This Aprilia SR GT is the FIRST ‘Urban Adventure Scooter’ by Aprilia.
When Aprilia first showed their all new scooter, the SR GT at the 2021 EICMA show in Milan, Italy we were taken by the looks (from the press photos) of this urban commuter machine.
Aprilia marketers however say that this is their first ‘urban adventure’ scooter because of its ride height and ability to take on some rather rough terrain with ease.
The engineers designed this scooter to re-ignite the fun into everyday riding in the city, but also over long distances and ‘kampung’ roads.
Arriving in Malaysia earlier this year in May 2022, local distributor, Didi Resources priced this scooter at RM19,900 which is smidgen higher than the current crop of stylish urban scooters from Hong Leong Yamaha and Boon Siew Honda.
When the marketing team suggested a test ‘ride’ for us, we immediately agreed and here is our two cents on the scooter over 4 days of riding in the city.
Let us start with looks.
This is a good looking design and when you look closely you will notice a more ‘dual-purpose’ design language instead of a city slicker like its Japanese competitors.
The instrument panel is all digital and the large LCD display provides all vehicle data, as well as a wide range of travel information, which can be selected with the MODE button on the left-hand side.
This scooter has a wide handlebar, long-travel suspension, an imposing apron, and block pattern tyres. The ‘urban adventure scooter’ sports tri-LED headlights upfront with a smoked windscreen and a heavily flared front panel. Along with aggressive cuts and creases, the scooter gets a large transmission tunnel placed between the legs of the rider.
Then we need to look at the ride.
Fitted as standard with scooter tyres that come with a generous cross-section and an all terrain tread design, the SR GT rider can easily take on some adventure riding on any surface, from Petaling Jaya pot-holed city roads to smooth tarmac on a paid highway and if needed, some red earth commuting when visiting the fruit farms with its provided ground clearance of 175 mm which is a never-before-seen feature in this class of scooters.
This is possible as there is a Showa fork with 33 mm stanchions and 122 mm of travel in front which is about 20 percent more than that of its closest competitor, while the rear features two double-acting Showa shock absorbers with coil spring and five-position adjustable preload, and travel equating to 102 mm, which is 7 percent more than the competition.
This suspension setup allows the rider to experience better comfort. Aprilia has also fitted decent foot-pegs for better pillion comfort.
You have a good braking system from the 260 mm petal front disc. Lighter and better able to dissipate heat, this makes for better performance, while the rear features a 220 mm disc.
This SR GT measures 1,920 mm long and 765 mm wide, and has a wheelbase of 1,350 mm. The seat is set at 799 mm from the ground.
So will you buy it
From the first few hours with the SR GT we appreciated its ride height and ‘comfort’ over pot-holes and badly maintained roads. It’s easy to ‘weave’ between traffic despite its height.
Bring up to speed and you feel planted and secure with its good handling. The instrument cluster delivers as promised, but there are some reservations when the midday sun hits the screen.
Well, with the Japanese scooters costing a little less, there will be some who might not want to migrate to this Italian dual purpose scooter, but there are still enough enthusiasts ready to take a unit home and this is probably why there is currently a 3 to 4 months waiting list depending on your colour choice.
Meanwhile, there are six colour choices for the SR GT, three for the base variant (Aprilia Black, Infinity Blue and Street Grey) and three for the Sport (Street Gold, Red Raceway and Iridium Grey).
