Δευτέρα 16 Ιουνίου 2014

Nexus 500 - GILERA


Make Model

Gilera Nexus 500
Year 2007-
Engine Liquid cooled, four stroke, single cylinder
Capacity 460
Bore x Stroke 92 x 69 mm
Compression Ratio 10.5;1
Induction

Magneti Marelli IVAN Electronic injection
Ignition  /  Starting Electronic inductive discharge  /  electric
Max Power 40.1 hp @ 7500 rpm
Max Torque 43 Nm at 5,500 rpm
Transmission  /  Drive "Twist and Go"
Front Suspension 41mm Kayaba telehydraulic fork,
Rear Suspension

Progressive POWER DRIVE, Kayaba gas shock absorber with spring preload
Front Brakes
2x 260mm discs 2 piston calipers
Rear Brakes
Single 240mm discs 2 piston calipers
Front Tyre
120/70-15
Rear Tyre
160/60-14
 Wet-weight
 216 kg
Fuel Capacity
15 Litres
Consumption  average
17.8 km/lit
Standing ¼ Mile
15.1 sec
Top Speed
160.6 km/h
As a teenager, I had a friend with a mechanical obsession - he wanted to install a Porsche 911 engine in his 1971 Volkswagen Beetle I yanked the throttle wide and the big, single-cylinder engine did the rest.

I told him such surgery would turn the car into a death trap but Gordon grinned and kept checking the scrapyards for the Porsche unit he couldn't afford.

I just wanted a Porsche; he craved the thrill of humiliating sports cars in a vehicle that looked mundane.

The Gilera Nexus 500 Maxi scooter helps me to understand what Gordon meant. Gilera promotes this beefy 460cc urban warrior as "a scooter with the soul of a motorcycle".

My initial reaction was to dismiss it as silly. I ride sports motorcycles every day. They have fighter-jet acceleration, sumptuous steering geometry and handling that leaves me grinning from ear to ear.

Would I swop that for a twist-and-go scooter with linked brakes and a centrifugal clutch?

The first hint of an answer came when a chubby chap in a gold Jaguar tried to beat me away from the lights It's a lot quicker than people expect a scooter to be. I yanked the throttle wide and the big, single-cylinder engine did the rest. Bye, bye Jag.

He tried it again. Same result. Even the biker on a red Ducati 999S was laughing. He gave me a big thumbs-up before leaving Jag - and Gilera - in his wake.

That made the point nicely. Despite its Brembo brakes, ultra-sticky Pirelli Diablo tyres and sharp sports fairing, this entirely updated Nexus is not hugely fast.

It runs out of pull at about 160km/h on a freeway and the riding position is a little too upright for racing. But it's a lot quicker than people expect a scooter to be - which means that by car standards it's greased lightning.

There's one caveat; you have to thrash the beast. Open the throttle gently and the centrifuge hardly functions. To achieve the urgent response of which the motor is capable, twist hard and hold on.

I was sufficiently impressed to experiment with a passenger; the Nexus was untroubled. It handles well, too - tipping into corners with aplomb, even two-up, and leaping out of them with alacrity.

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