Modern Vespa

I know a bit about some of the MP3-specific issues (mostly those of the front end, like the notch, speedo issue from the cable getting worn due to bad design, etc.).... just wondering... are some MP3s better than others?

There's a 2007 MP3 500 for sale in town with low mileage and an attractive price. It's almost tempting me to sell the GTS winter beater...

Any thoughts/opinions/feelings on if certain models, or generations, are better than others?

2007 is the very beginning of the MP3 era.

As with anything else, it is almost always best to avoid anything and everything version 1.0

As with anything else, it is almost always best to avoid anything and everything version 1.0

BUT, if the price is bargain basement.... go for it.

me too,
the 2009 works just fine,
but I find the menu is way too tricky to mess with w/o the manual in front of me,
and then I never seem to get it right.

it is very Klutzy that you have to wade thru the settings in serial order to change one tiny item at the bottom of the list.

battery goes dead?
all settings revert to factory, pisses me off, big time.

My Honda Goldwing did not do that, it kept all settings.
sigh,
the semi that merged me into a wall, killed my Goldwing.

Big UGH on that Goldwing pic.

Were there any generational jumps or, more or less the same common issues through and through?

the 500's actually are 2008 as that is the model year it first came to the USA, the 2007 is the 250 first model year. Now on to the 2008 mp3 500. I have had one since new, very good scoot. just a few things you need to do to keep it that way. grease the front bearings, change the oil on time and don't over fill. clean air filter half way thru oil change interval or sooner if dusty conditions.

I feel it is dependent on "Maintenance".

I still have my 2009 MP3 /250 that I have been a fanatic of Oil Changes, Greasing the Front End, Replacing the cracked plastic body parts, etc.

I consider myself very fortunate, when I purchased mine new, I started learning on how to work on this bike. Learned a lot from here posting questions and YouTube Video's. Over time I collected either new, or from ebay, or wrecked bikes... Lot's of parts. So many Mod's, I could not write them here, it's just not stock anymore.

Right now, I think I have two complete sets of Gray body parts. I have also done a mix of Black, and also changed the front grill to look like a 2014 MP3 / 400. I also have a Mini-Cooper Car Tire on the Rear 12" Rim, that makes the ride so comfortable. I just put a new one on...

What makes me like this bike so much, you take off all the plastic body parts, your looking at a Vespa 250 that has so many engine parts out there, you can keep this bike going for years. At least that is what I think...

Here's that latest picture all waxed and Ready to Go !

Keith,
Marietta, GA

I could not handle that little windscreen that was on my 2009 MP3 250cc either, bought a GIVI and had it put on when the Vespa dealer did my maintenance last month.... I can't work outside anymore, crippled up from a Semi hitting my '94 Honda GL1500 back in 2008.

Marietta, GA... you know the Vespa dealer there then, I am sure. I stopped there on the way home from my son's home in Dawsonville, GA and purchased a new Voltage Regulator for my MP3... it suffered a heart attack when a Lightning bolt struck a tree in our front yard.

This pix is at a Indian battle ground Memorial site near my home town of Oologah, OK.

Ride up to Dawsonville often.
I think I am on my 3rd Regulator now.. I keep a few spares, as well as the Computer Module.

Eat at Smith House.

Keith
Marietta, GA

oh my,
is the food ever good at Smith House.

my son took me up there the day before I had to come home, spent 3 weeks with him on a long visit...

his 3 car extra garage has an apartment above it, the original property owners built the garage and apartment to live in while they built the main house up front... nice place

Thanks all for the tips along the way. I'm pausing to do a little recalculating on the MP3 decision. Literal, calculating...

My last MP3 had no issues fitting down the driveway between house and cage, but in hindsight, I had a much smaller vehicle back then.

The motorcycles fit no problem because they're only wide up high (which fits over a retaining wall, but the MP3S are fairly wide all the way up so... it's measuring time...

oh yes,
the Width of the handlebars.

I was shocked to find that they are almost the same width as my Honda GL1800 Goldwing, which as you said, the height of the handlebars above ground is quite a bit different.

I had a tussle fitting both the MP3 and the GL1800 into the trailer side-by-side,
one had to be in first, and the other in last.... that was a couple years ago now, and my memory of that event has faded.

Looking this picture now, I recall that because the MP3 had to be forced up against some 4"x4* wood blocks in lieu of wheel chocks, it had to go in first.

Then the taller Honda put in last, because it had to be accessible from the side door.

The reason both were in the trailer at the same time,
is just a couple months before I made this trip,
I had nearly succumbed to a Heatstroke while riding the big yellow Honda.

and nearly ran it Off-Road down into a rocky ravine....
I decided right there, that it was time to quit riding or I was going to kill myself.

I gave the 1800 to my son when I got the trailer towed to his home down in Georgia.... I live in Oklahoma.

back in 2008, a Semi truck merged my previous Honda GL1500 into a center median wall, and I suffered a lot of damage, loss of memory, balance, and unable to withstand high temperatures anymore.

this was that accident, the Honda was totaled out.

Ouuf, this picture hurts the heart.

yes, it retired me.
Jan 2008,
hospital for a month, 10 days in a coma.

Recovery for six months, all the skin over my left eye was scraped off to the bone, that took almost a year for new skin to cover it

a year of Desk assignments, and they retired me.
only reason they waited that long, was I needed that year to get my "80 points", which is years of Service plus my age.

Still better than the alternative, and we're happy you're around us!

Motorcycles can be a cruel mistress, but also a very seductive one. So hard to quit.

I saw a dear friend die in front of me many years ago. I could not ride for a year. In fact I hated any form of transport and the sheer sight of asphalt. But I got back.

Last April, a very dear young friend I sometimes regarded as my half son died
at 31 in a motorcycle accident. I still feel guilty to some degree, since I think part of his motivation to ride a motorcycle was inspired by me. And because of that, now my girlfriend is very vocal about hating my motorcycles, which is a problem because I am 100% uncompromising about it. I am 60 now, and I'd rather part with this world doing something I love, rather than wheezing to a miserable death in a dark, anonymous hospital bed sometime in the future. It has been a good run as is. My GF tells me I am still a child; I remind her I have great life insurance.

And I firmly plan to keep on riding. And like you, I think the MP3 is a great tool to keep motorcycling. It doesn't invite utter foolish antics, even though -let's not fool ourselves- it's not necessarily *safer* than any other motorcycle. But let's keep riding.

I agree,
I feel decently safe up to about 50 mph, with my helmet and jacket.
faster than that, it is just is not the Stable hoss that the big Honda 1800 is.

but, my usual rides are around town at the thrilling speeds of 25 mph

I ride up to the feed store about 6 miles away for doggie food.
the grocery store is 3/4 mile...
the post office is 1/4 mile...

the lake is 3 miles away at the closest point, I enjoy going down and just watching to see what folks are doing.

for Rallys with my friends, the MP3 goes on a Tilt Bed trailer, and I ride in A/C comfort for how ever far it might me, usually 300 to 1000 miles...
get a hotel room, and if I get too hot, get inside with A/C and a shower.

at 80, and a dent in my noggin now, I am not nearly as careless as I used to be at 20-30 years of age.... back then, I rode my off road scrambler over the highest sand hills I could find, and drop down 100s of feet into the dry river bed below.