Modern Vespa

In the market for a Vespa 300 HPE. In Australia we can choose a SuperSport with an analogue dash or a SuperTech with the TFT dash. Apart from some trim and colour options, that's the only difference between the two.

How are people finding the TFT display long term? Vespa only offers 2 year warranty here and I'm concerned it could have issues over time. Given they couldn't build a push-button seat release that didn't suffer corrosion from water ingress I'm fearful the TFT may fail before the rest of the bike and be an expensive fix. It's also the first iteration of the TFT display so more likely to experience unanticipated issues.

18 months with my Supertech in Melbourne and happy

TFT instrumentation is a bit too-new a thing in terms of predicting long-term viability, in both four- and two-wheeled vehicles, although I'd be more concerned about the latter in terms of stuff like weather-sealing and high/low-temperature tolerances. Mind you, old-school analog systems have their issues as well, but I have more confidence in "hybrid" systems such as what my ride came with (analog speedo with digital control, plus all-digital feedback for odo/trip-odo/fuel gauge/clock). The TFT on the Supertech looks mad-cool, and is likely as reliable as anything some car company puts on their current models, but time alone will tell how reliable they are...and how easily they'll be replaced if and when needed.

The greatest enemy is the heat of the sun and its light.
I saw the displays of some blackened or deformed Vespa 250s (we are not talking about the Kymko ones, a real massacre ...).
I don't know if they improved them later.

Is no difference, then when you leave your new mobile phone on the dashboard in the car..
As they heat up they go black. Not a permanent damage but you can read anything while is black..

They are not really that new either as BMW as been using them since 2017 on the GS and I'm sure some other brand, had them even earlier.. Some people like them, some people hate them..

Because of my age and eyes I have to go with the second group. I can't see a damn thing when the sun is above or just behind me, (like the GPS come to think)..

True - although not exposed to the elements in a car of course. And my car at least has a 5 year warranty. My concern with the TFT is if it goes you lose everything - fuel, speed, the lot.

If the screen died I'd just use my app as that displays everything i need (including fuel) 😀

TFT is not a new technology and it's durability is well understood

Fuel level is done as in the PX, shake the Vespa and look in the open tank ...

I think as times goes by even in the motorcycle industry TFT screen will become more and more popular and obviously get cheaper and cheaper like laptop and GPS replacement screen that eventually if one stop working you would just replace it like a consumable, for possibly as little as $30-50 dollars or even less depending on the popularity of it..

TFT's are very reliable on bikes generally speaking and in reality are not much different to the LCD displays that have been on many bikes for several years now. As Attila says, it's the heat from the sun that is the main concern. My LCD display on my GTS is weathering well and I don't expect any problems with it. My bike is well into it's 5th year now and inevitably is left out in the sun during the high heat of summer. No issues. I think the manufacturers of both LCD and TFT have improved the designs somewhat and they are now much more durable. Buy with confidence would be my advice.

If Mr. Stormrider allows me ... the heat and rays of the sun are different from the area of the globe where you live ...
In central Italy it even reaches 42 ° C (107.6 ° F) and I know that summers in England can lately be even hotter than usual; obviously you think and I hope that the display manufacturer (which is always an external supplier to the main brand) has tested (I also have a fully digital display) the material for the environmental conditions but ... on some Use & Maintenance booklets yes he is sometimes warned not to leave the vehicle (mind you ... it speaks of the vehicle in general!) exposed to extreme changes in heat.
If you notice there is a play on words ... it is alluded to but there is no precise reference; on the Vespa I don't know if it says it but read the warnings, you never know.
PS: I'm sorry to sound like a saboteur of certainties but we are also here to, how to say ... er ..., to clarify what we have.

I look at all the new innovations and ask myself. "How long before it breaks?" Bikes with lean angle controlled traction control, Wheelie control, cruise control, multiple level throttle response on wire controlled throttles......

I had the return springs rust out on my brake light switches on my 1979 Kawasaki and the wire loom rub through behind my rubber mounted gas tank shorting out a fuse.

Yes, all this electric wizardry is marvelous. Until it fails and an expensive Electronic Technician spends hundreds of dollars in time sorting out the problem.

So it seems that in the end, the common say "never put all your eggs in one basket" still make sense...

