Scooter Review Piaggio Liberty 125 Pothole swallowed your last scooter? Never fear. Help is on the way.
Words by JEREMY BOWDLER, photography by LOU MARTIN "Eleutheria o thanatos." That was the battle cry of the Cretan palikares throwing themselves into battle against the occupying Ottoman Empire in the Greek War of Independence in the 19th Century. "Freedom or death." And that’s the battle cry I shouted beneath my helmet as I threw Piaggio's new Liberty 125 into battle against the peak-hour traffic of my morning commute.
Actually, it's not, because I would have felt like a dick doing it, but you get the idea.
 The new Liberty, with its big, potholedefying wheels and peppy 125cc engine is a commuter's friend, making short work of the ride to work, the ride across town or, if you're feeling up to it, the ride across the country.
Once it gets wound up, the four-stroke motor has enough oomph to get you up to and beyond the traffic speed, which makes longer distance commutes on major highways a realistic proposition, and the large, 15-inch rims mean you don’t have to be concerned with what the road surface throws up. Tramlines, potholes, expansion strips and the like are brushed aside with contempt and with nary a shake from the 'bars. In the meantime, the tyres and chassis will allow you to flick the scooter from upright to scrrrssshhh with utmost confidence.
 While the wheel sizes cope with surface irregularities, the suspension is a found a bit wanting, with limited travel and slightly soft springs for my 90kg weight. This made itself felt over the larger bumps where the scooter would track straight and true – thanks to the big wheels – but I would get a bit of a kick through the seat as the suspension reached the limits of its travel. The performance of the suspension was certainly on a par with most other scooters, it's just that the rest of the handling dynamics meant that I was travelling over the bumps significantly faster than I would have been on a smallwheel variant, and this extra speed was transformed into bumps at the backside.
Another thing to bear in mind is that the chassis, which uses motorcycle-derived design elements, is very rigid and stiff and so doesn't flex to absorb bumps like many smaller scooters. The rear spring/damper unit has four positions of spring preload to tailor the ride to the rider's weight, and this adjustability will tune out some of the harshness.
 The brakes, a 220mm hydraulic disc at the front and a 140mm drum at the rear, were progressive in application and easily powerful enough to deal with traffic speeds. The rear, too, was very handy mid-corner, with a light application settling the scooter nicely and preventing the front from running wide.
The engine – the air-cooled, two-valve, single overhead cam version of Piaggio's LEADER – is quite quick off the line and has a nice broad spread of power that makes riding easy. It is claimed as well to be environmentally friendly and to offer economy of 2.6L/100km at 60km/h, for a theoretical range of 224.2km before you have to get off and push.
The rider is well catered for with the new Liberty, with a new, larger and better seat, space for a helmet under the seat, a glovebox in the legshields as well as a luggage hook, a rack and optional topbox. Speaking of optional accessories, the list includes a large windscreen, sidestand and foot mat as well as the colour-matched topbox mentioned earlier. Nice standard touches include chrome-plated steel body protectors and an electronic anti-theft immobiliser.
All in all, the Liberty represents a step forward in scooter handling, with the big wheels and correspondingly fat rubber together with a stiff chassis combining to brush aside the rigours of Australia’s invariably rugged road conditions. Add in the extra storage and convenience of the accessory topbox and you’d have a very handy commuter for the Monday to Friday drudge, as well as a freedom machine for those long, lazy weekends.
As published in TW SCOOTER MAGAZINE - 29/09/2005
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