Motor Scooter Guide

APRILIA SCOOTERS

Aprilia is one of only a few companies who understand that scooters are about more than economical transportation. Far too many companies treat scooters as a cheap stepping stone to a motorcycle and miss the opportunity to excel in the scooter market. Like Vespa, Aprilia is a company that caters to enthusiasts and thus offers top notch designs and awesome technology right down to their 50cc models. Aprilia got their start in 1945 making mopeds and small displacement motorcycles and they’ve never strayed from making great small displacement machines even as their line up has evolved to include many fantastic motorcycles.

Aprilia formed a USA subsidiary in 1998 called Aprilia USA and began importing their scooters and motorcycles in time for the 1999 model year. It would be several years before Aprilia expanded their presence to Canada. Finally for 2003 Aprilia entered the Canadian scooter market under the direction of the Canadian Scooter Corp. (CSC). In 2004, Aprilia was in dire financial condition and Piaggio (parent company of Vespa) ended up purchasing them. Thankfully Piaggio is also company that also understands that market for quality scooters and thus Aprilia scooters have remained technological and quality leaders. In late 2009 Piaggio’s contract with the Canadian Scooter Corp. expired and Piaggio opted to begin importing scooters themselves to the Canadian market. This led to some turmoil in the market, but ultimately should lead to lower prices and faster parts availability without the additional middle man.

1999

Aprilia arrived in the USA with their popular SR50 (above left) and Scarabeo 50 (right) scooters. During 1999 Aprilia was still establishing their dealer network, so availability was limited. During 1999 Aprilia’s were only sold in Florida, New York and California.

Both of these initial two scooter models would be very successful for Aprilia, with both the SR50 and the Scarabeo body styles remaining sale through to today.

USA MODELS: SR50 DiTech, Scarabeo 50

2000

Aprilia continued to establish their USA dealer network with a new presence in the midwest, northeast and Texas.

USA MODELS: SR50 DiTech, Scarabeo 50

2001 - 2002

Aprilia finally had a nationwide presence, with an estimated 80 dealers covering almost all 50 states. Sales really increased for 2001 compared to the first few years, with the addition of many dealers plus two additional models.

The Scarabeo 150 and Atlantic 500 were added to Aprilia’s USA lineup for 2001 to compete in the mid-sized and maxi-scooter categories. The Atlantic 500 was the first real maxi-scooter to be introducted in North America, beating Honda’s Silverwing and Suzuki’s Burgman to the scene. The Scarabeo 150 was the original Rotax powered Scarabeo that was popular in Europe and it added another dimension to Aprilia’s line up in the form of their first mid-sized scooter.

Aprilia USA’s lineup would remain unchanged for 2002 and 2003.

USA MODELS: SR50 DiTech, Scarabeo 50 / 150, Atlantic 500

2003

In time for the 2003 model year, Aprilia showed up in Canada with their large wheeled Scarabeo 150. Canadian dealerships were few in 2001 and so were sales, but Aprilia would grow their scooter sales fairly quickly by getting their scooters into a number of car dealerships.

Aprilia USA did not make any changes to their scooter lineup for 2003.

USA MODELS: SR50 DiTech, Scarabeo 50 / 150, Atlantic 500
CANADA MODELS: Scarabeo 150

2004

Aprilia bumped their USA line-up from four scooters to ten by adding three Mojito models (left), the Rally 50, Atlantic 200 and Scarabeo 500. The Rally 50 would be short lived in the USA, as 2004 was the only year it was offered.

The other big news for 2004 was an all new generation of SR50 (below). This sporty scooter would go on to sell very well.

For their second year in Canada, Aprilia ramped up their lineup by adding the new SR50 to their showrooms. Aprilia also replaced the Scarabeo 150 with the smaller Scarabeo 50 and larger Scarabeo 500. As well, Aprilia added a little diversity to their line with the retro Mojito 150 and the highway devouring Atlantic 200 and 500.

