It was bound to happen. Given enough time, someone somewhere on earth was going to come to a similar conclusion to me. Take a regular scooter, add a powerful motorcycle engine and shazamm…the worlds first superscooter. Now we’ve had superbikes for many years now and they’ve always been popular. It seems there’s always a male ready to pony up his hard earned cash to buy the latest 34 billion hp crotch rocket. (Woman are far smarter and less likely to engage in these penis measuring displays for obvious reasons.) The superscooter is a new category completely. For years scooters have been the poor cousin to the motorcycle, not for much longer, change is in the air.

Enter the Gilera GP 800. The Gilera isn’t really rocket science, really it’s just another maxi scooter, albeit with more power. It is however the first ‘scooter’ you can actually take out for a ride with your sportbike riding motorcycle friends and have a chance of keeping up. I won’t go into the full technical details on the GP800 as the full review has more of that here. I’ll set the stage. We decided that a comparison test was in order. After a little begging we sourced a Gilera GP800 and a Kawasaki ZX-10R, basically the fastest scooter in the world and the world’s fastest motorcycle. (Yes the ZX-14 is faster in a straight line but on a road or a track with actual corners the 10R is the current benchmark.)

Time for a battle. This was never going to be a battle at the local racetrack, the 10R would win that by so far it probably wouldn’t be measurable. What we wanted to do here was spend a couple of days riding the two bikes back to back on actual roads to see how they stacked up. Would the Gilera actually make a viable alternative to a powerful motorcycle? First up we tried the two bikes in the city.

This was always going to be an easy win for the GP800. The Kawasaki is a great bike and makes about a billion horsepower but around town it’s basically…ass. I spent the entire time trying not to speed. Now this isn’t an exaggeration, I mean the entire time…every second. First gear on the Kawasaki redlines at 160kph (100mph), which is a fair bit higher than the average city speed limit. This long gearing makes the 10R hard to launch quickly from a standing start and the bike will then aggressively wheelie in first gear. So having any fun with the throttle means you’re instantly doing far in excess of 100kph (62mph) and trying desperately to keep the front wheel on the ground. Now add in the idiotic ass high and hands low riding position, include a very high seat along with a fairly top heavy centre of gravity and you get a device that just doesn’t suit city traffic or things like wet roundabouts…oh and I haven’t even mentioned that you have to change gears, do hill starts etc etc. Navigating a 190hp superbike on wet city streets is a lesson in massive frustration.

Now the Gilera is a different story. Around town the GP800 is a genuine surprise. I was expecting the GP800 to be like other maxi scooters. Basically like a big heavy automatic tank. The extra horsepower the GP800 makes over other maxi scooters instantly turns it into a weapon around town. Put simply…virtually nothing will beat you from the lights. Yes the ZX-10R is quicker to 100kph (62mph), it clocks it in 3.7 seconds to the Gilera’s 5.4 seconds. This however doesn’t tell you the complete story. Getting a superbike to hit these sort of times is hard…very hard. It takes a very competent rider and most wouldn’t get anywhere near a 3 second time on the road. So a superbike rider would have to be ready and waiting. They’d have to carefully balance revs and clutch and they…might beat you. All the GP800 rider has to do is simply twist the throttle. Overtaking slower traffic on the GP800 is incredible, simply twist the throttle and you instantly pass said slower vehicle. Now add in a lower centre of gravity, weather protection, plus some storage and it’s not a surprise the GP800 is the hands down winner in town. The Gilera isn't perfect however, it’s certainly way too cumbersome to be a real competitor to a smaller scooter in the city.

Performance riding. This is where the Kawasaki comes into its own. We took the two bikes on a day long thrash over every sort of road imaginable. The Gilera put up a good fight but sadly it really didn’t have a chance. The 10R is in different league here. Now at sensible speeds the Gilera will actually do a fantastic job of keeping up with the average motorcycle rider. It flows from corner to corner with a rather surprising competence while keeping the rider in complete comfort. However when the pace is upped the Gilera begins to feel heavy and a little rushed. It reminds me of a slightly sporty cruiser. Like a sporty Harley Davidson with much better brakes.

