Modern Vespa

Just can't seem to make myself like the styling of the Honda PCX, Suzuki Burgman, etc...Really having a hard time finding a Vespa where I am (western NC)..I have looked at many other options but think a Vespa GTS 200, 250 or 300 is the scoot for me..I'll be buying used because new GTS 300hpe wowsa! 😬 Wish me luck...oh and the look on friend's faces when I tell them I'm leaving the ADV/dualsport world for a Vespa is priceless 😀😀
Cheers,
Byron

I had a CBR900RR at the same time as my Helix. I the guys wanted to ride far I'd take the Helix. They'd clown me, blast off and then complain about their wrist hurting, no place to keep a drink and wind blast. My Helix was the best. Big windscreen, cup holders, homemade cruise control and a Kenwood stereo. And the police never looked at me! I'm a full on scooter guy now. No longer wanna deal with shifting, feeling the heat from the engine in the summer, lack of easy storage and tossing my leg over a seat. I'll still take a bike on a blast ride if given the chance though, but I won't get swayed back into buying one.

I know what you mean. I've been agonizing over what scooter to buy. There is a chinese scooter called Lifan KPV 150, very cool scooter, water cooled and fuel injected, not the usual Chinese low rent offerings. $3000 in a crate to my driveway. Made to compete with the Honda ADV 150. Almost bought it but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be happy with a 150 and it's speed limitations. I looked at a small Burgman and couldn't relate to it. Checked out a huge BMW scooter. Looked at the Kymco line. Moved on to new Vespa's and quickly learned the out the door prices were more than I wanted to spend. Used Vespa's aren't plentiful by me either unless you go to New York City where there are scooters with hard miles. I expanded my search and found a 2009 Vespa GTS 250ie in Pennsylvania. I drove 75 miles to check it out and I bought it on the spot. Many folks on here spoke highly of the GTS 250 series and if you can find one, they are a fraction of the cost of a new GTS 300. My advise, relax and keep looking. Check out facebook market place, cycle trader, Craigslist etc. One thing I know about the one I bought, it's resale price is pretty stable. I didn't even get it yet, pick it up next Tuesday. Good Luck! I saw a few used Vespas at Lake Norman Cycles if that's not too far.

A quick look at Facebook marketplace shows several used vespas within a couple of hundred miles of Western North Carolina.

For the right motorcycle I've flown to Florida from Minnesota and rode home. It was an adventure and something I'll never forget. Dealer picked me up at airport and I rode 1200+ miles home. A few hundred mile radius for a modern scooter isn't bad, and you could ride it home.

Yup, have given more than a "quick" look at Facebook marketplace...have a 100 mile radius dialed in but peek at results from further away...again not lots of Vespas in my price range...sure are a lot more Harleys 😄

You can always look for a new Royal Alloy GP300. Looks the part and has the 278cc engine. Your market really decided what's available for you, but there is a nice, brand new option that's less expensive than the HPE.

I've never owned a motorcycle, but I keep flirting with getting one. Then, I read a wise post like this and realize I'm not missing anything. Maybe another scoot for me. I just wish Honda or Yamaha made something in the 200cc to 250cc range.

I think a Honda PCX (now a 160cc) would work for me, but I live up a steep hill in Connecticut, the land of unenforced speed limits. Before my GTS 300, my Vino 125 would piss off a long row of drivers when in maxed out at 40mph going up the 35mph speed limit hill. People in CT expect to go 50+ up the hill, so I'd get a lot of people passing me over the double yellow line (it's also a "No Passing" zone), honking, and giving me the finger… All for traveling at 5mph beyond the posted limit.

This is perhaps the most petty reason ever for not liking a scooter but I just can't stand the word "Burgman". You're going to love your Vespa, and you'll never get sick of saying it's name.

I totally agree about the name "burgman"...just doesn't roll off the tongue right!! 😎

I get the Liberty insurance theme song sang to me at least twice a week! Co-workers to complete strangers. Not sure if its a good thing or not but I still love my Liberty. Burgman owners don't have a catchy theme song!

I own both. There are things that each do well that the other doesn't. I don't judge either by what they don't do or define myself by which I ride. When I started riding, Vespas were smoking two strokes with hand shift, gears and a clutch like any other motorcycle.
Bikes are cool, scooters are cool. They both have their fans.

Welcome to MV lemonster1. Welcome to Mr Happy as well.

theschuman,

You might consider a Honda Super Cub? A little smaller displacement than you were thinking. The big wheels and clutchess shifting is like a half step from a scooter but still a motorcycle.

Chris from CLE

I love the Super Cub, but it will never make it up the hill quickly enough to avoid people passing me over a double yellow line and honking. It's quite the hill, miles long with a very steep grade at some points. And to get to work, I have to go down it and then up it to get home.

