Modern Vespa

Grooving on the MPG with my scoot! 1st fill up 80 miles/0.9 gal = 88.8 mpg. 2nd fill-up, topped off for the group ride tomorrow. 34 miles/0.36 gal = 94.4 mpg. Shooting for 100. Conservative start-offs and acceleration. Should be able to get there when the engine breaks in a bit.

With the BV300 I am at 32km/l on average measured over 11.000km and based on real tank data.
32km/l translates to 75 mpg. So I am not surprised your Liberty 150 does better with roughly 90 mpg. That is 38km/l. My old Motobecane 50cc did 66,7km/l or 157 mpg.

(Why you guys are still not working with simple metric units is beyond my understanding)

In the1960s, we made a serious effoft, then stopped. One of the few things that changed and didn't go back is lumber sizes.

It has been talked about many threads ago ...
I was the instigator (mea culpa) but the results were (for me) enlightening and at times hilarious; however, I understood how even the units of measurement are part of a culture and make it richer.
Now that I understand everything I would never want english and americans in a metric way, it would be unnatural.

I would be if the pump read out in liters and my odometer in kilometers.

I was converted 42 years ago by a Physics professor in College on the 1st day of what would be a 4 semester course. He had a half hour lecture on how stupid Fortnight and Furlong measurements, and such, were in the modern world.

So much so, that later when I had an ancient English unit prof my last year, that I took his units for a problem and converted them to metric, worked the problem, then converted back to give him the answer in the units he required.

However, for the gas consumption, I am being lazy and not calculating the conversions.

Unfortunately, this also occurs in my work as a HVAC Controls engineer, when motor specifications are given in horsepower instead of kilowatts, flow in Feet per Second rather than Liters per second, volume is always in gallons, etc. The Mechanical engineers that develop the drawings I work from live in the past. I am forced for expediency to use their units. This highlights how it is industry that must bring the change. If the Mechanical plans provided would have Metric units, then they would be used; breaking the stalemate.

The bright side is that I have made sure that as my son grew up (he is now 22), he always used metric units. This was supported in his public school and college classes. He sometimes makes a speech similar to the Physics professor when confronted with English units. He is into bicycles and English units still crop up on old bikes (sometimes some weird French threads).

So, maybe one more generation past him? A long time considering I remember learning Metric for the 1st time in 7th grade (1971) and being told the US would be converted by the time we graduated from High School; as was the current plan at the time.

BTW..my goal for 42.5 km/l comes from achieving 55 km/l with a Honda CT90. But, I do realize that this is comparing a 9.6 Kw motor to a 5.2 Kw motor. It is also interesting that my 2021 Liberty manual from Piaggio lists the motor power as 12.9 hp, not in Kw. So even they are keeping the US owners in the past.

Your BV300 statistic is good information...if I ever need to have a highway capable scooter that would be my choice.

My little Yamaha 155 cc (cubic centimeters) does more than 42 kilometers with a liter and consider that it has intake valves (2) with variable geometry (VVT); 15 hp at the crankshaft.
The declared power is always at the output of the crankshaft, that at the wheel (useful power) is another thing and is lower.

Habits are difficult to change. In 2002 the Euro has been introduced as daily means of payment. We are now 19 years later and some people still think in Belgian Francs (BEF) (or any of the older currencies), mostly older people. As my elders in law. They have the idea everything has become crazy expensive, and it is difficult to explain to them they judge today prices to a standard that ended 19 years ago.

Yes and no ... In Italy there has not been an adequate compensation of prices for a long period of time, this has led to a distrust in the Euro that continues today.
In addition, the government, to compensate for the difference in the treatment of salaries, which is already difficult with the old currency, allowed the wages to be much lower than the increases in basic necessities for a certain period, calming only slightly the difference ... One shock that Italians still remember with bitterness and that has forever undermined trust in the Euro, still today there are those who would like to return to the old system but it is obvious that it would no longer be possible as well as not convenient.

Oh come to Canada if you want to see the mess firsthand. It's been officially metric for I don't even know how many decades, but people still think in feet and pounds. Even younger generation.

I use the same gas station almost exclusively now. Reason why. I've been noticing at another gas station that on my Liberty 150, if it's 2 bars left on the dash the tank will take a good amount over a gallon. One day I noticed the scale calibration stickers were from 2001! I contacted the scale certification number to report the expired certs and was told they are "voluntary".

So I wound up paying for a gallon and a half and only getting 0.9 gallons. So I just stick to the 7-11 by my job that is always up to date. I get what I pay for there and the service station is near a nice neighborhood, so a lot of premium fuel using cars are always filling up.

Concerning MPGs on my Liberty I never pay it any mind. Just know about how many trips to and from work I can do before I need to fill it up. 2 or 3 bars left means $3 pre-paid in premium/93 octane fuel. Oh, and now premium is $4.05 a gallon and still rising.

I've had my Liberty since 2017, and it's only been to a gas station twice.
7,876 miles.
I'll do the math on that after supper.....

O.S.

Difficult. But even in metric there can and will be misunderstandings.

Many years ago a former colleague of mine had a small plate made out of a transparant plastic laying at the top of his desk. (I am not sure of the exact sizes, but does not matter).
One day I asked what it was for. And he said he wanted to keep his desk free of stains and scratches and therefore ordered an acryl plate to the workshop. He gave them the desired size. The workshop works in mm while he meant in cm but he did not mention that and a few days later he received the tiny piece of acrylic plate. He left it on his desk as a reminder to be always very clear in the units.

