Modern Vespa

I have the opportunity to be an extremely low mile 2005 PX150 for a fair price and I want some advice.

Back in 2007 I bought a new LX150 and 150S for myself and the girl friend (at the time lol). The dealer had a NOS Leftover 2005 PX150 sitting in the showroom and it was still there a year and a half later and I have always regretted not purchasing that scoot. That said, I just brought home a pretty clean 2009 Stella 150 2T that I plan to clean up and run around and it's practically the same scooter but with different badging. I find myself wanting this 2005 PX simply because of the regret I've had for not purchasing the same one 15 years ago. So is it worth my time and money to buy the like new PX150 or should I stick with the clean Stella I already have for far less? Maybe I should skip adding the second 150 altogether and find an older P200 instead?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Welcome to MV Tex!

The age old dilemma!

PX150 is sweet, but it's gonna be slower than the LML engine Stella. There are obvious quality issues with the Stella, namely the inferior rubber that'll rot before your eyes. That said, they are solid scooters, like a Vespa, but not a Vespa.

P200. There is no replacement for displacement...

You're thinking like a scooterist! Good luck with your decision(s).

Oh, and show us pics of your Stella and the PX150!

Depends, I use my Stella on rural roads etc and speed limit ranges from 55-60 mph. I needed more power to cruise at those speeds. I worked on tuning my DR177 motor for awhile, but never got there. Yes I could get to 65 or 70 until I started up a hill or had a head wind. People say I can do 65 or 70 mph but that's usually on flat ground with no hills etc. Some are even with people tucked down for better aerodynamics. Who rides 15 miles to work like that?

Swapped in a P200 with a Pinasco P225 and I was cruising at 60 mph without tuning. Those are all GPS speeds.

I definitely need the rubber around the keyed ignition, does anyone have the part number or a link to where I can get that? I'll have pics up of the Stella in my thread ("2009 Stella 2T") later today. I am super jealous of your Green Stella, by far my favorite color.

I usually hate yellow of any kind on anything with a motor but I am kinda digging this P200, not sure how I feel about the mileage or price and it's quite the haul from Texas, but it looks to be well sorted/restored, thoughts?

https://vespamotorsport.com/1980-vespa-p200e-porsche-yellow/

https://www.scootermercato.com/Scooter-Parts/Grommets/174092 Spendy, and if you don't like butter cream yellow. It looks nice, and you can trust MotorSportScooters and Robot to do a fine job. But like anything this old, it takes some maintenance and care to keep it running well.

My 2 cents anyway....

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I've owned 2 Stellas, 4 2005 PX150's, and a large handful of P200's, so I'll give you my 2 cents of experiences with all of them.

A stock Stella is definitely faster than a stock 2005 PX150. If both a stock Stella and a stock PX150 both have a Sito+ exhaust installed, then the Stella was about 3~5 mph faster.

The 2005 PX150's engine cases can easily be opened up to match the flow of the stock cast iron top end, and a noticeable amount of torque can be had for free. The PX has a FAR superior (strength wise) transmission, clutch, crankshaft, brake drum, ignition). The Stella's engine case inlet has a larger opening so it's easier to tune it up. The PX's come with a better paint job, better rubber bits, and a 10x (maybe 20x?) better wire harness.

A nicely sorted P200 is just that. There's something about a stock P200 that will take you the distance...and then back home, all while cruising at a reliable higher speed. The transmission in a 2005 PX150 will have a more durable transmission than a P200. The disc brake on a PX is also VERY nice to have. All my vintage scooters have been converted over to disc. I don't think I could go back to drum.

A combination of a PX150 transmission (and all tranny related components) inside Stella cases, and then installed in a PX150 frame would produce some good results. Other option is to buy a P200 and not worry about the semantics of how much faster a Stella is than a PX150.

My favorite option is to buy both a P200 and a PX150, and then install the 200 engine into the PX150 frame. You get a disc brake and an uber reliable wire harness with super bright lights. You can even go so far as to swap the whole PX150 EFL transmission into the P200 engine!

Put a P200 in your Stella, I want to put my Stella Transmission in a P200 case with reeds.

Thanks for the replies fellas. Do y'all not purchase things from Scooterworks? I've noticed all parts recommendations seem to from ScooterMercato and ScootersWest, is there a reason behind that?

I have in the past. I just like to give my cash to Scootermercato or Scooter West namely because of David & Matt at Mercato and scooter West because of Robots YouTube vids ..

Just trying to support the folks that have supported me.

Good to know, that's what I had assumed. No worries, I just wanted clarification, I didn't want to order something from ScooterWorks only to find out that they are slow to ship or not accurate or have bad CS, etc.

Scooter Mercato is the best. I'll call up and Dave always remembers who I am. We'll chat for 45mins about our kids and life and what not. I can't spend money elsewhere with that kind of treatment.

I've had the same experience with them and the same kind of conversations.

Texas68w,

Where do you find new PX150's? I remember when they had them back in 05-06 and the standard model were $4799(I think) plus registration and tax and $500 more for the america series.

I have them both (PX150, P200E) and I also had Stella 2T . The stock P200E is vastly quicker than the stock PX150. The performance of the stock 150 is really hindered from the factory exhaust and you are limited on what roads you can ride due to the limited speed.

The Vespa quality is better in my opinion, paint is better, wiring harness is better, speedometer and fuel gauge is better. I love my P200E, it is fast with the malossi 210 but it doesn't have the nice disc brake, the good lights, the electric starter.

You already have a Stella 2T, why not just put a cylinder kit and call it a day? Where in Texas are you?

The PX150 did indeed sell for that price back in 2005-2008 when they remained as NOS on most dealers floors. I remember my local dealer still having a remaining 2005 for sale new as late as 2010. They didn't sell all that well and I chalk that up to most buyers wanting a 4-stroke twist-n-go scoot. They were priced slightly higher than the LX and S models at the time and the economy was in the dumps, just too many factors working against them.

The Stella will likely be more than I ever need but the PX150 is an itch I've always wanted to scratch regardless of how redundant it might be. I might kit the Stella but for now I'd like to keep it as is. It's funny how many of you have owned Stella's in the past (keyword being "owned") yet y'all still recommend them even though y'all now own the PX. Not sure whether that's a compliment to the Stella or an insult to the PX lol.

I had a Serie America and now I own a Stella...

some people just want it for the prestige. the cachet. the history.

some just want one to scratch that itch from that one time in Paris they got tuned up in a shitty little bar listening to Robert gordon and got talked into giving a pretty French girl a ride on her PX150 to the left bank so you could both drink kronenbourg 33's a dance to rockabilly all night at the disco.

but I digress...

the quality, ride and over all fit and finish absolutely stomps the shit out of a Stella. but you are talking about a 17yr old bike.

In addition to Mercato & West, both great resources -
I'd like to throw in a shout out for Mark Ito & SCOOTER-SPEED, in SoCal. They always treat me well, ship fast, and always have time for my questions; special ordering for SIP as well. They stock some nice german sourced parts here in the states as well. These 3 shops combined get 99% of my scooter parts funds.

Translation: We pour time and money into these old crates because it makes us remember the days when riding one could get us some p*ssy.

Haha, I definitely had some good times on my scoots back in my younger days in Austin.

He did say it quite eloquently though. I was telling a similar story to a bunch of guys in a friend's basement bar. I am kind of the Frasier Crane of the outfit. My long winded story was summarized by one of the listeners.

I just placed an order last week and am actually bummed I did it online instead of calling! It was LATE when I finally placed it though. Didn't wanna wake Dave up at 1am lol. Cause you know he'd pick up!