This is why no one likes people from Connecticut with their pastel colored slacks : ) If I were looking for a small motorcycle, I like the BMW G310, they look cool. Second would be an old Buell Blast, way cool thumper bike.

The Burgman has it's place and purpose as do all Maxi-scooters. The Vespa 250 -300 as well. Whereas the maxis can handle like a boat in tight city streets, it really shines when the road opens up. The styling is more like a modern motorcycle. I consider the Vespa as more as an all-around machine, good in the city, good on the highway - a good compromise for both. The styling is more of a classic nature. Which to buy? Depends on the riding you want to do.

My wife had a Honda Silverwing. Nice to ride when it was on 2 wheels, then she had a trike conversion installed. Not so nice after the conversion. I almost purchased a Silverwing myself but my needs required something no larger than a 150cc.

But if I were to buy a bike.:
Honda Monkey bike just for goofing around on.
KTM 390 Duke if they improved the quality.
Triumph Speed Triple if I went back to dangerous riding. FUN, flat out FUN!
Indian FTR if I wanted a one and done motorcycle.

But I'm happy with my 150cc scooter. Does everything I need it to do while being affordable and easy to self service. I only ride for commuting now, and rode way less when I had my ebike. But I sold the ebike and have yet to find a suitable replacement.

I'd happily trade the build quality and reliability plus the utilitarian looks of a Japanese or Taiwanese scooter over the ascetics of something from Italy.

Says the man with the Moto Guzzi.

Because they don't make movies about Burgmans.

Actually, I wouldn't care if they did make movies with them: fabulous bikes (check out RyanF9's Fortnine profile of the Burgman 650 Executive…quite the hoot). Just as with other maxi-scoots, I could never get around what I've called the George Jetson School of Industrial Design ethos nearly all of them follow, with the possible exception of Piaggio's BV/Beverly, depending on the week. The GTS has always been a Goldilocks Zone for me: not the fastest, but more than fast enough; big enough to feel stable at highway speeds, but small enough to still feel "scooterish" in tight city traffic; capacious enough for most day-to-day utility-stuff, but capable of being loaded to the gills via racks/top boxes/et al. I can easily hop on and scoot across town or across a state line or two. And, yes, to me it's so damned pretty, and that does matter. So sue me. Well, they had improved things a bit by the time they built yours...

But have you seen this...

Yep, I namechecked that video earlier. I like to think it's sort of the ride Alan Greenspan would've had in mind when he coined the phrase "irrational exuberance." (At least if he was into bikes at all.)

The Burgman was a 650, not a 560.

This is the pay off between something that's not that pleasing to look at but has been engineered correctly and something else that's trading on it's own Legacy.

Of course the Vespa is going to beat anything else on looks because love is blind. When you're in love you'll tend to forgive any kind of behaviour because riding that product ( or dating someone ) is a projection or a reflection of your tastes and desires.

We've all dated someone gorgeous who can be a bit of a nightmare but because they make us look and feel good we don't reconsider is it worth it ?

I'm aware of a couple of HPE's that are eating oil and are down on compression as well as initial issues with the paint and of course the brake recall.

It's another example of the Automotive Industry rushing out a product to an eager client base without RnDing it properly.

If you want the truth about a product talk to a Sales Person or a Technician when they aren't at work and then decide what to buy because I promise you a dealership will keep selling a product when it's flaws are known to keep the business going rather than stop selling it and lose sales.

Japanese or Taiwanese scooters are aren't built to love, they are built to ride. Ascetics are secondary.

You'll have exactly the same experiences on those scooters but you won't look as good while you're doing it.

Bill: Thanks for pointing out my dyslexic moment...now corrected.

Honda ADV? The uphill thing is easily fixed.

The 150cc Honda ADV is the only one available in the U.S. at this time, and it has less power than the PCX. I expect/hope the PCX's newer, larger engine (just under 160cc), will be added to the ADV soon. The ADV 350 would be nice, but that's not an option here. Honda even stopped offering the Forza in the states a couple of years ago. So, in the U.S., the PCX has the largest displacement of all Honda's new scooters. Unbelievable, right?

Aesthetically I like my Aprilia, even though it doesn't look like a Vespa. The Stella looks like a Vespa, but the PO painted it with a brush so I'm covering it with stickers. It will never be pretty. I love them equally, but differently.

I'm sure it's been mentioned here before, but "Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" should be a required read. You will weigh the value of your ride differently afterward.

I'd like to drag race the 150cc Honda ADV and the PCX to see if pre EURO restrictions still rule.

That's a good idea!