Dirt Cheap Morbidelli Scooter Looks Like a Cross Between a Vespa and Lambretta

It’s that classic debate of famed Italian scooters: do you go Vespa, or Lambretta? Well, it turns out there’s now a third option which appears to stylistically take inspiration from both. It’s Morbidelli SC125RE, which sounds like it’s also Italian, except it sort of isn’t.

Morbidelli was indeed originally an Italian company, founded by Giancarlo Morbidelli. The company has a rich racing history, and some truly bonkers moments, like a Pininfarina-designed, V8-powered motorcycle that emerged in 1994. At the time of his death in 2020, Giancarlo was working on a V12-powered bike.

These days, Keeway, a subsidiary of QJ Motor, owns the rights to the brand, and the SC125RE is one of the fruits of that purchase.

Keeway is clearly leaning into the brand’s Italian heritage, with a press pack and promo video shot in a pretty-looking Italian coastal town to go with those Vespa/Lambretta-echoing looks.

From a technical standpoint, the SC125RE offers no surprises. It’s powered by a liquid-cooled 125cc single-cylinder engine producing 11bhp at 7,500rpm and 8lb ft off torque at 5,500rpm, and features 12-inch wheels at both ends of the scoot wrapped in CST tyres. The dry weight is 139kg.

You get disc brakes front and rear, with the former backed up by ABS. In terms of the practical stuff, there’s a decent amount of under-seat storage, keyless ignition, a luggage rack and a smart-looking LCD dashboard.

But here’s the real kicker - the price. The UK price is listed on Morbidelli’s website as just £2,699, making it only a little over half the price of a Vespa 125 GTS. We can forgive it, then, for only being available in two colours - grey or white. But hey, the white one does come with a nice-looking brown seat.

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