Modern Vespa

Now I am just wondering about the speed on the PX vespa 125 is it wise to go faster than 55 mph on these Scooter's l have done 50 and boy you are going some feels like you are good much faster than that the balance is a bit worrying at them speeds more to the point is it safe 😂 l much prefer 45 ish or even just,,,40 feels better and safer to Go just a thought !! Best foot forward soulboy74 🇬🇧

Hey Soulboy,

Where I live 60 mph is the flow of traffic, so it is imperative that my scooters all go at least 60 mph sustained.

Good shocks, balancing the hubs and tires, and having a CHT gauge to keep an eye on the temperature are all musts for me.

For example, there is a downhill stretch close to my house. I wasn't comfortable letting my hands off the bars until I balanced the hub and tire, then it was no problem.

And shocks. I have stock shocks on the Stella, and they are crap compared to the $120 shock bundle I have on the P200 from ScooterMercato. So I don't ride the Stella as fast because it doesn't feel as safe.

Bottom line, these machines are capable of fast speeds, they just need to be set up properly to do so.


On the way to Yachats

It depends. It's a combination of riding skill, suspension quality, and road conditions.

When I first got my Stella, it was fairly terrifying at 52 MPH (its top speed stock). The stock suspension was set up for slower (30-40), rougher roads. It was perfect for riding around downtown Chicago like that. Eventually, I got more comfortable with it and would ride it WOT on Lakeshore Drive, but even then, when someone blew past me doing 80, the wind buffeting was pretty scary.

By way of comparison, I had my Smallie up to 86 MPH on GPS last weekend before I lost my nerve. It has top-quality suspension components (performance shocks, tubeless speed-rated tires, urethane motor mounts), I routinely ride at 65-70, and it was a recently resurfaced stretch of straight highway that happened to have almost no other cars on it at the time.

Now that I've done it, I'll never do it again. Eventually, I'll put a short 4th in it, because I'd rather move the power a few MPH lower and have it available in a way I can actually use for more than proving a point.

Need everything frame wise upgraded. Suspension, brakes, wheels, tyres, engine mounts etc. After that the PX is less scary.
A properly set up MHR with everything, will do around 90mph. Very exciting indeed.

It's the suspension on the bike, but for me, it was also skill level and getting used to the difference in handling characteristics of a scooter as it reaches speeds higher than 50mph. That's when I feel the wind resistance come in and the bike feels more squirrelly.

I hadn't ridden a Vespa for 30 years, and any crack in the pavement or gust of wind would scare me a little. I don't remember that from 30 years ago. As my skill level comes back, it's feeling normal again.

My Stella will also get better shocks and balanced wheels this spring.

My PX125 2016 70th anniversary edition does 55 mph and is completely stock apart from a Sip 2 racing exhaust as it was only doing 40 mph before I fitted it. I'm also planning on buying a new Zeus CDI and upgrading the suspension front and back for the summer. I only paid £500 for the scooter with just 58kms on the clock. The guy who sold it to me had a seizure 3rd time out on it and he's been hanging on to see if he could get his licence back but there was no way so I had a modern barn find. I took it for the MOT the next day and it passed with no advisories I even have the matching helmet and leather bag for the rear carrier and they are changing hands for £5000 on ebay at the moment. But I need to upgrade the suspension first before I get a new unrestricted CDI. Thanks for looking.


Vespa PX125 2016.

Like a lean jetting seizure or the neurological event type?

WOW what a find new vespa PX for a steal !! And thanks for the heads up with the upgrades needed for faster riding will look into it as yes I think it will need better stability around ! Got a sip 2 ready to go on as l am upgrading slowly to learn how each one does it job! If l can get 55 out of it with the sip 2 l will be pleased and stop there for a while love you find ! Mine the 2015 model and I thought I did well at 1800 with only 1720 km done so many miles to go 🤞 peace and love soulboy74 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

Get some decent tyres, I run michellin S1s, These are speed rated to 62mph. If youre really worried, investigate the tubeless tyre setup, dont just blow out with puncture.

Get your tyre pressures correct, makes a lot of difference.

As your scoot is relatively young, i very much doubt you need steering bearings.
When i got my scoot that is 20 years old it would pull to the left and tramline on the roads ground out by heavy goods vehicles which is bloody hairy cause you sort of cant steer out of it. However, you might want to get somebody to grease up your bearings.

Dont have any things like decorative wheel caps on the wheels, unless they are the nice flat type T5 ones, anything else will create crazy wheel balance issues and make riding at speed a bit unsettling.

Here some info about scooter tyres and speed ratings
http://vespalabs.internetscooter.com/wiki/vespa-101/dynamics/tyres

60mph speedometer reading and 60 mph real GPS is a big difference, my PX 150 reads close to 10mph over and my old original P200E reads 11 mph under.

I ride with GPS whenever I can and for me anything above 60mph GPS is nuts. I had a rear tire blow out with a passenger at only 35mph on a PK75XL decades ago and even up to this day I just can't believe that I did not hit the floor. I completely lost it, the tire lost pressure immediately.

A lot of good tips have been said so far, tire pressure is critical, when the tires are not well aired up the scooter feels like is floating. When they are over inflated they are hard and they bounce on pot holes. A good set of tires are also important. I switched to SIP one piece lighter aluminum wheels and I feel much better riding around.

In summary, too many factors but to me going over 60 mph GPS is scary on 10" wheels but the 50-55 is a sweet spot.

I took my px out today for 2nd time this year, it's only a 177 but has a devil in it and it pulls to genuine 60mph really quickly , and yes having not driven since last October it felt too fast. I had a puncture with two pillion being daughter who was 13 and although we didn't come off I haven't taken any pillion since as it did shake me up, not so much for danger to me but to the pillion passenger .

Installing (fresh) quality tires are probably the biggest factor to having a safe vehicle. You can install brand new cheap Shinko whitewall tires, but it's going to sting after you scoop yourself up off the pavement. I myself feel comfortable at pretty much any speed on 10". The stakes get a bit higher at around 80~90mph...which is about the same time i slip into my 1 piece leather track suit. But at 65~70mph, i'd be the idiot in a tank top and shorts (i don't make a habit of doing that though)...which isn't too often in Oregon because it's usually cold and rainy.