With the introduction of the Learner Approved Motorcycles Scheme (LAMS) in 2012, new riders have far more choice in bikes than ever before. But has that extra variety and choice come at the cost of incredibly fun and thrifty, smaller capacity bikes?
I’m not sure about the statistics, but in my own anecdotal view, it has. While I’ve noticed more people in my social circle taking up riding, not one has started with a sub 250cc motorcycle, even when their commuting needs don’t require the power and torque of a mid-sized bike. As a result, I’ve come to the conclusion that small capacity commuters are seriously underrated in terms of fun and ability.
Jumping on the Aprilia ETX-150 for the first time I, like many, made a judgement about how the little Aprilia would ride based solely on the bike’s capacity. That 150 printed on the side cowling, in my mind, meant ‘no fun, gutless, and boring’. How wrong I was…
The first thing you notice with the ETX-150 is not the size of the engine but the enduro styling of the bike. The duckbill front mud-guard is mounted high like Aprilia’s enduro bikes, while the 17 inch spoked wheels are wrapped in knobbly tyres. Despite looking rather out of place on what is essentially a commuter bike, the knobblies actually hold grip surprisingly well, and in fact worked even better on wet surfaces after some rare summer rainfall.
Matching the enduro theme is the brush guards on the handlebars and a sit up and beg riding position. You can even stand up on the pegs and control the bike as if it were a full off-roader without any trouble, though personally I kept myself firmly planted on the plush seat.
Unlike its enduro cousins, the seat of the ETX-150 has a notable variation in height between the rider and the pillion. While this adds to comfort on 95% of riding conditions I did find after a longer duration in the saddle that I wanted to scootch myself back a bit which was made tricky by the seat’s ergonomics. For shorter periods, such as the designed commuting, the seat wouldn’t be an issue and I only noticed it after a longer-than-usual commute down Auckland’s Southern Motorway in the rain.
Naturally, for such an affordable bike, tipping the teller’s scales at only $2990, the suspension on the ETX-150 isn’t state of the art. It is, however, more than up for the task of damping the lightweight little Aprilia in any situation you can throw it at. With upside down (USD) 35mm forks up front and twin, preload adjustable shocks at the back you have more than enough adjustability at hand if you wanted to carry a pillion down the road or strap your weekly shop to the pillion seat.
While the ETX-150 is no track demon or off-road basher, it can happily reach and maintain the open road limit thanks in part to the gear ratios of its 5-speed gearbox. Even when approaching hills on the highway I very rarely had to click down a cog to maintain a howling 100km/h from the little single cylinder, a feat I found incredibly surprising considering some 250cc bikes struggle with hills.
Matching the enduro styling is an enduro sized fuel tank, with a healthy capacity of 18 litres which should result in more than enough range in nearly all circumstances.
Braking is handled by a beautifully modulated 260mm front disk with two piston caliper up front and a surprisingly effective drum brake on the rear wheel. While out riding I found myself tending towards the rear drum brake, not because the front brake wasn’t up to the task, which it more than it for the light weight of the ETX, but more because using the drum with its incredibly easy to modulate action felt highly rewarding as well as being very effective.
Aprilia’s ETX-150 is more than just a commuter, it’s a small easy to ride bike with one of the cheapest dollar-to-grin ratios out there. That’s the thing with the small capacity bikes we seem to have lost interest in with the introduction of LAMS. We’ve lost the fun-factor of ripping about at 9/10ths of a bike’s ability and the surge of adrenalin that comes with it. Hopefully these fun little machines will have a resurgence when the learner market catches on.
FAST FACTS:
ENGINE: 149cc single cylinder OHC
FUEL CAPACITY: 18-litres
PRICE: $2,990 +orc
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