Scooter Review TGB 101R 150 When the going gets tough, TGB’s 101R just gets going.
PETE CALLAGHAN My daily commute is 50km each way, and includes motorway, traffic- choked major arterials, seemingly never-ending roadworks, sedate suburban streets and the odd inner-city back-lane rat-run. With speeds ranging from walking pace to 110km/h-plus, road surfaces that vary from good to abysmal, and lots of lane-splitting, it’s a perfect torture test for any scooter.
The distance and roads involved in my weekday trundle usually rule out the smaller capacity scooters like 50s, 100s and 125s because they struggle to cut it once I reach the motorway. I’ve done it once or twice as an experiment, but there’s something rather unnerving about taking a 50cc scoot with a top speed of about 60km/h into battle with cars and trucks averaging 90-100km/h. Comfort is a factor too – a scooter that feels fine on a 10-minute zip through the inner suburbs can literally become a pain in the butt on a one-hour journey.
 So up to now, I’ve pegged the lower limit for the big commute at the 200cc mark. Most scooters of that capacity have decent comfort for longer trips and enough power to run happily with the traffic at 100km/h, so you don’t end up feeling like a mobile chicane.However, after spending a couple of weeks with the 101R, I think I’ll have to revise that capacity threshold downwards. There are three versions of the 101R,a budget-level sports scooter from the delightfully named Taiwan Golden Bee company, otherwise known simply as TGB. We tested the 150, which boasts 7.4kW from its single-cylinder four-stroke engine, but if you don’t need one that big there’s also a four-stroke 125 with 6.3kW on tap and a two-stroke 50 that pumps out 3.6kW. With a dry weight of 122kg and my 84- odd kilos on board, the 150cc 101R was a surprisingly quick little runabout, offering a generous amount of power for its size topped off with a rorty exhaust note that makes a pleasant change from the subdued hum so many twist & go scooters seem to have these days.
The 101R has the grunt to outpace the rest of the traffic off the mark, and allows you to maintain the advantage to a comfortable top speed of 100km/h, as indicated on its white-faced analogue speedo. Above that you’re reaching the limits of the gutsy engine so there’s not much in reserve for overtaking, but at least you can cruise down the motorway’s left- hand lane safe in the knowledge that you’re on the legal limit and keeping up with the rest of the traffic around you.
A combination of a single front disc with two-piston caliper and a rear drum cover the braking duties for the 101R – the front disc has plenty of power and hauled the TGB up quickly and predictably at every squeeze, but the rear brake was a little on the weak side, although it came in handy to help stabilise the scooter when filtering through the traffic at very low speeds.
With the 101R producing such good power, you’d hope that the chassis’s up to scratch, and it is. Telescopic forks up front and twin shocks out back do a reasonable job without being outstanding – the spring rates could be firmer and the damping heavier – but, bearing in mind this is a ‘budget’ scooter designed for cheap and easy transport, there’s really not much to complain about. Stability is good and the ride quality and grip from the 12-inch wheels shod with sticky 120/70 tyres was fine.
I must admit that, at first glance, I thought the 101R was going to be a squeeze for my 180cm frame, because although the seat is about average at 790mm off the ground, the footwell is quite high with a lot of air between the undercarriage and the earth.
In practice though, the legroom is quite adequate, if not especially class-leading, while the plush seat makes an hour’s journey easily bearable. And if you’re prone to a spot of gutter-jumping, the 101R’s generous ground clearance means you don’t have to worry too much about leaving parts of the scooter behind. The 101R is built for two, with fold-out motorcycle-style pillion pegs, but things might be squishy with two adults on board.
 Storage is limited to an underseat cavity that will hold an open-face helmet, plus a rear rack big enough for a small bag or accessory topbox. Don’t be tempted to place too big a bag on the rack though, as it may impede access to the fuel filler cap. The flat footwell floor can also double as an emergency luggage space for small boxes and the like.
Two white-faced dials comprise the 101R’s basic instrument panel – one for the speedo and odometer on the left, while the other has a fuel gauge and three idiot lights. The fuel gauge played silly buggers early on in the test, stubbornly indicating empty even though a visual inspection of the tank showed it to be half-full. On the way home that night, I was a couple of kilometres from the nearest servo when the TGB sputtered to a halt, forcing me into the Big Push. When I finally made it to the BP and refilled the scoot, the needle promptly swung around to point at the ‘F’ as soon as I pressed the starter button.
Bloody thing! Anyway, it gave no further trouble and I was able to get a regular 200km before caution would kick in and I’d top up the 5.1 litre tank, giving an impressive average fuel consumption of 2L/100km.
The appointments may be on the basic side, but the build quality and standard of finish are very good, especially considering the 101R 150 will only set you back $3590 plus on-road costs.
For me, that’s the clincher: just over three and a half large for a well-built scooter with enough muscle to handle the highways. The 125 costs $3290 plus on- roads, while the 50cc is just $2490, but it’s hard to go past the 150 for the price and the performance.
As published in TW SCOOTER MAGAZINE - 18/10/2006
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