The ZX-10R really starts to make sense as the pace is upped. The aggressive riding position suddenly feels right. Sore wrists and aching knees are forgotten, all that matters is the road ahead. The Kawasaki is like a massive adrenaline shot. It either scares you into a shaking mess of a person or converts you onto a crazed speed freak ready to break every speed limit ever created on the face of the earth. I’ll try and explain it to you. Ridden in anger the 2008 10R is literally violent…it accelerates so fast it’s all consuming. When I really upped the pace it was at great risk. I risked either being caught speeding and thrown directly into jail or more than likely…death. No the GP800 is not anywhere near as fast as the 10R on fast sweeping roads. It is however much less likely to kill you.

Long distance riding. This barely needs to be said, the GP800 wins hands down in this department. Combine the far more comfortable riding position with much better weather protection and you have a bike which will cover vast distances while keeping the rider in supreme comfort. If you had 500 miles of freeway riding ahead of you there’s no way on earth you’d want to be on the 10R. The GP800 is a serious contender for touring motorcycles as it really is very good at the job.

Finally lets have a look at ease of use. Both bikes are a pain to move around. The Gilera is vastly overweight so has to be carefully moved around at low speed. It does however have a much smaller turning circle so is slightly better than the 10R overall. The Kawasaki’s high seat and horrible steering lock make it a real pain to move around at low speed. Expect to do significantly better fuel consumption on the GP800 too. The 10R struggles to do 40MPG when ridden gently. When ridden in anger the 10R’s fuel consumption turns really ugly, expect to do approximately 25MPG or about 100 miles per tank full. It’s worse than most modern cars and very annoying if you’re traveling long distance. Finally the GP800 will cost you about 3-4K less to purchase and will be less to insure. So ease of use wise it’s another win to the GP800.

So which is better? As much as I didn’t want to write these words it’s the only sensible answer. There is no winner. Both bikes excel at different things. Obviously based on ease of use and sensible decision making the Gilera is the hands down winner. However, if it’s about ultimate handling and sheer excitement the Kawasaki is light years ahead. The really interesting bit is this…imagine the future. The GP800 is the first superscooter ever made and it’s already giving lesser motorcycles a run for their money, very soon we’re going to see an entirely new market segment. Picture this, a genuine 1000cc superbike engine mated to a high performance CVT transmission. Combine this with aggressive weight reduction and things will be very different. You’re talking about a 190hp, 170kg fully automatic superscooter. Probably the fastest accelerating two wheeled vehicle on earth…and it’s coming sooner than later. You heard it here first.

Comments (14)

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written by Arthur , July 25, 2011

I am in my 70's and high top end speeds and very quick acceleration are not important to me. I have been looking at scooters and run into many older riders with a lot of experience who want to give up on the heavier bikes because of knee and hip problems and are more interested in comfort without the shifting. I note that the Burgman 650 is mentioned frequently but I don't see the Honda 600 mentioned. How do the two compare against each other? Would appreciate feed back from those who have tried both or own one or the other.

Thank you

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written by willd , April 21, 2010

Aprilia Mana. best of both worlds

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written by GuessWho , December 14, 2008

It's obvious that there are different types of bikes for different persons...

Personally I might buy a scooter in 2009. Googling for info about scooters for future purchase is how I found thescooterreview.
Though, if I get one, then I'm going to get something smaller and cheaper.
Mostly for everyday stuff like commuting to work, shop groceries and such.


This comparison was entertaining but kinda dumb. What the comparison was saying was that the GP800 was better at being a Scooter then the Ninja was at being a scooter. While the Ninja was, unwillingly, admitted to be a better supersport bike then the GP800.
I think Captain Obvious could have told me this in less then 3 pages.

I think it would be a more interesting comparison if you took a more touring oriented bike and did a more serious test against a scooter and lose your "I hate everything that isn't scooters"-attitude.



If you own a superbike and manage to ride it at legal speeds the entire time...then why on earth did you buy it?


