Piaggio testing 850cc scooter with radical new electronic gearbox

Cyberscooter’s scoop image of the Nexus 850 shows a scooter with quite crude plastic fairing designed to disguise what the machine is, though it was apparently quite easy to “recognize the style of the Gilera Nexus 500.”

The motor is in fact from a concept bike developed by Piaggio R&D and shown at the 2003 EICMA Show in Milan. The Gilera Ferro concept bike is an advanced example of Piaggio Group R&D activity and married the Italian V-twin concept (as epitomised and made famous by Ducati, but more recently by Aprilia), with an electronic gearbox.

The Gilera Ferro concept bike was accordingly a pared-down, naked design equipped with an 850cc, 90° V-twin engine (low vibration, limited width, smooth power output and intoxicating exhaust note) PLUS an electronic power-assisted transmission.

The Gilera factory describes the electronic transmission thus: “The sophisticated electronically managed gearbox shifts gears automatically and has a manual pushbutton option. This system combines faster, smoother gearshifts and an automatic clutch, as well as total safety thanks to electronic engine braking control.”

“Cornering is very quick and acceleration extremely smooth; performance is exciting and power delivery fuller and more fluid, without uneven gear speed shifts.”

“Besides, the rider is free to vary several parameters, including pre-determined speed ranges (simulating a manual gear change) and therefore also engine braking effectiveness. Or he can switch to full CVT and concentrate on enjoying the ride with the maximum power available at perennially optimal rpm.”

With its strikingly modern design and extraordinary technical set-up, the Gilera Ferro, an exercise in Italian style, is a prototype on which Gilera's engineers are carrying out some very specific testing. What they're aiming at is the kind of revolution that the motorcycle world hasn't seen since the gear speed selector moved from the fuel tank to the pedal.

So now it seems that the Gilera marque is intent on offering the revolutionary gearbox in a softer “scooter” version first – softer in some ways but with 62.5kW of power at 8,000 rpm and 81.3Nm of torque at 6,500 rpm, it will yield a scooter the likes of which we have never seen before.

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