The more scooters I review the more I see trends develop. One trend I’m seeing is that 50cc scooters seem to be getting bigger. But not by sitting at home in their lazy-boy, relaxing, eating fried chicken, drinking beer, and watching the game. More, going to gym, pumping iron, getting a new shirt and some smart shoes. In the previous two decades every 50cc bike was tiny, it had little 10inch wheel, drum brakes, and little or no storage. Average European legs would hit the handle bars, and their rumps would hang out off the back of the seat while the rear shock collapsed under the massive strain. But now there is a new breed of scooter, the big framed 50cc scooters. As fuel prices increase so does the demand for fuel efficient vehicles that can comfortably carry your average western rider. So we have a new breed of 50cc bike and the Urban R4 is right there filling the exact needs of much of today's commuting population.

The Urban R4 sits high compared with many 50cc scooters, when riding in traffic it is easy to see over the cars in front. It has 12inch diameter wheels with wide tyres which give it a good solid feeling on the road. When riding, the large seat gives enough room to find the perfect riding positionand will even carry a pillion with ease, a minor point worth noting was that the seat was a little on the hard side for my liking. The R4 is full of features not normally found on a 50cc scooter, or in fact on any scooter. ABS on a 50cc scooter?! Yes.. Now I'm not sure how it works but it does seem to, There wasn't any sensor to be seen, so I can't imagine its the most high-tech system, but the ABS combined with the large wheels makes the Urban a really quick stopper.