There are no laws (at least not in my country) against achieving legal speeds quickly. So you could still accelerate fast from intersections and such up to legal speed.
Also I'd prefer to do a quick overtaking instead of ending up as a cars hood ornament. Though, if you are going to be strict about keeping speed limits, you can't do that either.
It's possible to like the sporty aesthetics of sport bikes even if you don't drive fast.
It's possible to like the sound. Though, if you can do 160km/h in first gear, it's only in neutral or on tracks that you can rev it.
Which brings up another point, there are a lot of riders that go to different track days. Some love the inspired driving so much and at the same time realized it can be dangerous in traffic that they entirely stopped driving on public roads and visit as much track days as possible.



Current superbikes really are ludicrously fast and beg the question; why is it legal to sell them?


There is a site called thescooterreview.com, maybe you heard of them. That reviews scooters and praise the faster unrestricted 50cc scooters, although for the main target audience (people who don't have license to drive motorcycles), it's illegal to drive them. Now if they complained on others for similar things, wouldn't that be hypocritical ?
Also it's definitively possible to get yourself killed or seriously injured on scooters. Even 50cc ones. And it does happen also.
You like to throw bricks in your glasshouse don't you?


I don't like it when people are narrow minded and are hating on other people because they have different preferences and that everything different from themselves should be outlawed.

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written by Keith Cox , November 10, 2008

Having been a professional rider(speedway & motorcross)with state titles in both and having owned over 80 bikes I feel that I would know a good machine.I am now on my fourth Burgman(this one an Executive)with electric windscreen & mirrors,ABS brakes.std and power auto,six manual gears sixth being an overdrive and returning 4.7LT per 100km and is a marvellous long distance tourer,will keep up to or better most tourers & has tons of storage space so who needs a 800 Gilera with less equipment.

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written by Simon Evans , August 26, 2008

@ketzals.
The real irony is that having gone to the trouble of buying a 200mph bolide capable of killing any owner in a heartbeat, the article now proposes `dumbing down` that hp with a simplistic throttle control system to overcome the inadequacies of the user - Proof beyond all reasonable doubt that motorcycles have evolved beyond all reasonable common sense...
When the owner needs to be too scared to ride it as the makers built it to be ridden, doncha think it kinda defeats the object in the first place?

Now, I might be naive, but isn't that rather like limiting the kilotonnage of nuclear weapons?

...and this also explains why a Burger IS able to run with the `fast` boys: The fact is they're simply not that fast. Having the bike, the gear and a weekend warrior attitude doesn't make you a fast road rider. Being able to actually open the throttle and go rond corners fast is, funnily enough, the true clue to who is really fast, and who is just talking it up in the pub. Point-to-point the Burger is easily as quick - as you can use ALL of it, all the time. Throw in a greasy road or some weather-induced paranoia and I regularly overtake so-called supersports bikes on my Burger. It's not that I'm a riding god (although as a former R & D rider I do have experience of everything from mopeds to 500cc GP bikes!) it's simply that I don't have the fear that I'm gonna throw it into the kitty litter or shred my licence.

Add in the fact that I can ride it flat-stick in the rain while keeping warm and dry with a change of clothes, two spare pairs of gloves, a complete set of luggage straps, CD-changer/radio, tomorrows dinner and even a garden chair under the seat (you don't wanna know...), while returning 50mpg and still arrive BEFORE the sopping-wet supersports saddos in their saggy-crotched saturated leathers and frankly the purpose of the GP800 continues to elude me? When I rode it, it was warm, dry and sunny and while there was no doubt that it was faster than the Burger, but the rest of the package wasn't enough to persuade me to want to try. It's too heavy, the weight balance isn't quite right, and it gets quite top heavy when pushed hard, and that was before the omission of the storage capacity or weather protection intervened. And that really defines the limit of `scooter` - the practicality should feature above performance, or else it's not a scooter, just a poor, weak-kneed substandard mo'sickle.

And judged on those grounds, the GP800 really does confirm that more is not necessarily more.

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written by ketzals , August 24, 2008

Sorry Pete...I really should have written 'sport bike riding friends'.

I agree the Burgman does a fine job of keeping up with average bike riders. Especially if they're riding tourers etc.

However as you mentioned the 'common sense' speed, well all of the sport bike riders I've ridden with of late seem to lack this...me included, I have to admit. Sadly the Burgman doesn't live with these sorts. Not by a long shot. In fairness you have to have the throttle open nearly the entire time on the GP800 to even have a chance of keeping up. Now if they really are riding quickly...you won't even know which way they went.

