I think the power for a relatively small bike is excellent. The initial acceleration is a bit poor but when moving it certainly makes up for this. The petrol consumption is also excellent.
There are some bad points and sadly they to me seem potentially dangerous. The first is the terrible tendancy to 'tramline'. I have been riding bikes from mopeds up to superbikes and this bike is the only bike I have ever ridden where the front wheel takes you wherever the scar in the road goes. This problem is even worse in the wet as it seems impossible to force the bike out nearly causing me to crash the other day. This problem is not the tyres as I have pirelli SL 26 and the pressure is correct. The other problem is the mirrors as I seem to have to drop my head to look into them. Because I am over 6ft tall the mirrors are beneath me not in front of me which means I have to stop looking forwards which is not a good idea on such a nippy bike. The last moan I have is the brakes in the wet. The brakes in the dry are excellent but in the wet nothing happens, so you squeeze a bit more on the lever and then they bit e to a point where either your face falls off or more likely the wheels will lock. Admittedly part of the problem is I tend to ride a bit too quick in the wet as I love the power of the bike.
I gather the later models has a wider wheel base which may well stop the bike tracking but on my 2003 model it does seem dangerous which is a shame because I love the bike.

I,m from Holland so my English is not very good but I must say that the engine runs very smooth like an electric motor. I have lots of fun me and my girlfriend, a must have.........

Bought this after selling a 180sp and getting a 125vx, Needed more power but also a search for more economy than the 180. So pleased they produced this bike, it's a dream totally quite as you buzz along but go for an overtake twist the throttle and it growls and goes.... brilliant and very smooth. Weight is a bit noticeable after the 2 stroke but will get used to this, handling a bit different. Initially had the same cold starting problems with this as a 125vx but put a new plug in and it's ok, you need to twist the throttle 3 times just before starting this adds a bit of fuel to the manifold. Looking forward to doing a long run on it and finding out what it does to the gallon, about 70 was mentioned but I guess it's going to depend on how quick you ride it, it may be higher, a lot higher. Headlight is brilliant, get some philips vision plus bulbs, set it up right and its better than some cars.

I have now covered about 3000 miles on my Gilera VXR200 over a one year period with only one non start which was rectified by my dealer within 24 hours!

I live near Paignton in South Devon and have now made several trips to Exeter and Plymouth on the bike. Its a great scooter and the longer the journey the better as the power it gives is superb when cruising up and down the hills in Devon. I find keeping the throttle open slightly on some bends helps with balance and road holding. (It takes a bit of practice!)

I often take my fianc e on it and she is very happy with the back seat.

Generally though I am very happy with the bike and love the sound it gives from the sporty exhaust I had fitted.

I originally bought the 125cc version of the Gilera VXR 200 straight after I did my CBT. The design is sexy but soon I wanted a bit more oomph. I sold it and bought the 200cc version 3 months later.

The 200 only delivers marginally worse economy at 68 mpg versus the 125's 78 mpg. It's well worth the sacrifice. It eats traffic in town! It's one of the kings of the city able with it's narrow profile and strong accelleration. Overtaking with the 125 demanded perfect timing but with the 200 it is much more of a breeze. Luckily the brakes can take the momentum out of your ride very quickly. They allow you to travel that bit faster knowing that you can stop quickly if you need to. Worth mentioning that the inital pull away is a bit slow with a flat spot at the end which feels like the bike changes gear. I don't like this very much.

Don't presume that your helmet will fit in the underseat bay....mine is a very tight fit. Bear in mind that this is a very tall machine. I'm 5'9'' and I'm just about comfortable when proping it up which sitting on the seat waiting at the lights. The high driving position doesn't help in getting your knee down on roundabouts (I've never done it 'guv) but it gives you an excellent tool to aid your ability to drive more safely as you can see over the car infront to see why it has stopped before you move out.

Accelleration is nice! I've taken the bike to 79 mph (accurate to GPS) on a flat surface. It also pulled the whole way. I mean how much faster do you want to go? Bear in mind that an incline, some wind resistance, a bit of luggage can turn 79 mph into 62 mph before you know it. Impossible to do a wheelie unless you tune the bike but I want to keep my 3 year warranty. The engine is so smooth that at low rev's I can barely hear it....You'd be convinced that it has an electric motor. Open the trottle wide and it growls like a Lotus Elise. It sounds amazing compared to a 2 stroke. They sound like someone is driving a bees nest to me. The 12 litre tank gets me 250km (170 m) although I've gotten 280 km out of it once or twice. That's not too shabby for a scooter.

Service interval is too close for me although this is the case with most scooters. I've done 14,000km (the odometer is in km) in 1 year and the interval is every 3,000km so I advise that if you do big mileage that you also do your own servicing. You'll also need a new drive belt every 9,000km. Brake pads look like they are going to last me about 11,000 km.

The front light can be seen in the milky way. I'm not sure if it really is that bright or just poorly aimed at other motorists eye level?! Despite my dealer telling me that Gilly couldn't cope with heated grips, they work a treat with no problems for the bike or it's battery. A recommended purchase! Mirrors have low-ish vibration high revs but provide a very poor view of the view behind without me shifting my head and elbows around. They purely give views of either side of what is behind you but not directly behind you.

The exhaust rusts within a few weeks (as most do) and some of the go faster stickers which came with the bike have peeled despite my TLC. The grab rail also scratches easily and the revised Runner grab rail is open at the front where the older version was closed so it is difficult to fasted anything to the bike with no hooks etc elsewhere on the bike. Keep food under the seat for warmed snacks once your journey finishes!

The handling of the Runner is great and great too when carrying a pillion. Believe it or not but I've just returned from Spain and Morroco with my Runner so I am in a position to comment on it's reliability doing over 5,000 km in 3 weeks. The Runner is very well cooled (probably overcooled for the UK) and the temperature guage doesn't rise until you are stationary or in very slow traffic. After that the fan kicks in and brings the temperature into check quickly. Even on the coldest winter days the bike starts almost instantly in the mornings -- a relief after owning the 125 version which took forever to get going. My only gripe was that the engine lost some BHP after being ridden flat out on motorways for 2 hours or so. I think the air filter could have been clogged at this stage of the trip though. Guess not many of you will be doing too many trips through the Morroca Dades Valley or Atlas mountains though! Had some hairy moments on the Spanish Autopista when the wind picked up and wind resistance when doing 70 mph starts getting very tiring for long stretches.

Being a clutz and dropping the Runner is hit or miss. Sometimes it will sustain no damage at all whilst other times I've had to replace the brake lever, had piece of the underside of the bodywork crack and once had some oil leak out of the back which turned out to only be the filter moving out of place.

To make a basic conclusion, this is a great mid-way bike compromising significant aspects of riding: Fast motorway vs nippy city riding, power vs economy. A highly recommended sexy scoot!

Contact me at [email protected] if you want to chat about the Runner.