Modern Vespa

The Pennsylvania Turnpike has a 70 mph speed limit for very long stretches.

But to your point that the Vespa 300 GTS
is capable of riding these kinds of limited access highways, I have never felt unsafe or in need of a larger engine riding on that Turnpike. Usually trucks are slower than the Vespa and I don't need to ride WOT, though I mostly do. 😊

Around me (Southeast US) 70 mph is the best you'll get. It drops down when it goes through big cities.

The tendency for people who live along the Eastern seaboard and CA to think the rest of the country is "sparsely populated" never ceases to amaze me. You need to get out more.

I've ridden cross country on a Vespa on two separate cannonballs. I've driven cross country countless times. I grew up in Ohio, lived in Texas, and lived in Wisconsin. I've spent an entire week in Lincoln, NE, standing in a cornfield.

I'm not exactly ignorant of the contours of the middle of America.

My main point here is that 85mph speed limits are not common.

No, wait, strike that: My real point is that the GTS engine is fully capable of riding on US highways (including the interstate) for sustained periods of time. I know this because I have done it and I know what this engine design is capable of, and having run this site for the last 19 years and having lived in the US for well over half a century, I am sufficiently qualified to make that statement.

Speed limits are not the point. The capability (and sustainability) of the GTS engine is the point.

https://www.iihs.org/topics/speed/speed-limit-laws

My objection here is the word "maximum". Specifically, maximum is not typical.

In any case, there is very little on that list that a Vespa GTS is not capable of handling. Which is my real point.

I have to agree that attitude is important for riders longer in the tooth.
I am 71 years old.
I have a great 2013 BV 350;
I also have an attitude.
Jess I have been to wonderful Australia and I still have no idea what is common nor uncommon there! My favorite site? Katumba.

And I bet cruising around villages by Malarga in a P2 is SO much lovelier than trying to not get killed by speeding SUVs in Southern Cali. We're going to Madrid (to catch a LaLiga match) next spring, hoping to go to Rocha da Pena for some rock climbing, some day we'll do a Seville/Malaga trip, some day.

One of the neat aspects of the traffic over here is that it is generally low to very low density and that the max speed limit is not perceived as a minimum one should adhere to.
Nissan Micra size cars form a large %, the average age is close to 15 years and a Series LandRover (by Santana) going 70 km/h on a 120 limit highway is normal. I mean I do a relaxed 80 in my ´99 Suzuki micro van on said highways. High winds are more of a worry than SUVs Enjoy!!

Travel by Vespa, are you nucking futs?

My rambling 1.5cents worth of not asked for drivel.

Open road speed limit's on highways can be 70-75mph. Folks say me from a distance and passed me by. No problems.

It's when you get into heavy populated areas that my concern level rises exponentially.

Safe speeds would be 50-55 and they want to go 70-75. When I travel I'll detour around a city going 50-100 miles out of the way.

I thought LA (Los Angeles) traffic was insane. But any one who mistimed a departure or arrival in Seattle WA has a tale to tell. Reno at least traveling east to west is no picnic either.

Then there's Portland to Salem, one of the reasons I down loaded Scooter Route app.

2016 GTV do I want a little more power? Sure why not. But given a choice, I'll take the back roads. Some cities it's quicker on surface streets than the interstate. I've gotten of the hiway, eaten dinner, jumped on the surface roads and resumed my place back in line of the moving parking lot behind the same truck I was following before dinner.

Yea, long open stretches of open interstate scream to be ridden faster. Fast or slow it's still can be boring.

Heck I'd of been happier with this Vespa announcement: "The motor has been punched out 287cc & up a 1/2 hp. ALONG with a 13 liter gas tank.

Not to mention that the roads are quiet AND superbly well paved....looking from here, many parts of Spain are an European motorist heaven.

The larger roads are nearly as boring as everywhere, but take almost any road with 3 numbers behind the letter and a bit of elevation...mmmmm....

True.

I myself líve in drivers´ heaven supreme. ´Touge´ roads through the mountains any direction but the highway at 3 kms on the crossroads to Granada, Sevilla, Málaga and Córdoba.

I have NO doubt whatsoever that if I would own a 250/300 it would do city trips on the highway at the max permitted speeds no sweat. My dapper 2019 Primavera 125 which I flóg full bore two up is ample proof.
- That is the crux of this thread.
- A second crux though is why would one chase highways when enjoying pensioned life?

No matter how a capable a modern Vespa may be , my belief that a "Vespa" that can comfortably handle "all' America's interstates, will not be available while I can physically and safely still ride. I still believe riding a Ice powered vehicle at wide open throttle for extended periods of times puts enough undue stress on the motors to concern me. Ty to all that actually understood what my original post was attempting to convey. My newly bought Moto Guzzi has shown to be more then capable of "easily" running on America's superhighways with ease ,even with two up. My trusty GTS is still providing many a smile riding the wonderful N.C. backroads.

