Yamaha Aerox Stunt Scooter

The Yamaha Aerox is a fairly popular scooter in stunt riding. For a 50 cc scooter it is quite large, has a long wheelbase and looks more powerful than its rivals. There are plenty of preparation problems, even though scooters have a handbrake as standard (the rear brake lever on the left of the handlebar), and there are no issues with the clutch, oil starvation or sprockets.

Alexander Smirnov, whom we happened to meet on the lot in Vidnoye during a shoot, told us about the solutions and setups for this model.

The Aerox has a 50 cc engine, so it needs some upgrading to raise power and improve low-end pull. On Alexander's scooter the stock variator has been replaced with a Malossi Multivar with lightened 5.1-gram rollers (the lighter the rollers, the stronger the pull off the bottom). The engine displacement has been increased to 70 cc by fitting a Malossi Sport 70 cc cylinder kit. The carburetor has been replaced with a Dell'Orto 17.5 with a larger venturi. A Technigas Silent Pro exhaust pipe has been fitted for better exhaust flow.

Handlebar

The handlebar needs to be high and wide. Such a handlebar is much more comfortable and also better protects the side plastics in crashes. To fit the handlebar, a special adapter riser has to be installed.

Shock

Suspension settings matter a lot for wheelies, so the stock shock has been replaced with a YSS with adjustable stiffness. Plus this shock raises the rear of the scooter.

Protection: sliders

To protect the plastics there is a pair of sliders and pegs under the seat. This is enough to fully protect the scooter in sideways crashes. The mounts for the lower nylon sliders are rigidly welded to the frame. The pegs near the seat are screwed into holes in the frame. Given that the scooter is light, the load on the mounts is small.

12 o'clock bar

The 12 o'clock bar is bolted to the frame and neatly routed under the tail. The bar is made fairly short and lets you lift the scooter past the balance point.

Despite its apparent simplicity, preparing a scooter properly for stunts isn't easy. There are quite a lot of engine issues, since power is lacking. But the Aerox is light and has excellent design and handling. Many well-known pro riders started training on this very scooter.