Modern Vespa

so I have wanted a motorcycle for many years and my wife was always against it. Finally after many years I went ahead and took the training class and loved it and started looking at what to buy. My wife had seen an article about Vespas and I believe she thought they would be safer than motorcycles and she recommended I look them over. So as always I started researching, and the more I read, the more I liked scooters. So I went to a few shops and test drove them and realized two things. I liked the bigger scooters and I loved the Vespa. So I bought a 300cc GTS super that was about 10 years ago and I have enjoyed it since.

For me is: easy to ride,nimble ,light ,it's a very nice machine

What is that?

I rode bikes for 50 years and realized at age 71 that I was getting too old and too unsteady to continue. Being an old fool is one thing, but being a dead old fool can wait a bit.
I was mostly just putting around town the last few years anyway. So I bought a new 300, and love it. It has sufficient power to be safe and enjoyable, although it feels a little mushy off the line. I suspect that's because the tranny is a bit over-geared for regulatory fuel efficiency reasons (as if the minute amount of gas these things use would make a difference) and swapping variators will deliver a crisper start. I'll do that after break in. I miss my old Brembo brakes, but otherwise my Sei Giorni does all I need.
I'd get one of the old two strokes if it had ABS. Riding in the city without ABS is a younger person's game.

I hope to make it long enough to be in your position one day

Food for thought, changing the roller weights can impact acceleration, albeit at a potential sacrifice of top end... but if you're only going around town anyway, you probably won't care for your max speed anyway, and roller weights are WAY cheaper, and also easier to swap, than a variator.

You might be able to get what you want at a fraction of the cost. Food for thought. I've been VERY happy with swapping the roller weights on my QUASAR/GTS250 engine. I'm sure searching the forum you'll find lots of feedback on what to put in the 300 to get what you're after for $20ish.

I've had motorcycles all my life, and never thought about getting a scooter. But when we moved to the US from Santiago, Chile, my wife, who I met while riding from Ohio to the tip of Argentina, had never ridden or driven and didn't have a license. I put together a deal for one dealership to buy about 20 Kymco scooters from another one, and took a Vitality 50 as payment. She learned to ride it and rode it everywhere. I got a job managing a multiline dealership in California. She continued to ride it in California, and would ride this little Kymco 40 miles to visit me at work. I knew nothing about them, and we didn't do anything except change the oil for two years.
Then we moved from California, where you needed to register and insure a 50cc scooter and have a motorcycle endorsement to ride one legally, to South Carolina, where you didn't need a valid driver's license or insurance to legally ride one, and all you had to do to make it legal was to put a metal tag with the word Moped on it. Someone was trading in a Zuma 50 at the Dealership I managed, so I curbed it and started riding twenty miles to and from work, mainly because I couldn't believe it was legal to do that. I had a moto guzzi and a TDM850 at the time, and started riding them less and less. One day, I opened the Parts Unlimited catalog and saw an Athena big bore kit, and never looked back. At the time, kids could ride them at 14, so we got the girls scooters too, and we would go out exploring the Lowcountry, in all sorts of weather. That's when I started to learn how scooters work, how to maintain them, and more importantly, performance mods.

Why'd you stop? I wanna know how you went from there to having your parts store!

My friend had a Honda CM400. For some reason, I though it would be fun to ride with him. I don't, however, like to use clutches. They suck. I have never owned a manual car. I can drive a stick shift, but I hate it. How does one eat a Big Mac and fries while shifting? Sorry, I digress... So, as a new two-wheeled rider, and given my shifting limitations/preferences, a scooter was an obvious choice. Additionally, scooters depreciate a lot in my area. So, I got a low-mileage 2009 Yamaha Vino 125 rather inexpensively. Then, I took the MCSF New Rider course, which solidified my hatred of clutches. After the Vino 125 came two Vespa GTS300s. Now I ride a Honda PCX 150A. I still dislike clutches; I borrowed my brother's 2003 BMW five-speed (car) for over a month... What a pain in the ass it was to drive! Someday, I may get a Honda DCT motorcycle, but compared to a scooter, they seem more expensive and less utilitarian. I can get my school bag (I'm a teacher) in my scooter and have room left over for my lunch. There are lots of accessories for my scooter - tall windshields (for cold-weather riding), top cases, and comparatively cheap custom seats. I'm a scooter guy.

nope

My first 2 wheeled motor vehicle was a 1958 Cushman Highlander. I rode the wheels off it, mostly on our ranch. Then I graduated to motorcycles. Almost 40 bikes later I found a 2010 GTS Super with 1800 miles for $2700. I sold it to a friend with 18,000 miles when I found my 2020 GTS HPE. A couple guys in high school had Allstates but they were too expensive so it was a Cushman.

I actually came to scooters in reverse. I learned to ride on a 250cc two stroke dirt bike way back in the day, and have been a motorcyclist ever since. I did ride scooters a few times as a teen and remembered what simple fun they were always.

