Yamaha Taiwan's Adorable Vinoora Scooter Has Its Eyes On Japan

Cute scooters scooting.

00:30

Janaki Jitchotvisut

By: Janaki Jitchotvisut

Dec 28, 2020 at 4:30pm ET

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For some time now, motorcycle design has been all about blending both retro and modern styling elements into a more or less contemporary design. Scooters do this too, in their own way. Vespa, for example, just works its unbroken design language into everything it makes—from old two-strokes up to the ultramodern Elettrica. Some OEMs just take the elements they like, combine them, and create something new and exciting in 2020.

Thus, the Yamaha Vinoora. Introduced as a 2020 model for the Taiwanese market, it’s powered by a 125cc, single-cylinder, four-stroke engine. Standard features include a CVT, engine start-stop, a four-liter fuel tank, a disc brake up front, and a drum brake in the rear. There’s also a USB charging port onboard, perfect for you to keep your phone charged up on the go.

Dual LED headlights give the Vinoora a very distinctive face that some find cute and others find a bit creepy. A single, perfectly round taillight looks a bit like a target due to the red ring around the outside. Here’s hoping traffic behind you doesn’t take that as a challenge. The turn indicators remain halogen, and I can’t decide if they look more like blush spots on the cheeks of the Vinoora’s face, or like very tiny arms that are out of all proportion to the rest of the scoot.

What do you think?

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Anyway, the Vinoora is cute, stylish, and also comes in an M variant if you want accessories like a little rear pillion grab rail, matte black paint, a brown seat cover, headlight guards, and little chrome accents. Yamaha Taiwan says this scheme is meant to channel British styling into the Vinoora. This point is further driven home by the promotional materials that depict a seriously dapper chap, who’s obviously about to ride his Vinoora M off to his local Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride chapter.

While media in parts of Asia outside of Taiwan have admired this cute scoot from afar, the model hadn’t been announced outside of Taiwan until now. According to Young Machine, the very stylish little scoot is expected to paddle its way to Japan in 2021. The regular Vinoora comes in matte gray, matte green, matte navy blue, and a polished cream color. The M variant is the only way to get matte black with a rather classy-looking brown saddle.