Modern Vespa

Any news on a BV redesign?

I haven't heard anything about a redesign. Considering the BV350 was state of the art when they first put out and still is, I don't so see a major redesign coming soon. A redesign could also mean that Piaggio would plan to discontinue the bike for a new one to take its place. Frankly, I hope they leave it alone for a little while. The new electric seat release or starter or whatever they just added, wasn't worth the extra money IMHO. If they could add a speedo that is correct with mph, it would be worth more money. We are likely to see the lights replaced with LED's in the future though as this seems to be what everyone wants. Little improvements like this are more likely to happen. I would guess that Piaggio plans to get a lot more use out of the BV350 motor. Its been past time for a GTS redesign and it still hasn't happened yet either.

Speed are set up as there are do to EU laws. Can't read under, so they compisate over.

BV350 won't fit in the Vespa frame.

Is it just me, or do others have trouble filling the gas tank? Seems like the last couple quarts take a while to 'settle', and if you rush it you get overflow, even though the level eventually drops down. Doesn't help that you can't see anything looking down the filler neck. Maybe not so much a problem if you fill at the gas station, but I usually fill up from a 5 gallon can. Be nice if they could fix that.

Other than ego inflating, no excuse for an electronic speedo to be so optimistic.

Love my Beverly. Be fun to have a 'tach' option built into the ODO.

Next time I get under it, probably disable the sidestand switch.

And I too am nervous about the electric seat release. Although there is a mechanical backup. Be nice if they'd put a cutout switch on the underseat light. I rarely (well, really, never) actually need it, and I figure a malfunction could kill the battery. Might need to do that myself as well.

Given the option, I'd also uncombine the brakes. I'm used to riding bikes, and prefer separate front and back brakes.

Still, the best scooter I've ridden, by far. So mostly niggles.

+1 on comments.
The brakes are not combined.
Add leaking water pump bearings to the potential problems that could be permanently fixed on a "new" design.

the MP3 250 got the engine upgrade to the bv 350 .

the mp3 250 is the same base engine as the gts 250/300.

Get a gas card https://youtu.be/3Ph_CUbnHVQ

I thought it was more complicated than that?

All my reading/remembering is that US 2013 - 2015 models had linked brakes, that were then unlinked (with the addition of ABS on the 2016 model), and that in EuropeLand, they'd had ABS (and unlinked brakes) from launch day.

But I could be wrong as well.

Tough to say what would go into a real redesign for the BV -- it's good at so many things (the curse of being a middleweight, I guess).

It's nimble enough for city driving, has plenty of available power off the line, and you can tour on it if you want (though it's tiring after a couple hundred miles). The brakes and wet clutch give it great stopping power/predictable control on congested roads, and its suspension can put up with whatever hare-brained lines I come up with for turns.

Do you need to shave 10-20% of wet weight off the bike? Would it feel less planted/stable as a result?

Bore it out to be a full 350 or even 400 to kill BMW's X 400 in its crib? How do you tune that new power, towards the low end, or up the top speed?

Widen the fairings to better shield the rider when touring? Would it be as fun around town once you did that?

Sure, they can update the lighting to LED, get a better fuel gauge on it and re-shape the fuel cell to make filling the tank less frustrating, throw an all-LCD dash in place (as seems to be the rage now, kinda like when Honda scooters went added digital elements to their dashes back in the 80s), and even give us a tach for variables you can't control while driving because the CVT picks what "gear" you're in, but those don't represent a re-design, at least to me.

I'd love a BV 400 that incorporated all of the big changes (lower weight, bigger bore, and a little more wind protection), but I don't know if that'd be what the market as a whole wants.

Yeah I want a wider fairing on my BV.......NOT!!!

And the drum front brake.

My 2013 definitely has combined brakes. One lever operates one piston on the front caliper, the other lever operates the other piston, and through a proportioning valve, the rear caliper. I got an intimate familiarity when I managed to get some air in the combined circuit when bleeding the brakes. What a pain in the posterior. Can tell because there are two hoses going down to the front caliper.