I live in a Texas coastal city. Fortunately I can be on Farm market roads within 5 minutes. Unfortunately all the Farm market roads are straight as an arrow and marked 70, some 75 mph which means people typically run 80-85 mph. Without shoulders on a lot of these roads it gets kinda dangerous. My BV 400 will do 90+, but that's not where I want to ride. However if I get 10+ miles from town the traffic falls off especially during the middle of the week. I have to go 30+ miles to get to curvy roads. I miss the Texas hill country that I used to live close to. I'm 70 w/ Parkinsons, but can ride bicycle,scooter, motorcycle just fine. Fortunately I don't have balance problems. The Neurologist checks me each visit and says I'm very fortunate . Anyone remember Malcolm Smith ?, famous MC racer and star on movie " On any Sunday"? He's like 90+ and has Parkinson's bad. Still rides on two wheels, though not as much. He still does race side x sides ! Hope I can hang to that age.

Well, end of thread then.

Just for you peace of mind; 50, fifty!!, years ago the Dutch car manufacturer DAF advertised ´top speed = cruise speed'.

The crux is to realise that full throttle is not néarly the max load / thermal limits.

If you stíll do not get it, think mopeds. Their engines líve at full bore
If those 49cc engines can do a constant full throttle at 30 mph between tanks stops, a 300 should be able to do 80 no?!

But no discussing with believe.

Some people believe irrational things and can't be dissuaded with reason, facts, or evidence.

To be fair, the OT is older than me and when Í learned ride/survive on two wheels and sidecars, those were bar notable exceptions definitely NÓT full throttle resistant. The much revered British bikes were even notoriously certain to be not Japanse bikes changed that somewhat yet several Japanese sports bikes weren´t.
Next is whether or not one´s perception has kept up with the progresses in technology for the past half century.

Asbestos and Kevlar underwear on.

Open road riding at top speed for multiple days or as some say TWO or WOT. Throttle Wide Open or Wide Open Throttle in other words MAX revs.

Now for the question/s this one is for all y'all: How many times did ya check your oil?

This one's for some of you: check your coolant lately?

This one is just to add a few quick stirs to everybody's pot. What's the AGE and MILEAGE of your belt'?

Answers to these questions is directly proportional to longevity.

I'll be on the backroads; probably out of cell range. Hopefully my phone doesn't spontaneously combust.

Pedantic comment:

On an HPE it's not max revs. You hit the speed limiter before the rev limiter. Speed limit kicks in around 8700-9000 and the rev limit is 9500.

But i don't disagree with your sentiment.

My preferred abbreviation is actually WFO.

^^^^^^^^^^^^*^^^^^^^^^^^^

Never too old to learn. Thanks.

Agreed on Duck's comments. I have a '16 Kymco K-Pipe that I've done two Lake Erie Loops on, wide open for ~700 miles save for the fuel stops.

Engine survived both times, I just made certain to use decent oil and change it after the event. It's a cheap clone of a Honda Wave engine and is oil/air cooled. Built to a price point, but proved its value anyway.

I also have a '12 Kymco Yager GT200i that was given a Motoman-style break-in (rode it like it owed me money straight out of the gate, but did frequent oil changes and valvetrain checks). It does fly in the face of manufacturer's recommendations and isn't a good plan unless you're willing to accept the consequences. 22K on, it's needed three valve adjustments (600, 10K and 20K) and never thrown a sparkle party.

Along the way, I've run it up and down I-10 at 9K+ RPM a plethora of times without parts ejection at 75mph. It's a lesser engine than the GTS, yet it hangs In there.

I wouldn't worry about a GTS on the interstate, but I would treat it to good coolants and lubricants and be diligent with it's service intervals.

I had a 2007 Yamaha 400 Majesty. I sold it with only 20 k miles. 70-80 mph most days .It never had any issues. The valve clearance never changed enough to do anything about it. It never leaked anything or did anything weird. Belts and rollers , oil changes, coolant changes, tires, batteries. The guy I sold it to has over 75 k now and it still runs great. I had bought a 2014 Vespa 300 GTS. I know by the quality of the machine it would have run 100 k with proper maintenance and such. I ran it hwy speeds most days. I only sold it because I had to have a BV 400. Had I more room I would have kept it too. Quality oil and correct maintenance on or before the listed milage schedule is key IMHO.

This is why we have more crashes south of Jax on I95, the speed limit increases to 70MPH. If you don't drive 80MPH the morons weave thru traffic creating hazardous situations.
Seems like crashes in this area happen every day during the morning commute.

I don't know about other states but most of the interstate highways in Kansas have a speed limit of 75 mph except near urban areas and on the turnpike it's 80.

I should add that I agree with Jess that running full throttle for extended distances does little or no harm to the engine.

I never hesitate to take my GTS or GT on the interstate.

I once rode the GTS over 1000 miles in 20 hours 100% on the interstate at WFO to earn my Iron Butt award and the bike didn't even work up a sweat.

As for the age thing, I'm 63 and I don't ride as much as I used to. I'll probably give it up in a few more years.

I had a non-PTW related fall a few years ago and injured my foot for life. It made me realize that if I went down now it might not be good.