I got one for my wife to get her on two wheels, and i'm actually having a blast riding it myself! The goal is eventually to get her to take a class and get her liscense so she can get a 150, and then eventually a motorcycle so we can ride together. Even if she sticks to just scooters i'll be happy. They are just such good clean simple fun! There is not enough of that in the world. 10 minute ride and I feel refreshed and always have a huge smile on my face. Needless to say my eye is already out for another one so we can go ride together.

Is there a profile award for "most stereotypically American question" on MV? I nominate this lol -------------


Also, Nice! I got the missus on a scooter as well. She started off on a dirt bike like you. We've had a pair of Trek ebikes together, and since moved on to a pair of Rad Runner Plus ebikes together so we can get through snow and sand much better. It's kind of nice having matching equipment. I draw the line there. No matching outfits lol

It is a Honda Zoomer.

Not available in the US.

Bill

I had to look at the original comment to remember he was taking about cars, not scooters.

Which reminded me, of quite a few years back seeing a guy in town on a small MC talking on a flip phone. I have no idea how he got through his left turn. Definitely needed a scooter.

I have been driving motorcycles since the age of 18.
But stopped with that back in 1991. My girlfriend then, today wife, was afraid of motorcycles and then there was a house, and then there were kids.

But I had always enjoyed driving the motorcycle and now 4 years ago, 2019, I decided to buy one.
A heavy machine was not what I was looking for and I thought of one of my first motorcycles: a Vespa 160GS, built in 1962 - 1963. I liked the Vespa a lot, but it lacked a bit power to feel comfortable in everyday traffic.
Furthermore I thought maybe the wife would not judge a scooter as that dangerous a motorcycle and maybe I could convince here to join me now and then on a trip with it.

So I started to do some investigation on what the market offered and decided to go for what I think is a modern interpretation of a Vespa scooter, with more punch than a 125cc, and of course it had to be Italian: a Piaggio BV.

One day I found a 2012 BV 300 for sale, a Cosmo Black, with 9000km, for a reasonable price. It looked OK and I bought it without riding it for a meter.

Now I am 18000km later and the BV has so far proven itself to be very reliable. Nothing ever wrong with it. It rides so well. And that CVT transmission makes it really fast in the 0 - 90km/h range. It fully meets my expectations.

This sentiment is universal - How does one eat steamies and poutine while shifting?

My gearhead cousin told me that when he was on a date, he had better things to do with his right hand. Remember the bench seat

Poutine is a messy meal, I wouldn't eat it in any moving vehicle, even as a passenger. As for steamies, no idea, never heard of them/it(?).

Not sure what your point is but it doesn't seem to translate well.

I started with a Briggs and Stratton minibike at 12, moved up to a Honda 100 at 14, and on and on, with my rides growing in capability as I did.
I peaked size wise with a KZ1100 and a full Vetter kit in the late 80's, then started back down the scale with midsized two-strokes--RD-350 and 400's, Titans, and the occasional dirt bike.
Ultimately, stiff joints and bad hips led me to stepovers-where I started the size climb again--Honda 70, Aero 125, Helix, Majesty, Burgman 650, Silver Wing.
I came close to dropping the super scoots several times, so I came back down the mountain-GT200, Indian Shifties, GTS300 and, finally, I think, the Liberty 150S.

After 50 years, I really want to keep riding for a while, and light weight, storage, low stepover, twist-and-go, and a sense of style are what I prize now, and all seem to intersect in Italian scooters.

My bad, I thought all you Canadians loved steamies. I'll re-translate for you and the other Canadians who don't know much about the cuisine in Quebec:

How does one look at hockey scores on their phone and practice being polite while shifting?

BTW - A Big Mac is a somewhat messy sandwich. However, if you can't eat poutine while driving, that's a problem. If you already drive an automatic transmission car, then you probably need to come to the states and study with me. As a service to my community, I offer a driving-while-eating class to all non-Americans who need to learn how stupid it is to drive a manual-shifting car. In fact, the class is part of the naturalization process here in the USA; you have to pass "Driving While Eating" in order to become a U.S. citizen. Elon Musk took it. That's why all Teslas are automatics... In fact, the "Driving While Eating" class was the inspiration for his self-driving car. Elon wanted to make eating while driving easier... and he did!

So many words to say "I can't drive stick"

PS, you just ask your phone to read you the scores. It's hands free.

I rode 600cc sportbikes for 20 years. Then I sold my last one when the carbs needed to be rebuilt for the second time because I let it sit too long. It was just too big a production to go for a ride, so it sat. A few years later a coworker brought in his et4 and offered me a ride. I couldn't stop smiling. I quickly found a used lx150. And have since bought a 300 super. As i tell my friends, whenever I'm riding a scooter, I'm smiling. That's all you need to know. The practicality is great, and my wife loves riding on the back. All in all, it fits me perfectly.

