As civilised as you may think our great country is, we are in fact well behind China, Asia, Europe and Great Britain when it comes to transportation through our traffic congested cities. Let’s look at Greater London for example which has a population of 8million odd ensconced in an area of 1,700 square kilometers. By comparison, Sydney Metropolitan has a population of approximately 3million inside an area of 10,000 square kilometers, and you thought Sydney was a constipated road network, imagine those poor Londoners.

How do all the big cities cope with the movement of massive populations? One of the answers is the humble Scooter.

Scooters haven’t made a huge impact in this country for some reason. Yes you see them around sure, but not in the huge numbers of the aforementioned continents, and that’s a shame. A scooter has automatic gear change, uses little resources, is extremely light, has good weather protection, maneuverability, and is very easy to park.

Enter the Derby Atlantis 100 & the Peugeot Speedfight 100, 2 scooters of very similar style, power, size and handling.

On our way to the photo shoot Graeme Morris and myself had a great deal of fun trying to outrun each other and the surrounding cars. I might add that regardless which scooter I was on, the ex 600cc Super Sport Champ was able to keep in front, perhaps it was due to my higher air/friction coefficient! Both are very quick through traffic.

The Peugeot comes equipped with disk brakes front and rear, leading link front steering (reminiscent of the rare Yammy GTS1000), engine immobiliser and a built in locking cable, so your idiot mates can’t steal it and hoist it up the nearest flagpole.

The Derby has front disk rear drum brakes, standard twin fork front end, and a front compartment with a mobile phone recharger.

In Britain and Europe scooters have a cult following where owners bolt every conceivable accessory possible to the little buggars, in order to make theirs the ultimate in mobile art. The 1989 music video, Good Thing, by The Fine Young Cannibals, showed what can be done with a small capacity runabout, too much time and money. They have scooter Grand Prix racing, scooter auto shows and scooter rallies, somebody stop me before I pass out.

Both the tested scooters are pretty much on an equal footing for price (approx. $5100 on road) carrying capacity, top speed, extraordinary fuel economy, ease of riding, very comfortable seating, electric & kick starters, steering lock and superb finish. There is plenty of room under the seat for a full face helmet or loaded Woolies bag and an inordinate number of accessories available for either scooter from windscreens to top boxes, so that it can be personalised to suit just you. They also have very ordinary horn volume, sound like you’re being chased by a brush cutter, can just pull the skin from your rice custard and are very quick to stop and turn. The Derby has the edge for outright acceleration, and both are pretty much flat chat at 95kph.

Which scooter is best? They’re both great, you need to go for a test ride and decide for yourself. You will however require at least a motorcycle learners permit, something I believe the RTA needs to change so they can be ridden on your car license.

Scooters are the true two wheeled Street Fighters.

Peugeot supplied by Holeshot Motorcycles 49550047

Derby supplied by Graeme Morris Motorcycles 49570674.

Photography by Andy Larkman.

May your lid never skid.