USA MODELS: SR50, Rally 50, Mojito Retro 50, Mojito Custom 50 / 150, Scarabeo 50 / 150 / 500, Atlantic 200, Atlantic 500
CANADA MODELS: SR50, Mojito 150, Scarabeo 50 / 500, Atlantic 200, Atlantic 500

2005

Aprilia trimmed back it’s lineup by dropping the Rally 50 in the USA and both Atlantic scooters in Canada and the USA.

USA MODELS: SR50, Mojito Retro 50, Mojito Custom 50 / 150, Scarabeo 50 / 150 / 500
CANADA MODELS: SR50, Mojito 150, Scarabeo 50 / 500

2006

Aprilia Canada’s lineup got further trimmed back to just one scooter, the SR50. In the USA the scooters stayed the same although the did Scarabeo 500 get ABS.

USA MODELS: SR50, Mojito Retro 50, Mojito Custom 50 / 150, Scarabeo 50 / 150 / 500
CANADA MODELS: SR50

2007

Aprilia USA introduced the Scarabeo 100, which replaced both the 50 and 150 models in the USA. American’s got their first look at Aprilia’s SportCity scooters, with the introduction of the SportCity Cube 250 (left). The Scarabeo 500 got some updates to the motor including fuel injection.

In Canada, Aprilia added the large wheeled Scarabeo 50 and 200 models after a one year absence in 2006.

USA MODELS: SR50, Mojito Retro 50, Mojito Custom 50 / 150, SportCity 250, Scarabeo 100 / 500 I.E.
CANADA MODELS: SR50, Scarabeo 50 / 200

2008

Aprilia’s 1950’s styled Mojito scooters were dropped for 2008. Aprilia added the mid sized Scarabeo 200 to flesh out their Scarabeo line.
No changes for 2008 up in Canada.

MODELS: SR50,Scarabeo 100 / 200 / 500 I.E., SportCity 250
CANADA MODELS: SR50, Scarabeo 50 / 200

2009

The big news for 2009 was the smaller SportCity One scooters. Both USA and Canada began receiving the Sportcity One (right) which came in 50 and 125cc sizes. The larger SportCity model was revised and introduced into Canada as well as the USA. To clarify that the 50 and 125 models really an entirely different machine from the original 250, Aprilia called the smaller scooters the SportCity One and they added ‘Cube’ to the bigger 250 model.

MODELS: SR50, Scarabeo 50 / 100 / 200 / 500 I.E., SportCity One 50 / 125, SportCity Cube 250
CANADA MODELS: SR50, Scarabeo 50 / 200, SportCity One 50 / 125, SportCity Cube 250

2010

Aprilia Canada dropped the aging Scarabeo 50 and bumped the SportCity Cube to a 300 model. In the USA, Aprilia added a ‘Street’ version of the SportCity One 50. The SportCity Cube 250 took a year off in the USA, Perhaps Aprilia imported a few too many for 2009.

USA MODELS: SR50, Scarabeo 100 / 200 / 500 I.E, SportCity One 50 / 125, SportCity One 50 Street,
CANADA MODELS: SR50, Scarabeo 200, SportCity One 50 / 125, SportCity Cube 300

2011

Aprilia withdrew it’s remaining Scarabeo model, the 200, from the Canadian market. In the USA, the SportCity 250 returned and curiously did not get the updated ‘300’ motor that was sold in Canada..

USA MODELS: SR50, Scarabeo 100 / 200 / 500 I.E, SportCity One 50 / 125, SportCity Cube 250,
CANADA MODELS: SR50, SportCity One 50 / 125, SportCity Cube 300

2012

Final word is forthcoming for Aprilia’s 2012 lineup, but we do know that Aprilia intends to bring their new Piaggio Typhoon based SR Motard to both Canada and the USA in both 50cc (2-stroke) and 125cc sizes. The introduction of the 50cc 2-stroke is interesting as it comes at a time when very few 50cc 2-strokes remain on the market. The SR Motard appears to be replacing the SportCity One scooters as Aprilia’s offering in the popular sports scooter segment. The SR Motard shares a lot of similarities with the departing SportCity One design.

Piaggio has also introduced a new SRV 850 maxi-scooter overseas which may be coming to North America.

PARTIAL MODEL LIST: SR Motard 50 / 125, SRV 850

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