I can. It's just not conducive to my lifestyle. Shifting makes driving unnecessarily cumbersome. I'm not sure of your attraction to shifting, but I suspect it has to do with some sort of "I'm better than you" gene. Like, "I'm better than those damn Big Mac-eating Americans... They're so stupid and fat. I'll let them know that eating and driving is 'soooooo American'."

P.S. - My phone is dumb. I ask it to read me stuff, and it doesn't. Probably because I can't use a phone.

I can see shifting would be tedious in commuting and city traffic etc. But driving/riding for pleasure in the country ... could add to the fun / control of the bike feel.

(I don't drive, I only ride my gts)

Yep. It's all relative.
Shifting in stop and go, bumper to bumper traffic-hell.
Shifting on a twisty country road at 7 a.m. on a Sunday morning-heaven!

I commuted by motorcycle for 13 of the 16 years I've been riding. Downtown Toronto. Others have already mentioned what our traffic is like here.

The only time I minded the shifting in the stop and go traffic was on my V-Rod. Harley clutch pulls are notoriously heavy, so after 45 minutes it was really a physical hand cramp.

Anything else and, it's a subconcious thing. I could never tell you what gear I was or wasn't in, and when I had or hadn't shifted. There are only three gears on any vehicle: too high, too low, or just right. No matter which one you're in, you'll know it without thinking, and you'll adjust (if needed) without thinking.

But on a Harley you might get a hand cramp after half an hour. That's all.

It makes it so hard to enjoy a nice Egg McMuffin and hash brown at 7 a.m. if I have to shift. I had my brother's BMW 5 speed for a little while. I lost 40 pounds, and the McDonalds drive-thru employees filled a missing persons report with the police.

My car only has "D", "N", and "R"… is that what you are talking about?

Don't get me wrong; I don't shift anymore, unless I travel overseas and want to save a few bucks on a rental.
Cars have just gotten too good at shifting. I had a Mk7 GTI with the DSG, limited slip diff, big brakes, bi xenons, etc, and I didn't even bother with the paddle shifters. I just put it in D and let the car figure things out.
It was an absolute blast to drive and I could hold my coffee in the unoccupied hand. I did have to set the coffee down to eat my sausage biscuit on my commute, but such are the sacrifices we make.

I drive shifters in cars and motorcycles since I was 18. My first motorized bike, that was a 50cc moped Motobecane Mobylette, and now my present BV 300 are the only automatic I have ever had.
Meanwhile I did well over a million, maybe 1.5 million km of manual shifting.

It does not take long to get used to manual shifting, and then it goes natural. I do not have to think of it, I do not have to be mentally involved, it goes by itself, subconscious, so to speak.

I have nothing against automats. Like to drive them.

We have two cars. Mine with a six speed stick, my Wife's with a auto/CVT. She drives the auto when we go anywhere. People ask, "Why don't you drive it?" I say, "I can't handle an automatic." Wrinkled noses follow.

For me vespa automatic is the best no worry about shifting = more time enjoying the scenery of the roads,twist and go baby twist and go.

My wife wouldn't let me buy a motorcycle, 😭 but it was ok to get a scooter 🛵 😃 . I'm very careful around my grandkids not to tell them that my Sei Giorni can go on the interstate !! 👍🏻

This!

The CVT is the best thing since sliced bread! Like others have said, it's just so easy and convenient. This is coming from a guy who is deep into motorcycles. Checking the "gear shifting ego" at the door. Just go to a MX track on any weekend and you'll see 10-year-olds that have mastered that friction zone skill.
Scooters are just cool, especially Vespas!

@ Scooter Curmudgeon, Hi nieghbor! I feel like a stalker seeing the local area pictures you've posted! I'm on the west side, Mud Bay area.

Dare I ask...what polar opposite to a volvo reputation car brand do you drive that it comes with a DNR?

I had been a long-distance cyclist/commuter for years. After losing the ability to ride bicycles, a classmate who had just gotten her moto license mentioned how much she was enjoying her Buddy 125. I got curious, looked up the company, and got obsessed. I like the tiered licensing idea used in some countries, so I started with a 125cc scooter. I've been alternating between 300 & 900cc motorcycles and scooters since then.
I discovered the mods/rockers culture, history, etc afterwards. It's cool, but the method of motion is what keeps me riding: culture/history is secondary. I don't see myself retiring from two wheels until my body forces me to.

A moped in 1978 a Cimmati never looked back. Have rode many bikes but nothing beats my Vespa.

I was on a business trip to Hong Kong. Over a weekend I met up with a friend who now lived there. She had purchased a GTS250 to get around the city. We spent the entire weekend exploring HK island and Kowloon.

I purchased one shortly after returning home.

One of the best weekends of my life and beginning of my love of two wheels.

This.
I don't like manual gears in cars, 'cause I use car for commuting.
My bike riding is almost purely recreational - twisty country roads indeed... I find shifting satisfactory there. No deeper logic or reason, this is just how it feels good to me.

If I would have to ride purely in urban areas, automatic transmission would definitely be nice for a bike too.