Modern Vespa

Got a buddy looking for a used, low mile GTS 300 for his long 100+ miles round trip daily commute.

On the later models, one of the biggest issues with GTS dollar wise and DIY seems to be the ABS units.

I suggested a BV 350 or 400 for long commutes but he has wanted a Vespa GTS 300 for a long time,
probably because he had a P 200 E back in the 80s, the rest of the gang had Riva 180s😭

All 2016 t0 2022 Vespa GTS 300 have ABS. I have a 2015 GTS. A sample of one, but the ABS system has never given me any issues.

My 2018 (only 3000 miles) has been solid so far.

Seems like the ABS woes here have been mostly 2020-2022 HPE models?

I would stay clear of the HPE for a number of reasons including short maintenance intervals w/ excessive operating costs. With that being said, any of the 300s will give you years of reliable use as long as you take reasonable care of it. Some can't live without ABS, doesn't really matter to me.

The maintenance interval for GTS 300 has always been 1000 / 10000 / 20000 / 30000km / etc / or every 12 months depending on which is reached first. On the contrary, with the HPE, the "visual inspection" is omitted at 5000 / 15000 / 25000km / etc.

Where does the fairy tale of the shorter service interval come from?

Only the valve clearance had to be checked at 20000 / 40000km / etc. on the Non-HPE and adjusted if necessary. With the HPE is to be checked and adjusted if necessary at 10000 / 20000 / 30000km / etc.. Well, that costs a bit, but that is not a "shorter service interval".

Right out of the owner's manual for anyone who has bothered to read it. Belt, valve adjustment, and might as well tack on a rear tire every 6,000 miles.

Get an HPE of any year and be happy

Non HPE - Drive belt 15,000km. Valves 20,000km
HPE - Drive belt 10,000km. Valves 10,000km

Yep, HPE is more maintenance, mostly more belt replacements and valve adjustments
Per Haynes manual 2016-2018 GTS 300, new belt every 15,000km/9000mi, valve adjustment 20,000km/15,000 miles (weird Haynes liberally rounds up for miles vs km)
Maintenance not a big deal for me, only ride my Vespas about 3000 miles per year each, do all my own maintenance and scooterparts.co has some really great prices on belts and other maintenance parts
but my buddy will putting on a massive amount of miles and likely won't want to be doing major services 3-4 times per year.

I have a GT200, which I believe has the same maintenance intervals as the non HPE GTS models. I change the oil and filter, and final drive oil every 3000 miles. I also changed the coolant a couple of times, as well as brake fluid, and lubed the throttle cables, probably a couple of other minor things. But I did not do a belt change or a valve adjustment until 12,000 miles. The belt was fine, I replaced it anyway. The valves were still in spec, toward the tight side, I set them toward the loose side, as valves always get tighter as the valve seat wears. By far the most labor intensive maintenance on a GT200, GTS250, and GTS300 are the belt change and valve adjustment. I spent 3 days doing everything (not complete days) I had to do the valve adjustment with the scooter on the floor, so the rear wheel had to come off, both shocks had to be disconnected, along with a few other things, including putting the front tire in a chock and jacking up the scooter high enough to drop the rear of the engine far enough down to get the cam cover off. Doing that every 12,000 miles is acceptable, doing it every 6,000 miles is not, at least not to me. I would like to know Vespa's reason for doubling the frequency of the major maintenance items.


I have never owned a scooter or motorcycle with ABS, and never will. But I was a car/truck/heavy equipment mechanic for 36 years, and it's a real PITA to deal with on most cars and trucks. We had a lot of failures of the electronic ABS control modules, especially on Fords, and bleeding the brakes requires special equipment and quite a bit more labor than non ABS brakes. Air tends to get trapped in the ABS pump. ABS can make brake bleeding and replacing fluid a non DIY job. That can vary by vehicle.

I've ridden bikes about a million miles without ABS, on road, off road, in rain, sleet, ice, hail, and snow. I have never had an accident or dropped a bike. Not saying I never will, but I have seen several videos of ABS bikes crashing due to a loss of traction. A lot of people seem to think ABS is foolproof. It isn't. If I don't know how to use brakes by now, it's not likely I ever will. I'm not turning control of my brakes over to a computer.

Thanks for the input everyone.

I am going to advise my buddy that a GTS is probably not a good choice to put 2500+ miles per month of freeway commuting.
My commuting days are over but if I had to do a long commute, I'd choose at least a 600cc motorcycle or BV 400

Old Vintage dude, I hear you on the ABS, it was really crappy on some older cars and seemed to add unnecessary weight and unpredictable when it first came out on motorcycles.

After owning many non-ABS sake rockets in the past, I got a Kawasaki Z900RS with ABS, braking worked flawlessly and felt good, same with my GTS and Sprint.

Now prefer having ABS but some studies have shown a really good attentive rider can stop faster on a non-ABS bike, (majority of riders cannot though)

Also why do you have to remove the rear wheel to do a valve job?

"Also why do you have to remove the rear wheel to do a valve job?"

You don't if you have a way to lift the scooter up high enough to let the rear of the engine/CVT case drop down far enough. You do have to unbolt the rear shocks to let the engine/CVT case pivot down. I didn't want to try and jack the scooter up that high, because I was afraid it would fall over. Also, I was replacing the rear tire anyway. I tend to get about 6,000 miles out of a rear tire, and on my GT200 the valve adjustments are every 12,000 miles (every 6,000 miles on an HPE) Removing the rear wheel gave me several more inches that I didn't have to jack the scooter up. The cam cover on a GT/GTS is very close to the frame. To get the cover off and get to the valve adjusters you need let the rear of the engine/CVT case pivot down, which gives you enough clearance to get the cam cover off.

Many Asian scooters have a removeable panel down below the front of the seat that gives you access to the cam cover, but Vespas don't. Removing the rear wheel gives you several more inches that you can drop the engine/CVT case/rear hub down.

I have an easier way to drop the rear wheel. My lawn is about 2 inches lower than the patio, so I put a few bricks on the edge of the lawn and wheel the scoot out so rear wheel is on the bricks, then put the scooter on the center stand and remove the bricks.

Disconnect shock and use a reversed clamp to push the engine and frame apart.

That is good advice. Having owned 2 of them, the GTS 300 is a shit choice for 2500 miles per month of freeway commuting. It's not meant for 30,000 miles per year on a freeway. Tell you friend to look at a Honda Goldwing (which is much more expensive), or better yet, a Toyota Prius. Don't be swayed by anyone who tries to tell you the GTS 300 is a good idea for this particular application. They got lucky and had a good experience (in terms of reliability) with their GTS.

Vintagescooterdude, Znomit, Nice workarounds!

I work on the ground as well but got the little scissors jack from scooterwest that works really well along with my DIY front wheel chock (it also doubles as a workbench top)

CC, good call on steering them toward a motorcycle for that type of commuter riding. I'm not saying it can't be done on a GTS, but it's a big ask of the machine.

if you're doing mileage like that, you'd better be your own mechanic or have one that you've got a great relationship with and enjoy seeing and giving lots of money to!