Bhammer wrote:
Greetings fellow scooter enthusiasts.
I finally got myself a Vespa after decades of wanting one - a 2005 PX150 (US).
I considered new Vespas but like to tinker and am old and nostalgic so went with an older model which leads me to my question(s). I've been poking around the internets and contemplating my first projects (e.g., exhaust and carb parts) and am discovering some challenges with regard to terminology and exactly what do I have.
I don't consider this a "vintage" bike but from what I understand it is a "vintage" model - is this correct.
I've struggled with identifying my scooter type on the drop-down selection on the SIP web site. Can anyone help me with this?
From what I understand, the modern 2-stroke PXs were only imported to the US in 98 and 05 and at some earlier time???
Any and all input that might help me gain a better understanding of my 05" PX150 is appreciated. In the meantime - I'm buggering on about town.
Welcome to the forum Bhammer. That PX looks familiar...i'm pretty sure that i saw it for sale last summer on craigslist? If so, I remember it was priced fairly low. I was thinking about making the long treck up to B-ham, but prudence got the best of me.
About the importing...Piaggio quit importing the Vespa (P125, 150, and 200cc) to the US back around 1981. Fast forward to 2005, and Piaggio once again imported the Vespa, but just the 150cc, and just for one year. Sometimes during the mid-80's (and 90's) a few Vespas did show up in the US via the grey market or from Canada. There was also a small batch of super rare 2005 PX200's that showed up in Texas. There was no Vespas that were imported in 1998. What did happen around 1998 was that the PX series received a front disc brake. That was the same time that the VIN prefix numbers changed as well. The prefix for the drum brake PX125 used to be #VNX. For the drum brake PX150 it was #VLX. Once they both received a disc brake, the VIN prefixes changed over to #ZAP for both models. SIP commonly make references to the "PX98". 1998 was pretty much the last rendition of any major change (which was adding the disc brake) to the PX series. So when SIP refers to the PX98, they're refering to all 1998 PX models and newer...which includes your US market 2005 PX150. And FYI, when you're looking for spare parts, the US market PX150 has a COMPLETELY different wire harness, switches, headlight, and some of the relays than the European market PX. Some of those items SIP doesn't sell, and can only be purchased directly from Piaggio in Italy.