Scooter Review Aprilia Scarabeo 200 So who's been slipping scooter growth hormone into Aprilia's sweet and innocent little Scarabeo?
Words & photography by JEREMY BOWDLER Aprilia's scooters continue to impress and none more so than the new, beefed-up Scarabeo 200. The downturn in sales for the domestic Italian scooter market may have had its impacts on the factories over there, but it has been a boon for scooter riders over here. To compete in the increasingly squeezed market, Italian factories have had to improve their ranges to have a chance of retaining market share, and those improvements are good news for us.
The Scarabeo has always been a stylish scooter – the machine of choice for the fashion-conscious Milanese, who are concerned not only with looking good, but getting there across the city's potholed cobbled streets. Makes it perfect for Australia, where the big-wheel phenomenon has yet to really kick off.
The old Scarabeo had big wheels, it is true, but they were narrow and were shod with rubber that'd make a mountain bike blush. No more. The new beast has serious, motorcycle-width rubber on its 16-inch wheels front and rear, and they give the scooter much more poise on the rubbish we call roads in Australia.
Everything else on the Scarabeo has been scaled up and, if the smaller model's petite and svelte good looks have been replaced with something a little more muscular, well, the look is probably more appropriate to the mean streets Down Under than the megamillion- dollar shopping areas in Milan.
 The new bodywork is very well proportioned and very well thought out, from the wide frontal area which guarantees good weather protection, through to the plastic guards either side of the leg shield to soak up any incidental scuffs. Another nice feature is that the pillion pegs and mounting protect the paintwork on the side from a tumble, too; though the edge of the topbox would be vulnerable to scratches if the worst happened.
The riding position is quite roomy, though if you're tall there is still a chance that the ’bars will snag your knees at full lock. Fortunately, the pillion seat is adjustable fore and aft, so you can always gain extra legroom with a twiddle of two nuts. The seat it self is well shaped, broad and relaxingly comfortable. Passengers, too, are coddled with a comfy perch and a topbox to lean against for security.
The engine comes straight from the Vespa GT200, so you can be confident that it's a handy unit and that performance will be on a par with the GT. One much needed improvement over the smaller Scarabeos is that the engine warms up quite quickly, which makes early morning departures much more pleasant. Performance is perfect for the city, where the engine and chassis package is easy as pie to use, as well as further out, with reasonable speeds of up to 120km/h easily achievable.
 The centrestand is easy to use, and there is also a spring-loaded sidestand for quick stops. Suspension is by non-adjustable forks up front and preload-adjustable single spring/damper unit at the rear. The pre-load adjustment is via two threaded collars and is less easy to use than the normal notched step adjustment but, once set, you can pretty much forget it for most daily scooter uses.
 As far as creature comforts go, the Scarabeo is pretty good. There is a glovebox, with space for a rain cover for the seat (the stitching design will let in water if the scooter is out in the weather), the owner’s manual and a few odds and ends, while the enormous, 52-litre topbox will swallow just about everything else. There is no room under the seat and twisting the ignition key opens it just for servicing access and to fill up at the pump, which incidentally takes a bit of care, unless you like the acrid smell of splashed petrol on your hands.
The shopping bag hook is well placed and sturdy and the instruments include a clock, which is a feature missing from many machines on the market. In addition, with the Scarabeo 200, you get two screens (one tall and one low) so you can customise the protection.
There is, on top of that, a list of accessories, including panniers so you can turn your day-to-day Scarabeo into that weekends-for-two tourer you always wanted as well.
As published in TW SCOOTER MAGAZINE - 15/11/2004
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