Aprilia SR Motard 50

Summary
The SR Motard might just be the most stylish scooter in its class, and also retails for about the lowest price, so this scooter is developing a substantial following.
Pros
Sharp styling
Affordable
Cons
Minimal storage capacity
Basic tech motor (e.g. no fuel injection)
4.1

Aprilia SR Motard 50

First shown at the 2011 EICMA show in Milan, Aprilia’s SR Motard was scheduled to go sale in North America for 2012 but its release was delayed when the Piaggio Group opted to introduced it’s Piaggio branded sibling – the Typhoon 125 – to the market first.

Finally in June 2013 the SR Motard arrived in the USA and Canada in 50cc form as a 2014 model. It remains on sale in both countries as of 2020.

The hawk-ish SR Motard takes scooter fundamentals and blends it with (slight) motard characteristics. The SR Motard is based on Piaggio’s popular second generation Typhoon scooter (the new for 2011 generation). The frame, motor options and main body work pieces are all the same, so differences are superficial. The main alteration and also the reason Aprilia is using the Motard name, is because they’ve taken a formerly ‘off-road’ inspired model (SportCity One) and ‘motard-ed’ it with low profile tires.

The SR Motard and new Piaggio Typhoon are based on the Aprilia SportCity One, but with a revised front end styling. One final international member of this family tree is the Derbi Variant Sport. The Variant Sport scooter is really just a rebadged SportCity One that uses the Derbi name and gets a few minor tweaks. This Derbi won’t make it to North America as Piaggio no longer offers Derbi products in North America.

Styling

Aprilia retained all of the Typhoon body panels for the SR Motard, so it’s not hard to spot the shared ancestry. The most notable change with the SR Motard is the use of larger rims (14” vs. 12”) along with lower profile tires to preserve the same wheel circumference. The rims are really nice and they share their look with Aprilia’s bigger bikes. They’re also the same rims Aprilia is used on their SportCity One scooter. It’s nice to see Aprilia carrying down the lineage of their bigger bikes into the SR Motard.

With this model, Aprilia also changed the decals to give this scooter a two-tone look that fits in better with Aprilia’s other models. Other style changes include a different front fender, new disc rotors and a two tone seat. Overall, the SR Motard is a sharp scooter, although it would have been nice to see Aprilia take things a step further with unique body work.

Engine

Globally there are 3 engine options used in the SR Motard: 2-stroke 50, 4-stroke 50 or 4-stroke 125cc. The SR Motard was originally offered in the USA and Canada with the 4-stroke 50cc, but in Canada Aprilia switched to the 2-stroke 50cc for two years (2015, 2016) before returning to the 4-stroke for 2017. The Aprilia USA has only offered the 4-stroke 50cc engine, despite occasionally referring to their scooter as a 2-stroke in some brochures.

The 4-stroke 50cc motor is the same solid design used in Piaggio’s second generation Typhoon 50 and SportCity One. Total output is 4.6 HP from its high compression (12:1), 4-valve design. Top speed is a respectable 40mph, while fuel milage is typically 90 mpg. This milage is solid while lagging some advanced fuel injected models in this segment.

The other motor options are Piaggio’s 2-stroke Hi-PER2 50 and the LEADER 125. The former has a long scooter history inside models like the Vespa ET2 50, Aprilia SportCity One 50 Street, the first generation of Piaggio Typhoon 50 and pretty much every other 2-stroke 50cc model from the Piaggio group sold in the past decade. The 125cc engine option is the latest evolution of the LEADER design which can be purchased now in the similar Typhoon 125.

Brakes / Suspension / Handling

Aprilia has equipped the SR Motard with a nice 220mm disc brake up front and an average 140mm drum brake in the rear. The front brake provides excellent braking, while the rear is enough to get by. Aprilia has changed the style of the rotor with the SR Motard, but the rest of the braking system is the same as the second generation Piaggio Typhoon.

The 14” rims lower total wheel weight compared to the Typhoon, since they allow much lower profile tires and rubber is heavy. This should result in a small but nice improvement to the handling as the unsprung weight is reduced. Suspension in the SR Motard 125 is tweaked from its Piaggio sibling, so the front travel is up to 3.4” (from 3.2”) while the rear travel is down a bit to 3.2” (from 3.4”).

Storage & Convenience

There’s not much to report here that hasn’t already been discussed on the Typhoon 50 / 125 page. The SR Motard gets the same moderately sized underseat storage area that can swallow most full face lids. Aside from that, you’ve got a hook on the inside of the legshield to hang your baguette from and a nicely integrated glovebox. The latter of which is particularly well designed and holds a reasonable amount of items without encroaching on knee space.

