Gilera Nexus

The real scooter cognoscenti won't appreciate this, but I have trouble with the idea of any scooter being extreme. Okay, there have been some pretty quick race items out there from time to time, but extreme? That's how Gilera labels the Nexus 500.

After a week or so in the saddle I was left with two lasting memories: 1. It will corner at a borderline obscene pace; 2. It will cruise happily at 130km/h with plenty of performance left over. Alright, so the Italian maker has a point after all.

The interesting thing about the Nexus is that it shares its 460cc single cylinder powerplant with the Piaggio X9 500. It's a capable enough thing, with fuel injection and in this trim claims a whisker over 40 horses. While it may be the same powerplant, the two machines could not be much more different. The X9 is the big luxo scooter, with sound system and all the mod conveniences, while the Nexus is a fairly convincing performance package.

Given that the luxuries have been cut back, what are you left with? You're not exactly slumming it. There's still room under the seat for a full size helmet (which is stowed upside down), the fairing has a bin for assorted bits and pieces, the usual Piaggio (which owns Gilera) security features are in place, the windscreen is adjustable and there are a couple of hot air vents to keep the rider's ankles warm in winter.

On the chassis front, there's a solid set of 41mm Kayaba forks which probably take much of the credit for the handling, a monoshock rear with two sets of adjustment, Brembo twin-piston disc brakes up front and Bridgestone Battlax tyres.

That lot weighs a claimed 180 kilos dry and has a 15 litre fuel capacity.

 The rear suspension adjustment is intriguing. There's a conventional spring-preload adjustment under the seat, which gives some ride-height alterations. Then there's an adjustable strut attached to the left swingarm which gives further (and fairly radical) ride-height adjustment. The latter allows you to change the Nexus road attitude from a nose-down sport mode to a flatter cruising stance in a few seconds. It may sound weird, but it works a treat and also provides a very quick and simple way of setting up the machine for two different riders of different stature.

We walked away impressed with the cornering ability - it will get to ludicrous lean angles before it finally scrapes, and has a very tenacious grip on the road. Full marks for this, as it would give a lot of road bikes a real fright.

Instrumentation is a mix. There are the usual two analogue dials for speed and revs, plus a very informative digital gauge which can be switched between modes with a lever on the right switch-block. It will give you max speed (165km/h indicated in our case), fuel consumption, remaining distance to empty and assorted other info.

So is it worth the rent? Yup. Not surprisingly it turned out to be a very capable highway mount, with loads of performance. A Suzuki Burgman will have more straight line speed, but the Nexus has a significant edge in handling.

LIKES...

NOT SO MUCH...

Displacement: 460cc

Fuel system: EFI

TRANSMISSION
Type: CVT auto

Clutch: Centrifugal

CHASSIS AND RUNNING GEAR
Frame: Tubular steel, double cradle

Front suspension: Kayaba 41mm forks

Rear suspension: Kayaba shock with adjustable spring pre-load

Front brakes: Twin 260mm discs with Brembo calipers

Rear brake: Single 240mm disc

PERFORMANCE
Max power: 40.12hp at 7500rpm

Max torque: 4.38kg-m at 5500rpm

OTHER STUFF
Price: $10,990

Colours: Red, silver

Test bike supplied by: Gilera Australia