Modern Vespa

We are looking for riders who ride or have experience on both a Genuine Buddy and the (newer) Vespa 300.
Looking at the Vespa site, they show top speed @ 80 mph and we have read riders on forums say they are more like 75 mph.

What have you experienced on yours? Have you used yours riding 2 up at highway speeds? If you don't mind my asking, have you pushed it and what would you consider top speed on level ground without any major head or tailwind?

Would you consider the Vespa 300 a good every day commuter and still good for two up on weekends or extended road trips? We would have about 340 pounds (2 up) before any luggage. I could see us riding 300-500 miles in a weekend or even 1,000 miles over a 4-day weekend. Our last 'day trip' was 254 miles on our Buddy scoots.

We own and have ridden Buddy models 125/150/170i over the past several years and feel we actually lost just a bit of higher end performance when we stepped up to the 170i. This may have come partly from my riding a 150 with a big bore kit in it. We want to be sure the Vespa can handle the higher speeds comfortably with 2 up and gear without bogging down.

This may lead to us crossing over to the Vespa family so above all please be honest and fair in your evaluations.

Hey, this is Kevin from Dallas. We've scooted together, I have the matte black GTS with the horns. I came from a Buddy 150 as well.

I am currently the same weight roughly as the two of you. As far as in town stuff you will LOVE the GTS, I consider it the best possible mix of Maxi and Mini scooter out there.

Couple of weeks ago I drove mine all over the Talimena area, cruising at 65mph no problem all day long. I've also driven it from Dallas to Austin and back for a Rally weekend. I didn't cruise the interstate because I've never enjoyed that very much, but I know others do. I prefer to grab the 2 lane at 65mph and ride that. However in town in Dallas I will hop on 75 and do 75mph without any problems whatsoever. So 350lbs at highway speeds loaded down shouldn't be a problem. Some of the long distance 2 up riders can chime in on comfort that long.

I think the biggest thing you guys need to look at is 2 Vespa's or 1. I know the cost jump from the Buddy is big, but as many miles as you guys do 2 up, I'm not sure how much you will enjoy going to the solo bike for longer distances.

With the way GTS's hold their quality, I would hunt down 2 low milage 250's and be happy with that.

I am attaching a link to my ride report from the Austin trip. over 700 miles in a 3 day weekend with the front rack, rear rack, and floor board loaded down.

https://modernvespa.com/forum/post1713076?highlight=#1713076

I have experience of riding and servicing the GTS300/250s. I own a Burgman 400 but have to say the Vespa is far more exciting to ride. I borrow Vespas from friends on occasions and have done 400 mile days on the 300. Comfort is good and ride smooth. Top speed on the latest 300's is just over 80mph gps. As the belt and rollers wear that falls slightly as you know. The 250 is nearly the same for top speed but will struggle more to get there and stay there with a passenger or loaded up fully even with just you on it. Acceleration on the latest 300 is far superior to the old 300 or the 250 especially in the midrange (once broken in with some miles on it). I rode 315 miles with a passenger on the GTS300 (a 2014 model) last year and it was fun. We travelled on a variety of roads including our motorways which have a 70mph speed limit. It managed that without breaking into a sweat. Felt stable and never underpowered for the conditions we encountered. Applying the brakes two up if you have to stop quickly is like hitting a brick wall without the pain! They work really well. I'm biased as I love the Vespa, but that's the way I would go. It'll do most things really well. Good luck and post back with what you eventually get.

MYSCTR - My short answer would be "probably not".

Owned and enjoyed a Buddy 150 for years. Moved-up to a GTS300 to accommodate increased payload and daily-use demands (and because I really liked the style).

However, I also own and ride motorcycles. The cycles are my touring-vehicles of choice for a ton of reasons (and you can find thousands of opinions on just about any forum).

75 mph about right. 2-up at highway speeds not a problem WITHOUT a lot of gear. I've done many 300-mile-plus trips, two-up, and enjoyed.

That said, if I was considering longer "rides" (multi-day, 400-mile-plus with gear), I'd be looking at the maxi-scooter class.

IMO and experience - too much emphasis on POWER in the forums. Longer wheelbase, larger wheel diameters, heavier chassis, greater load-carrying capacities... equally important characteristics to consider for the type of riding you describe.

