Scooter Review

Italjet Jetset 150

Everything old is new again

Photography by KEVIN LING

How do you make something good better? You start with a good base, and it seems that the Italians have got quite a knack for it. Look at the Bimotas of old for instance. They may not have had it over the Japanese donors all of the time but they sure made something look beautiful. That is where the Jetset differs. They have taken something in the form of a well proven, reliable engine from the most popular retro scooter on the market – the Vespa ET4 – and transformed it into something which, in my opinion, looks and handles far better than the donor scoot the engine came from.

The Jetset has got plenty of power to get you out of trouble in the city traffic. Not as much pull as the two-stroke scooters down low but it’s got that four-stroke top-end urge to keep you going with the speed of traffic on the highway.

The Jetset is good for at least 120km/h without trying. No tucking down and getting a slipstream, just twist and go and you’re up to speed.

The handling is second to none in comparison with the rest of the scooter market, and brilliant tyres make the Jetset a pleasure to ride around town and especially in the twisty stuff. The two-up performance on the Jetset is also outstanding, especially with the power to drive out of corners.

And the brakes are excellent, giving the stopping power to pull the Jetset up on its nose without using anywhere near the maximum braking potential.

Have a look at the styling. At first sight it is easy to see how the bike resembles the styling of an Audi TT, with similar lines and the dead giveaway headlights. The styling brings the engine base up to date in a package which now looks the goods.

The quality of finish on the machine is superb, with no badly fitting panels or shabby looking fixtures on the bike – astounding for a scooter priced so competitively.

The Jetset is priced at $6550 and is definitely my pick of this scooter market segment. Why? Because it has taken a bold styling jump, with faultless engineering, to make a scooter which isn’t just a refinement but a whole new machine.

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