ON THE ROX!

Yamaha makes a fun machine that finally puts the 'scoot' in 'scooter'!

- Kartik Ware

I expected a lot of things from the Yamaha Aerox. But I certainly didn't expect to watch the owners of a mint RD 350 and a Ténéré 700 simultaneously lose their heads over it. And they headed straight to a Yamaha dealership right after to book one each, too. That's a tuning-forked seal of approval right there! In fact, I haven't met anyone yet who doesn't want an Aerox for themselves. That includes yours truly, and I'm not a scooter guy, not even by a long shot. And I don't mind if the Aerox turns me into a part-time modern Mod by finding a space in my garage — because it's fun!

To be honest, I never really got the 'convenience' bit that scooters are applauded for, and I pretty much wrote down any preference for knee-knockers to either an aversion to fun and/or a predilection for laziness. Add to this the wobbly nature of small-wheeled machines, and CVTs that drain tiny fuel tanks like alcoholics at Oktoberfest, and my apathy towards scooters may make some sense. However, the Aerox showed me that all I was missing from scooters was performance and something to hold with my legs essentially, it's a scooter that's a bit more like a motorcycle. And it certainly looks the part.