Scooter Review Peugeot TKR Furious Agile 50cc commuter gutted by restriction $3890+orc
Words & photography by JEREMY BOWDLER Hell hath no fury like a rider scorned. This Peugeot is not the only thing that ís furious...
Riding the Peugeot TKR Furious is an exercise in frustration. Not that thereís anything wrong it, bar the crazy notion that restricting a perfectly good Fifty to 50km/h is safer than letting the thing have its head, particularly when the speed limit on arterial roads is a minimum of 60km/h. What was really galling was how much fun it could have been in an unrestricted form.
And how much more efficient. Restricting a 50 means that, in practice (ie, in traffic) youíre pretty much at full throttle all the time and that means more fuel, more emissions and more pollution. Having ridden unrestricted 50s in the past, all I could do was ponder the wisdom of the legislation.
The 50cc two-stroke powering the TKR takes a while to spin up hard enough to get the scoot off the line. My 90kg doesnít help, but using the rear brake as a clutch holding it on as I wound on the throttle and then releasing it meant I could get the jump on most traffic, or at worst, keep up with it off the lights. Once in the powerband the TKR felt pretty good on the hills. Itís still a 50 but, for me, the TKR handled commuting just fine.
Part of the charm is the size, the weight and the steering precision. Once on board, there was nothing that could slow me down. Except bureaucracy.
And the brakes. A traditional disc/drum set-up worked well ñ especially the front disc ñ but thereís not much to slow down with such a light scooter.
The spring-loaded sidestand hampers cornering clearance on the lefthand side. At 81kg itís hardly a strain getting it on to the main stand, which makes it good for smaller riders, even if the 801mm seat is tallish.
Fortunately it ís narrow, so most riders should be able to reach the ground. The TKR lacks a luggage hook ñ a serious omission on a city scooter and the footwell has a bulge running through it which reduces useful load capacity, though the underseat storage will accept most full-face helmets. The fuel and oil caps are side by side under the seat, so care is required when filling.
The motorcycle-style handlebar can be rotated in the clamps to adjust reach. Likewise the levers and controls can also be rotated up and down for better comfort and smoother operation. Or you could fit different bars for a more pronounced change.
The lack of an instrument binnacle, though, reduces weather protection even if it is in keeping with the stripped-back sports styling. The instrument panel looks more like a bicycle computer and is mounted offset to the left. Okay once youíre used to it, but hard to see at a glance when youíre not. The headlights are typically 50cc two-stroke dim and thereís no high/low-beam dipswitch so what you see is what you get.
The styling is pretty good, with anodised aluminium highlights like the grabrail, sidestand, pillion pegs, ëbars and fasteners standing out from the paintwork, and with some contrasting panels adding visual interest. The anodising may not look so pretty after a hard life on the mean streets, but it ís eye-catching when new.
And that ís pretty much the TKR: eye-catching, minimalist, sporty and a bunch of fun. Until you want more than youíre allowed by law. I satisfied myself searching for speed humps. Hold the throttle pinned, hoist the bars and the front wheel would loft for maybe 15 metres. It'd be a lot more fun unrestricted, but the fine ís probably not worth the effort. Cíest la vie. ?
As published in TW SCOOTER MAGAZINE - 28/12/2007
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