Piaggio Sfera

The Piaggio Sfera is a scooter produced by italian motorcycle manufacturer Piaggio from 1990 to 1998. The word "sfera" means "sphere" or "globe".

Presented at the Monte Carlo show in December 1990, it joined the Vespa in the 90's range of Piaggio motorcycles. The second series was born in 1995 and remained on the market until 1998. The first series was available in two displacements of 50 and 80 cm³. In the second series, the engine capacity of the registered version rose to 125 cm³. This was the first four-stroke engine made by Piaggio.

The result of a project costing over 50 billion Italian lire,^[1] its introduction on the market, which took place at the Monte Carlo show in December 1990, was a small revolution as it was the first Piaggio scooter made with a plastic body. Designed by Luciano Marabese and produced in the Piaggio factory in Pontedera, in a short time the Sfera gathered much acclaim, above all for its simplicity: the design was innovative with clean lines, while the reliable mechanics were based on a 50 two-stroke engine (49.4 cm³ effective) 3.2 horsepower with air cooling and double drum brakes.^[2]

In 1991 he won the Compasso d'Oro award.^[3]

In 1992 the offer was expanded with the Sfera 80 which mounts a 74.72 cm³ engine delivering 9.6 horsepower, a different rear suspension, wider tires and a two-seater saddle with side handles and footrests for the passenger.^[4] The Sfera 50, on the other hand, was declined in three different versions: Maquillage, Cubik (with a two-seater saddle similar to the Sfera 80 but without side handles) and Antistarter (the same as the Maquillage but with the addition of the standard electronic anti-theft device).^[5]

In 1994, the Sfera underwent a slight restyling where the new two-seater saddle was introduced, bumper strips on the sides, new logo, new colors and adoption of the luggage rack and the range was reduced to the 50 cm³ Maquillage version only.

En 1995 se presentó una versión completamente nueva de la Sfera. Junto con la versión 50, debutó la versión 125 con motor de cuatro tiempos de la familia "Piaggio Four Stroke". La Sfera 125 se diferenciaba de la 50 por la presencia del baúl trasero en el color estándar y el asiento y los reposapiés más anchos. Permaneció sin cambios hasta 1998, año en que la Sfera dejó de fabricarse sin ser reemplazada. La Piaggio Fly, más reciente , se considera su sucesora natural. ^{[ 6 ]}

A partir de la Piaggio Sfera, se desarrollaron otros dos scooters: la Piaggio Quartz (básicamente, una versión equivalente con un motor refrigerado por líquido) y la Gilera Typhoon.

En abril de 1991 se presentó el prototipo híbrido Sfera Bimodale , que montaba un motor de combustión interna de 50 CV flanqueado por un motor eléctrico : el funcionamiento de ambos motores se seleccionaba mediante un mando en el manillar (y no podían funcionar de forma combinada). La unidad térmica consta del mismo motor de dos tiempos de 50 CV y ​​3,4 CV comercializado en su debut, combinado con un motor eléctrico Vickers situado en la horquilla. El motor eléctrico proporciona 0,5 kW (0,9 CV) y permite alcanzar los 25 km/h; se combina con dos baterías de plomo-gel de 40 A. La recarga se realiza mediante una toma de corriente en aproximadamente 6 horas. ^{[ 7 ]}  

La Sfera Bimodale permanecerá en fase de prototipo, aunque esta tecnología se volverá a ver en la Piaggio Zip&Zip , que entrará en producción en 1994. ^{[ 8 ]}