Modern Vespa

Hi all,

Been lurking for a while, finally about to take the plunge on a MP3 500 HPE. The bike in question is due its 10km service, I've rung a couple of places, local dealer and independent. Quoted £880 inc VAT by the dealer, "at least £600" by the indie. Is that about normal? Probably double what I expected.

Any recommendations for trusted garages around Herts/London would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Ray

The MP3 is not cheap to maintain. At least here in California, many motorcycle shops will not touch it because it is "too weird". The official service shops (there is only one in a 60 mile radius from me) have a monopoly while the warranty is valid, and behave/charge accordingly.

The amount they are quoting you seems high-ish, but not outrageously so. I bring my MP3 to a very good independent shop, but buy all the parts needed. The main stuff for 12k miles aka 20k km is the belt and the other end transmission bits, which set one back about $250 or so, kind of like the 6k mile service. Add oil filters etc, but they are not costly.

My 6k mile service added up to something like $550 between parts and hourly. I expect the 12k mile service to cost me some more than that.

Tires for the MP3 also aren't cheap, and the rear tire has a lifetime of ~6-8k miles or so in urban stop and go traffic.

Thanks for the reply. Seems like the going rate, will shop around a little more.

Just so we're clear, are you referring to the first "big" service done at ten thousand km vs. what was posted (10 km)???

Also, was the initial service performed at 1 thousand clicks?

FWIW, I do a belt service every 10K clicks (per the Piaggio service schedule) with a oil& filter service every 5K. Ditto on lubing the headstock bearings every 5K.

Regardless of how little/much you ride, replace the coolant every 2 years as well as flush the brake fluid incl the 3 brake reservoirs AND the brake fluid in the tilt lock system.

Ignoring that will cause pain (read expensive costs) in the future.

Yes, you're right, it's the 10,000km service I was referring to. The 1,000km was done.

Thanks for the specifics, will check the dealer is doing all those items.