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Have now been riding my Aprilia Scarabeo for just on a month and have clocked up just over 1,000km so I thought it time to share my findings so far.  As noted earlier, I have mainly been commuting to work on a 50km round trip with max road speeds of 60kph and 80kph through three little townships linked by a gently winding road.  The big 16" wheels and generous, wide seats give a comfy ride over potholes and corrugated sections of the road and the relatively heavy kerbside mass of 165kg gives quite an amount of stability in 30 knot cross winds and the pressure wave from large trucks and buses coming in the opposite direction.

Hill climbs are a breeze with a just a little on-throttle needed to maintain speed.  In fact I have been impressed with the ease of climbing the Southern Outlet, out of Hobart.  Both our Toyota Corolla and Mitsubishi Pajero have difficulty in maintaining 80kph up the long climb to Mt Nelson, changing back from 5th to 4th and sometimes even 3rd resulting in a speed of between 60kph and 70kph at the top.  I found that I was in fact having to throttle back so as not to go over the limit.  Mt Nelson is a favourite speed gun area, especially towards the end of the month.

At the opposite end of the speed spectrum I've found the disc brakes (front and rear) bring the scooter to a controlled stop, so far without any skidding as well as allow for back brake dragging at slow speeds with a constant throttle just above what is needed to give a smooth ride.

The large top box and side panniers are great for storing full face helmet, gloves, trousers and jacket while stopped and a brief case and laptop while on the move.

As with any scooter body that tends to enclose the "mechanical parts", checking water, oil, battery water,  levels requires unscrewing panels and fiddling around, however the bits fit back together fairly solidly and I seem to be getting through the weekly checks at a faster rate.

I guess as well as the great sense of enjoyment at riding through the countryside and outlying suburbs the weekly "fills" at the bowser are rewarding.  Whereas I would  get little change from $50 with the V6 Pajero I now get change from $10.  The Scarabeo is returning figures of 34.3km/l and  34.4km/l.  One week I got  35.1km/l which is around 2.9l/100km.

Am starting to venture into town a lot more and find the Scarabeo is just as capable in close quarters.  Had to check the throttle on the first few red light hill starts.   But even with a smooth, gentle throttle action it pulls away from the traffic very quickly.

I guess as with any scooter the main ingredient is the rider and I look forward to gaining more handling skills so as to enjoy my Scarabeo well into the future.

Mike 

Well done miketI, I agree with the panel removals being inconvienient but all scooters to a certain degree have some dissasembly required for maintenance, it's the nature of the beast, having said that I only do it once a week so I can bare with that, nice simple review........Pete.

Beautiful scooter!!

Did you consider other models at similar level, such as Liberty S 200 and those in 250cc range?  Could you please explain why you finally choose Aprilia? Is there a big difference in terms of handling compared to a 125cc scooter?

 Thanks!
 

Well put!

Sounds like a great scoot, not my sort of styling, but looks really well setup.  Cannot despute that.

Thanks

 Hi, why-me.  Am gradually getting back on my feet, or more to the point able to sit down after a hip surgery.  Yes, I looked at both the Aprilia SportCity 200 and Piaggio Liberty S 200. the two things on my shopping list were water cooled engine and both front and rear disc brakes since I wanted both town and inter suburban riding.  Originally I really coveted a Vespa GT 200 but could not afford the new price.  In the end I happened to be in the right place at the right time when an Aprilia Scarabeo 200 was available with very low kms on the clock plus sports wind shield, panniers and top box.  Much more of a comfy ride than the SportCity and more of a touring scooter than the Liberty all for under $6K.  The great thing is that I understand that it has the same engine as the GT, so I still have part of my original goal plus large wheels.

Take care,

 Mike
 

 Thanks, Scott.  Yes, if you are looking for a highly manoeuverable scoot, the Scarabeo is more towards the travelling armchair.

I like your preferences.  Actually it was my wife who when faced between an Aprilia SportCity or Scarabeo, came down on the side of the Scarabeo because of its more comfy pillion setup.

Mike 

Mike, just thought I would add a little "retraction" on what I said about the styling of the Scarabeo.

Dropped the Agility in today for a service on Monday and had a quick look around the showroom.  I would have to say that in the past, along with the Scarabeo, there were a couple of models (Liberty, Sportcity and even the bigger Vespas) that really did not appeal to me at all.  I felt I was more of the sports styling type.

Well that has now changed.

I had never REALLY looked at those listed above. The pics I had seen were not "sporty" enough for me.

Today, I took the time to have a look and I AM impressed.  Things have changed.  I did not have the time today but would love to throw the leg over any one of them to see how they do go.

Maybe it is just the guys that I have been hanging around here but I now have a new found appreciation for the styling of these scoots and look forward to even more choices when I make the decision to upgrade

Thanks

 Hi Scott,

Glad to hear you had the chance to have a closer look at a Scarabeo and liked what you saw.  You may wish to have a look at the review of the 250ie in the Dec issue of Scooter mag (pgs 32-33) It's titled "Almost Perfect".

Safe travelling 

Mike 

Thanks Mike, got the mag but not had the chance to read it all yet

I have one Aprilia scarabeo 200 and I`m having a problem with the starting of the motor! Every morning I`m trying to start the motor but it won`t starts! When I change the sparking plug it starts till the next morning when i have the same problem!In one word it won`t start when the motor is cold! Do anyone have an idea how to fix this ? 

Welcome to Scooter Community maxdamage.

Pop a post in the Technical Talk section as there is more chance of the mechanics amongst us seeing it and answering your question.

Thanks and good luck in sorting out the Scarabeo, which is a nice scoot BTW

Hi All

I went and had a test ride of the Scarabeo 200 today, it was a really smooth comfortable ride. The only thing stopping me from getting it is the fact that I wanted a 250cc but sadly can't afford the Scarabeo 250ie.

It's either this one or the Sym Firenze, not sure which one to go for as yet, any comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Hey Mickey13

We are now proud owners of a new Scarabeo 200. Picked it up early Friday and are impressed with it so far. We have clocked up about 100kms to date but it's early days yet with running it in etc. It will be great to really open it up once it frees up some. The 250 would have been nice but it was out of our price range as well, although the 200 really does do everything we will need it to at present. Requirements were - 16" wheels (some rough patches of road), something able to comfortably cruise at 100k's, good lighting as it will be used regularly at night and reliability with reasonable service intervals. Now I must say that this is our first scooter but it does seem to handle quite well with good brakes, great lighting, smooth motor and I'm very happy so far. Both my wife and I will be using it so it had to feel comfortable for her as well. We also looked at the Honda SH150i and test rode it (very nice scoot as well) but the Scarabeo just felt to have better performance higher up with the slightly bigger engine - even though it isn't fuel injected. The finish is fantastic - as it should be for its price range and everything is comfortable and easy to use. We added a top box as we will need the storage but we got a good deal and it was thrown in with some other things. So from my perspective I would really recommend the Scarabeo 200 and don't think it would disappoint you. Will post some more as we put more k's on it.

Pedro,

thanks for that it was really helpful although now i'm looking at the Hawk 250, still haven't really made up my mind but will let everyone know when I do.

Thanks again the Scarabeo might just be back in the running.