Gilera Runner VXR200

Gilera Runner VXR200. Fin dal suo debutto, nell’ormai lontano 1997, Gilera Runner si è distinto per il suo carattere innovativo. La praticità dello scooter unita al piacere di guida di una vera moto ne hanno fatto un punto di riferimento nel segmento delle due ruote “urbane”. Dopo 330.000 esemplari venduti, Runner si ripresenta con una gamma rinnovata, capitanata dal potente e sportivo Gilera Runner VXR200.
Come i grandi
Gilera Runner ammicca al mondo delle moto non solo stilisticamente. A partire dal telaio a doppia culla in acciaio, con rinforzi in lamiera stampata, sinonimo di prestazioni dinamiche sconosciute ai classici scooter. In questo nuovo modello i tecnici Gilera hanno affinato ulteriormente questo schema, spostando anche il serbatoio sotto il tunnel centrale. Ne deriva un baricentro più basso ed una centralizzazione delle masse ottimale, a tutto vantaggio della guidabilità e del feeling.
Le sospensioni si avvalgono di una forcella a steli tradizionali da 35mm, mentre sul posteriore lavora un doppio ammortizzatore idraulico. I nuovi cerchi in lega dal design inedito a sei razze sono da 14” all’anteriore e 13” al posteriore, su ruote rispettivamente 120/70 e 140/70. A titolo di confronto, i cerchi della precedente versione misuravano entrambi 12 pollici, a dimostrazione di un’evoluzione ciclistica decisamente marcata.
I cavalli non mancano
Il monocilindrico Piaggio LEADER a 4 tempi da 200cc, con raffreddamento a liquido e distribuzione a 4 valvole per cilindro, eroga 19 cavalli all’albero e 17 Nm di coppia massima. Un propulsore che garantisce ottime prestazioni e, grazie alla possibilità di accedere ad autostrade e tangenziali, si candida come rimedio infallibile alle odiose code nel tragitto casa-ufficio. Tutto questo nel massimo rispetto dell’ambiente grazie all’omologazione Euro2.
La linea, per concludere, si fa notare grazie ad un frontale massiccio ed aggressivo. La presenza del telaio annulla di fatto la capacità di carico della pedana, piccolo prezzo da pagare per disporre di una ciclistica da moto “vera”. La parte posteriore risulta invece piuttosto slanciata ed esprime il dinamismo intrinseco al nuovo Runner 200, delineando una carrozzeria moderna e sportiva. Dopotutto gli scooter nascono per un pubblico giovanile, anche se questo Gilera Runner VXR200 sembra destinato a mietere parecchie vittime anche tra le file dei centauri più navigati.
The Gilera Runner was given a complete makeover in 2005 to keep it on top of the sport scooter charts. The most powerful version ever of the Runner now makes its market entry: the VXR 200.
The VXR has a 200cc four-stroke, four-valve, liquid-cooled engine with a 19 bhp output, cased in a chassis that makes the Runner the point where scooter and motorcycle meet.
The groundbreaking design of the Gilera Runner, originally launched in 1997, blends scooter-style practicality with a motorcycle-style ride. The styling and the chassis are new. With the 200cc the new Runner range now includes four different models — the 200 VXR, VX 125, PureJet 50 and SP 50 — with brilliant liquid-cooled engines, all at the top of their respective categories.
Sporty styling, three displacements and four powerful liquid-cooled engines; light, rigid cycle parts and braking power at the top of the category: the new Gilera Runner is the performance scooter.
With the launch of the 200 VXR at EICMA 2005, the Runner is now available in four different versions: Runner 200 VXR, Runner 125 VX, Runner 50 PureJet and Runner 50 SP, with avant-garde liquid-cooled engines: a 200 cc and 125 cc 4-stroke, a 50cc 2-stroke with electronic injection and a 50cc 2-stroke carburettor.
The Gilera Runner revolutionised the scooter world when it was originally launched in 1997. Large and fully faired with technical features inspired by sport bikes, the Runner has always been as simple to ride as a scooter while offering a motorcycle-style experience.
With 330,000 units sold in various two and four-stroke versions over the years, the Gilera Runner is now available in an all-new version based on the original design concept of a product for young riders who want a scooter with the performance and ride quality of a real bike.
