Suzuki Launches The Access Scooter

In the pouring rain of GP…

We woke up to miserable skies and wet roads which prompted a call to Suzuki SA to find out whether the press launch of their new 125 scooters was still on… You guys are tough – come and ride was the reply.

Fortunately, Peter Schleuter was out from Germany – we figured – “Hey, people from Europe are accustomed to riding in the rain”, so we gave him the job…

By Glenn Foley and Donovan Fourie

We duly signed in at the spectacular (No Seriously) new premises where Suzuki SA lives.

Suzuki makes things fun. We were asked to find the fuel caps – and the car journo’s found it first, Sigh… Suzuki kinda hid it away out back, under a cover… very cool for sure.

Then the riders were instructed to gear up and hit the road. Man it was wet – we followed in a Suzuki Fronx car – and even in there we were quite chilly. So we had to try out the cars heater.

It was interesting to be not on the bike for a change. Chasing the scoots was a bit like being in a racing car. Bikes are naturally more nippy and quicker – usually without the rider even noticing – and we were surprised to see how much Clint, our driver had to floor it to try and keep up.

It is a simple fact that under normal urban driving conditions, there is no way that a car can outrun or outmaneuver a small motorcycle. Time is money, scooters do make a lot of sense.

Our destination was Rosebank, where Suzuki had arranged some hot coffee and a visit to the Museum of Illusions. Guys, pack your kids and take them to see it – brilliant spot for sure!

After a fantastic tour of the Museum, the round trip wound its way back to the Suzuki headquarters for more coffee and chinwags and then a tour of Suzuki’s new facilities.

Those are truly pretty darn amazing, stacked to the rafters with both automotive and motorcycle parts. We often forget what a giant Suzuki is, particularly in the car game. They sell more passenger vehicles than – well just about anyone really and their massive warehouse is packed to the rafters with parts.

But we digress, this feature is actually about the new Access scoots. And scooters in general…

A history lesson:

The scooter shape and concept wasn’t invented by Vespa, but it certainly was popularised by them. Funnily enough, the idea for the step-through Vespa was inspired (at least in part) by a company in Nebraska. Yes – the cool, classy Italian Vespa concept comes from the polar opposite world of Nebraska!

The company was called Cushman, which designed a two-wheeled fold-out vehicle that could be attached to a parachute and pushed out of planes. The US paratroopers serving in Italy during WW2 would then locate the little Cushman, fold it open and have a convenient little run-around for the war-scarred roads of Italy.

When peace broke out, war-torn Italy was in need of cheap, convenient transport, and Vespa’s designers took notice of all the little Cushmans still lying around and said “eureka!”

The little Suzuki Access is not a Vespa, but it can trace its design lineage back to the original Vespas and, implicitly, the Nebraskan Cushman.

What made the step-through design so appealing was Italian vanity that meant commuters didn’t want their shoes, trousers and dresses to be spoiled by whatever the road and weather might throw at them. The “shield” of the step-through design offered the perfect solution. Plus, ladies could climb aboard in their dresses with their modesty still intact.

And certainly this advantage was appreciated on this Wednesday in modern Jo’burg as the heavens spat furiously on our efforts. It was wet and it was chucking filly!

However, our trousers and shoes remained relatively dry.

As far as scooters go, these are very much on the money – the 125cc motor isn’t the fastest, but that is not the intention of a zoot-scoot. Riding like maniacs, we averaged 40 km/L. The claims say that riding more like human beings will reward you with a consumption of 52 km/L.

It’s light, it’s spacey and the classical looks are charming. There’s your standard-issue underseat boot, plus two cubbyholes, and two shopping bag hooks in the front, so there’s enough boot space to carry a large grocery shop.

On the larney model, you get a TFT dash as opposed to the LCD or analogue dash that is customary on small scooters, and this might seem like unnecessary excess for vehicles with goals of economy, but it is soul-warming to look down and gaze upon pretty lights and a funky design. However, it does serve an economy goal by means of an animated ring on the screen that glows green when the bike is merely sniffing petrol fumes and turns blue when the sniff starts turning into a glug.

It’s small, it’s light, it looks funky and it serves the purpose Vespa intended when they copied Nebraska, except that the Access comes at a Japanese price.