Modern Vespa

This is the response I wrote to a member who asked about buying a used Liberty 150.
It is a quick review of my 8 yrs with my Liberty.

The only place I look on line at scooters for sale is CycleTrader.
Many use facebook - which I don't have.

I'd try cycletrader, searching Piaggio Liberty after entering your zip code.

Prices for a new one should be very close to $3,099 to $3,199.
Now comes the bad news > Piaggio/Dealer/shipping/prep add-ons will make your out the door price @$4100.

Yeah - that $3100 new price sounds great! - then comes the add-ons! (which Robot doesn't mention)
So, if you've $4100 in your hand - I'd certainly take a look around your dealer's floor for what else that $4100 would buy in his used bikes/scooters section!

I researched my purchase quite a bit. Reviews from "justgottascoot" folks, whom I trust, and Robot - were good.
Next: "how difficult would the DIYing be for the regular service items?" So I bought the manual ($8) from AF1racing. Looked it through and saw that I could do the valves, wheels, brakes, CVT. It looked very good!

So in the summer of 2017 I went to my local Vespa dealer and helped them unbox their shipment of new 2018 Liberty's until we found the color I wanted. They were pushing Vespas - and hadn't gotten around to taking the Libertys out of the box.
This, the only nearby Vespa dealer - where I bought my Liberty - was hit by a small tornado just prior to my purchase. And went out of business a few weeks after my purchase!
No worries - parts are easy from AF1Racing. The scooter is simple to work on. In 8 years - of year around riding here in Ohio - no part has failed. It starts all weathers, runs as new. Very smooth drivetrain (CVT) and plenty of power to haul my 270lbs around - up to @ 60mph.
The scooter has been perfect - actually. Would I buy another? Yep - I would like to have a white one, too!

Don't know your comfort in DIYing a scooter - BTW, mine has never been back to a dealer, and never needed to.
You might like to check the official Piaggio download manual from AF1-racing. It will give you a look at the skills needed to service this scooter. There are 2 tools ("holding tools") needed for the CVT servicing. Not expensive.

To sum up.
Piaggio has made well over 900,000 of these things - and they have gotten it right.
It looks sleek and delicate - but it has proven to be bullet proof reliable. I'm talking going 30 miles from home for a cup of coffee on a 20°F day.
If it blew up tomorrow - I'd buy another.
Love the design, the quality of the build, the seat, the headlight and the big-wheel ride.

LMK what you decide!

O.S.

While I loved my white one, I always enjoyed seeing the photos of your red one. I've been trying for 3 weeks now to get a new BV400. Still a small hump, but easy enough to step through like my Primavera.
The Liberty was the easiest bike I've ever worked on.
There were 2 small niggles for me, but they weren't a real problem.
One was to work on the front, you have to remove so much plastic from the rear to completely remove it, but for things like the turn signals, I could loosen just enough to get my hand inside.
And the small fuel tank bugged me. Not a problem, just that I wanted more range. The current owner of my Liberty I think is really enjoying it as well.
First time I saw a Liberty, it was just a scooter. After seeing it in person, then doing a test ride, it somehow changed into a beauty. And it appears yours loves to be photographed!!!!

Sure hope the new LED headlight doesn't screw up the very good night vision I enjoyed with the 60/55W halogen! Yeah they're bright as hades - but so few LEDs seem to be focused worth a tinker's dam!
The sparkle and glare of that LED in daytime might be a help from left turners.

I'll keep my halogens!

O.S.

How many miles does your bike have?

I don't know what the interval is for maintenance on your bike, 6k for valves?

Whatever the interval, did they settle in and not need adjustment after a few times?

Curious. I'm thinking about adding a Primavera or Liberty to the stable.

It has 14,000 something.*
I like to tinker - so it has had the 600 mile valve check and 3 more since.
With that lower/front panel popped off it is so easy to get at the valves that I like to see how they're doing.
Don't recall ever having to make much of an adjustment to the valve lash.
Yeah - the manual specifies every 10,000Km after the first one at 1,000Km.


O.S.

*my 155cc Liberty shares road time, 50/50, with my 163cc Kymco.

That's awesome! My GTS needs a stable mate. Plus I put on a lot of miles, it would be nice to spread them over two bikes.

I also got a rear flat on my bike yesterday, when I went out to the garage there was a huge screw in the almost new CityGrip.
I put in a string plug, so the bike is not out of service. If I had another bike, I would have the option of taking the wheel off and deciding what to do.

The 150 Liberty is a pretty fantastic little machine. Mine is mostly relegated to train station rides of 1 hilly mile each way - I feel bad for her, so do my best to take her out for longer runs on weekends. I did a first oil change at 350 miles because it had been 1 year. Will do the valves at 600 miles which sadly at this rate will be nearly 2 years into ownership. Like OS, mine has been trouble free. The side stand is a great and convenient addition as is a top box if you need the space (I need so where to store my XL full face helmet all day).

Was in Paris recently and the Liberties there seem to be relegated to delivery duty.

Has anyone successfully completed the Cannonball on a Liberty? Am considering doing so one day….

When I was in Spain, the Liberty was the postal service bike.
They were yellow and parked in rows in front of the post office.

2023 I don't recall any Liberty's, but there were 3 Primaveras.
2025 There are 3 Liberty's, 2 of which are newbies to the CB, registered.

Forgot to mention a major selling point for me - so taken for granted over the years now I hardly think of it.....

It is air-cooled!

If I find a puddle under my scooter - I know it's not the water pump, radiator, hoses & clamps, etc!!



O.S.

I youtube a walking tour of Paris streets sometimes.
It is pretty obvious that most riders are on scooters, and that the big-wheel scooters are the choice of most.
The cannonball? a kid on a Super Cub did it!
O.S.

The reason why big-wheel scooters are the choice of most in Paris, Rome, Milano, etc is that the small-wheel scooters are too dangerous on the cobblestone.

That's another reason the MP3's are so popular there.

I sometimes miss my Liberty. The PCX I have now is a great scooter but it's boring, if that makes sense. The Liberty was fun to clown around on, blast round corners or across a field. The PCX just works as advertised, it doesn't encourage bad/stupid/careless behavior.

And I never got a answer back from the dealer who I traded my Liberty in to, as to why the CEL would randomly come on and loose power. Guess someone is just resetting the computer to make the fault go away for awhile.... Shame as I was considering a BV400 at one point.

I was under the impression that most of the cobbles were paved over years ago - save for touristy "squares" or promenade side streets?
If big wheels are better, and would also have been better on the streets of Europe in times past - why was Vespa putting little wheels on their scoots from the get-go?
Interesting to hear owners suggest that their Vespas are less stable on low speed urban settings?

Curious.
O.S.

Arc de Triomphe?

Again, the surface around the Arc is kept classic - for the tourists I've been told.










I used to wait for my bus home at the Arc.
On rainy summer days the cacophony of shouted Merdes!, horns, metal-on-metal brakes, squalling tires,. horns!, blatting mobelettes, polite toots, and the odd blaring wails of an emergency vehicle - were cheap entertainment.

We used to hold our breath and be amazed at those seniors motoring in the chaos on one of the little VeloSolex with the squirrel motor on the front tire! They had the road presence of a shadow - yet we never saw an incident!

My father, an Ohioan, decided to challenge the Arc one evening in our little 6 yr old Mercedes.
We survived - while my little brother learned some new, genuine American flight-crew-navigator-bomber-to-gunner language.



O.S.

Hehe mine is white but I always love seing photos of the red one!
And I love it as well! In my "humble" opinion, I think it's the best scooter out there!