Modern Vespa

Hello all,

It's been a while as life sometimes takes a turn so I've been away from MV.

White - not really my favourite colour Vespa TBH (still like it though!) Now orange is my better half's favourite colour so Arancia Impulsivo it is. I do also like the changes to the 2023 models and the updated HPE styling.

Accessories I'll make decisions on once there are a few more. Black engine cover for sure and if not really available we'll powder coat the brake levers black. The plan is to black it out as much as possible and will see what exhaust options are available. At the moment I think just the Akrapovic. Screen options are also very limited so that's also a wait-and-see.

Delivery was yesterday so sort of an early Christmas present to myself.

Lovely! And welcome back!

We've made some changes while you were gone, including converting your bedroom into a present-wrapping room. Hope you don't mind.

Welcome back. Merry Christmas.

Love the non-chrome look. Congrats!

Welcome back Harbinger. Looks like you haven't moved to Vancouver Island yet. Did you trade in your BMW 1600 for the GS? Looks like you still have the Ural.

I'm still riding my R1100RT and hope to get out for a ride today with temps in the mid 60s. Most of California missed the cold weather that swept the rest of North America.

Miguel

Now that's a fabulous Christmas present.

Bet you're hoping for a swift end to winter weather!

Thanks for all the replies and yes it's a great present to myself;-) Thanks, Miguel

Yep, traded the K1600 for the GSA . The move to Nanaimo will be in the fall and we just had the final zoom meeting with the designer so they can start the renos. Still a few decisions to make but nothing holding up demolition work and room layout changes etc.

Me too! It's Bad Ass!

Merry Christmas indeed. I love when I realize it's a Canadian writing.

Awesome. Looking good.
Impulsive Orange could also be a new Martini recipe with black olives.
Would love to hear your thoughts on the new GTS vs the previous one .

That orange really pops!

Is it weird that I instantly knew this was Toronto by the condo parking lot signage?

"Black Chrome" was all the rage on Euro autos @'89>'91. Both my VW's were trimmed as such.
Back again.....
It's a look.
O.S.

Great choice. It's pretty blacked out already. What else are you thinking of doing?

And welcome back it's really really nice to see you posting again.

Good Lookin'!

Thanks Max, feels good to be back. Also nice to see Jess has decorated the place for the holidays.

Yeah not a lot left to black out. Brake levers I'd like for sure and Lou at Vespa Toronto has the black engine covers on backorder. He should get them this winter and it's a simple swap-out. I swear some of the earlier literature showed the levers as black so not sure why the change. The LED turn signals should also be available in a black trim which I may add.

It's going to warm up a lot in the next few days so I should be able to do more than ride it around the parking garage. So far I can maybe tell a bit of a difference in the handling but I need way more road time to get a real feel for it.

Brakes for sure feel different and will take a bit for me to adjust to. They are supposed to be improved on the revised HPE but it does feel like I need to squeeze the levers a bit harder to get a good bite. Mind you every bike is going to feel a little different but I've owned and ridden enough new Vespas that I can sense a change.

I was able to get Bitubo shocks on the rear but they don't fit the front so that is another thing I have to wait for the aftermarket vendors to produce. Who knows? With the improvements maybe this will be the first modern Vespa I've owned where I do not swap out all the shocks.

Keyless ride - love it! I've had a few bikes with it and it's good to see Piaggio added it to the Vespa line. One thing I do not love is the plastic "chrome" used for the handlebar switches. It's a larger control cluster and could have been done a little better IMHO.

The more I look at this scoot the more I think a tall windscreen would look wrong. I will get the top case but feel the same about it so may just ride the scoot with it off most of the time. When I move from downtown TO to Vancouver Island in the fall I'll be using the BMW a lot more and the Vespa for mostly in-town and fair-weather riding. I will of course have to take it on some mountain rides and the trip south to Victoria more than a few times.

Welcome back! Were you Vespa-free when you wandered off? I had been wondering if it would be possible to retrofit the new frontend on an original HPE, and how much work it would be (e.g. would you also have to replace the brakes). This comment is making me think it's a nontrivial job.

The other option I've been considering is grabbing a set of Öhlins while I'm in Vietnam.

It has chrome on the new button covers and silver brake levers. Why they didn't use black levers I do not know. Sooner or later I'll change the silver ones on the white GTS Super Sport I have on order to black. I may call my dealer and have that done before I pick it up.

About retrofitting the new frontend
There's an ongoing discussion about that here (in German):
https://vespaforum.de/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=59560

Some insight and a lot of cluelessness, of course, this being early days.