If I could figure out a reasonably cheap way to decombine them, I'd jump at it. But to do it right, might need new master cylinders, along with different hoses, to keep the lever pressures consistent. Not sure I care that much.

And the gascard won't make much difference on my 5 gallon gas can. Every other bike/scooter I own has a clear view of the tank, making fill-ups easy and clean. Only the BV has the black tunnel. Given the size of the door, could have used a larger filler diameter, or just eliminated the 'fins' around the inside of the filler neck, to allow for some visibility. Using a lighter-colored plastic for the tank wouldn't hurt, either.

Now that I think of it, might just pop the bulb out of the holder under the seat.

Yes, but the MP3 250, the BV250/300, and the Aprilia SC250/300 use the engine with the long transmission case, while the GTS 250/300 uses the short case. As far as I know, there is no short case 350 engine.

If you're filling up with a gas can, you can turn the key to on and watch the gas gauge move to full.

I usually park with my side stand down when I fill up. Then I tip my scooter up to get the gas to settle faster so I can put more in faster. I'm too lazy to put it on the center stand. In Calif its a two handed job to fill up because of the stupid nipple on the pump. It helps if you watch the pump gauge while you fill up.

My 2016 BV350 has linked brakes (back is linked to the front, the front is not linked) and I'm pretty sure that all of the BV350's are the same way.

I'm a woman, and I think they are like babies, i 'burp' them several times when filling gas tanks, was taught that very young and have been doing it for most of my life, so that means my Grandpa George and I was turned 4 years old and his favorite 'playmate' from probably 1960 until his death in 1964, we burped that old start with a pull cord Cushman, we chased grease zerts under things, and I got to roller skate in the winter in the shop when the snow was deeper than I was tall in the high country of Colorado. So, ya, I 'burp' the gas tank a few times when filling. That might help, put some gas in, pat, gently thump, or rock the scooter a tiny bit to get air out, and put some more gas in.

Tried that, still got overflow. Probably just too impatient. Hard to tell when to start spoon-feeding the gas. I have 2 bikes and 3 scooters, and the BV is the only one that requires special treatment when filling it up. I would chalk that up as deficient design. Since I rarely consume more than a half-tank on a single ride, I get it mostly full and stop there, as a general rule. So not a big problem, Just a nuisance, that I don't see a reason for.

I have a new 2019 model BV. I don't have any problem filling the gas tank. I removed the evaporator canister inside the pet carrier. I don't know if that has anything to do with it.

^^^^This

I would agree filling the gas tank on the BV is in need of redesign. Poor location of gas fill port and visibility issues combined with gas nozzle shutoff variations make it (for me), a crapshoot. Just a tiny inadvertent overfill has resulted numerous times in gas flooding the evap system which has resulted in rough idling and dangerous stalling. I often just try to approach full usually by listening to a change in the gas filling sounds and stop early. Naturally at a noisy gas station, on main road, that's not an easy task, and I'm way to close to that filler port wearing a helmet and trying to hear it approach full. I don't enjoy it, ever. Other than that, I love the BV

^^^^This

I would agree filling the gas tank on the BV is in need of redesign. Poor location of gas fill port and visibility issues combined with gas nozzle shutoff variations make it (for me), a crapshoot. Just a tiny inadvertent overfill has resulted numerous times in gas flooding the evap system which has resulted in rough idling and dangerous stalling. I often just try to approach full usually by listening to a change in the gas filling sounds and stop early. Naturally at a noisy gas station, on main road, that's not an easy task, and I'm way to close to that filler port wearing a helmet and trying to hear it approach full. I don't enjoy it, ever. Other than that, I love the BV

***oops! duplicate post deleted***

You can say that again!

https://advrider.com/f/threads/vapor-recovery-nozzle-tool.647816/

California pump solution

That could change if/when the LEDs start failing, many motorcycles and scooters require a complete new unit to be fitted at eye watering costs.

If someone with the required skills really, really wanted to they could do a wee spot of cutting, welding, metal bashing, whatever it takes they would get it done.

Surprising what can be made to fit in a scooter...