Motor Scooter Guide

APRILIA SPORTCITY ONE 50 / 125

The SportCity One 50 and 125 scooters expanded Aprilia’s SportCity line beyond the original SportCity 250. The SportCity One design is an entirely new scooter that shares nothing but inspiration with its bigger sibling. With the 2009 introduction of the SportyCity One, the original SportCity got ‘Cube’ added to its name, so it became the SportCity Cube 250 to differentiate the two models.

Despite being introduced in a recession year when scooter sales were down 50% in the USA, the SportCity One scooters have lived up to expectations and have formed a key part of Aprilia’s scooter sales. Following three years of good sales, Aprilia announced the 2012 SR Motard 50 & 125, which are SportCity One based scooters that appear to be taking over the SportCity One’s place in Aprilia’s line up. The SR Motard scooters have a lot in common with the SportCity One models including rims, engines, frame and some of the rear body panels. The SR Motard scooters really are just a style update on the SportCity One design.

In total, three versions of the SportCity One have been sold in the USA and two in Canada. From 2009 to 2011, the 4-stroke powered SportCity One 50 and SportCity One 125 were sold. Joining those two scooters for just 2010 was the SportCity One 50 Street, which utilized a more peppy 2-stroke engine. Canadians never received this 2-stroke variant. While the SportCity One scooters are being replaced for 2012 with the SR Motard, the SportCity One design will live on elsewhere in the world. At the fall 2011 Milan motorbike show, the Piaggio group unveiled a Derbi branded version of the SportCity One. This identical scooter is being called the 2012 Derbi Variant Sport and it won’t be coming to North America.

Styling
The SportyCity One scooters were the most popular small scooters in Aprilia’s scooter line from 2009 - 2011. The higher end SR50 acted as Aprilia’s flagship sports scooter with its advanced technology and expensive price tag, while the Scarabeo models competed in the large wheeled scooter segment. The SportyCity One lands in the middle as an affordable and somewhat sporty scooter that offers a much lower MSRP than the SR50 and more popular styling than the Scarabeo models.

The concept of selling both an ultra sporty premium 50cc scooter and a more affordable sports styled 50cc is not new, with Kymco employing this technique for a number of years now with the affordable ZX50, Vitality and Agility scooters selling very well alongside their flagship Super 8 and Super 9 designs. It’s surprising that it took Aprilia until 2009 to fill the sporty yet mainstream design hole in their line up. This niche has been vacant since the 2004 demise of the Rally 50.

The design of the SportCity One is obviously based on the larger and original SportyCity Cube design. The aim with the original design was to create a scooter with ride qualities of a larger wheeled scooter, with sportier styling that is far more popular everywhere outside of Europe. The original SportCity used nearly full size 15” wheels, while the SportCity One scooters split the different between more common 10-12” rim sizes and sometimes awkward looking but practical 16” wheels found on large wheeled scooters like Aprilia’s Scarabeo models and Kymco’s People lines of scooters. The result is a really sharp scooter with awesome styling. The 14” rims don’t come across as looking too big. The rim styling is awesome and they fit right in with the rest of the look. The rims look particularly good when blacked out, which Aprilia’s used on some models. Mostly Aprilia used silver rims which aren’t quite as nice, but they’re still great and anyone can cheaply get their rims powder coated.

There’s a lot of nice styling touches on the SportCity One scooters, such as the neatly integrated front and rear blinkers. The headlight and taillight are also cleanly integrated, which gives the entire scooter a very clean shape. The rear rack is also a work of art and contributes to this scooters high quality feel. As we often see from the Piaggio group, the gauges are a bit of a let down. They give away that this scooter has been built to a price point. There’s nothing really wrong here, they just don’t have the same elegance as the rest of the scooter.

