| Pocket rocket Peugeot

Now this is more like it, Peugeot. This scoot has more attitude than a dog with two sets of balls. Don’t get me wrong, I saw the point of the basic Ludix idea, but that frame and styling literally cried out for the full Monty. Looking even more like an extra from a sci-fi movie than a basic Ludix, the Blaster is terrific fun to ride on and a great way to get from A to B.

In fact, forget the commute to work, let’s just go for a blast. Not that it is the ideal commuter bike anyway unless you have little need to store anything bigger than a ham sandwich (Well, we know where you lost that - Ed) such is the sparseness of any storage. What you get in return is tremendous and addictive fun. What more would you expect from such a machine? Since it shares the same power plant as (and weighs much less than) the Jet C-Tech, we can safely assume before riding it that the Blaster is a speedy little thing (especially the derestricted version we have here). It doesn’t disappoint, with the speedo needle rushing off the end of the clock like a herd of lemmings over a cliff.
The short, stocky, ideally balanced wheelbase makes it handle well. It’s not as sharp as its physically bigger brothers, the beam-framed Jets, but still capable and extremely sweet to ride. With little weight to throw forward, the efficient liquid-cooled engine has maximum impact upon acceleration and this combination makes the Blaster a real joy to spend time with.

The styling has real attitude allied to a strong sense of purpose. From the wavy disc and single headlight to the wide ‘jet fighter’ style air intakes for the twin radiators, this scoot means business. The reverse exit exhaust looks trick, too, and follows the line of the steel frame tube perfectly, while the chunky 10in tyres make the most of the abrupt nose and empty rear end to emphasise the smallness of the whole package. With just a simple and understated Blaster logo adorning the black front panel, this is a machine that doesn’t shout too loud about what it is. But, then again, it doesn’t have to. With so little weight to manhandle around the twisties, the chassis is surprisingly nimble and accurate to ride to. It’s not up to the higher-echelon levels of excellence found with the new Jet C-Tech (after all, what is?) but certainly better than most scoots currently around.

Incredibly quick off the line, the Blaster takes no prisoners when accelerating, leaving auto scoots and most other modes of transport trailing in its haze of blue smoke from a standstill. It is, without question, the fastest accelerating standard scoot so far produced - and not by a small margin either. After the first hundred yards the Blaster will be way ahead of any other 50 and still going strong, such is the weight power shift of the pocket-sized Peugeot. Around town nothing will ever come past you in the race from the traffic lights. Come to think of it, few will dare to have a go when the road opens out a little either. The hard part is keeping the front wheel down when being aggressive with the throttle, and one soon learns to balance the bike on the rear wheel and have a ready finger resting upon the rear brake just in case.


It’s only when wheelying that we find the only real fault on the bike. The mirrors, although supremely stylish and fitting in with the overall look of the Blaster, are a bit too close to the handlebar controls, making stand-up stunts restrictive unless they are swung forward well out of the way beforehand. If this isn’t done, then your wrists will butt up against the mirror stems and possibly restrict your throttle control. Only a minor gripe but, as it is the only one we found, we felt we just had to mention it. Mind you, it could prove to be a great excuse for your defence lawyer. Just imagine it: -Your honour, my client informs me that, while accelerating away from the traffic lights, the front wheel rose unexpectedly into the air and he simply could not close the throttle as the mirrors were preventing its movement. Eventually, some 300 yards later, he managed to skilfully get back in full control of his machine and it is here that the police unnecessarily intervened.

Ludix Blaster