and flat giving you ample room to pick up the weekend's refreshments on the way home from work. It also has angled foot positions at the front of the footboard allowing you to stretch out when cruising. Adding to this is excellent ground clearance for the footboard, giving you a safe margin to drop the scooter off gutters in city streets when there is no pedestrian ramp to the street available.

The Sport has a generous carrying capacity for a 125cc scooter of 150kg. The under-seat storage is on-par with the others in the 125 category though it could not fit my Nolan N84 full faced helmet under the seat or in the factory standard top box. A top box is fitted and colour-coded to the scooter as standard giving the Sport 125 an advantage over the rest of the market.

Passenger comfort, even though tight, is well catered for giving the passenger ample foot room on a foot board setup, a generous grab rail on the rear and a cushion on the front of the top box to increase back comfort. This is not designed to take two big blokes, but if you and you other half were off to the movies then the Sport will get you there and home with no problems.

The power plant is a simple 125cc 4-stroke air/oil cooled engine that is modest and reliable. Sprint times for 0 to 60km/h in the traffic light grand prix (with a very tight engine I might add) is 9 seconds. Even though this is a tad on the slower side, it feels that it is able to do this day in, day out. Fuel capacity is around the 5-litre mark and is good for just shy of 150km on test. Allowing the engine to breathe is a standard catalytic fitted exhaust, keeping emission output to a low level while still maintaining a throaty sports sound.

Controlling the power plant is by cable throttle, operating a standard carburettor set-up. The throttle control was spot on the money, having the feel of larger, more expensive motorcycles. The dash is well laid out with easy to read gauges and warning lights though there is no clock to give you an indication of how late you are. All the signal and control switches are on par with the more expensive scooters of the same class. The only niggle I have is the buzzer for the indicator sound as I prefer a clicking sound. The levers for the brakes are in a good position and suited my medium to large hands.
A nice feature of the Sport 125 is the standard alarm with remote starting and "flick key" arrangement. Being able to start the scooter on approach was a nice little touch, jump on and ride away as long as the steering is not in the locked position. The main key is a "flick key" similar styling to the European car set up. A simple push of a button and the key flicks out and you can operate all the main locks [ignition and seat], except for the top box. The key also has the fob functions for starting or arming the alarm on the scooter.

The Eagle-Wing Sport 125 is keenly priced at $2990 ride-away, no more to pay with a 12 month/10,000km warranty. Warranty and parts backup is no problem for Eagle-Wing with a claimed turnaround on parts delivery of 24 hours nation-wide. Eagle-Wing pride themselves on being able to provide such reliable distribution using a dedicated dealer network and systems inherited from international parent company, Imperial Holdings Group (South Africa).
If you are in the market for a Sports styled scooter, I suggest putting Eagle-Wing Sport 125 on your short-list.

Footnote:
I would like to thank Michael Flaks at Flexible Vehicle Solutions (964 Dandenong Road, Carnegie VIC 3163) for his assistance in providing an Eagle-Wing Sport 125 for the test. If you are in Melbourne and would like to test ride a Sport 125, the friendly staff at Flexible Vehicle Solutions will be happy to assist you.

Find an Eagle-Wing Dealer CLICK HERE

published 30/01/2008