Updates

Aside from briefly switching to a 2-stroke motor in Canada, the SR Motard went unchanged from 2014 to 2018. For 2019, Aprilia revised the SR Motard in the Canadian and USA markets. The most notable change is the new instrumentation (below left) compared to the 2014-2018 models (below right).

Other changes to the 2019 SR Motard include new graphics, revised passenger pegs, new handle bars and a USB plug in the underseat area.

Comparison

The SR Motard competes in a fairly strong segment (50cc sports scooter). The SR Motard takes on other sporty 50’s like Yamaha’s Zuma and Kymco’s Super 8. Yamaha’s Zuma costs a bit more but gives you fancier technology (i.e. fuel injection) and better MPG. Mostly the decision depends on your personal style preferences and wallet thickness, as these are all solid scooters. The SR Motard might just be the most stylish scooter in this class, and also retails for about the lowest price, so this scooter is developing a substantial following.

Pros:

  • Sharp styling
  • Affordable

Cons:

  • Minimal storage capacity
  • Basic tech motor (e.g. no fuel injection)

Links:

MotorscooterGuide Forums – Visit the forums on this site to chat about this scoot.
ApriliaForums – Lots of knowledgable Aprilia folks here.

Colors:

  • 2014 – 2017: Black, White (both with red accents)
  • 2018: Black (Canada only), White (Canada only), Racing Black (aka grey, USA only)
  • 2019: White Lucido (USA), Matte Black (Canada)
  • 2020: Racing Black (USA), Matte Black (Canada)

Key Specs – SR Motard 50 4-Stroke

  • Engine: Air cooled, 4-stroke, 4-valve 49cc
  • Power: 4.6 HP @ 9500 RPM, 2.8 ft/lbs torque at 8000 RPM
  • Bore & Stroke: 39 x 41.35mm
  • Compression Ratio: 12:1
  • Transmission: CVT
  • Fuel Delivery: Keihin NCV F20 carburetor
  • Wheelbase: 53.1”
  • Weight: 242 lbs
  • Starter: Electric and Kick
  • Seat height: 30.3”
  • Fuel Tank: 1.9 gallon / 7 liter
  • Brakes: 220mm dual piston disc (front), 140mm drum (rear)
  • Front Suspension: Telescoping Fork 3.0” / 76mm travel
  • Rear Suspension: Single Shock, 3.4” travel
  • Tires: 120/70-14 (Front), 120/70-14 (rear)
  • MSRP: $2099 USA, $2199-$2445 Canada
  • Years Sold: 2014 – Present USA 2014, 2017 – Present in Canada

Key Specs – SR Motard 50 2-Stroke

  • Engine: Air cooled, 2-stroke, 49cc Hi-PER2
  • Power: 5.1 HP
  • Transmission: CVT
  • Bore & Stroke: 40mm x 39.3mm
  • Compression Ratio: 10.3:1
  • Fuel Delivery: Carbureted
  • Wheelbase: 53”
  • Weight: 234 lbs
  • Starter: Electric and Kick
  • Seat height: 30.5”
  • Fuel Tank: 1.8 gallon / 7 litre
  • Brakes: 220mm dual piston disc (front), 140mm drum (rear)
  • Front Suspension: Telescoping Fork 3.4” travel
  • Rear Suspension: Single Shock, 3.0” travel
  • Tires: 120/70-14 (Front), 120/70-14 (rear)
  • Years Sold: 2015-2016 in Canada

Key Specs – SR Motard 125

  • Engine: Air cooled, 4-stroke, 2-valve 124cc (Piaggio LEADER)
  • Power: 9.3 HP @ 8500 RPM, 6.0 lbs-ft torque at 7500 RPM
  • Transmission: CVT
  • Bore & Stroke: 57mm x 48.6mm
  • Fuel Delivery: Carbureted
  • Wheelbase: 53”
  • Weight: 269 lbs
  • Starter: Electric and Kick
  • Seat height: 30.5”
  • Fuel Tank: 1.8 gallon / 7 litre
  • Brakes: 220mm dual piston disc (front), 140mm drum (rear)
  • Front Suspension: Telescoping Fork 3.4” travel
  • Rear Suspension: Single Shock, 3.2” travel
  • Tires: 120/70-14 (Front), 120/70-14 (rear)
  • Years Sold: Never in North America