2004 Scarabeo 500 - An Automatic Motorcycle
Written: Jun 21 '04 (Updated Jul 25 '07)
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Pros: Full fairing, very attractive, low cost for touring bike
Cons: Parts slow from Aprilia USA. Piaggio has bought Aprilia. Hopefully this will improve.
The Bottom Line: If you're looking for an automatic touring bike that is fun to ride, buy one. Just get used to people shouting, "That's beautiful! What kind of motorcycle is it?"
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| jcomey's Full Review: 2000 Aprilia Scarabeo 125/150 |
I have ridden a 2001 Suzuki SV650 for the last three years, after returning to bikes after a 20 year absence. This naked SV, once the suspension, carbs and exhaust were corrected, is quick, light and especially fun to ride on twisty country roads outside Philadelphia (PA). It is NOT fun to ride with a passenger. I started looking for a heavier, touring-type bike to add to my stable that was not going to cost a fortune, would look and ride well, and would offer my wife a comfortable, safe seat to share the ride.
The bare bones touring bikes start at $10,000, can get very heavy, and can be very expensive to insure. I started to look at the new maxi-touring scooters. I wasn't too keen about doing 60mph on 13" or 14" wheels. I also, like so many Americans, wasn't sure how my ego would handle riding a "scooter." Then I saw and rode the Aprilia Scarabeo 500. With its 16" wheels, 500 lb. dry weight, full fairing, 464cc engine, triple disc brakes, $234 insurance cost from Dairyland, and $6,900 OTD price, I was smitten.
You step through the Scarabeo 500 like a scooter. However, the scooter aspect of this bike stops there. It leans confidently like my SV and feels stable on the road like my old 1973.5 R60/5. It excites attention from people because it looks so cool, although they're not quite certain what they're seeing. From the front and the back, it resembles a large touring motorcycle. I'm adding a Borsa Tunnel bag that Aprilia sells that will fit inside the open space where your leg steps through. This will increase the storage space (there is a top box but you're not supposed to exceed 8 lbs) and will further enhance, for me and my ego, the automatic motorcycle appearance of this bike.
You do have to adjust to some things. First, you have to get used to there being no clutch to engage. It is initially weird pulling up to a stop and thinking, "This thing is going to stall" but it doesn't. Second, you must resist the urge to rev the throttle, especially at a stop, or you'll end up someplace you don't want to be. Third, I stop on my SV using my front brakes the most. The Scarabeo uses the left brake for one disc in the front and the rear disc. The right brake uses just the rear.
I tried the taller Givi screen but took it off. I experienced too much wind buffeting around my shoulders and arms, and didn't like the feel of the steering at higher speeds. The shorter, stock, sport screen holds most of the wind blast off my chest (I'm 5'11" with a 31" inseam) and ear plugs, securely placed, control the wind noise. The seat is the same height as my SV (31"), but it is much wider, giving a very comfortable ride. However, due to the width, I must lean on toe tips or slide forward to the narrower part of the seat, when stopped. It would be nice to have cut outs in the floor board like the Suzuki Burgman. There is a clock, a gas gauge, a temp gauge and a computer that tells you the temp of the air and a bunch of other things. It's supposed to tell you your gas mileage, but it seems that all of the Scarabeo 500s sent to the USA read between 3.2 and 3.8 mpg. I don't know why. The Scarabeo 500 should get between 55 - 60 mpg, depended on your riding style.
A veteran iron butt rider/friend who closely examined this bike from every angle scratched his head and said, "They're going to have to come up with a new classification for this kind of thing. It isn't a scooter and it isn't exactly a motorcycle either." "No," I said. "It's a Scarabeo 500 and I like it!"
June 22, 2004 - NOTE: I forgot to mention that I only have 400 miles on this new bike and that the above are initial impressions. More information will be posted about the steering, stopping and two-up riding after I get past the break-in and log some decent miles.
October 24, 2004:
I now have 1,400 miles on the 500 and like this automatic bike even more each time I ride it. Some further things about it:
- The brakes are good, especially when you need to come to a very quick stop. Where I use the front brake 95% of the time on my SV650, I use the combined front and rear left brake the most, especially as I ease to a normal stop.
- The 500 will lean as far as you want to take it. Country roads or tight turns at lights are a piece of cake. The tires grip well.
- My legs and toe tips have become adjusted to the wide seat. When riding I have realized that I can see really far because I'm at about the same height as an SUV driver. The only time I have to be careful now is during two-up riding with the extra weight at a stop.
- I have tightened the steering damper (yes, there is one but it's hard to reach under the front fender) for better connection with the road, especially with strong head-on or cross winds.
- When I take off at red light, it doesn't feel like I'm going fast, but most cars are usually well back in my mirrors, and I realize I'm doing 60 already.
- The mirrors work extremely well. This is the first bike where I can easily see what's behind me on both sides.
- Lots of black brake dust quickly lines the rims, but wipes off easily with water with the bike on its centerstand. It also gets on the sides of the rear fenders, but comes off just as easily.
- If you know how to use a centerstand properly (just step down on the metal provided using your body weight), you'll find the 500 raises up easily. I have to rock a couple of times to get the bike down, again because of the height.
- With cold weather arriving, I like the hand guard sections of the upper fairing. The real test will be this winter since I ride November through March unless there is snow or ice on the ground.
- I can see/enjoy more of my surroundings while riding because the management of the bike is so much easier. No down or up shifting. No adjustment of my feet for braking. A full upright riding position with the wind off 85% off me.
- On the side stand or in flight, this is one attractive bike. Hardcore cruiser and squid sportbike guys just sort of stare at the 500, but all of the other riders return my nod.
- When I tell people that I'm getting 60mpg, no matter how hard I ride, they ask where they can find an Aprilia Scarabeo 500.
July 2007 - Sold the Aprilia. Maybe it's my light weight (150 lb), or the high center of gravity of the bike, or the fact that the upper part of the fairing is attached to the handlebars, but the crosswinds kept making the bike feel too unstable for me. Now I own an 05 Suzuki Bandit 1200S (same weight as the Scarabeo but 300% more stable) and an 07 Triumph Bonneville T100 - a very cool, retro, holligan bike.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 6,900
Condition: New
Model Year: 2004
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Epinions.com ID:
jcomey
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Reviews written: 4
Trusted by: 1 member
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