Scooter Review Aprilia SR 50 R Factory Aprilia has set the 50cc class alight with it's new wee beastie, the most sophisticated scooter ever
- Aprilia has reinvented the sports scooter with the release of the brand-new SR 50 R Factory, heavily based, in styling at least, on the factory's RSV 1000 R Factory superbike. You need only look at the aggressive shapes, the central air duct at the front, twin headlights and race-team graphics to see that. But what about under the skin? Is it all hype? Or is the new SR a superbike in a scooter's skin?
The SR 50, since its origin in 1992 has sold more than 800,000 units and is recognised as one of the best handling scooters on the market. Tyre sizes, chassis dynamics and most importantly suspension have been derived from the company's motorcycling and motorcycle racing experience - and it has numerous motorcycle world Grand Prix championships under its belt - and this has shown up in the diminutive scooter.
 The engine has a new, second-generation Ditech direct fuel injection system which offers an economy figure of 2L/100km - or more than 300km per tank - and, more importantly a claimed 60 per cent reduction in oil use compared with carburetted engines (and that means no smoke!). Of course, power and performance have been improved and the Factory will, in bog stock form, run well above 75km/h easily. It takes a little time to explore the top end performance and you'll run out of road before you run out of puff, but at an indicated 78km/h there was still abut 2500-3000rpm to go on the tacho.
The chassis is completely new as well and boasts greater rigidity as well as better mass centralisation. This means that the various components have been placed to bring their mass closer to the centre of the machine, giving more neutral handling and quicker steering response. As examples, the battery is now below the key-operated glovebox between the rider's feet, and the two-strok oil-tank is now mounted beneath a panel just beneath the steering head, above the headlights. This puts a little more weight on the front wheel for more confidenceinspiring handling. The 13-inch wheels, large for a 50, carry 130/60 sized rubber.
The underseat storage will take a helmet, there is a shopping bag hook on front, the lockable storage between the footboards and, most impressive, a handy one-litre bin at the front of the seat. And, as if that wasn't enough, there's the multi-function computerised dash to play with - two trip meters, battery charge indicator, clock, stopwatch/lap timer and more. They don't get much more high tech than this!
As published in TW SCOOTER MAGAZINE - 3/03/2005
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