I think Jess' point here was that there are relatively few roads with these high speed limits.
The Interstate highway system accounts for about 48,000 miles worth of roadway.
Any highway accounts for a total of about 160,000 miles worth of roadway.
And the total number of miles of roads in the US is ~4.2 million miles.

So if Interstates are the only roads with 70+ MPH "limits", that's a bit more than 1% of all roads. If we include all highways, it becomes a bit less than 4%.

My point here is that if you want to get anywhere in the US fast, you have options. And yet, there are actually far more options for those who want to go slower (with some caveats in some places, sure).

There are navigation settings and apps that can help you avoid highways, dirt roads, ferries & etc.

One example is Scoot Route

I used to drive a motorcycle upto 1991, the last one I had was a BMW R75.

In 2019, 28 years later, I decided to buy myself a motorcycle, just for the pleisure of driving. And keeping in mind it had to be a vehicle that I can drive for years.

So I went back to my first motorcycle, which was a Vespa GS160 built in 1962, and started looking for what I saw as a modern version of that scooter. Easy to drive, easy to handle, not too heavy, able to follow traffic flow also on motorways (speed limit on motorways over here is 120kph (75mph), no need for setting speed records.

And I came out at a Piaggio BV 300 from 2012. With standard wind shield and topbox. When I bought it, it had 9000km on the ODO.

I have it now for 5 years and did some 25k km with it. The BV fullfils everything I expected from it.

I rarely ride it on motorways. Riding on the motorway is not a problem, really, but I do not find it comfortable riding: mainly due to the wind noise. I prefer the smaller roads. In the range of 70 - 100kph I find the BV is at its best.

I intend to keep on driving the BV. I see no reason why that would not be possible as long as health allows. I am now 63.

I'm 78 and last August I bought a new GTS 300 hpe on a Wednesday. The following Sunday I got on that vespa and left Middle Tennessee heading west. It took me 6 days to reach Sacramento, I kept the speedometer on 80 most of the time. GPS speed is 72. When I returned my odometer was at 8,000 mi, everyone was telling me I should replace the belt before I left California. I went another 2000 miles and then replaced the belt. These scoots are very capable of running long distances at high speeds.

I am quite happy to ride my 300s at around 100kmh on roads in South Africa.
I tend to avoid freeways, simply because of the volume of traffic.

Sometimes one has little choice, but if I can I do avoid them, preferring the road less travelled.

Being capable of doing an action does not mean no harm will occur doing it. It is rare that any ONE stress will be the cause of complete failure of equipment. "opinion" or "fact" hmmmmm?

I rode over the Buckman bridge this morning to go to Whole Foods. The speedo needle sat on the faster side of 70MPH. My SH speedo is spot on with my GPS(not cell phone). I've never worried about riding WOT on my 150cc.

This topic has come up occasionally. Despite the capacity of any two wheeled vehicle, I am a bigger fan of moderate cruising off freeways. My riding group ( +300 cc machines) spends all our time on back roads averaging 45 mph taking in the scenic vistas.

Hey, everyone gets to pick their own nose, I mean riding choice. I do appreciate some of you folks commute by scoot and have to hit the express way/freeway. I do not commute - just ride recreationally.

Bob Copeland
Also, we are froze off two wheels here in Minnesota for several months.

Sorry but no. Harm occurring while doing something equals incapable of doing that no?!

Capable = having traits conductive to permitting something.

I'm capable of jumping off a cliff.

Again i say being capable of doing something does not correlate with not causing harm. I sure would fell harm will be felt upon landing after capably jumping off a cliff.

Well, enjoy your new MotoGuzzi.
Yours´ is a development of the V50 I commuted ánd raced when that júst had come out. It was a paragon of reliability but Having come from Nortons, I never tested whether it was WOT proof
Parallel with the V50 I also had/rode a ´76 LeMans 1 and although overall reliable it was not WOT proof. All of my Laverdas; Formula 500, 750SF3 and 1000 Jota were. Honda reliable Italian bikes The later 650 which I also had and raced was not WOT proof btw.
Just fitted a ´filter´ gauze from said LeMans bell mouth on my P200E

Have ample slush funds for a new gen MG btw and did seriously look at one. Still lustfully do when at the Piaggio dealer. But opted for a WOT proof 125 Primavera and bought go faster bits for it

Every revolution of an engine will cause some wear, sometimes miniscule sometimes enough to cause concern to the operator. A concern does mean an action never be done. Different strokes for different folks.

Thing is Frank that I have raced motorbikes for 23 years (medal IoM TT) and rallied cars for some.
Am also an automotive engineer.
I have always lóved to be able to flog my bike/car to the limits of its life. Hence never like say Porshâhs nor superbikes as those always are too capable on the road whether open or closed for races.
Hence I properly understand WOT proof

Again enjoy your great new bike but please do not wrongly ´justify´ your buy with a confusion of age and wot proof
1. modern Vespas are wot proof regardless of driver age - FACT
2. still do not get what a pensioner has to seek on busy highways - OPINION