There have also been air disasters due to the metric shift with miscalculations of the weight of baggage and passengers and with the conversions of liters / gallons on fuel.

I will be stopping calculations after about 6 months...once I get a good idea of the baseline and grow tired of keeping track. Got to see if I can hit that 42.5 km/liter or it will be a bug in my head. Then I will be using your method.

Wish they sold the Tricity in the US. With 3 wheels I could truly ride year around, even on snow days (up to a point...sometimes we have 8-12 inches). At that point use of my car would nearly go away.

I really like the MP300, but don't need the engine size. And, the price tag new is beyond my resources. When they have come up used at a good price, I didn't have the cash available. Loans on used vehicles are typically difficult and higher interest rates.

I think the best I've gotten for MPGs is 90. I seem to recall that number since I did the same thing your'e doing now with your new Liberty 150. but I can't find the note pad I used. I'm used to keeping data logs from building 2-stroke Zumas and from my job.

I am sure that you are getting great mileage out of that cool scooter.

But in such small fill-ups, it doesn't take much to get inaccurate readings.

Give it a few fill-ups, maybe ten on that gas sipping machine, to see an accurate reading.

I keep track of my fill-ups on Fuelly.

I know, a bit anal, but it is a good way to keep up with travels and maintenance as well.

Bill

Speaking of mileage, does anyone else have a beast of a time fueling up their Liberty??? I picked up a new one last month and I absolutely love it, but my only complaint is how much of a nuisance it is to get the tank properly full. I currently have a Vespa GTV and previously had a Fly 150; both of those, I just put in the nozzle, filled until it clicked off, and I was good to go. With the Liberty, if I do that, the tank only gets like 1/2 - 2/3 full. (And I ran out of gas on one of my first longer rides with it, after only 80 miles!) So now I have to top off, top off, eyeball, top off, eyeball some more, top off... It's quite the process.

I keep track of my fill-ups in excel files, of all our cars and the scooter. I do that since my first car back in 1985 (then on paper). I just like to keep track of things. I do the same with electricity consumption, water consumption (these weekly) and heating oil consumption (monthly). It is to check if everything is normal.

The robot from Vespa Motorsport gives a hint on how to fill the tank in this video: go to roughly 16 minutes, then it is on the tank.
There seems to be a sort of notch in the filler gap.

On my BV, European model, I had a similar problem in the beginning. I just put the nozzle in upto the end and I could maybe fill the tank to half. The trick is to set the first ring on the nozzle to the top edge of the tank. Then it fills up nicely.

I am impressed - and also a bit surprised. I have never owned a Liberty but I have owned a couple of Vespa 150s. The engine is essentially the same, I believe. They both averaged out at about 70 mpg (a lttle higher on a good day).

The engine is identical.

Yeah, one of the youtubes for the Liberty shows the guy merrily overfilling into the catch tray.
I found that if I align the fill handle at 12 and 6, in-line front to back, and rest it gently on that little green lip down there - fill slowly it will click off without coming up and out the tank's neck. And this gets it full.
Personally - I fill at home in the garage with a can. Check for "full-enough-for-me" by turning on the key. All the bars solid?
Good enough.
O.S.

"All the bars solid" left me stranded along the side of the road 80 miles later, lol...

And you accomplished this by ignoring the fuel gauge and the low fuel warning light? Or did they both malfunction?

It's a brand-new scooter and it was my (I think) second fill-up. I had done the math on the mpg on my first fill, I figured I should have no problem going about 100 miles on the tank. I also figured maybe the low-fuel warning light was extra cautious in its reporting.

The furthest I've pushed my luck with the low fuel light on was 21 miles. Also, hint to filling. Once you get used to your range vs. fill up amount just go sloooow when you get almost done. That's the other reason I use the same gas station, the pumps allow a slow fill so I don't have fuel back-burp into my under seat storage. Finally, replace the plastic gas cap with an aluminum red ebay one.

Great points! I also remember the divisive politics during the financial crises with the German bailouts.

Culturally, I generally find the Italians to be very passionate. I think that is part of the reason things like cars, motorcycles, fashion, and many other industries are looked up to favorably and with passion by people all over the world.

As an American traveling in Europe, I find my interactions with random Italians to be a bit threatening because they didn't agree with US foreign policy. I get passionate discussions but, having a dozen people surround me as I got off the commuter train and shout in Italian and broken English had me looking for a police officer so I could escape!

Regarding wages and benefits, no company or country can afford to pay out more than it takes in. Even if you are the best janitor and cashier, if you are paid like a Doctor, Lawyer, etc. the company/government will eventually go broke. Countries in South America have been providing solid evidence of this these past decades and apparently have not learned their lessons of insolvency and lavish public spending when there is insufficient income to support it.

This is a fiscal balancing act that can't be ignored indefinitely. In the USA I'm hearing people talk about just printing more money to give everyone free everything but, on the other hand, they are complaining about high inflation. Yes, gasoline is 50%~75% which will motivate people to buy electric cars! However, people in Ivory tower may be able to afford a Tesla but, those having trouble paying for gasoline aren't financially in a position to buy a new car, much less an expensive EV!

Me too.
I'm getting about 80mpg on my 2018 Liberty S.
O.S.