The words ‘drag racing? and ?scooter’ shouldn’t belong in the same sentence. But if you ask us, the idea of boosting micro-sized machines to race instead of commute sounds like buckets of fun. Especially when your race bike makes five times its original power, runs nitrous, and weighs next to nothing.
This plucky little sprinter started out as a Piaggio NRG?a 50 cc scooter from the mid-2000s?but it’s come a long way. Power is up from the stock 4 PS to a heady 20 PS, and the curb weight is just 56 kilos?124 pounds.

The story revolves around friends and contacts in Cologne’s motorcycle scene. It starts with Nick Xiromeritis?an automotive designer who’s worked as far afield as Japan and France.
?On eBay I was selling a Honda NS400R fairing and exhaust,? Nick explains. ?I was contacted by Mirko Toth, through a mutual friend of Jens at JvB Moto here in Cologne.?
?Mirko purchased the fairings, and saw what I’d been working on. Then, a few months later, he approached me about doing a project together.?
Mirko had been working at Scooter Centre in Cologne for years, and had a lot of experience building scooter drag racing motors. He’d just bought the Piaggio; it had already been ‘converted’ for drag racing, with a makeshift hardtail setup that consisted of a steel table leg where the rear shock once was.

Nick and Mirko got talking, and before long had mocked up just how the NRG should look. Nick was so stoked on the...