If you choose a scoot and you anticipate more than a few, 2-up, multi-day adventures, I believe you are immediately at the "edge" of the performance envelope with the GTS.

Love my Vespa - perfect day-trip and daily commuter.

Kevin - Good to hear from you and really appreciate your reply. Especially knowing the top end is beyond the Buddy if needed. We will have to check out your ride report in the next few days. Both of the girls want to keep their 170i Buddy scooters as they really love them and the way they have been customized. Any Rally we have done our Buddy scoots have kept up just fine. There are times Bonnie may not want to ride alone or at least not on her scoot and that is where we would ride together. So getting the Vespa would fill that need and allow us to venture further together or open up more options when I run through Dallas for work appointments.

Stromrider - Good input and yes we want the Vespa for the styling and ride without going to a maxi scooter. We do like what we have read about the new GTS300 as that is what we are looking at.

RickyTT - We really do not want a motorcycle or a maxi scooter. Our biggest concern is if we bought a GTS300 and then later found out it would not hold even 60/65-ish on the highway with us riding together. I can push the Buddy to hold that yet that is WOT at top speed with nothing left if the need came up and not what the Buddy is built for. By highway I am referring to backroads across Texas, Arizona, Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri and the like. Yet the travelling will be secondary to work commuter and day trips. Speaking of being at the edge of the performance envelope we have been fighting that on the Buddy for most of the last five years and although we have enjoyed the ride, we would like to get that extra power, size, wheels and weight to smooth out the ride and take a lot of stress off the machine.

All good stuff - thanks for sharing. We stopped back in to let the wife see the current 2016 models and the 70th anniversary model in Grigio Pulsat (silver) or the Super Sport in Titanium Grey were her and my favorites. Pretty much anything that compliments her flowery Potent Pink 170i would be fine with her!

Are there better options? Yes. Can it be done well with a Vespa? Yes.
For what you want to do, the extra torque of a 300 will come in handy, especially up hills and passing.
There is a lot you can do that will make a Vespa 300 an exceptional touring machine. When it comes to accessories, there are some that are designed to be pretty, and some that are designed to be useful.
Stay away from OEM front racks. They are designed to look pretty. You have to drill holes in the Vespa to install them, and if you take them off, you have big holes in your bike. They seem pretty flimsy. Faco makes a very strong front rack that will hold two cases of beer and still allow you to safely operate the vehicle at highway speeds. It is fairly large. You can put it on or take it off in about fifteen minutes. Cuppini also makes some fairly formidable racks. Keep in mind when you look at this stuff that some brands make a lot of different front and rear racks for the same bike, so make sure the one you are ordering is the one that best suits your needs.
Passenger footpeg extenders are a must if you are going to have someone on the back for any length of time. But you will find this out on your own the first time you take a trip.
If you are going to use the factory topcase, which is pretty comfortable, use the rack that doesn't fold. FA Italia makes one that is extremely strong, and puts the backrest at a better location for your passenger. Aftermarket topcases can be problematic if they mount in such a way that they take up some of the room the passenger needs, or require the passenger to bend forward all the time.
A rubber floormat will really add to your comfort on long trips. The aftermarket ones tend to fit better than the OEM ones, and use a higher quality rubber.
SIP has a bag that hangs over the glove box. It is really handy for those things you need, but don't want to put in your pockets.
The OEM Vespa medium windshield is a good choice for touring. It offers some protection for the hands, and is big enough to be effective, but low enough to see over.
Fully loaded up, the odds are that you are going to bottom out every time you hit one of life's bumps in the road. Get a set of Malossi shocks for the rear, and set them firm.
And once you've been doing this a while, and have decided the Vespa is the perfect vehicle, if only it had a little more power, there's a lot you can do to fix that too.

Picking up a slightly used or leftover 2016 GTS 300 seems like a good idea right now. 2017's seem to be losing the ESS front end and gaining the more restricted Euro 4 motor. That's a lose/lose for 2017.

Objectively speaking, that's probably a good reason not to buy a 2015-2016 GTS. Piaggio spent a lot on R and D, and tooling, and made a big deal about this new front end, then abandoned it after a few years. Might be worth knowing why.