Absolutely LOVE your new addition!! Such a great color!

Congrats!!

I can certainly vouch for a run out Pacific Rim to the coast. Fun road with a few points of interest and a great brewery waiting at the end in Tofino.

So with these pics do the existing 2022 crash bars fit the 2023 or did you order those at the same time as the scoot from Lou

Whoa-howdy, having you back is sorta a Christmas present in itself!

And: Cool new ride there, of course. Ride that thing long and happily. I vividly remember when I swapped out the shocks on Melody for a full set of Malossi RS24s: night-and-day difference, which has me thinking about what I'll do when the time is right to pull the stockers off Thelonica; at the moment, I think I'll go with the Malossi shocks again, although I now have a much wider choice with Nica, since the selection of front shocks for Melody was severely limited by the ESS front fork she was equipped with.

Say goodbye to that ugly chrome

Chrome is like so 80's

I like to think of it as soooo 50's

The question about the rear crashbars is one I'd like to know the answer to. If those are the same ones that have been around awhile I may pull them off my 2018 before I sell it. So, are they the same ones ones older models use or do you have to get 2023 specific crash bars like you have to do for the windshield?

it's HAWT.

Regarding the rear crashbars I believe the 2022 bars fit. I ordered from the dealer with bars and I'm pretty sure he has no 2023-specific parts in stock yet. The top cases aren't even in yet however I do know they use the existing rack.

I'll post a few pics later with closer-up details as a few of you have asked.

I guess I'm in with the cool kids as Robot picked the exact same scoot to claim as his own. He had to win a coin flip vs the sales manager that also wanted it. Mind you he has VIN # 0000 whereas I have 0190 .

Welcome back Harbinger.

The orange looks great!

Thanks, anyone know if the racjs changed between 2018 and the HPE?

Here are some more detailed pics of the crash bars. The top case is rack a carryover from a previous scoot and fits fine and the bars look to be attached in the same spots.

I took it out for the first real ride today and it felt good. The brakes are solid and the suspension seemed good though I still will likely upgrade to a performance shock on the front when available. I'm glad I was able to carry my rear shocks over.

Really happy apparently OEM Vespa branded heated grips and a heated saddle is in the works. Along with these a performance Vespa OEM exhaust is also on the way. I have to say I'm curious and it looks like Piaggio is starting to pay attention to what add-ons and mods are popular in the aftermarket.

Call Sooterwest. They are trying all the parts to see if they'll fit the hpe 2 as it is now being called. I know that only the tall windscreen will fit the hpe 2 none of the others will.

The color really looks good from that angle. Excellent choice!

It's already available for the HPE Euro 5. iirc it's actually made by Arrow.

Intersting. As OEM it should be listed on the Piaggio site for accessories but I can't find it. The exhaust is badged as "Vespa"? I can find Arrow but nothing that looks official and blessed by Piaggio. One comment they have made is this is one performance exhaust that will not void Piaggio warranties. Mind you I've never had a problem with warranties on scoots with aftermarket exhausts.

If you have a look that would be awesome as I'd love to have a look.

https://www.vespa.com/ch_FR/accessoires/vehicle-accessories/performance/sport-exhaust-vespa-gts-300-hpe-1a020151/

Thank you!

Lou took my crash bars from my 2018 and transferred them to my new 2023 so you should be good. Just really wanting a windshield but hopefully come in early spring when I start riding.

Vespa sport exhaust is:

Made by Arrow and
fits all Vespa GTS 300 Euro 5 (since 2020) and
is branded with Vespa-Logo and
does not void Vespa Warranty and
it is lighter than the serial one and
gets an official ECU-Mapping (!!!)

Code for download and installing the ECU-Mapping is only available for the Vespa-branded exhaust (not for the Arrow, even when these are identical). To obtain the code dealer MUST order exhaust through official Piaggio channels, not via 3rd-Party (like SIP, ScooterCenter or others = code is not in the box, it is available in internal dealer portal after processing a order, one order = one code). Mapping can only installed at the selling dealer (PADS needed) and after activation it is Associated/bundled to specific VIN.

As I got the Vespa branded exhaust with Mapping since day one of my GTS 300 in last August I have no comparison to original exhaust or Arrow or Vespa-branded without Mapping.

English description on Swiss page:
https://www.vespa.com/ch_DE/zubehor/vehicle-accessories/performance/sport-exhaust-vespa-gts-300-hpe-1a020151/

I'm not sure if it is sold outside of Europe, since there a no localized Vespa pages outside of Europe with this SKU (1A020151).

Will take pictures tomorrow.