Scooter Review Derbi GP1 250 Derbi’s slick GP1 250 takes sports scooters to the next level.
Words by PETE CALLAGHAN, photography by LOU MARTIN Derbi is a name that might not be immediately familiar to most Australian scooterists. If you spend your Sunday nights in front of the box watching MotoGP, you might have seen its red and white logo emblazoned on some of the bikes in the 125 GP class. Other than that, the Spanish brand has had next to no exposure on the local scene. But that is all about to change.
Derbi is actually one of the oldest marques in motorcycling, and has been producing two-wheelers in Spain for 85 years. It’s now part of the massive Piaggio group – along with Vespa, Gilera and Aprilia (and Moto Guzzi) – and is best known for its range of small-capacity motorcycles and scooters.
It’s the scooters that will spearhead Derbi’s expansion into the Australian market. The company’s sporty GP1 lineup includes 50cc two-stroke and 125cc fourstroke versions, plus the 250cc four-stroke tested here.
Derbi’s racing roots are easy to see in the GP1’s sporty design. In a market replete with retro and standard style scooters, the hard-edged GP1 250 stands out big-time with its swooping bodywork, chunky frame and fat, sticky rubber on wide alloy wheels.
It’s common in Spain to see teenagers, usually male, tearing around on 50cc Derbi motorcycles, showing off to their mates or the local senoritas. Many of these teenagers are also trying to emulate the feats of their racetrack heroes because, next to football, motorcycle Grand Prix racing would just about be Spain’s favourite sport. No wonder then that these 50s, and the 125cc models for older riders, are trick little machines that look as if they’ve just rolled straight out of the pits at Catalunya or Jerez.
This racetrack-inspired approach flows on to Derbi’s scooters, which explains why the GP1 I’m riding has a stack of features riddled with sporting motorcycle DNA. The meaty twin-spar aluminium frame is the most obvious. Most scooter frames are hidden away beneath the bodywork, but this one’s loud and proud, and a major contributor to the Derbi’s superbly taut, precise feel out on the road.
Another contribution comes from the suspension, which is a combination of stout 35mm inverted forks up front and a pair of Ollé spring-dampers at the rear. Only the rear shocks have any adjustment facilities – spring preload – but the GP1 certainly doesn’t suffer for having little tweakability. With my 83kg on board the Derbi felt beautifully firm, as you’d expect from a sports scooter, but with excellent compliance over the bumps.
The 14-inch front wheel, shod with a Continental Conti-Twist Sport tyre, no doubt helps the scooter to smooth out the rough bits, but it also adds to the Derbi’s agility. This is one scooter that almost begs you to chuck it around and give it heaps. Go hard, because it will lap it up and come back for more.
I found myself looking for corners on the Derbi, because it seemed such a shame to waste its talents by going anywhere via the most direct route. When I pushed really hard, I could detect a slight wallow from the back end, but this was the only time the GP1 was anything but impeccably behaved.
A rider with a few kilograms less ballast than I have probably wouldn’t even notice it. If the Derbi’s chassis is a peach, it’s perfectly complemented by the powerplant. The GP1 uses Piaggio’s 244cc Quasar fuel-injected single-cylinder engine, which is smooth and responsive and has enough grunt to push the 139kg (dry) scooter to an easy 110km/h cruise. Getting to that cruising speed is half the fun, too, as the GP1 is a rocket away from the traffic lights, especially if you use the old twist and go trick of holding on the rear brake, dialling up a handful of revs and then dumping the brake lever.
The Derbi’s motorcycle DNA is evident in its braking system, which is highlighted by an uber-cool AJP radially-mounted caliper gripping a 245mm disc on the front wheel. A direct flow-on from GP and Superbike racing, these more rigid radially-mounted brake calipers have only recently become widespread on roadgoing motorcycles, and this is the first one I’ve seen on a scooter.
The caliper is plumbed with a braided stainless steel brake line,and its stopping power is impressive. There’s a load of initial bite – possibly too much in the case of a wet road, an inexperienced rider and an emergency stop – and a light and predictable lever action.
The two-piston caliper and 220mm disc combination on the 13-inch rear wheel is also pretty potent, and I could easily lock the wheel with a decent squeeze on the left-hand lever. With that chunky frame in the way, the Derbi misses out on the flat footwell common to many scooters, but it doesn’t want for much in the way of practical features. There’s a useful lockable storage compartment in the legshield just below the handlebars, which contains a slotted holder for coins and a 12-volt socket, plus there are two smaller lidded compartments on either side of the fairing.
And it is a definitely a fairing. Where the legshields on many scooters stop, the bodywork on the GP1 keeps on wrapping around towards the rider, further enhancing the motorcycle styling.
This means the rider’s foot spaces are on the small side compared with other machines on the market, although they’re not what I would call cramped.
The motorcycle theme continues with the GP1’s handlebar set-up, which looks a lot like a traditional bike triple clamp with clip-ons, and the instrument pod, which is straight off Derbi’s motorcycle range. The pod is dominated by a huge whitefaced tachometer, with a small LCD screen in the bottom left corner displaying speed, a fuel gauge and the usual odometer and tripmeter functions.
There’s more storage under the seat – Derbi claims the space will hold a full-face helmet, but it would want to be a small-shelled one. I managed to get my full-face in there, but couldn’t close the seat.
However, my open-face lid fitted perfectly. Also under the seat is the filler for the 11-litre fuel tank, which is situated between the frame spars to keep the GP1’s weight nice and low for better handling.
Moving back along the scooter, the stepped seat and the sleek angled sidepanels and rear light set-up simply scream sportsbike as does the skeletal numberplate holder and the twin hugger guards embracing the rear wheel. Although the front part of the 800mm-high seat is firm, the GP1 has a comfortable and very engaging riding position, but I’m not sure the same could be said for the pillion portion, which is small, flat and elevated, and has only a tiny grabrail.
It’s probably best used for short trips.There’s a lot to like about the GP1 250. Build quality and panel fit seems good and reliability shouldn’t be an issue given the company’s long tradition of manufacturing and the choice of a dependable Piaggio-sourced powerplant.
The Derbi’s performance and handling are hard to fault, and given that it still has most of the practicality of standard-style scooters, this GP1 could be the ideal machine for those who don’t always want to take the straightest line between point A and point B. ✽
Red Bullets
Derbi’s Australian distributor will initially offer a range of four scooters: the GP1 Racing 250 tested here (and available in dealers now), the four-stroke GP1 Racing 125, and the two-stroke GP Open 50, which will be suitable for use on a car license in the relevant States.
There will also be limited stocks of the unusual GP1 Racing 50, which is sort of like a scooter in a motorcycle’s body. This model has its two-stroke engine mounted between the frame spars, as well as a swingarm-mounted rear wheel, a single rear shock and chain-drive.
Down the track, we’re also likely to see the new Rambla 250i, which is Derbi’s version of the Aprilia SportCity, and possibly the 660cc Mulhacen motorcycle. Derbi dealers are in Melbourne, Sydney, Launceston and the Gold Coast, with more to come. See <www.derbinoz.com.au> for details.
As published in TW SCOOTER MAGAZINE - 26/08/2008
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