The Italjet Dragster is the Craziest Scooter Ever!

Here in India scooters are an affordable, convenient, comfortable and economical way of getting people around. Most scooters that are mass produced and sold in large numbers here are positioned in the 100 to 125CC engine size bracket and priced around or less than 1 lakh rupees. There are a few niche products which are exceptions of course. A few cases in point are the BMW C400GT and the Vespa 946 Emporio Armani Edition. You can watch the walkaround video of the C400GT on my bike review channel Ignite Motorrad by clicking here

 

These niche products are made available in scarce quantities in India due to the lack of a market for a luxurious and expensive low capacity scooter here since for the same amount of money you can get a much more capable motorcycle which is a significantly better option for most people. However when you take a peak outside our domestic markets and check out what the Italians’ definition of an iconic scooter is, you’re going to be in for quite a surprise.

 

This absolutely insane looking vehicle here is the Italjet Dragster. Taken aback? You should be. In fact it takes a moment or two for the mind to process that this is indeed a scooter at all, it looks more like something from a Ghost Rider movie if Nicholas Cage decided to suddenly ditch his flaming chopper. This thing is all about the design, every single component on the Dragster is intricately crafted, beautifully designed and outrageous looking in its own right. The ultra-aggressive Panigale style fascia paired with the horizontal slits going through the middle of the front paired with a near skeletal handlebar and razor sharp rims start off the design in full speed but things get even crazier as you move further back. The exposed trellis frame, the thoughtfully placed fuel filler cap and beautifully sculpted two part seat turn impressive functionality into gorgeous forms and are absolutely staggering to behold. Even all the engine components are placed in a visually appealing way and are colour coordinated with the body colour scheme of the scooter. The tail section is very short and houses the amazing LED tail light unit which is said to be inspired by superbikes. This short seat lends the swingarm a longer look which fits well into the whole Dragster persona of the vehicle. This is a scooter like none other and it’s absolutely mental in every sense of the word.

 

There’s two engine options available for the Dragster; 125CC and 200CC. the 125 makes 14.9BHP and 12.5NM whereas the more powerful 200 churns out 19.8BHP and 17NM. The first party accessories on offer are unlike any accessories you’ve seen available for a scooter. When you buy a scooter, what sort of accessories do you expect to be on offer? Crash rails? A seat cover? Bluetooth connectivity maybe? Not here. The Dragster laughs in the face of convention and here you can opt for an Akrapovic slip on exhaust muffler (1090 Euros) or a racing muffler (730 Euros), a carbon fibre front and back mudguard (180 and 195 Euros) and even a Brembo racing brake kit (1090 Euros) among many others.

 

As standard, the Italjet Dragster comes equipped with a chrome molybdenum trellis frame, a single hydraulic shock absorber, independent steering system as well as full LED headlamps. The black and pale gold spec of the Dragster shown at the start of the article is the Dragster 200 Limited Edition which is restricted to only 499 production units all of which are already sold out. The 200 Limited Edition is priced at an equivalent of Rs. 8.29 lakhs and the standard unlimited production series versions are slightly less expensive than that.

 

The Italjet Dragster then is not practical, it’s not a crazy performer, it doesn’t make much sense and it’s certainly not cheap by any standards. Its appeal lies in the absolutely terrific and outrageous styling it comes with, the attention to detail given to each and every component and the plethora of high end racing performance accessories that you can spec it with. For India though, this scooter makes no sense at all, perhaps that’s why it’s not coming to our shores anytime soon. However the Dragster does indeed show us what can be achieved when you take even a basic and humble form factor like a scooter and push its design to the extreme.