As to common sense and the law...well anybody buying a 200hp motorcycle to ride on the road obviously doesn't adhere to either of these statements. As you probably know current superbikes exceed 100mph in first gear so you're normally riding illegaly a vast portion of the time.

If you own a superbike and manage to ride it at legal speeds the entire time...then why on earth did you buy it? Current superbikes really are ludicrously fast and beg the question; why is it legal to sell them?

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written by marcel , August 23, 2008

@Simon Evans: i couldn't agree more. The Gp800 is enough scooter to compete with the real ones. It's for sure no scooter i'm waiting for. Gilera: spend your money making better scooters, not scooters that can compete with superbikes. It's just a waiste of time, energy and money.

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written by Simon Evans , August 22, 2008

Ah, I see. It is exactly as I predicted in your solus review of the GP800. It's nowhere near a good enough scooter, loaded down by the compromises needed to house that motor. And despite that motor it's nowhere near fast enough or competent handling enough to be a real challenge to a sports bike. And despite the extra comfort over a ZX10 (which is kinda like comparing the pleasantness of electrocution over decapitation) it aint' no tourer! Tank range too small, weather protection too light, no shaft or maintenance-free final drive, lack of inherent storage space, (did you find the glovebox? What glovebox?), massively increased running costs compared to other scooters. All so it can be `fast away from the lights..?`

As for the incipient arrival of 190hp, 170 kilos superbikescooters, understand the limitations of CVT: It just ain't gonna happen. The GP800 has a chain because they couldn't package the drivetrain efficiently enough to even accommodate the belt that you find on the sister Mana, there is simply no way to make a CVT work on anything more powerful than about 75-85bhp. The wart on the side of the Manas head shows us that!

Or ask Honda. Why do you think they've gone to the expense of developing HFT for the next generation of Wings?. Bulk and weight is always the enemy of scooter-dom.

Rather than 170 kilos and 190 brake, lets have 170 kilos and 190 miles per gallon, adaptive suspension that automatically adjusts itself so you dont have to, and advanced F1-style aerodynamics that make the bicycle-derived motorcycle look the anachronistic dinosaur it really is. Telescopic forks? How quaint! The Genesis project has already confirmed what just improving the aerodynamics does to an otherwise standard Burgman 650 (100+mpg) and that's without the weight saving.

After all the articles I've read on the GP800 it simply doesn't seem to have a place. Sporty scooteristi flock to the far better handling Tmax, with substantially reduced purchase and running costs, and those can be readily tweaked to go `fast away from the lights` if desired. The Burgman 650 and 400 meet more riders needs more of the time, with few of the scooter-compromises revealed on the Gilera. I can put a small child in the trunk of the Burger. I could probably run over a small child with the GP800...

Thanks for the review. I wonder if they'll bring out a 550..?

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written by Bryan Ball , August 19, 2008

Interesting idea for an article but as I said in another comment... I just don't get the GP 800. No storage? Chain drive? Not very "scooterly". And for what it's worth... I ride mostly with Harleys and dual sport Bimmer riders and it's them who can't keep up with ME on my Burgman 650. I'm sure the GP 800 is way faster than my Burgman but it doesn't interest me too much.

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written by david webb , August 12, 2008

i think he was saying just that ,the gilera has balls big ones and will keep up with just bout anything till 230 kmh had a play on the one from triple x-moto and if i had to have another scoot the gp 800 would be it ,if you get a chance ride it but hang on it"s fast .

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written by Pete , August 09, 2008

I realize that in the vein of "interesting journalism" - or keeping one's journalistic efforts engaging to the reader, many site owners simply "say stuff" without really apologizing to the general public for over-generalized comments.

"It is however the first ‘scooter’ you can actually take out for a ride with your motorcycle friends and actually have a chance of keeping up."

You really do not actually believe that statement to be true, erm, or do you?

Either way - it sure doesn't apply to me or my many biker friends when I go out cuttin' it up with them. I have NEVER been "left behind" on my Burgman 650. Sure - out-distanced a few times, but those guys on the hyper bikes were, at that point, WAY beyond riding with any sort of regard to common sense or the law.

Just sayin'

Me.

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