This letter comes from the last millennium: it was written 25 years ago, in 1998, and published in the January ’99 issue. But we may have received it yesterday, since the 125 issue on the motorway is still awaiting definition. Other issues have been resolved, both at Italian and European level, this one has not. For example, mopeds are no longer necessarily single-seaters since 2006; The too stringent limitations of the A2 license have been relaxed: since 2013 it is possible to drive motorcycles up to 35 kW (47.6 HP), while before the kW was 25 (34 HP, like the super 125s of the 90s); since 2015, passengers aged 16 – no longer 18 – can be transported. Even courageous decisions, if you will, in particular that of a passenger aged 16: lawmakers usually fear openings, because they give those who are against the opportunity to identify an easy culprit in accidents. It’s much easier to thunder against those who have allowed sixteen-year-olds to go in two, rather than wondering about the non-existent road safety education imparted in Italy, for example! But on the 125 on the motorway – a theme dear to the industry, which is forced to produce 150 cc only for Italy – there never seems to be room for openings. The main objection is that scooters with 10-11 HP are too underpowered to live with the heavy and fast highway traffic. However, the 150-200 cc can do it, which often have very little more horsepower (if not less, as in the case of the SYM Symphony), as you can see from the table below:
Honda SH125 12,5 CVHonda SH150 16,2 CV Kymco Agility 125 10,6 CVKymco Agility 200 11,6 CVPeugeot Tweet 125 11,5 CVPeugeot Tweet 200 12,2 CVPiaggio Liberty 125 10,9 CVPiaggio Liberty 150 13,1 CVSYM Symphony ST 125 SYM Symphony ST 200 12,4 CV
In fact, three of the five best-selling 150-200s are less powerful than the quintessential 125, the Honda SH. But they can “run around” on the motorway, while the SH, or the powerful 15 bhp Piaggio Medley, can’t even get close. Obviously, a discriminating factor must be chosen, also because today it is not possible to think only in terms of engine capacity: as is done with electrics? Which among other things are often approved as equivalent to 125, but they barely reach 70 km/h. It would be enough to request the 90 km/h. Who does not reach them off – rightly – the highway.
