Modern Vespa

Just passed 2,100 miles

Look at this on eBay http://www.ebay.com/itm/112387211955

I'd be all over this if I lived stateside.
Only 14 hours to go.

Not sure what's going on with this one, leather wrapped bike????
http://m.ebay.com/itm/Unique-2013-Vespa-946-Bellissima-Tedstar-Custom-150cc-New-58-miles-/262969715658?_trkparms=aid%253D222007%2526algo%253DSIC.MBE%2526ao%253D1%2526asc%253D20150519202348%2526meid%253Dbf7b4777d83a4d85b9f037b571d61599%2526pid%253D100408%2526rk%253D2%2526rkt%253D23%2526sd%253D112387211955&_trksid=p2056116.c100408.m2460

Me too. Great price.

The reserve price has not been met. That denotes lack of interest, more than it indicates a bargain.

I didn't see the reserve part. Oh well. It didn't sell at $4750

The first one was obviously not sold.
The second one -it said 2013 Bellissima but 2013 was Ricordo Italiano. Bellissima was 2014 and never was black.

You're a little late to the party Captain obvious.
Read my above post about not seeing the reserve.
As for the other scooter. I didn't need a history lesson on the 946 as I know all about them and the respective colours and years.
The custom work had me baffled.

Premium 91 with NO ethanol. I have to go a little out of my way to get it but it's worth it!!!!

Thanks!

You need not just a history lesson but also a good manners course. Curb your attitude.

Oh SNAP!! As K Perry asked "can't we all just coexist?" lol

So, I have a little bit of an update at just over 3k miles. When it comes to any of my vehicles, I'm a habitual quick detailer. I'm always wiping them down. Sometimes after just one ride. This is two fold...not only are you left with a clean machine, but it can alert you to findings much sooner.

On my 946, when I'd clean its underside, I'd notice a light coating of oil that had would have attracted some road grime. Out of all my Vespas...I've never encountered an oil leak. I'd also be low on oil when I'd check so I knew I had a problem.

I kept an eye on it for some time but always knew something wasn't right even though the leak was minor. I finally took it into the shop about a month ago and the diagnosis was a badly corroded Valve Cover that had caused the gasket to fail.

Unfortunately, I never got to see how bad the corrosion was but this isn't the first we've heard of some corrosion bits on the 946. I think there has been many cases of light corrosion on the rims and when I bought my scooter I had immediately noticed some corrosion build up on the aluminum transmission. (not the painted cover that you remove)

So, $310 later, I have a few new gaskets in there, fresh oil change, and I'm back on the road!!

I recently took on my friends LX50 project which had sat for a number of years. The shop got it running and I drove it for a week before giving it back. I also spent that time detailing it and getting it perfect.

Now, fast forward to me riding my 946... I'm at a gas station and some guy (who looks like he has no clue about anything automotive) walks up and says, "man, that 'thing' looks incredible. What IS that? It looks SO Italian."

I've loved every Modern Vespa for what they are. They're incredible machines. But there is just something about this 946 that is LIGHT YEARS ahead of anything on the road. The shape of the LX seems so "tame" to the 946. Sure, you'll always get the "how many miles to the gallon does that get?" but I've had WAAAAY more "what the heck is that" with the 946.

It's a dream to ride, it looks incredible, and I consider myself lucky to own such a machine!!!!

The white walls look awesome. Why can't Vespa make the 946 with more cc's?

New to the forum -- I've been looking to get a scooter for a while, and when I saw the 946 RED on display in a coffee shop in Milan it was love at first sight. Fortunately they're available in the USA, and this afternoon I picked mine up from CAL BMW and rode her home.

Initial thoughts - comfortable, very easy to ride, neither fast nor slow and perfectly happy to cruise at 25 or 50 mph. I'll be curious to see if the power changes over the first few hundred miles as others have discovered.

Has the US-spec 946 always been 155cc ?

Aloha and welcome to the forum from Hawaii. Man that's really really red. People can't say they can't see you. I like it but the grips would look better if they were black IMHO. Thanks for the post.

Congratulations and welcome from Virginia! I have 3,000 on mine and it gets better each 1k you put on her.

Yonly65:
Welcome to our humble forum! You have an awesome machine, and a stylish one! Congrats!

Thank you all!

More initial riding impressions: Had her out for the second spin today. Gets up to 90KPH in a hurry, and given a bit more space will pass 100. Quite fast enough for my purposes.
LED headlight is stellar - great on-center brightness, and excellent side coverages. Better than most car headlights.
Very easy bike to get comfortable with, even for a guy (me) who literally hasn't ridden a motorcycle since 2001.

Tucked her away tonight with her 4-wheeled cousins. What is it about Italian design??

The 946's do look beautiful but for that money I would like s bit more power. It's a gorgeous machine if I had he money I would definitely get one.
I also was wondering if someone out there had added chrome accessories to theirs? All I seem to see are all color matched scooters.

