Review: Aprilia SR150 Is a Nimble Non-Conformist Two-Wheeler

The company’s high-powered non-geared two wheeler was introduced in India earlier this year.

Aprilia SR150 two-wheeler. (Photo Courtesy: Motorscribes)

Aprilia SR150 is the entry-point into the Italian bike brigade – or at least Piaggio hopes it will be – for a whole generation that will graduate up to bigger motorcycles eventually. Aprilia aims to chuck convention out the window in one of the biggest segments in the country.

Unlike its Vespa cousins, the SR150 isn’t about retro styling – it’s all about performance. Every aspect of the SR150 screams this ‘P’ word – right from the way it looks to the way it moves.

Design

Aprilia has kept things simple – you either get to buy a black one, or a white one with those slick grey and red decals.

The styling is sharp and angled, the mechanical bits are decently chunky and with those fat, 14-inch five-spoke alloys shod with soft, racy-looking 120/70 rubber, this is probably the most attractive, young scooter out there.

Aprilia SR150’s got the Italian touch. (Photo Courtesy: Motorscribes)

Then there’s the signature Aprilia Italian colours motif on the instrument cluster shroud with the dual headlamp unit lower down on the front, the dual-tone seat, minimalist stop light at the rear with a split grab rail and of course, that oh-so-sweet upswept exhaust.

Power

That brings us to the engine – essentially the same 150cc single-cylinder unit from the Vespa VXL150 that makes 11.5 PS and 11.4 Nm. Despite the all-plastic body, the SR150 actually weighs 2kg heavier than its retro cousin but it does an exceptional job of masking it – both at a standstill as well as when on the move.

Aprilia SR150 is a two-wheeler with 150-cc engine. (Photo Courtesy: Motorscribes)

Ride the Vespa and the Aprilia back-to-back and there’s no doubt that the engine has been tweaked for better performance – it accelerates extremely quick off the line and it gets even better as the speedometer goes northward of 50km/h.

Drive

The Aprilia SR150 isn’t about practicality in the Indian sense of scooter norms – no, you cannot fit an LPG cylinder on the floor board and thank God for that! In fact, there’s just enough space there for a size 10 shoe.

The handlebar seems a little lower down than regular scooters, thanks to the seat height (anywhere under 5’4″ and you’d be tip-toeing everywhere).

Rugged tyres on the Aprilia SR150. (Photo Courtesy: Motorscribes)

This does tend to make the rider sit in a bit of a crouch, and further back in the seat, which according to me is a great thing for two reasons – first, the pseudo superbike feel and second, the control it offers when riding hard.

What I like…

1. The SR150 is superb fun to ride – watch motorcyclists struggle to go up the gears as you whir away with gearless acceleration and 150cc power. Handling is on an even higher level!
2. This one’s got quite some road presence! Everyone turns around to take a look.
3. The headlights are probably some of the best I’ve seen on any two-wheeler – separate 35/35W bulbs for the low and high beams powered by DC supply provide a strong, stable beam even with the engine turned off.
4. Underseat storage holds a proper full-face helmet and even has a USB charging port for your smartphone – make sure that the phone is in a case because it will bounce around in there.

What I didn’t like…

1. Those meters don’t belong on a design this good. Firstly, they’re analog and then they’ve got this reddish-orange illumination thing going on. While on a scooter that was designed to look retro, those meters may fit in fine, but on something as edgy and racy as the SR150, they simply look old.
2. The 6.5-litre fuel tank for a 150cc machine that just begs you to ride it hard is sacrilege. Even the more ‘calmer’ 125cc Vespas get 8 litre tanks. There may not be enough space for a bigger tank on the SR150, but the tiny capacity just means many more stops at the gas station. I’d have just loved to have more range.
3. The key slot (ignition switch) is not only a tad low, but also angled downward, which means it isn’t all that easy to locate without actually bending down to see it.

Verdict

All of that pretty much sums up the Aprilia SR150 and there can only be one conclusion – no point being stuck with any other regular scooter if you’re the sporty type. Aprilia SR150 just made my list of ‘garage essentials when I have the money to afford them’.

Digital instrument panel on the Aprilia SR150. (Photo Courtesy: Motorscribes)

Oh, and at an ex-showroom price in Delhi of just over Rs 67,000, it’s no wonder that there are so many of these out there already.

Considering that Aprilia’s pricing strategy makes the SR150 cheaper than the likes of the Honda Unicorn 160, I think I’d rather go get myself enrolled in the Italian club.

(Muntaser Mirkar is one of India’s renowned automotive journalists and the Co-Founder of MotorScribes. He can be reached on Twitter: @BullSpeech)