Scooter Review

Yamaha YQ100 Aerox Biaggi Replica

If you can’t get your hands on an M1 or a YZR, at least you can ride Max’s other bike

Photography by CARLOS ALZAMORA

I’ve been a Biaggi fan for at least a decade. My first road helmet was a Biaggi replica. And when the news came from Yamaha that the new TDM I was supposed to pick up wasn’t ready and would I mind taking a scooter I was almost disappointed. Disappointed that the 900 twin was replaced with a 101cc single cylinder twostroke, but not after I saw that it was a Biaggi replica.

The two-stroke motor has plenty of lowdown go, with more torque than all of the scooters around the 150cc mark I have ridden…

The only time you can feel the Aerox start to lose out a little is on long, gentle uphill slopes at speeds of 90km/h plus. At these speeds the little scoot will start to get slightly unstable with a gentle weave insinuating itself which can then be provoked into a violent head-shake as the bike’s speed increases. But don’t worry; the resolution to this issue lies in suspension/tyre pressure set up.

Otherwise the handling is brilliant. Sharp and precise around town with a great turn circle. The tyres. Michelin Boppers, are excellent – arguably the best scooter tyre available. Great wet weather performance and they stick like the proverbial to a blanket in the dry.

The brakes are, as would be expected on something weighing 87kg, superb. With a disc front and drum rear the scoot stopped very quickly laden with photographer, camera gear and myself on board.

Two-up the Aerox is a bit out of its league in comparison with the stuff available in the retro four-stroke scooter market, such as the Vespa ET4 or the Italjet Tornado. The Aerox is physically quite small in comparison with other scoots of similar capacity and struggles a bit for power and handling two up.

Suspensionwise the Aerox has telescopic front forks and a single rear shock, both of which deal brilliantly with any road in the city – but extra speed and weight may cause a problem somewhere along the line.

The bike has a simple dashboard layout which gives a race replica feel with an analogue speedo, a large tacho with fuel reading insert all set on a carbon fibresque background, mmm yum. The rest of the bike is covered in most of the livery you will find on the GP bike, but in miniature. Michelin stickers, www.maxbiaggi.com , big max stickers, etc

Even with all this race replica style the Aerox doesn’t lose any of the practicality of a normal scooter. Underseat storage is enough to carry a spare helmet and enough two-stroke oil to fill the reservoir. The footboards have tons of room to move around on and there is enough room to hook your shopping in front of you if you get a little over zealous in the buying department.

The race replica status of the Aerox is the bike’s selling point and, at $4749, it is well within grasp of most commuters cum GP superstars. There is not really any competition in price or style yet. The only thing which comes close is Benelli’s 491 Replica and Malaguti’s yet to arrive Ducati Corse replica.

The Aerox is definitely up there with some of the super scooters, just give it a little work on the suspension and the inevitable two-stroke hole in the top end and the Aerox will be a front runner.

As published in TW SCOOTER MAGAZINE - 27/10/2003
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