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Scooter Review: Beeline Veloce GT

Talk about lastminute.com I’d been waiting for a few weeks to get this test in the bag. With the first batch of Beeline scooters being snapped up faster than you can say ‘sporty moped’, it caught the importers, IMP UK Ltd with their pants well and truly down. The firm also import Spanish-made Motorhispania into the UK and used to do CPI as well, but dropped the brand and now just stock CPI spares; Beeline are their latest scooter signing.

Fifties aren’t renowned for being fast and when they’re in a container on a slow boat from China they’re even slower, so it took a few weeks before we could finally get a go on one. Thankfully the delivery arrived just as we reached deadline and the scooter was promptly despatched to ‘Batley County Shoppers’, otherwise known in tuning circles as PSN Scooters, where it was quickly PDI’d and de-restricted ready for our visit.

The Veloce GT may be assembled in China but its R&D and design is European; production and quality control are overseen by the Austrians too. As a result the Beeline looks well built. The only thing that lets it down slightly is the steady four-stroke air-cooled engine, not that there’s anything wrong with it, but I simply prefer a two-stroke. The engine is a generic item, as fitted to many makes and models of scoot from China, but I’m assured the internals are of a higher quality than in many machines and potential problems are sorted out pretty quickly. For instance a dodgy batch of variator bushes were quickly diagnosed and corrected.

Thankfully de-restriction on this motor is a simple procedure, which only requires a washer to be removed from the variator and a different set of rollers slotted in – a job that PSN were just completing as I arrived. After running the scooter on their Dyno they found a heavier set of rollers worked best to give a reasonable spread of power and help acceleration. On a 50 any help with acceleration is a bonus! PSN are currently looking at a few tuning goodies though, including a 70cc big bore kit which should give an extra helping of all important power.

Looking around the scooter it’s quite a nice looking machine with a few details worth mentioning. For starters the three-spoke wheels are finished in matt black and have the ‘Viper GT’ detailing on them which is a nice touch, the tyres are of an unknown (to me at least) brand, CST, but look the part and are super sticky. You can dig a finger nail into them quite easily, they’re like toffee. Sadly, on the day I was testing the machine, the temperature was just a tad above freezing, it was blowing a gale and trying to rain so I wasn’t planning on testing their road-holding abilities to the max. The paintjob was impressive too; a racy white, blue, yellow red and black scheme which was nice and shiny and the stickers were lacquered over as well so it should last well too.

Swinging a leg over the Beeline for the first time left me feeling quite cramped; the seat felt a bit lower to the flat floorboards than on the Vespa GTS 300 I’d been riding all week, but I soon adapted and after a mile or so, felt comfortable aboard, that’s not a criticism just an observation. It’s worth noting that the seat itself isn’t overly high, but if you’re shorter than my 5ft 10in you may struggle to get both feet flat on the floor.

The de-restriction and roller mods were easy to spot once I got moving. The scooter didn’t feel half as sluggish as most four-stroke 50's, but I’d much rather know that my teenage son or daughter had at least enough power to pull the skin off a rice pudding, rather than them twisting and not going. Don’t get me wrong, the modifications aren’t going to see the scoot going much past the legal 30mph limit, but it will pull away a bit quicker from a standstill. As with any non standard 50 though, if you’re 16 years old, it is still illegal to ride one and your insurance would be invalid in the event of an accident, so don’t be sending your dad round to see us if you get done!

After a few miles aboard the brand-new zero miles Beeline Veloce GT, I was quite impressed. The front forks were well damped, giving a quality feel to the ride and everything else seemed to work well too, with the exception of the weedy rear brake – which to be fair, could just need bedding in. The scooter costs just £1199 and comes with an insurance deal, which means a 16-year-old will pay a maximum of £349 for their first year on the road – a deal not to be sniffed at. Why not treat your youngster to a brand-new scooter this Christmas? It’s much better than having to ferry them around for the next year or two, once they’ve got wheels they’ll stop hassling you every time you’re just settling down to watch your favourite programme on telly – priceless.

WORDS & PHOTOS: Iggy

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