We all saw the prototype of this beauty at last year’s EICMA, the ‘Dragster 500GP’ has now become the Dragster 559 Twin and it looks mental!
Is it a scooter, a superbike or a cross between the two? Well, it has scooter-sized wheels and a manual six-speed motorcycle engine – so a fusion of the two is probably as close to sticking this in a pigeonhole as you are ever like to get.
Its designer, Massimo Tartarini gave us an exclusive video introduction during its first showing at EICMA. His passion for two wheels as a rider, designer and manufacturer are abundantly clear. The glint in his eyes tells a story in itself, he’s a man who defies the odds to make things happen – in his own inimitable way. The 559 was built to satisfy his artistic cravings, with no compromises or apologies to anybody who doesn’t like it.
Italjet don’t like to conform to stereotypes, they never have. One thing is for sure, they have certainly ripped up the rule book with this baby…
58bhp
Designed in the Italjet Design Centre in Bologna, this masterpiece boasts a liquid-cooled, (we think Moto Morini but Massimo wouldn’t confirm it) fuel-injected parallel twin-cylinder engine with 8-valve twin cam. It produces a very impressive 58.33bhp at 8,500 rpm and 55 Nm of torque at 6,500 rpm. That’s more power than a Yamaha TMAX, in a package weighing around 40kgs less. The other trick this scooter has hidden up its steel trellis frame is that this one is geared! Yes, it comes with a 6-speed manual transmission.
It’s a cross between a middleweight sports bike and a scooter. However, it looks like nothing else out there. The show model is still in the final stages of prototyping so some areas are unfinished but once it’s ready for production this should be a design classic. Whether or not it’ll fit into the scooter category or not is debatable but Massimo makes no apologies for that.
Superbike looks
The Dragster 559 has looks that can kill, an engine that will be great fun and with its dual side exit exhausts it looks pretty mean. The 559 will be available in two versions – full power (58bhp), or A2 restricted (48bhp).
Italjet Dragster’s trademark SIS Single-sided front steering arm has been replaced with a set of 48mm upside-down forks with 120mm of travel for this application and it’s probably form the best. The Twin needs to handle well to give it that motorcycle-inspired ride quality. Its rear swingarm is connected to a MotoGP-inspired height-adjustable cantilever rear shock. It looks like a pair of mismatched shocks but is a mono-shock with a height adjuster on the opposite side (similar to the old Gilera Nexus set up).
Brembo
The 559 has twin front 270mm ‘wave’ floating discs and a 230mm rear courtesy of Brembo and the scooter is fitted with 15″ Pirelli Diablo tyres. Smaller wheels than a motorcycle, yet bigger than most scooters. Options to spec it up will include Ohlins suspension and Akrapovic exhausts, amongst other goodies.
Release date?
Pricing is yet to be finalised but expect it to retail around £11,000-£13,000. That’s Yamaha TMAX money but this is a machine built to be niche, although certainly within the realms of affordability for many of us mere mortals.
Italjet are planning a late 2024 release date. They are also promising that the Dragster 559 Twin “Will be the focal point of a unique initiative on the circuit” which fits in with the company motto: “Made for the road, born on the track.”
Tuning parts
The 559 will prove itself in the Italian Malossi Dragster Championship in 2024 before arriving in dealerships. The good news about that is that Malossi will be developing a host of tuning parts to increase performance further. This is likely to be a scooter (or whatever we’re going to call it) that will see chequebook Charlie splurging plenty of cash configuring his per cent machine.
Love it or hate it?
This scooter is likely to divide opinions even more than the original (or new Dragster). The comments we’ve already received since we first showed it have polarised opinions. One thing is for sure though, people are talking about it in both scooter and motorcycle camps. All publicity is worth having.
Let us know what you think in the comments…
Nice concept. I like a maxi scooter and I like this maxi scooter.
At the time of posting, the text says this is a twin, but the spec-sheet says it is a single 460cc engine. Is there an error?
Sorry Martin, the specs were taken from the 500GP. It’s been updated now and yes it is a twin…
Myslím, že diskuze co je Dragster 550 twin za kategorii je zbytečná. Nemá to žádný specifický konstrukční prvek skútru. Je to nádherný naháč! A je víc nahatý než cokoliv jiného.
Fantastic, always fancied a Dragster but for me the performance was a bit lacking. This looks like an absolute blast and I want one!
I wonder what the price is going to be….
Ik vraag me af wat deze scooter gaat kosten….
Possibly the ugliest non scooter ever made.
As a scooter rider with a full bike licence I like it but would never purchase one. Not because of the manual transmission but because for the majority who choose scooter life they want a low maintenance utilitarian mode of transport that keeps them dry. For me that means no chain maintenance. Anyone who has rode in winter on salted roads will be familiar with rusted chains. For the life of me I don’t know why they don’t use belt drive. BMW can make belts for powerful bikes like the F800 last 24K miles which are pretty much silent and hassle free. Chains don’t belong on scooters im.
Too much going on with that machine in trying too make its mind up on what it’s wants to be.