The new Runner brings the striking original sport scooter concept up-to-date with the latest design trends.
The design of the new Gilera Runner reflects the concept of a scooter with the soul of a motorcycle. As the Gilera Runner has a “top-heavy” front and tapering rear end, the rider is seated, as on a sports bike, with full control of the vehicle. The striking front reflects the vehicle’s power; the sleek rear its dynamism.
Painted parts and technical elements alternate on the sharp contours of the Runner’s side panels.
The headlamp has the classic Runner shape, the two lamps covered by a single transparent sheet with the Gilera logo above it. The tail lamp now places the circular elements hidden on the earlier versions in plain view.
A signature feature of the Runner is its aluminium-reinforced side insert, which emphasises the vehicle rigidity and forms a fundamental part of the frame.
The new analogue-digital instrument panel is in line with the Runner’s powerful look. Backlit in red, the instrumentation includes a rev counter and LCD display with a speedometer, total and partial mileage counter, fuel gauge, cooling liquid temperature indicator and a clock. A comprehensive set of warning lights includes a fuel reserve, turn signals, high beam, engine oil level for the four strokes and fuel/oil for the two strokes and an injection check for the PureJet.
The Gilera Runner’s tall, racy panels shield innovative cycle parts that supersede sport scooter standards.
The double cradle frame in high-tensile tubular steel with pressed sheet metal reinforcements has been re-designed to obtain the highest torsion rigidity and fluid shock absorption. This allows the rider to make full use of engine power by taking advantage of its taut handling.
Frame design is a key element of the overall styling of the Gilera Runner with its deep central tunnel, a standard feature on the Runner since it was launched in 1997, which is geared to faultless performance.
With the fuel tank hidden under the central tunnel, the vehicle is more low-slung centralising the weight of the driver to ensure elastic manoeuvring and stable, pinpoint steering.
The front suspension on the two 50ccs uses a 30-mm upside-down fork, while the 200 and 125cc use a 35-mm conventional fork. The rear on the 50ccs uses a hydraulic mono-shock; the 200 and 125cc have twin hydraulic shock absorbers.
The new wheel rims made of light alloy are rigid and lightweight with a racy six-spoke design, and now measure 14” in front and 13” at the rear (an increase on 12” on the earlier versions). They hold a sport bike dimensioned 120/70 tyre in front and a sizeable 140/70 at the rear for total stability with the rider in full control at all times.
The brakes are a fundamental part of the Runner’s predilection for turbo-charged riding. Quick acceleration and reduced stopping space are easy to achieve thanks to the two disc brakes on the 50cc (220 mm front, 175mm rear) as well as the 200 and 125cc (240 mm front, 220 mm rear). All four new Runners have a twin-piston-floating calliper in front and a single-piston calliper at the rear.
The new Gilera super-sport comes in four different versions — Runner 200 VXR, Runner 125 VX, Runner 50 PureJet and Runner 50 SP — with avant-garde liquid-cooled engines.
All four units offer top performance for their respective categories to make the new Gilera very quick off the mark in pulling away from the lights.
The all-new Runner 200 VXR, equipped with a powerful, high-tech 200cc, 4-stroke, liquid-cooled engine with four-valve distribution is meant for a male clientele wanting a racy, sensation-packed ride even with a scooter. With a 19 bhp power output and torque of 17 Nm, the Runner VXR offers just that. It is environmentally friendly to use, on motorways as well as in town.
The “middle” Gilera Runner has a 125 cc, 4-stroke, 4-valve, liquid-cooled Leader engine with a 15 bhp power output. The Runner 125 can be ridden by anyone who has a car licence and offers sparkling performance especially in terms of acceleration and progression, making it perfect for the ‘stop-and go’ use typical of town traffic.
The Hi-Per2 Pro PureJet on the electronic injection version of the Runner is a performance benchmark, offering acceleration and progressive pick-up while substantially cutting fuel consumption and emissions.
The HiPer2 Pro carburettor engine makes the Runner SP a clear winner in the 50cc carburettor scooter performance sectors.
Both 50cc versions use the upside-down snakebite exhaust, which optimises power on these sparkling two-strokes and keeps them well within Euro 2 limits with its two-way catalytic converter.