[tjacob]

Spotted in Goa, like the Aprilia SR 150, this high-capacity scooter could start a new trend in the scooter segment in India.

Powering the Aprilia SR Max 300 is a 278 cc, liquid cooled engine which is mated to a CVT and cranks out 22 HP at 7,500 rpm and 23 Nm at 6,000 rpm.

The Aprilia SR Max 300’s aerodynamic apron is quite a large sized thing which mimics the styling of their big capacity motorcycles. There’s a huge windscreen to deflect all the wind away from the rider and the 15″ front wheel wrapped around in 120/70 section rubber is nicely held together by fat 35 mm telescopic forks. Suspension at the back is courtesy of twin shocks which are adjustable for three pre-load settings and hold together a 14″ wheel which runs 140/60 tubeless rubber. Braking at both ends is via disc brakes – a 260 mm unit up front and a 240 mm disc at the back.

Source

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Interesting indeed!

There's almost no market for such a scooter in the Indian market - but we've been waiting for one since a long time. The Honda PCX rumour has been going on since eternity, and the Hero ZIR was a no show.

Perhaps Aprilia, being a niche manufacturer trying to project themselves as a sportier option to regular scooters - can give this segment a try.

[katoom]

This would be an amazing vehicle for the city commute and short rides! Happy times for Indian enthusiasts indeed. Also read about the Honda Grom being planned for launch.

[hemanth.anand]

The Maxiscooter! Kinetic blaze is the first thing that comes to my mind when I think of this word. It was ahead of it's time and not a well rounded package IMO...and so the 165cc scooter vanished.
Times surely have changed now. Market has fairly "accepted" the Burgman I would say in terms of the looks. But the engine is too small for the body IMO and can't be called a real maxiscooter. If at all Aprilia launch this SR300, it might as well help others like Suzuki and Hero to bring in Burgman 250/400 and the ZIR respectively. Inetersting...

[n.devdath]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Perhaps Aprilia, being a niche manufacturer trying to project themselves as a sportier option to regular scooters - can give this segment a try.

Aprilia is the only flamboyant scooter OEM in India today and had the guts to launch the SR 150 which was a combination of show and go while everyone else is still bottling their 125cc engines into different names and claddings and selling them.

Yes, the market will be extremely limited but with the kind of engineering that the SR Max comes with, it will not go the Blaze way for sure.

Fingers Crossed...!!!

[prakash_ajp]

Very unlikely that this will see the light. My wife rides an SR150 and I occasionally takes it out for buying vegetables and so far I have got only two questions (apart from the Maker's name) from the curious onlookers: (1) is it an electric vehicle (2) and of course, "kitna deti hai" :banghead:

[sunilch]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

There's almost no market for such a scooter in the Indian market - but we've been waiting for one since a long time.

Originally Posted by n.devdath

Aprilia is the only flamboyant scooter OEM in India today.........Yes, the market will be extremely limited but with the kind of engineering that the SR Max comes with, it will not go the Blaze way for sure.

Originally Posted by prakash_ajp

Very unlikely that this will see the light.

IF there is a market for the 'Honda Goldwing' then for sure there is a market for this. Scooters are well accepted now a days by all age groups and this will see acceptance as a 2nd or 3rd scooter in the house (beyond the first 'utility only' Activa/Jupiter/etc.). In fact I have always dreamed of owning one such given my love for the scooters. I have covered 300Km+ rides on the Activa in a day at times. This does not mean I don't love bikes. I have had CBR250 and R15 in my parking space

Such a scooter will be a combination of both, sporty nature of the bikes and the comfort of the good old scooter. To cover a distance of about 100Kms at sane speeds, this will be a good option.

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

Times surely have changed now. Market has fairly "accepted" the Burgman I would say in terms of the looks....If at all Aprilia launch this SR300, it might as well help others like Suzuki and Hero to bring in Burgman 250/400 and the ZIR respectively. Inetersting...

