Modern Vespa

La Gazzetta dello Sport: La Vespa è sempre in testa ai desideri degli italiani.
https://www.gazzetta.it/motori/la-mia-moto/24-08-2019/vespa-testa-desideri-italiani-subito-dati-3401922432079.shtml

The Pontedera scooter is the most sought after two-wheeler on website sales

The Vespa 50R that was given to Pope Francis last year.



Vespa, Sh and TMax. This is the podium of the two-wheeled vehicles most sought after by the Italians. The three scooters are confirmed in the top positions. It is the result of the vehicles used by the users of Subito, the sales portal that, according to the Audiweb data communicated by the platform itself, has over 11 million unique monthly users. And the section about motorcycles and scooters for sale with a prevalence is very popular, as shown by the most sought after, just for the scooters. The motorcycles and scooters category has around 185 thousand daily announcements and every week is attended by 2.85 million users.

MODELS

Precisely, the data recorded in the first six months of 2019, which Gazzetta.it was able to preview, confirm the Piaggio Vespa at the top of users' wishes. As mentioned, the Honda Shax and the Yamaha TMax follow in second and third place. There are also two great classics of the Italian company Piaggio, Beverly (4th) and Liberty (9th), which despite losing two positions remains in the top 10. In fifth place, up three places, the first bike in the standings arrives, that is the Ktm 125, the favorite of motocross lovers. In the sixth and seventh position are the bikes chosen by those who love performance, the sporty fairing R6 and R1 of Yamaha, while the big Honda Cbr (8ª), uphill of two positions, and the BMW GS (10th ), the street enduro that has dominated the market for years in the new.

MARKS AND TYPOLOGIES

Looking instead at the brands preferred by Subito users, Harley-Davidson is confirmed as the leader. In second place comes Ktm, up two places, which replaces BMW, now fourth. Third place confirms Ducati, while the only new entry in the top 10 brands is Husqvarna (always owned by the Austrian Mattighofen company). Then analyzing the most searched words, net of brand and model, the Italians' passion for the motorcycle-entertainment union is confirmed. Cross (3rd), Enduro (6th) and Pit Bike (7th), all types dedicated to those who want a bike that not only allows to go on the road, but also to enjoy their free time. New entry in 9th place Epoca, to indicate a passion for the bikes that made history.

MARKET

The showcase offered by Subito is part of a large-scale painting that is painted in a timely manner by the monthly Aci Auto Trend survey. Taking a look at the size of the used car market in Italy, as far as registered motorcycles and scooters, so over 50 cmc, in the January-June 2019 period, ownership changes fell by 1.6% compared to the same period of the 2018. In total, in the first half of 2019, the steps were 337.971. On average the second-hand motorcycle and scooter market in Italy is worth between 600 and 650 thousand pieces a year.

Ciao Attila,

We are in your beautiful country for our Vespa trip to start today in Napoli. Remarkable to see more Beverlys, Libertys and Scarabeos than Vespas. We saw several older P's in the 150 to 200's but no modern Vespas yet. Even Capri was the same. We did see quite a few old and tiny vintage Fiat Cinquecento though.

The reason is the general condition of the roads (not good) especially in the cities, the modern Vespa has small wheels (relatively) and has high prices also used. The old Vespas keep the price and the market because they are easy and inexpensive to maintain, the most sought after is the PX 200 because it has the mixer for the oil supply and (obviously) the last series of the PX.
So .... have a nice holiday and pay attention to the surface of the roads and how they drive from those areas (panic!).

Grazie. We will as we are spoiled with the larger wheels of our 300 Sport. We will probably be given 125 or 150 GTS or hopefully Primavera (I wish).

The PX125/150 was the last series of PX as it was still able to meet Euro 3 standards.

... in fact i was talking about the vintage PX 200 ... which is still the most sought after in Italy because it has insurance benefits and more.
A friend sells one but the prices here are high, about EUR 4000 in good condition.
Consider that in the face of a "real" value that should be half of what is demanded, the scarcity of models in good condition raises the price a lot ...
In practice the vintage Vespas are overrated as a value because they are in great demand anche perchè si possono usare tutti i giorni come un normale scooter moderno ( o quasi...).
It also happens with some Japanese scooters whose minimum value is going up (T Max - Majesty 250 DX - Honda Spazio / Helix 250); a T Max first series (carburetors) is not found, in good condition, for less than EUR 3000.

https://www.vespaforever.net/quotazio.htm

Here in Lucca there are a few Vespas of all vintages. Mostly Beverly, Liberty and Scarabeo. More MP3's than I expected and a fair number of Hondas. When I was at the Piaggio Museum, the saleswoman seemed suprised that Piaggio sells a Beverly in the States, she thought all that went there were Vespas.

... see ... we Italians are generally unaware of what is happening outside our beautiful country and it is a pity to prove it. I, for example, am learning a lot by reading about you and your experiences ... all of them. I am also a little ambassador of your to my fellow countrymen because I fill their lack of knowledge through customs and traditions. Then I often watch documentaries on Sky and Focus and RAI 5; very nice series: https://www.travelblog.it/post/196394/prossima-fermata-america-i-documentari-della-bbc-su-rai-5. Certainly from live it is another thing ...what to say, you will have understood that I like your country as much as you like ours.

Attila -- I've spent the past two months in Italy and I am realizing how little I really know about this wonderful place. You are exactly right that folks in both Italy and America through passing contact in either country think they "know" what the other is like. Years ago my family was on a vacation in Umbria and my son and I had a wonderful lunch in a small town called Baschi outside of Orvieto. My son remarked what a wonderful place Umbria was, I agreed, but said to him, if you moved here after college and settled here, five generations later, your descendants would still be the "Americani". Go into towns and look for the memorials to the "caduti", the said fact is that you see the same "cognome" on those memorials war after war. Italy is a wonderful place, Italians are wonderful and generous people, but if I moved here, I never would become "Italian", there is just too much of my American upbringing that would get in the way. I hope I have been a nice visitor, but at age 68, I'm not sure I ever could be more than a good visitor. There is too much to learn.