Engine
The only real difference between the three versions of the SportCity One that have been sold is the motors. Both the SportCity One 50 and SportCity One 125 use 4-stroke engines, while the SportCity One 50 Street gets a faster but less fuel efficient 2-stroke. The 2-stroke engine found in the 2010 SportCity One 50 Street is a horizontal Piaggio design called the HiPER2. Various versions of this motor have powered quite a few Piaggio Group machines over the past decade or so, including Aprilia’s SR50, Vespa’s ET2 50 and Piaggio’s Typhoon and LT50 scooters. In the SportCity One 50 Street, a fairly basic air cooled, carbureted version is used which differentiates it from the SR50, which gets a liquid cooled, fuel injected version that enjoys more power and better fuel economy. The power is still quite a bit higher than the regular SportCity One 50 though, and the best part is that this motor can be easily modified to whatever power level you’re after.

Aprilia claims their focus with the SportyCity One motor options was simplicity, which really means Aprilia used bare bones engines to lower the cost and separate the SportCity One 50 from the higher end SR50. There’s no fuel injection, 4-valves or liquid cooling in any of the SportCity One motor options. However, Aprilia really has passed on the saving to the consumer, as these scooters enjoy low MSRP’s. The SportCity One 125 doesn’t have fuel injected or 4-valves like Yamaha’s competing Zuma 125, but it’s also $450 cheaper ($3350 vs. $2899).

The 4-stroke motor options for this scoot are a 49cc Hi-PER4 Piaggio motor shared with scooters like Vespa’s LX50 and Piaggio’s Fly 50 and a 124cc version of Piaggio’s LEADER engine. The popular LEADER motor has powered all Piaggio group scooters in the 125 - 200cc sizes for the past decade. This includes the Vespa S 150 / LX150, Vespa GT200, Piaggio Typhoon 125, Piaggio Fly 150, Piaggio LT150 and the SR Motard, Atlantic 200 and Mojito 150 from Aprilia.

Brakes / Suspension / Handling
An impressively large 220 mm front disc brake is found on all the variants of the SportCity One. This large disc brake provides solid stopping for the 125cc model, and over the top performance for the slower speeds of the 50cc models. Squeezing this large rotor is a nice 2-piston floating calliper, which is fairly standard on 125cc scooters but it’s class leading stuff in the 50cc segment. Only a few 50cc scooters (ie. Kymco’s New Sento 50i) also get dual pistons up front.

Handling is also excellent thanks to the significantly larger than normal 14” wheels. With most small scooters boasting 10-12” rims, the SportCity One enjoys improved stability at high speed and less jarring over bumps than its smaller wheeled cohorts.

Aprilia has also been quite generous with the front suspension, which squishes up to 3.34” in the front. Rear suspension is more average with 3.0” of travel in the 50cc models and 3.3” in the 125.

Storage & Convenience
The SportCity One scooters are quite easy to live with thanks to their complete slate of storage areas. The underseat area isn’t cavernous, but you can fit most full face lids under there, with the fuel tank occupying the other portion of the undersea area. Some sort of a glovebox is something I really value, and the SportCty One meets this wish with a small but very useful compartment on the upper left corner of the leg shield. It’s pretty small, but it’s all the space you need to keep your insurance papers, some spare gloves and other small odds and ends. If you’ve got something bulky, Aprilia has equipped with scooter with a standard rear rack, so you can try to get creative with that. You can also fit parcels and other large items onto the floor board, which Aprilia has wisely kept flat.

Convenience touches aren’t quite as plentiful. There’s no clock or accessory charging outlet, which are both hard to live without once you’ve gotten used to them. The instrumentation is fairly standard fare, with a speedometer, fuel gauges, odometer and a few warning lights. There’s no trip odometer or other information on power and milage like you find in the higher end Aprilia SR50.

Comparison
There’s a lot of reasons to like the SportCity One scooters. They offer excellent style, braking, handling and storage in a surprisingly affordable package. The trade off for the low price is in the engines, which are reliable and proven designs that don’t’ offer quite the same fuel milage and power and some of their more advanced competitors.