Beautiful! It looks like your missing the chrome cover right below the seat?

wow. LaVespa ~!
exquisite taste!

Love the bike's looks, engineering, and feel, like you, that it needs more power to run the freeways as well as the city and back roads... Currently on a 2015 GTS300 with 12k miles, but have been in love with the 946 since I first saw it.... So patiently waiting and hoping..

I can tell you with 100% confidence that it will never happen with this bike. Maybe -maybe possibly- a larger frame version that is different, but not the 946. Its a gift in the US market that we even get the 150 as the rest of the world is saddled with a 125 version of this bike.

I love mine. Just put lighter rollers in it and ride it full throttle. I'm on the 880 with it all the time.

Always been wowed out over the 946 . I wish it had a larger motor , But I have the 300GTS too and the Sprint 150 "S" .I have been thinking about a white or silver 946. Can you tell is it as fast as the Sprint ?? Im happy with the speed of the Sprint so if the 946 is just as fast im wanting one .

Very Nice, Would look good with a tan or black seat too I think ?

Hello! If you have both GTS and Sprint, then who cares how fast is 946 I was told that sprint accelerates faster but it is not difficult to adjust. Once you get the speed you can cruise 70 mph on flat road.

OK...who has purchased the matching helmet bag for the rear rack? Mine arrived today. I bought it used for a fair price. It is however missing the specialized bolts that go into the rack with the small nipple on them that allow the bag to go on and off. (go figure) So now to track down a set of those four screws...

But, my other question is what do you do with the 'belt' that it came with. I see in the pics that you can wrap the bag from front to back as maybe an additional security measure. But I don't understand what the two holes in the belt are for. There's obviously no 'clasp' mechanism to the belt so it's basically just providing very minor tension to keep it tight. Just can't seem to find out what the holes in the belt are for.

I believe mine is in need of a new battery. Despite living on a battery tender this winter, it was extremely reluctant to start this weekend. Has anyone replaced theirs yet? If so, thoughts on brands and vendors?

Thanks!

Mine was changed last year. To be fair the bike has only done 400 miles from new but has lived on a conditioner.

Don’t know what the dealer changed it with.

skip the pics of the Vespa....we want to see more of the Giallo La Ferrari.

Cant quite make out the silver car in the background, but it's probably way awesome too.

Hi - I just replaced the battery on my 946. Originally bought the 946 in Nov 2013 and it has ~5,000 miles on it. Bought a Yuasa on eBay and looked at a video or two on Youtube and it was super-easy.

I also had to take it in recently for a mysterious condition where it would chug-along for the first 5 minutes and stall at stoplights, and generally have lower acceleration & top speed. It took them a few days and they had to converse with Piaggio and they ended up adjusting the valves and since I got it back it is back to its old standards. Glad they cleared it up.

It's been so nice to get it back up and running at full-speed again. I also ride a BMW S1000R motorcycle so I get my speed fix from that. But, there really is nothing like riding a Vespa and I get such a head-rush as I zip along in and out of traffic. (I live in Cali where lane-splitting is legal)

For some reason you guys don’t offer blinkers conversion kit anymore. Any plans to offer it again?

I ordered mine from SIP and I'm very pleased. I posted a "how to" thread here.

946 with Euro LED turn signal conversion

Getting antsy over here in Wisconsin...

The weather is finally turning and good scoot'n weather is here! Great picture!

Hi everyone,

I recently got the 946 and I absolutely love it. Unfortunately, I have a small problem with it. It cuts out intermittently when i slow down at a stop sign (around 5/6 km/h). I just have to restart it, but it's super annoying. It only has 250kms total.

I brought it back to the dealer, but they can't find anything wrong with it and can't reproduce the problem.

Any recommendations please.

I've seen a 946 pop up for sale near me for what doesn't seem an entirely unreasonable price [1] so I thought I'd ask a couple of questions here.

It's white with a red seat, registered late 2014, and it looks to have a larger seat but no rear luggage rack. The seller describes it as a Belissima, but I've only seen pictures of those in silver or blue, so is it really one of the first production run? This is the UK, in case that makes a difference.

Unlike a lot of 946s, this one has been used at least moderately, so is there anything to look out for in particular? Is rust as much of a concern as on the regular models?

[1] Ok, it's still crazy for a 125, but not bad for a 946.

Mine does the same thing - has happened intermittently since new. I wish I could offer an online solution, but as you found at your dealer, diagnosing this gremlin is a ghost hunt. I just accept it as one of the Italian “quirks” that comes along with Vespa ownership.

If I wanted no personality or soul, I’d buy a Honda. 😉

[quote="Masala"] Mine does the same thing - has happened intermittently since new. I wish I could offer an online solution, but as you found at your dealer, diagnosing this gremlin is a ghost hunt. I just accept it as one of the Italian “quirks” that comes along with Vespa ownership.

If I wanted no personality or soul, I’d buy a Honda. 😉