Modern Vespa

Does anyone have any experience that they would like to share about using a Dayco drive belt? The Scooterwest website says, " DAYCO is an OEM manufacturer of drive belts for Piaggio. Made in Europe, these belts should last and perform comparably to an original Piaggio one"
It is about half the price of the other. Thoughts?

Here is one for the GT200

http://www.scooterwest.com/items/?_pageCCS=t#page=/item_details/GT-200-Belt-By-DAYCO/1351

Thought Mitsibuchi made OEM ,read it awhile back

They are a less expensive alternative, but also not believed to last as long as the originals. If you're on a budget and don't ride too much they're great. If you log a lot of miles, I would recommend the original. I'm going to change the description as well, they are not the OEM manufacturer.

It is good to have an alternative to the expensive OEM belt.
How many miles do you recommend riding before changing these?

Most of them will go the standard 8,000 miles without issue. A few of them have been known to brake early in the 4,000-7,000 mile range, but most people have used them as an acceptable alternative to the expensive original. I still recommend the original for this reason.

I replaced the original belt at 8,650 miles with a oem(from Scooterwest) about 3,000 miles ago so I'm not in a hurry to purchase a new one. The original had worn to approximately 19.8mm width and had no visible signs of cracks. The price of the oem has gone up since I purchased mine and was wondering if this one was really comparable.

Just FYI here are some pictures from my first belt change

The price of these is like a commodity, they fluctuate a lot.

I have seen prices varying from around $60. to nearly $150.

I bought two supposedly OEM belts for the $60. price from a reputable dealer. The markings were all per the usual OEM belts. But one of them shreaded at less than 3000 miles.

I tried a Malossi belt once. It lasted 7000 miles but it was falling apart when changed (just in time).

I had one OEM belt last over 12,000 miles once.

Standard OEM belts are made by mitsuboshi - they're heavy duty ones and are piaggio branded but have an identifiable japanese manufacurer logo...
http://www.mitsuboshi.co.jp/english/ourpro/index.html

I bought my Dayco Belt from Scooter Center....and lasted about 1500 miles, til it broke....I bought OEM after that, and is still good!

Dayco belt. 3000k until this. It came brand new with the scooter. Greek vespa service in where I've done the 30k service recommend not to go on Dayco but original.

I am a city and also long rider (3000k in a trip)....


No more aftermarket for GTS

Wow. Either OEM or Malossi on the belts IMHO. You get what you pay for, as they say. Belts have come down in price since this thread was started also. More competition between parts stores.