Scooter Review Piaggio Zip 100 Budget Commuter
Scooter 13 When we picked this scooter up at the same time as the Bolwell Jet 100, we couldnít believe how different they were. The Zip is tiny in comparison, and slower, with the four-stroke engine but then itís $800 cheaper too. They may be in the same category, but they arenít really competition.
For my admittedly short, speed-humpy and roundabouty commute, the Zip 100 was more than adequate (even a four-stroke 50 works well). Interestingly, the Zipís
chassis felt much more rigid than the Jetís, yet the 10-inch wheels compromised the outright handling performance a little. Not enough to get me to place a cross in the handling box instead of a tick.
I managed to get to ride the Zip through the storms that flooded the Hunter Valley, and, even though I was in Sydney at the time, the wind and rain were enough to
have everyone saying: Youre not going out in this on that, are you?
Since spending a long weekend in the office seemed too much of a price to pay, I ventured out and, guess what? No problems.
The little Zip handled it all with ease and not even the swirling gusts of wind could upset us. The only problem was that the speedo was hard to read since it is lit by two bulbs which leave the 40-60km/h zone in darkness and the rain forced its way between the top of the legshield and the bottom of the bars and wet my pants from the knees up. Chilly.
The physical dimensions of the Zip are small, so it was a tight fit for me anyway, but would suit a smaller rider.
The topbox fitted to the test scooter had a delicatelooking triangulated mounting bracket, but that would certainly add to its rigidity.
As a budget commuter for the smaller, lighter rider without heavy highway use, the Zip sure beats a car!
As published in TW SCOOTER MAGAZINE - 8/11/2007
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