Yes. Decent sales numbers will be encouraging for other companies and beneficial for us consumers in the long run. I wish this is indeed launched and sells in fair numbers.

Now here is the issue - our tax structure. I am 100% sure that all current scooter makers (OEM) have explored the option of making a high CC scooter. But our tax structure is such that it will make the OTR very high. Hence they shy away from making those huge investments as the sales will not be comparable to the current numbers for the <110cc category. And consumers will directly start comparing these high CC scooters will the motorcycles available in the same price band.

Aprilia already has such a product in other markets and hence can launch it will lesser investments and as a one-off luxury/premium offering. Honda always plays conservatively when launching any product and hence will wait for others to first discover the market. Yamaha too kind of follows Honda in this regard.

If this SR Max 300 is a CBU, expect the price to go upto 2L OTR. Even otherwise I doubt the price will be lower than 1.25L in case they bring it as a CKD. Hence the price will limit the sales numbers.

[rohitoasis]

Another faint glimmer of hope for guys who love the practicality and comfort of scooters and have had not much as performance in any of the scooters till date.

I have prayed for a long while now and have also laid out my wishful thinking in this forum previously for Maxi Scooters. Though Suzuki Burgman from its earliest iteration to the current 650 have always looked a bit Wonky (Personal view, please do not take it to heart anyone), I have lusted over the sharp features of Yamaha T Max for a while and now the X Max, and even the BMW C series Maxi Scooters.

I know they are still far off from appearance in Indian market. I can still continue dreaming riding one of those.

[ACM]

I would be a customer for one of these.

Power + Big and Wide Wheels + AUTOMATIC GEAR + Step up type seat with rider getting a bit of back support + Windscreen + Telescopic front + Front Disk and ABS + possibly Combi Brakes.

Ticks all the right boxes for me to have some fun safely. Only ground clearance will be poor I guess.

[Sutripta]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

There's almost no market for such a scooter in the Indian marke

Would be interested. (Not that I'd necessarily buy it.) Others like me too, I would guess.

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

The Maxiscooter! Kinetic blaze is the first thing that comes to my mind when I think of this word. It was ahead of it's time and not a well rounded package IMO...and so the 165cc scooter vanished.

The Blaze failed for a lot of reasons. But that failure has I think acted as a cautionary tale to prevent others from launching a 'big scooter' in India.

Regards
Sutripta

[hillram]

I test drove a GTS 300 for Piaggio India during a Marketing event, in June 2014. Vespa was barely just re-relaunched in May 2012.


Piaggio was aiming to price 3.5 lacs ex-showroom for 300cc version, no doubt it never surfaced.
But Aprilia magic is different, especially when Tuono 150 is also slated to get launched this year. Piaggio is a bolder company now in India, and I am happy about it.

[Rshrey22]

They will have to price it below 2 lacs, if they at least want to grab some enthusiasts' attention, considering the fact that many bikes with similar power figures are available below 1.5 lacs.

[hiren.mistry]

Would love to have a maxi scooter, I can already picture myself commuting to work on this thing. It would just be perfect. I've seen a lot of big scooters here in London and I can tell you they are supremely comfortable.
Now only for Aprilia to make it happen within the 2L price band.

[MaheshY1]

For 1.5 lakh, I think people would buy it. There are a lot of big guys I know who want a scooter but hate that the good options just don't exist. The SR150 is powerful but skinny. The SXL/VXL is too cute for their taste. And not all that big. To put it plainly, they want a Bullet equivalent of scooters. Big and grand with an unecessary amount of displacement that they can still use for commuting and grocery runs.

The SR 300 is great for them. They have the money. Even 2 lakh would not turn them off. I'm not a scooter guy though. I just can't ride without locking my knees into the tank.

[shankarbn]

I would buy it if it was under 1.5L. It makes perfect sense to have a maxi scooter for the city with tons of storage, especially at that budget alongside a fun weekend motorcycle.