The SportyCity One models compete with scooters like Kymco’s Agility 50 / 125 and Yamaha’s Zuma/BWs 50 & 125. The Kymco scooters are even cheaper, but the level of refinement isn’t quite the same. Kymco’s are nice machines, but you’re not going to find rims this nice and cleanly integrated lighting on the super affordable Agility scooters. Yamaha’s Zuma 50 and 125 competitors land on the other end of the spectrum. They cost $300 - $500 more, but in turn you get fuel sipping and powerful motors that feature twice as many valves, and advanced fuel injection. Also competing with the SportCity One is Kymco’s Super 8 series, which includes 50 and 150cc options. The Super 8 scooters land between the Agility and the SportCity One in terms of price and design. The SportCity One scooters are nicely positioned to sell in high numbers, thanks to the affordable MSRP’s are top notch styling that is perhaps the best in its class.

Own one of these? Submit an Owner Review.

Pros:
- Integrated and clean styling
- Abundant storage options
- Top notch front brake and handling

Cons:
- Budget motors (air cooled, carb, 2-valve)

Links:
MotorscooterGuide Forums - Visit the forums on this site to chat about this scoot.
ApriliaForums - Lots of knowledgable Aprilia folks here.
Aprilia-USA.com - More pics and info on the SportCity One

SportCity One 50 - Key Specs:
* Engine: Air cooled, 49cc, 2-valve, 4-stroke
* Power: 3.13 HP @ 7000 RPM
* Transmission: CVT
* Bore & Stroke: 39.0mm x 41.8mm
* Compression Ratio: 11.1:1
* Fuel Delivery: 17.5mm Carb
* Wheelbase: 53.35”
* Weight: 231 lbs
* Starter: Electric
* Seat height: 30.5”
* Fuel Tank: 1.85 Gallon / 7 Liter
* Brakes: 220mm Disc (Front), 140mm Drum (Rear)
* Front Suspension: Telescoping Fork, 3.34” / 85mm Travel
* Rear Suspension: Single Shock, 3.0” / 76mm Travel
* Wheels: 120/70-14 (Front and Rear)
* Years Sold: 2009 - 2011 (USA & Canada)
* MSRP: $2099 (2011)
* Colors: Black, White, Urban Green (varies by year)

SportCity One 50 Street - Key Specs:
* Engine: Air cooled, 2-stroke, 49.4cc Hi-PER2
* Power: 4.0 HP @ 6500 RPM, 4.4Nm Torque @ 6500 RPM
* Transmission: CVT
* Bore & Stroke: 40mm x 39.3mm
* Compression Ratio: 10.3:1
* Fuel Delivery: 17.5mm Dell’Orto Carb
* Wheelbase: 53.35”
* Weight:
* Starter: Electric and Kick
* Seat height: 30.5”
* Fuel Tank: 1.85 Gallon / 7 Liter
* Brakes: 220mm Disc (Front), 140mm Drum (Rear)
* Front Suspension: Telescoping Fork, 3.34” / 85mm Travel
* Rear Suspension: Single Shock, 3.0” / 76mm Travel
* Wheels: 120/70-14 (Front and Rear)
* Years Sold: 2010 (USA Only)
* MSRP:
* Colors: Black, White, Red (varies by year)

SportCity One 125 - Key Specs:
* Engine: Air cooled, 124cc, 2-valve, 4-stroke
* Power: 9.52 HP @ 8000 RPM
* Transmission: CVT
* Bore & Stroke: 57.0mm x 48.6mm
* Compression Ratio: 12.1:1
* Fuel Delivery: 26mm Carb
* Wheelbase: 53.35”
* Weight:
* Starter: Electric Only
* Seat height: 30.5”
* Fuel Tank: 1.85 Gallon / 7 Liter
* Brakes: 220mm Disc (Front), 140mm Drum (Rear)
* Front Suspension: Telescoping Fork, 3.34” / 85mm Travel
* Rear Suspension: Single Shock, 3.3” / 84mm Travel
* Wheels: 120/70-14 (Front and Rear)
* Years Sold: 2009 - 2011 (USA & Canada)
* MSRP: $2899 (2011)
* Colors: Black, Blue, Silver, White, Yellow, Urban Green (varies by year)