Our very own Maxiscoot workshop saw the development and birth of many fascinating prototypes and custom bikes – Derbi MXS, Dragstar 2Evil, AC/DC Racer, Proto Mecaboite 90 cc, Booster MXS Racing and many more.
While the Gilera Ice and the Booster 180cc Executor may be the projects that had the most impact, there are several other custom builds that deserve a closer look, and the Booster Sunbelt from Julien of Team MXS is one of those.
The Booster was exhibited at trade shows and custom shows at the end of the 2000s and is best known in its orange incarnation with a lot of chrome and Malossi MHR engine, but the initial set-up of this legendary scooter was completely different.
If you want to know more about the Sunbelt’s development, just read on!
The Booster Sunbelt was designed and then realized by brothers Michael and Alex Burgard; the two decided to mount a liquid-cooled Aerox / Nitro engine on a reinforced Booster Spirit chassis. This type of engine swap was very unusual and quite revolutionary at the time.
The two experienced mechanics decided to keep the design of the scooter as clean and slimmed down as possible to emphasize the race look. The fairing consists of a twin headlight mask from TNT and a rear panel with spoiler by BCD. A purple-green chameleon paint job with yellow highlights was picked to round off the bike’s look.
The inside panels for front and bottom were custom made. For the chassis, the Burgards opted for a streetbike cockpit, a rear shock absorber by RMS ans 12-inch Rocket wheels with polished rims.
The Booster was not developed for custom purposes alone, but for the race track. In order to become competitive and to win races, the two engineers used high-quality tuning parts from renowned manufacturers:
Booster equipment:
- Cylinder 70cc Hebo Manston 2
- Inner Rotor Ignition Malossi MHR
- NOS Kit
- performance at the wheel ≈ 25 hp
After the chameleon paint version of the Booster had successfully participated in various races, the Burgard brothers decided to customize the scooter a bit more, and so the chameleon Booster became the well-known Sunbelt version.
The fairing, rims and NOS bottle (now only included as a dress-up element) were painted glossy orange.
A BCD twin headlight was mounted to the front. The inner front fairing and the floor panel were also replaced and completely redesigned.
The chassis was also changed: the Burgards opted for a carbon handlebar, a black front brake caliper, braided stainless steel brake lines, a red Fournales shock absorber and chrome variator cover and water pump by Str8.
This version has the following engine parts:
- Cylinder 70cc Malossi MHR Racing
- Carburetor Dell’Orto Ø25 mm
- Exhaust Stage6 R1200 chrome with carbon silencer
- performance at the wheel ≈ 16 hp
Julien, the happy new owner of the Sunbelt Booster, put a personal spin on this legendary scooter by replacing the BCD tail with a high-quality WIPE2 fibreglass fairing.
And since Julien also wanted a little more power, he upgraded the engine with the following parts:
- Custom-made intake manifold
- Carburetor Ø28 mm
- Digital inner rotor ignition Stage6
- Exhaust SCR Corse Racing Line 70 then Stage6 R1400
- performance at the wheel ≈ 17 hp
Later Julien replaced the engine with a Stage6 Racing engine tuned by MXS. Performance at the wheel 20.5 hp!
After a crash at Scooter Weekend 2018, which caused severe damage to the fairing and the front, Julien completely redesigned his Sunbelt Booster:
- Fairing kit Str8 with Stage6 stickers
- Seat Yamaha black
- Fork Stage6 R/T
- 4-piston brake caliper Stage6 R/T
- Racing slicks Stage6