Modern Vespa

Well, I finally got the cash and the day off to take the GTS lemon to the shop. I learned early on that if it's out of your league, just pay the proper labor for the *right* shop. Now, I had a GTS about 5 years before, and screwed up by thinking that a "scooter" shop was the same training as a Vespa shop. Learned that lesson and lost a very expensive scooter in the process. This time, I was getting major knocking, rattling and such from my drivetrain. I knew it was related to at least the rollers and the clutch, but without the space to work on it and the proper tools, I knew that I needed to take the next step.

I had bought this bike from another Vespa dealer (that shall remain nameless until it's cool with the powers that be on here to scream their scamming name from the mountaintops. I have no worries about calling their asses out). But, within 1,000 miles I started having tons of problems. First was the exhaust gasket, which Chandler Vespa showed me and was OBVIOUSLY re-used when the exhaust was removed for "new" tires. You could see the crease marks where it was jammed on before, and then put on again. Not cool.

But, when the bike was sold to me, I was told that it came with:

-New tires
-New belt
-New rollers
-Current valve adjustment for 12k service
-Full inspection

But, after 3 hours and about $275 (they cut me some slack on the labor charges!), I found out the truth:

-Belt was put in BACKWARDS
-3 of the 6 roller weights? Put in BACKWARDS and improperly as well
-Tires are "new"... if you count that they hadn't been used since they were made in 2010!
-Fuel injection ECU had not received an update from about 6 months ago (what happened to that "full inspection"?)

I didn't have the cash for the valve adjustment this round, but that will be around mid-month if I get a couple of these gigs I'm working on. And, while the "other" guys insisted that for an repair I needed to drop the bike off and they "May" get to it in 1 to 3 days, Chandler Vespa got me in and out the door in a matter of hours. Granted I had to make an appointment, but that's cool. They stuck to what they said, which is rare!

Now the bike purrs well and sounds great! I didn't pay a lot of the bike initially ($3500) but I've put about a grand in repairs just to get it to the level that they said it was at. It's bad enough that there isn't much support from Vespa in the US, but when their dealerships are jerks and scam artists, it makes things even worse image-wise.

But, I just wanted to give Vespa of Chandler props for fixing me right. I used to do a lot of mechanical work myself, but since my health took a permanent hit and I now live in a downtown apartment with little space, it's a dreaded conclusion that I have to rely on a shop for certain things. That and my age has finally caught up with wisdom and I know when to say "OK: I'm out of my league here". When it comes to theater production, recording, studio albums, live music, mastering... I'm the one you want. Motorcycle mechanics? Eh... I still struggle. At least I know my limits these days

What model GTS ?

probably the one listed under his avatar would be my guess.

Yes, it would be a 2009 Vespa GTS250

Neotrotsky, I came to MV WHEN I bought my Vespa. I thought I would get an idea of good or bad dealers and their services. It seems funny to me that you can go to a site and get reviews of anything from books to tools, but you are not able to say a bad word about your experience. Also notice no responses to your post

It's not a conspiracy. Many sites do not allow dealer bashing. Mainly because you are only getting one side of the story. It's amazing the little bits of information people will omit to make themselves look like a victim when they have a beef with a dealer. It really makes the "review" pretty much useless.

It's nice to hear about a good experience though. Most people will only post about the negative things (I'm guilty at times). Vespa of Chandler are good people. They try hard to promote scootering in our area.

-Craig

That's why I tried to omit the "other guys". This is really about how Vespa of Chandler actually helped me out, and I'm very thankful for that. I've also had great experience with Performance Scooter in Scottsdale, AZ for those of you looking for a Kymco or Genuine scooter. Bought an Agility 125 from them a little over a year and a half ago, and again... awesome service and super quick response!

There are good shops out here. You just are kind of on your own because when someone has a bad experience, we're trained to say "Well, what's YOUR angle and how can we discount your experience as not legitimate". At the same time, It makes things hard to get a good idea of a dealership when restaurants are better reviewed and regulated than places where we'll spend $5,000 to $25,000 for a vehicle

This

I'm having a brain fart and having only poked around the belt and changed sliders/rollers 3 times can't figure out how I could put a belt in "backwards". Missing something? It's belt time before I sell.

FWIW I could forgo the dealer praise as well. It is sometimes every bit as misguided.

The belts are directional. Looking at them installed the writing on top should be the right way up.

Thanks! I missed that!

I made that mistake on an Italjet Torpedo 125 way back when. Turns out, they're serious about that belt shredded in less than 600 miles! The 2nd one I put in ended up lasting the entire rest of the time I owned the bike (about another 6,000 miles)

I put everything back as it was but didn't take specific notice. No harm no foul, bu thanks again! It shows ta go ya, there's always sumthin'.