Modern Vespa

Recommend or not?

Concerned about the Vespa not running well after I'd have the kit installed, but am moving to a hillier part of the country, and thinking the 50cc Vespa may have trouble climbing the hills.

Thoughts?

Worth considering the price of the work, in comparison to selling your Primavera and buying a similarly aged 125 / 155cc.

Usually aftermarket cylinder kits run a higher compression, and so you get more of a gain than just the difference in cc.

Aftermarket cylinders tend to have a bit more wear, but they're fairly quick and easy to change on an air cooled engine - so this wouldn't bother me.

My main consideration would purely be cost of work vs cost to upgrade.

I met an Italian couple last year who'd bought an old classic PK50cc. They fitted an 80cc kit and had travelled 120,000km (80,000 miles) all across Europe, often with both of them on the vespa and all their stuff! So you can achieve a lot with smaller cc engines!

Thanks so much for your input. I very much appreciate it as I'm not familiar with small engines and the changes required.

The upgrade is not cheap, but I love my Vespa and only have 600 kms on it. For sure don't want to stop riding it when I move due to the hills.

Thanks again.

Mona

Is yours currently limited to 45km/h / 28mph?

You might be able to unlock a bit more speed from the existing engine if it's got a limiter fitted.

There's also CVT tuning through "Variators". These hold the revs differently, which can give you more acceleration, more top speed or both.

It might be worth looking at these upgrades first, as they're easier and cheaper to do.

I can get top speeds between 65-70 km/hr now, without an upgrade. Going up a hill (bridge), it drops to 50 km/hr.
So I'm thinking it's currently unrestricted.

I started with a Liberty 50 that has the same engine as the Vespa. As soon as I tried the 150 Liberty that also is the same as the vespa 150 I realized that is the answer.

The money you spend on upgrading the 50 will still not make it as good as the 150 and with a little work you can sell the 50 and buy a 150 for around the same price or a little more as the upgrade.

If you want to try to get an older two stroke vespa 50 ET2 those can be made to go pretty good if Greasy125 is to be believed (he is!)

Also you might consider a Liberty as well. Less expensive and share the same engine as the Vespa. Larger front wheel makes for a very practical scooter. They use them in Italy to deliver mail with a huge box on the back.

I like to think of the Vespa as the Cadillac and the Piaggio Liberty as the Chevrolet...and I am a chevy person myself. I fully understand the allure of the Vespa with lots of folks. Iconic ride for sure!

If you've had the Vespa from new, then maybe it comes unrestricted in your area.

In the UK and Europe, we can ride 45km/h 50cc scooters on most car licences, so they tend to come limited to this as standard.

I'd look at a Polini variator. This is fairly quick and easy for a scooter mechanic to change and is probably the best performance upgrade without changing the cylinder. There's also videos on how to change these on Youtube if you fancy having a go yourself.

If you still need more performance, the variator will also complement the new cylinder as well.

The big bore kit will give you the most bang for your buck. Piaggio sold the same engine with an 80 or 100cc top end in different markets, so it's definitely strong enough for a big bore kit. After that, an aftermarket variator is a good value in terms of bang for the buck. And on the newer Piaggios, changing out the CDI will also bring it to life.