Modern Vespa

[I stole this post from vespaforum.de by the guy who makes the oil pans with sight glass (sold at sip and scooterwest) as I reckon many here will find it interesting]

https://vespaforum.de/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=58705&sid=7ed70a091ce91047343013fdbbb33ff0

Very cool to see the inside, but why oh why did Piaggio create such limited clearance and omit a sightglass? Still think it's a shit design haha.

"Violence is not a solution."

Lol Looks like a Google translate fail of "Gewalt ist keine Lösung". Which means, applying brute force won't lead to good results.

Good find. Explains a lot!

I knew it: after a handful of in-and-out experiences (ahem), this puts it plain as day. (And, yet another good reason to change out the stock oil pan for the sight-glass-equipped version.) Thanks for this!

I think slapping the engineer who designed that accident waiting to happen might be helpful on several levels.

Usually the translation is a bit of a fail, but in this case, well, it becomes poetry.

Fantastic picture! so not only do you have to get the bulls eye on one hole but actually two holes! FFS. On my GTS 300 2022 there is not enough clearance to hold the dipstick straight as you hit the gas tank. So now I know this is super tricky. You have to bend the dip stick in just right way and get it through both holes. It must be very common to never pass through the second hole. Who ever heard of something like this on a user part.

I've broken the dipstick off on my machine and came here looking for answers. Taking it apart is a lot of work - see the video on replacing the water pump for a Vespa GTS Water Pump Rebuild by robot from Vespa Motorsport. I'd post the link but this is my first post - I'd probably break my account forever.

I've drained the oil trying to fish the broken part out. No success - it's stuck in the gallery somewhere. Then I carefully measured 1.3L of the old oil to put it back in. Now I have 600ml of extra oil. What??? this is a used scooter and I was checking the oil level which seemed way over but I can't verify it now. And the vespa store is closed for the long weekend.

Can someone please post the dimensions of the dip stick? The over all length, the distance from the top of the threads down to empty and the distance from the top of the threads down to full? Then I can at least see if I've got the right amount of oil in the machine.

Would it help you to measure in centimeters? Then I'll go measure for you.

In each case at the top (above the sealing ring) to

Maximum: 91,71mm / 3.6085 in
Minimum: 102,09mm / 4.0190 in
Total length: 109,62mm / 4.3155 in

Even if this looks a bit inaccurate due to the angle and because I had to put down the dipstick and the caliper to take pictures, the measurements are exact.

Didn't know I could switch the caliper between mm and inches.

GTS 300 2022

My fingers smell like oil now....

Now just hope that I do not break off the thing when screwing...

Edit: Photos and measurements for minimum and maximum updated


Total 109,62mm

Total 4.3155 in

Maximum 91,71mm

Maximum 3.6105 in

Minimum 102,09mm

Minimum 4.0190 in


Last edited by GermanGTSDriver on Sun, 21 May 2023 10:41:36 +0000; edited 1 time

We speak metric in Canada. mm is good.
Thanks so much GermanGTS! I knew if I asked someone could help! Now I can make a temporary one. Maybe I'll cut off the rest of the broken bit and the temporary one can be permanent riding around in the baby carrier!

Last edited by janger on Sun, 21 May 2023 21:38:34 +0000; edited 1 time

Don't just buy a new dipstick - get the sight glass sump cover instead. GTS Oil Pan Sight Glass

This. When I'm back on my feet (literally), and wheels, my next GTS will have the sight-glass oil pan added, just as I did with Thelonica...unless, of course, Piaggio comes to its senses by then and makes the damned things standard-issue.

No bending needed

Temporary dipstick. I made this using the dimensions so kindly provided germangtadriver . It is a TIG aluminium welding rod bent 90 degrees - the big bend is so I can't drop it into the motor and make matters worse. I filed marks into the rod to make it easy to see where the oil is.

I got the scooter going again today hooray.

I'm planning on getting one of these. No bending or breaking I'd imagine.

Will do the job.

Update. I had my GTS 300 in for first service and asked about getting the broken dipstick out under warranty. Piaggio replied back to the dealer saying:

""Unfortunately, this occurs when the dipstick has not dropped in correctly, then screwed in. This only happens when it is force in to cause this type of breakage. As this is not a manufacturer defect the customer is responsible for the removal. I recommend draining the oil to see if the broken dip stick can be removed before removing the sump.""

So the broken bit is till stuck in there while I try to encourage Piaggio to do the right thing. I ordered the necessary parts ($15... a gasket and a few incidentals) to take the motor apart and put it back together as the dealer thought they would take from 2 weeks to 6 months to arrive. I'm not sure what I'm going to do.

I received a metal aluminium replacement dipstick today from SIP and put it in. I think the all metal version is much better - you can't start the threads if it isn't through both holes inside properly. This is a good solution. Clean oil on it though is practically invisible - I had to touch the stick and see if there was oil at different places.

A thread about the cnc dipstick and varying solutions
New CNC HPE 300 oil dipstick: won't break but will it work?

Strawberrysoda - I totally agree. The designers should be forced to insert and remove the dipstick in all weather conditions on a hot engine for eternity!

1st Vespa commandment: Thou shalt not check the oil level when the engine is hot!

So I went and topped up my oil yesterday and whilst unscrewing the dipstick, lo and behold only half of it emerged.

1, Has anyone successfully managed to get a dealer to get the broken part out and replaced under warranty?

2, Can the broken part stuck inside cause any damage?



I have a glass sight oil pan so I don't use the dipstick to check the oil level.