Italjet’s Dragster scooter is a legend to riders of a certain age. Looking like it arrived from another planet when it dropped in the late 1990s, the spicy stripped back two-strokes were stiff as a board and scary fast when fitted with the 19bhp 180cc engine. You might have thought that the Dragster was gone forever, but think again. With 450 and 700cc versions on the horizon, these iconic scoots are back and crazier than ever.
Although technically scooters thanks to their step-through design, the performance and chassis technology are up there with some of the best sports bikes on the market. The design is, as always, radical and packed full of innovative technology. We’re not yet sure if they’ll go on sale in the UK and Ireland, but there’s a good chance they will, and we want one!
Revealed at the recent EICMA motorcycle show in Milan, the Dragster 459 is powered by a 47bhp, 449cc, parallel twin engine. Unlike more traditional scooters with their belt driven twist and go transmissions, the Italjet has what the company calls its ‘SmartShift’ transmission, which appears similar to the electronically actuated systems introduced recently by brands like BMW, KTM and Yamaha. It can be ridden fully automatic, with the onboard computer managing shifts through the six-speed gearbox, or semi-automatically with the rider making clutchless changes using the handlebar-mounted paddles.
With its steel trellis frame and Pirelli-shod 15” wheels, which sit in between the sizes usually found on scooters and motorbikes, it straddles the two genres and will almost certainly draw a crowd at any bike meet. The engine is more mid-mounted than you’d expect to find on more conventional scooters, and the motorcycle style swinging arm looks like it could have been lifted from a supersport bike.
The suspension and brakes are also all at sports bike levels, and Italjet say has some patented technology which gives the rider an option to modify the stiffness of the suspension and soften it off for city riding. It should go on sale in the spring, with a European price expected to come in at just under €10,000.
While the 459 is aimed at A2 licence holders, full licence holders can opt for the even more bonkers 700 version, which is otherwise identical but makes a whopping 69bhp and costs around €4,000 more. We reckon it’s one of the most radical powered two wheelers money can buy and likely to be a right giggle on a track day.
Also new from Italjet is the retro styled Roadster, which is based around a 394cc single-cylinder engine making 41bhp. It’s still a distinctive machine, curvy but less radical and more comfortable than the extreme Dragsters. It’s full of extravagant design elements and, where the bigger Dragsters use motorcycle front forks from Marzocchi, the Roadster utilises an unusual leading arm suspension setup. We can’t work out if it’s more radical than the sporty Dragster or not but, regardless, shrinking violets need not apply.
Learners can also ride the Dragster train, as there’s a 125cc version available too. This, and the 300cc version, uses a completely separate platform and harks back to the 1990s originals with its exposed trellis frame and single sided front suspension arrangement.
Although UK dealers are not yet in place, Italjet say their new models will be available globally, and even if your local bike shop isn’t selling them we expect them to be obtainable direct from their factory in Bologna.