Motovista makes some great notes about all of the touring accessories for the GTS300. There's a ton of them. I actually chose the 300GTS because I wanted the balance of being able to ride it around town between client appointments in a suit and then ride out of town on the weekend for camping/rock climbing trips. My climbing partner has a Triumph T100 and I have no problem keeping up when touring with him.

I have a 2016 GTS Super Sport. I was able to pick mine up for about $1,300 off the out-the-door price in November. You can for sure get at least $1,000 off right now if you shop around. I see them all over the country on sale.

The 2016 comes with ABS which is great to have if you have the added weight of a passenger. One note though if you're looking at the 70th or the Super Sport - Matte Paint takes a lot of extra work. It doesn't have any protection from UV rays, it's VERY vulnerable to bird poop and sap, and you don't have the option of buffing out small scratches. If I had thought about all of that before I bought mine I might have gone with the gloss paint. I also wonder if the 70th anniversary edition will have a better resale in the future? Oh, and the 70th comes with the folding rear rack and ~leatherish~ rear bag which is useful.

There's a lot of ESS front ends out there with unanimous raves. I think if there were issues we'd have heard about them right here.
The simple answer is cost cutting. But you're right after spending all that on R&D why drop it? Conversely if there were real issues on such a crucial part of the front end there would have been recalls or TSB's. Its very strange.

Hmm, interesting that you mention that. I just had a customer whose fork is slightly bent likely from being towed across the country and it wants to death wobble at all speeds. I haven't found any other accounts of them being fragile but it may be a reason why they are going in the bin.

hearing about them like this? Front Damage
Give it time. How much do you think they cut the cost between the two front ends?

MP3 500.

Great for two-up riding (with foot peg floor boards from Old as Dirt) .
Excellent comfort over long trips.
Stable and easily maintains 70-75 mph all day long.
Definitely a big scooter, but I have never had a problem maneuvering it other than a need to consider the larger turning radius. Takes some getting used to with the two front wheels, but overall a big plus in my opinion.

I started off on a B125 (2009) and put 19k miles on it in 2 years. I ended up toying around with a few modifications in the second year: weights, airbox/exhaust. It was okay for most roads, but hills were an issue. It wasn't a matter of "if", more than "how much" I would bog down on a given incline. Route planning was my workaround.

When I came back to scooters, I picked the GTS300 (2013). Bigger frame to avoid the "bear on a bicycle" fit (I'm 6'1"). I have yet to modify anything. The only roads I want something bigger on are interstate highways/freeways where the speed limit is 70mph. The GTS does that, but traffic tends to run 5-15 over around here. I usually stay off the interstate, anyway: less stressful.
I'm currently at 17,400 miles and 4 years with my GTS. No regrets & only the occasional twitch to get something else. I'm still happy with my "if I could only have one bike" choice.

So are you claiming the ESS is actually an emerging Achilles heel after two years and thousands of scooters running it for countless miles? That seems a little far fetched. Stranger things have happened but even the one example you cited wasn't sure what caused the problem. If the ESS was flawed I'd imagine there'd be a long thread on here reporting it.

I think the reason it's being dropped is because on some bikes the ESS 'clunks' quite a bit as you go over the bumps. It's quite pronounced on some bikes and not easy to cure. Nothing to do with costs. I've never heard it ever on any of the ESS equipped bikes but some have and it's been complained about over this side of the pond.

I believe I have this on my GTS SS. Sounds like a cheaply made scooter when I hit bumps, sometimes worse than others. I used to think it was the aftermarket Cuppini back rest but realized the sound wasn't coming from behind me, but rather down below me.

Is there a fix to this? Very annoying!

Well it depends on what the issue is and what it would cost to remedy it. Is it an inherent design issue or were there a bad 'batch' of clunkers? If its a design issue, some bean counter at Vespa might have made the case not to re-design it for two reasons- the cost of the re-design; and (potentially far more expensive) the cost of having to face recalls on likely thousands of 1st gen. ESS equipped bikes. So Vespa decides to sweep it under the rug as if ESS never existed.
This may sound paranoid but it does feel like the most logical explanation for why Vespa would quietly get rid of the single most lauded update in the last decade.