Scooter on steroids

[spinnanz]

Is it a bike or is it a scooter? Just bought this to replace my Suzuki FX125 scooter (for sale, anyone?). I saw this on TM and had to have it! It's a 2005 Gilera DNA180 before anyone asks!

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[Sable]

It's a motorcycle with a CVT transmission. Scooter vs motorcycle is defined mainly by where your feet go.

[spinnanz]

so whats a honda c50 or suzuki fx125 then?

[Sable]

They are underbones which are somewhere in between the two. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underbone

[Edbear]

They got rave reviews in overseas tests. Is it a hoot to ride?

[EJK]

Nice pair of wheels you got there :-)

[spinnanz]

They got rave reviews in overseas tests. Is it a hoot to ride?

I actually bought the DNA180 to replace my Suzuki FX125 which was stolen, I got it back though, a month after I bought the DNA!

It's quite good to ride, nice and smooth etc and handles better than a traditional scooter, but not as good as a real bike. Also same as a real bike, a lot of weight is on your wrists so commuting slowly through town may not be too much fun.

Acceleration for a twist and go is good, far quicker of the mark than my twist and go Suzuki SJ125 and my workmates Suzuki AN125. Topped out I managed to hit 118kph@10,000rpm. I notice that the current model twist and go Gileara, Vespa and Piaggio use the same engines.

I think performance-wise it's close to the FX125 which is manual and 5 speed. Going for a ride next weekend with a mate with both the FX and the DNA so will get a good comparison then.

pros and cons so far,

The good

looks good
helmet storage in fake petrol tank
good brakes
easy to ride
good lights
lots of gauges, water temp/speed/rpm

The bad

engine is only single cam, sounds like a lawn mower
looks like it should go faster than it does
speed on the digital speedo hard to read
no kick start (elec only on the 4 stroke versions)
cant open helmet storage if the steering is locked (turned)

Basically I think its an awsome looking little twist and go run about, which is just as practical and a normal scooter with its storage in the fake fuel tank. One thing I am a little let down on is fuel consumption, it uses 4L per 100km on a mix of 1/3 open road, and 2/3 city riding, cant cpmplain though, my car uses 14.5L for the same distance :)

[speedpro]

It's a 4-stroke? That sucks. Though . . . the motor is probably the same in a whole pile of other scooters and there'll be a lot of good stuff for them available cheap from Taiwan.

I hate digital speedos. Analogue is far easier to read at a glance.

I do like the look of them though.

[spinnanz]

It's a 4-stroke? That sucks. Though . . . the motor is probably the same in a whole pile of other scooters and there'll be a lot of good stuff for them available cheap from Taiwan.

I hate digital speedos. Analogue is far easier to read at a glance.

I do like the look of them though.

Yeah 4 stroke on the 125 and 180cc DNA's. The 50cc version is 2 stroke and evidently good for 100kph. From what I can see, a 2 stoke 180cc engine from a Gilera Runner SP bolts in, they are good for 140kph and 0-100 in around 6 seconds.

What I'd really like, more than the DNA is an RG150 engine for my FX125, those engines are good for 180kph in the heavier RG150 frame!

[Macontour]

Really nice looking bike!! Only the small tires make it look small.

[Tigadee]

Very nice looking 'bike'!

[KiwiDNA]

I have one of these great bikes - owned for about 12 months and I've put 12000km's on it.

So far I've replaced the fork seals with enduro seals for a Marzocchi 888 MTB fork (the same 35mm stanctions) and the springs from a set of rock shox boxxers. Twin Air air filter and upped the jet one size. Great bike to ride - used to commute to work (50km per day). I can get 131 km/h on the motorway and average 3.6l per 100km's.

Brett

[spinnanz]

I have one of these great bikes - owned for about 12 months and I've put 12000km's on it.

So far I've replaced the fork seals with enduro seals for a Marzocchi 888 MTB fork (the same 35mm stanctions) and the springs from a set of rock shox boxxers. Twin Air air filter and upped the jet one size. Great bike to ride - used to commute to work (50km per day). I can get 131 km/h on the motorway and average 3.6l per 100km's.

Brett

hey, cheers for the info, I noticed when I got mine thet the fork seals would need doing in the near future. You have a place to contact for them?

Im hoping mines a little more reliable now, mine had a few probs when I got it, related to bad elec contacts on the coil (the rain didnt help there), a dodgle vacuum fuel tap and a few perished vacuum lines etc. I think the max i get is 120kph so its prob due a new drive belt too, just coming up 12,000km on the clock now

[KiwiDNA]

http://dougal.co.nz/shockcraft.co.nz/index.html for the fork seals - use 35mm ones for the 888 fork.

I also changed the fork oil to 7.5 wt instead of 10 to speed it up and reduce the ramping.

Another thing is I readjusted the valve clearance when I first got it as they were way out - this made a huge difference to power