I’ll freely admit that the Dragster phenomenon pretty much passed me by, the initial machines having arrived during my ‘motorcycle years’. Other than seeing them in showrooms and listening to noisy post-pubescent teens making a nuisance of themselves screaming around council estates (wow, for a moment I turned into my dad there), they were of no real interest. The hub steering looked like a gimmick and if I was going to shell out on something with a latticework frame it would have been a Ducati Monster. Not that my budget or riding ability ever made that a realistic prospect. When I returned to the fold, like many born again scooterists, I was set on picking up where I’d left off, not looking for something new. But by this time the Dragster had found its niche, somewhere in what I learned to call the ’Darkside’. Although I’d admire the inevitable entry in a custom show, it wasn’t a machine that particularly appealed to me. I don’t think I even noticed its departure from showrooms.
I consider myself to be a typical scooterist: Lambretta, Vespa, geared, auto, cutdown, standard, chop – all have some appeal, but as editor I’ve been genuinely surprised at the number of requests ’s had for a review of thereader. It’s certainly not moulded along classic lines and, other than being Italian, it doesn’t fit any generic category I can think of. Even among scooterists who struggle to accept autos, the Dragster seems to find admirers. Thanks to its rebirth, the days when only a solitary Dragster could be found in the custom show are gone and they’re now seen in increasing numbers at rallies up and down the country.
