Italjet Dragster 500GP: Distinctive scooter gets performance makeover for 2024 concept

Italjet have unveiled a new concept version of their whacky Dragster scooter with a 450cc engine fitted.

The Dragster 500GP uses the eye-catching trellis frame design cues of its 125 and 200cc predecessors with the addition of the liquid-cooled, four-stroke, single-cylinder engine giving it a boost in performance.

Aficionados will still miss the blue haze of the original Dragster’s two-stroke motor, but the 43bhp engine and six-speed gearbox (complete with motorbike-esque foot shift) should mean enough poke to take their minds off it.

Gone too is the hub-steering front end of the smaller-capacity versions, scrapped in favour of USD forks, while braking duties are taken up by twin 230mm front discs and ABS-equipped Brembo calipers.

The new engine is squeezed in under the bike’s seat, rather than on the rear wheel as you might expect for a scooter, and final drive is provided by a chain to the 160-section 15-inch rear wheel.

Everything points towards the Dragster 500GP feeling more like a motorcycle than a scooter and since it weighs just 180kg, it could be the maxi-scoot to beat in terms of handling and performance when it arrives in 2024.

Going electric

Along with the 500GP, Italjet have also whipped the covers of an electric version catchily named the #e01. The electric version couples a 12kW motor with a 4.91 kWh battery for a combined range of just over 93 miles.

More impressively, however, is the claimed charge time of just 36 minutes if a fast charger is used (with a standard charger this jumps to 5 hours 30 minutes).

There’s no price announced for the #e01 just yet but Italjet expect it to arrive in dealers in the second half of 2023.