Modern Vespa

Hello Everyone,

This is my first post.
I have placed an order fir the Vespa the dealer
Is 108 miles away. I've heard nothing but good things about Vespa.

The GP300 S hails from "Asia" but it is a nice looking unit. I hear it's a smooth ride.

Would someone give me advice of this purchase?

Respectfully,

Gerard Looby

I mean, you're in a Vespa forum, the answer is likely to be biased.

I found RA and Scomadi Shambrettas uncomfortable to ride compared to the GTS.

I found it was like sitting on a tree trunk!

I'm 5'7" with a short inside leg, and just couldn't get on with them.

I ♥️ Vespa

Thanks for the replies

I figure why risk nearly 7k on a scooter
With a limited history
.
Thanks

Its really a no brainer, the Royal Alloy uses an outdated Vespa GTS engine anyway. Why have a scooter that copies other models when you could have one that leads.

Dealerships, spares and accessories will be far more plentiful for the Vespa too.

Get the one that calls to your soul.

The Royal Alloy, in this Country, is a new entity. Plus, for a Chinese scooter, it's not cheap to buy. The price difference between a Vespa and it means you don't get the ride and refinement that extra $2k brings.
There is this. In the last Scootercannonball a Royal Alloy 300 finished the cross country trek. So it appears its last generation Chinese Vespa copy engine has the legs for long runs reliably.

Royal Alloy has no pet carrier. Watch Robot's video on the Royal Alloy for a lot of information.

OFG

Supertech.

Plus the Vespa has resale value

No trunk on the GP300?
Having an under seat trunk on a city motorbike is gold

Yes a Royal Alloy did finish the 2023 Scooter Cannonball run. So did a Yamaha Ruckus.

OFG

Yes no room under seat, but it is a good sharp looking scooter.

That's good to here one made the entire run!

Thanks

Gerard

As did dozens of Vespas BTW.

(and I presume you mean a Honda Big Ruckus, though a number of Yamahas finished as well)

My mistake. Honda Ruckus.

Don't forget a Benelli TNT 135.

I'm just a senior citizen looking to take a ride
In the desolate back roads in these Adirondacks

I rode through there at Americade. Rt. 9 to Rt. 28 to Rt. 8 to 9N south to Lake George was the best. It's a good run with excellent road conditions.

Parts for a Vespa are sometimes difficult to find in a hurry, but eventually you will get them. Try to find parts for the Genuine Venture, Genuine Stella Automatic or Genuine Stella Four stroke. That's the distributor for the Royal Alloy, and there are a lot of those models break and get parked. The one thing that it has going for it in that regard is the tired old Vespa motor. Parts for that should be around for a while, because the Chinese are going to stick it in everything they possibly can.

Honda Ruckus 50cc finished bit was on the truck a couple days in 2010, see thread on this forum. Several Honda Big Ruckus 250s have finished. A bunch of Yamaha Zumo 125s finished in 2016 see Slow Ride Home on Amazon or thread for 2016 here.

Royal Alloy did not finish in 2021 but a different one did in 2023.

The commonality with the models you mention is not really Genuine Scooters as their distributor. There is no problem with parts for any of the models built by PGO for Genuine (because of the health and longevity of the manufacturer), nor with parts for the 2-stroke Stella (due to commonality with the P series 2-stroke Vespas). You make a point with the Venture. The key is the long term stability of the manufacturer (something Genuine does not really control). Who is to say at this point about the long-term stability of the manufacturer of the Royal Alloy.

Hi Gents,

The Americade is a big deal in my area.
From my home, a hamlet of 20 houses, it
An easy stretch south on 22 to lake George,
There's a myriad of lonely roads that stretch
In every direction.
Good news is even in summer There's not much traffic except maybe Lake Placid.

Thank you Gents for the sound advice!

Regards,

Matt

aren't shouty titles supposed to be blocked?

I think the numbers in the title defeat the ratio.

Edited title to be less shouty.

I may have a slightly different opinion. I have owned a 2006 Vespa GT200 for seven years. It was 10 years old when I bought it, but was in brand new condition with only 1800 miles on it. I've had a few minor issues, but I don't consider any of them Vespa specific, they could have happened to any motor vehicle. I love the way it looks, the way it rides, and the overall fit and finish. And being a carbureted model it is pretty easy to work on. If there is one thing I don't like about it, it is the immobilizer system.

But, mine is an older model. The new HPE models seem to be having quite a few problems, and require what I consider to be a ridiculous amount of maintenance. They don't seem to have anywhere near the reliability of the non HPE models. And I have heard that from several different sources.

I love the look of the Royal Alloy, but it hasn't been around long enough to be a known quantity as far as quality and reliability goes. To me the fact that it has an older version of the GTS engine (non HPE) is a good thing. But a good design can still be junk if not properly made.

So I don't have an answer, other than I am disappointed by the new HPE Vespas. If I were going to buy a scooter right now, I'd find a non HPE GTS300.

I ran a new 2023 Vespa GTS300 HPE in this year's Scooter Cannonball Run.

It started in San Clemente, CA with 750 miles on it, ended in Jacksonville, Florida with 4,700 miles.

It ran flawlessly. I checked the oil level every day and it never needed a drop added.

It ran hard as well, nearly WOT on the faster stretches, always pushing.

I ran much of the run with my friend, Jim, who had a 2020 Vespa GTS300 HPE. He also ran the same number of miles very hard. He started with a new belt and added a small amount of oil a couple of times, but no issues on the ride.

Cdwise had no issues other than a flat tire on her 2023 GTS HPE.

Val Skinkus the same good results on her 2022 GTS HPE

These were all reasonably new and all performed very well.

Bill

The only extra maintenance on the HPE is that valve adjustments are @ 6k, instead of 12k. Also the belt and rollers are at 6k instead 9k and 6k, which is no big deal to me at I always did the rollers and belt at the same time.

I have almost 3k on my 23 since end of May. It's great.

WLeuthold, I'm glad to hear that.

cogind, The belt replacement interval has also been cut in half, as well as a number of other things. Robot from Scooterwest did a long video on the differences in maintenance between the HPE and non HPE models.

Belt replacement on my '15 is recommended at 9k miles (I have done it at under 8k just in case). Isn't the recommended replacement interval on the HPE at 6k miles?

Ah, you do realize that 15k kilometers IS 9k miles, and 10k kilometers IS 6k miles - which is precisely what I said in my post above.