There are a lot of 100-150cc scooters on the Malaysian market – mostly Chinese and Taiwanese but the Italians are coming in strong. There’s also a strong market for super-scooters, 400cc and bigger, weekend toys for city dwellers that cost as much as a small car – but not much in between. Which is why the PGO GMax 220 Fi stands out: here’s a solidly-built commuter with lots of four-stroke grunt. PGO scooters are built in Taiwan and have yet to have a brand guardian here in Malaysia. The GMax 220 has a single-cylinder, fan and oil-cooled engine with electronic fuel-injection that takes its performance right with the premium brands. It accelerates with authority up to about 100km/h and will cruise at that all day easily.
The styling is more European than Asian, rather fragmented in white, faux fibre and four different shades of grey but held together by crisp, sharp edges, sweeping curves and conservative colour choices. The chassis is a lot stiffer than a conventional “underbone” or J frame, giving it remarkably sporting handling considering its traditional scooter architecture, which has the engine and transmission moving with the rear wheel and carrying very high unsprung weight.
What helps is that the suspension is firm, especially at the rear, which has a bell-crank linkage to a vertical monoshock under the centre spine. The steering is accurate and the bike taut and stable through corners – and, thanks to a side stand that tucks well out of harm’s way, nothing but rubber touches down the side.
The GMax 220 has disc brakes front and rear, the front a fashionable petal disc with a dual-piston floating calliper and the rear a conventional drilled platter with a single-piston calliper – each served by braided stainless-steel hoses. The G-Max now runs an all new PGO developed 220 cc engine incorporating NASA piston technology. You will also notice from the shots that the G-Max also incorporates a centrally mounted shock within the motorcycle type chassis.
