Modern Vespa

Hello-

Hoping everyone is well.

Can anybody offer me some advice on new shock absorbers for my 1998 PX200? I currently have Biturbo shocks (12+ years old) and I'm looking to replace them. Thinking of either the same updated Biturbos or the BGM PRO SC/F16 COMPETITION.

I ride pretty aggressive, not crazy, but sometimes ride on some bumpy tarmac and I'm looking to dial-in my suspension just right for my riding style and roads here. Greece baby!

I'm open to any other shock absorber recommendations/suggestions too.

Thanks for any replies.

Cheers from John down in Greece.

First problem, clearly you've got your bitubo from a mirror universe 😛

i also highly doubt he's got twin turbo shocks.

Bitubo NOT Biturbo

as any good pirate can tell you it sometimes comes down to the placement of the RRRRRR

but yes, those are good shocks. comparable to the bitubos with a little softer ride.

-g

He-he

I didn't see that...I need new glasses...something "felt" a bit weird about that pic...

Good to see some old familiar names still here. Hope you are well Greasy! I haven't bene back to Redondo Beach in over 4 years now...missing California...

Thanks for replying to my post. This was the type of info I was looking for when comparing the Bitu(R)bos versus the BGM's. I think I'm gonna go for there BGM's...

Thanks again for replying and have a nice crispy chicken, beef or fish taco for me...one of things I greatly miss about California when living on a Greek island.

Cheers and safe riding to you Greasy.

us old salty types just keep hanging around.

i'll make some chorizo tacos in your honor!

but yeah, there's tons of really great equipment now. BGM and SIP are making some affordable top quality stuff. malossi still makes a johnny kick ass front shock that's double adjustable.

i'm not trying to shit on bitubo, but there's stuff that's better and cheaper now and there's stuff that's the same price and wayyyy better now.

hth

-g

Man that makes my mouth water! It's been so long that chorizo wasn't even on my radar...

Maybe swing by In-N-Out and eat a couple of double-doubles for me as well...you pick the flavor of shake...I like 'em all! Ha!

There is great/awesome food here in Europe of course, but the two things that I have yet to see beat living here are a super tasty crispy taco and a proper cheeseburger like we have back in the states.

Again, thanks for the advice on the shocks Greasy...looks like BGM for the win.

My bitubo lost its red plastic coating on the spring within a year.

I also found that the external reservoir made it harder to work on the front end. I went back recently to an RMS, which is much cheaper and seems to be very good quality.

Hi yackee-

Thanks for your post.

I've had a very good experience with the Biturbos that I put on my scoot. I can only compare them to the original shocks that came on the bike, so take that for what it's worth. But still, no complaints...glad the RMS shocks are working-out for you now.

I'm looking forward to putting on the BGM shocks to see what difference there may be. Hopefully a better one. I'll post again in the future once I get the shocks on my bike and driven on them for a bit.

Cheers.

John

Hiya, You guys have any shock suggestions for a VBC with 10" wheels? I had the SIP performance 2.0 fr rr set but felt like they were a little unforgiving on Honolulu's junk roads. I just passed them off to another vespa nerd here and I'm ready to try something else. I have some old original type shocks on there now but they don't seem to do much besides take up space

This may be (another) dumb question but I just don't know so I'll ask. Is there really much difference in shocks? I replaced the old stock shocks on my p200 with Perfshocks from ScooterMercato and I didn't really notice any difference. Would I have felt a difference with Bitubo or some other premium brand?

My riding style is Old Man Wimpy so I don't put a lot of demand on my suspension.

Anybody on my dumb question?

Well I've been riding my vbc around on some old original type shocks a few days now and is a more comfortable ride compared to the SIP set I pulled off. I, like you, enjoy the "old man wimpy" style. My conclusion is that I need a shock that is functional... not completely worn out but that's about it. Anything more performance oriented just makes my scoot unpleasant on the rough pavement here in Hawaii

From tuning shocks in racing applications in cars, there's a difference. Guessing that you and I aren't pushing our scoots to tire squealing around corners so we can't tell the difference.

Completely agree. If the roads you ride on are as smooth as the ones here in NW Florida, and ride as "conservatively" as I do, then you won't feel the difference. I replaced my 30+ years old original shocks after 40,000 miles with new standard shocks, and yes, I did notice a slight improvement. However, in my case it was expected.

Still trying to decide on my performance shocks, but so far I think they are better than the bitubos I removed. Im 220lbs and crappy roads in my area meant that the bike felt too squishy and uncomfortable. Only put some minimal effort into adjusting my shocks so far, but even with minimal adjustments I was able to dial it in a little better for my weight and roads. I'll reserve whether they are worth the extra for the time when i finally spend a few hours setting them up correctly and doing some fine tuning. But maybe my improvement is going from tired old shocks to new. Can't say for sure.

Comfort and handling are two things that different shocks do differently, and more than the uninitiated might expect.

One thing not brought up here though is *safety*. A while back, after growing used to how a set of SIP shocks and then a set of Fournales would eat up the big holes, I took my dad's '81 P200 for a spin to Toronto and back. It still had the clapped-out Piaggio originals, front and rear. I hit a not-so-big divot in the road somewhere south of Union Station, and am still not sure how I didn't dump the bike: that little dip sent the front pogoing all over the place. Scared the bejesus out of me.

I came away from that convinced that it's a good idea to invest in decent suspension. Just like investing in a decent helmet.