This might partially explain why Royal Enfield, coming from nearly the polar opposite direction, is selling like crazy right now. (Their price-point doesn't hurt, either.)

I think I would want to know how much a replacement screen is before I made a decision. Is it just a display that all the inputs from sensors arrive at or does it have black box stuff and more wizardry inside?

In the road test published in the Italian magazine Motociclismo, the RE Hymalian 500 is considered poor in content and with poorly efficient brakes; note that the motorcycle of the comparison is the Benelli Imperiale 400 (which is a real 350 cc) and is considered better, this at the same price.

Good point...

So I checked..

The instrument cluster retails for around $706 AUD and you can only get the entire cluster as replacement... Price is from www.parts-piaggio.com

If it gets popular eventually the Chinese market will release just the screen with instruction on how to replace just the glass, for few dollars (they always do)..

However, on eBay you can also get the screen protector for just $10... That could be a good investment...

By looking at the Piaggio fiche, I wouldn't be surprise if, for the people that have the analog cluster and would like to have the TFT cluster instead, it may be possible to by also changing the rear handle bars cover and few more bits, and it wouldn't cost more than $1000 all up.. The connection plug is possibly different, but it could be easily rewired to fit, as the HPE engine still use the same number of sensors, and it is not really that much different from the <2018 engine anyway..

For comparison, the complete display of the Yamaha Tricity is priced at 270 EUR (420 AUD).



But it has a protective lid while on other scooters the display is not surrounded by a protection.

I'm wondering how interchangeable all these clusters are??

After all they all do the same jobs, so as long you can get your hand on the wiring schematics...

You're right, I've actually thought about it several times.
On the SIP website I saw that there are alternative tools for the Vespa (only for the Vespa); I looked for alternative tools for the Tricity.
I miss knowing the coolant temperature and engine rpm which are not really that important but would love to have them.
Another thing I miss is the "four turn lights" (or hazzard) function but the one with a lot of work is addable.

I ended up going for the SIP racing cluster when I bought the GTS..

It has all the functions plus two temperature reading.. For the RPM THe GST has already the wiring installed. I just had to plug in the instrument cluster and add an extra wire from the front to the OEM plug that already had the wired..

Perhaps the Yamaha use the same kind of attitude (one wiring harness for several model) so it wouldn't be that hard.. To make a home made hazard lights (4 indicators at once) you could easily achieve it with a DTDP switch.. Is not that complicate as long as you don't mind making a round hole for the switch next to the actual current indicator switch...

I wound up opting for the TFT and have been really happy with it in the 6 months I've owned it. I really like the Bluetooth connectivity and the sat nav has come in really handy.

Looks like that's two of us: since last contributing to this thread, I've had two accidents, the second of which did in my '15 GTS Super; As of a few days ago, I now have a '22 SuperTech.

Curious as to the accident situation? Clearly you are ok because you got a new scoot and can still post!

Did I miss a story or the details of the accident in another thread?

I love a good accident story, and love telling them as well. A couple years back at work several of us rode bikes to work and were talking about it at lunch. One of the guys who did not ride was asking questions about learning to ride and the conversation inevitably turned to "have you ever crashed?"

And when the obvious yes answer was given the next question was "How many times have you crashed?"

He didn't want to learn any more about how to ride after that.

Mind you I started with bicycles very young. As a kid we made ramps and pretended to be Evil Knevil. In the days before mountain bikes we took 20" sting ray bikes and put wide knobby back tires on the front and pretended to be motocross racers, early play bmx racing. In my teens I had dirt motorcycles and racing ten speeds with sew up tires that would get a flat if you looked at them cross eyed.

I am pretty sure my crashes on a motorcycle number in the hundreds if you count every time it was laid down unintentionally, and if you add the bicycles it would be close to a thousand, possibly exceeding that number. In my introduction to the forum I said skids was the nickname I got as a kid by my friends for my penchant for body surfing pavement, I came by the nickname honestly.

I got really good at taking a fall and have only injured or dinged myself seriously maybe a dozen times but a couple of them really good. I have also made some truly miraculous saves. You don't know what your limits are until you have exceeded them.

Anyway please do tell?

The Story:

The Melody Chronicles: We took a hit tonight