Ive now clocked over 500km's on the Scarabeo 125 and feel pretty comfortable in giving a first hand view of what its like on the road. I chose a long term 125 as I didnt want another large capacity type scooter. The 125 cc market is where its at today and cubes dont mean everything.
Ive owned a Sportscity 200 and now own a Scarabeo 500. A 125 is sufficient for most things today in the daily coomute and beyond, especially a 125 running liquid cooling.
First of all I just wanted to run through the first hand basics like seating position etc.
The Scarabeo is a very thin scooter and as such you feel like your sitting very upright and in full control. Initially the seat feels hard but after time it has softened up. All the controls when seated are easily accessible and nice to touch. I mean they feel like quality .
Seated so upright gives you a towering view from the front and with its thin body its so easy to judge gaps that you need to pass through. The scarabeo would be on the list for the easiest scooter to lane split on, very easy.
So whilst we continue to get acquainted after hitting the starter the engine soon settles into a nice rhythm. The Scarabeo 125 Is not quite at idle but it is smooth and you can tell immediately that it makes its power up the rev range. The key to the Scarabeo 125 is to ride the revs as they build. I found myself initially giving the scooter a hand full of throttle and waiting for the response. But this isn't the way to ride it.
Twist the throttle slightly and steadily wait for the revs to build a bit and whack twist the throttle and she goes. Id dare say this is just a result of its revvy engine and the way its tuned. The Scooter at the other end of the spectrum and at speed is where it does it so easily. And it does it quite briskly too for what feels to me to be a heavier solid scooter. You can feel the weight when riding the scarabeo and for those accustomed to riding an Italian scooter you would know the feeling that on the road. It's Solid ...
The suspension is firm and it does sometimes crash a bit over bumpy bits(this could be helped by the Cheng Shin tyres) but the scooter is rigid over any of this, it doesnt flex or creek under heavy suspension loads. As we move forward I will play with suspensiuon settings as I am not a heavy guy and inturn the scooter could be tuned for my weight using the dual adjustable shock absorbers.
On smooth roads the ability to flick the Scarabeo 125 from side to side and lean the scooter is typically big wheel Scarabeo territory and pretty much confidence inspiring.
The Scarabeo is all about being comfortable between 20 and 90 km/h. The scooter really loves being at 70 - 90 which it does very easily. Between these speeds its very comfortable. On downhill stretches I found 120 KM/H on the speedo was achievable but this was certainly at the top of the range. Saying that though because the scooter has that feeling of heaviness on the road it is amazingly stable for the class.
Ive felt quite comfortable heading onto freeways like Sydney's M4 etc as it easily keeps up with traffic. The screen that comes standard is more then sufficient to protect the rider and works well to place the wind for me in the right areas.
On the slowing down side the brakes are unbelievably good, amazing really and you will never run out of brakes at any stage. They are at the top of the class for sure being linked with a disc up front and at the rear. The feel from the levers is also top notch.
So if there is any minus in my first ride impressions for the scarabeo 125 its just that initial lag off the line but once you get used to its power delivery its fine. Power once its moving is more then adequate for a 125 as remember the scooter runs a liquid cooled motor with its power and tourque up the top of its rev range.
On the running temerature the scooter stays at half way at all times and is very consistant. And once up to temp it has not moved either up or down it just stays solid.
Everything else is what you would expect from a premium 125. I have not as yet put it in for its first service so we will cover that event and see whats happening there but i suspect it will be business as usual.
The quality of this scooter shows, the scooter has been out in all types of conditions and handled them well. It has no corrosion build up and the engine and running of the scooter has been very predictable. Always started, come to a steady idle etc. The scooter doesnt seem like its under heaps of pressure, like there could be heaps more you could get out of it and I spose I would see this in the 200 version. The chassis could handle the extra power easily and even the 125 motor seems like its powered wisely to remain ever faithful .