Modern Vespa

Hello everyone,

I own a Vespa GTS SuperSport 310 since January 2025 with about 9500 km on the clock. I was wondering what's the average lifespan of the stock suspension.

I'm starting to feel that mine might need replacement soon. The roads here in Greece are pretty rough and full of potholes, but 10k km doesn't sound like much for suspension wear.

The rear end still feels fine even with a passenger, but the front suspension feels quite harsh when hitting bumps or potholes — it doesn't seem to absorb shocks as well as it used to. The scooter remains stable overall, but the ride quality from the front isn't great.

Has anyone else experienced something similar? At what mileage did you end up replacing your stock shocks?

Thanks!

Shock absorber wear is a function of many factors
Rider weight
Terrain
Use
Mechanical reliability.

9.5k on a nine month old bike sounds premature to me. Do you have any suspension specialists near you in Greece. These aren't bike shops they are the folk who fit and tune suspension.

Another question is your tyre wear and pressures . Im taking it you have changed tyres by now. What pressures are you running as you mention " not absorbing shocks as they used to" have you fitted like with like tyres as tyre wall stiffness varies from brand to brand.

Steve

Exactly this.

Thank you all for your the response.

I know many suspension specialists for car suspension but none for motorcycles. I'll do my research anyway.
I will definitely mention my concern to the dealer on 10k km service.

I have not changed the tyres as there is not enough wear yet (I'm not an aggressive rider).
I check tyre pressure once a week so the tyres always have the recommended pressure.

I'm 73kg and I mostly use my Vespa for in town everyday commuting. I drive aprox. 300km per week most of them without passenger or extra weight (once a week I carry a backpack with my laptop)

Have you adjusted the rear shock preload? I see many Vespas with the preload still set as from the factory at the lowest setting

I have it on position 3 (out of 4) most of the time.

Thats actually a ride-height adjust.
But it would be nice if Vespa had any tuning to springs.

It's not a ride height adjustment, it preloads the spring changing the shock's behavior…

False. It is shock preload and does not affect the right height in any way

Ok

Nice point on your believe is that you are not alone!

They actually even call is preload

very good set of videos.

(regardless of what different adjustments on different shocks are called or actually do)

I wouldn't trust SIP's explanations even on describing a simple bolt. The preload doesn't adjust height, shock height is fixed (specific length). It just stiffens the shock so the body won't bottom out (droop). It just gives the impression that you adjust the height. Everything depends on the weight applied…

There is a ton of information on the net by professionals

e.g.
https://www.penskeshocks.com/blog/motorcycle-spring-preload-what-it-does-and-why-we-would-adjust-it

quotes from Bitubo about what they call "preload" in their manuals:

"we advise you increase the spring preload so that the motorbike
resumes its optimal height set-up"

"Preload
Affects how much the suspension compresses under rider weight (sag). Impacts ride height and geometry."

fun story:

Last week end I helped a friend* install bitubo on his gts.

When he hopped on with feet on the scoot while holding himself upright with a hand on a veranda post the shock was fully compressed. I stuck my phone up under and took a photo and you could see that the body of the shock had reached the rubber stopper - no shaft visible anymore.

So whatever it is called it needed plenty of adjustment as it was not suitable straight from the factory.


* 85kg I think he had previously said. I wonder what the average weight of riders on this forum is?

Maybe something's getting lost in the translation. Being static and with no weight on, adjusting the preload won't affect the height and make the bike taller (e.g. going from 850mm to 900mm). Everything is relative to the applied weight. You can say that the height is "adjusted" but it's not the actual case. Just the body won't sag with a stiffer suspension but then you also affect the rebound…

I think preload is different on different bikes. I can only speak from two experiences.
On my F650 GS it has a Wilbers remote preload adjuster. As you wind it in eg increase pre load the back end of the bike rises as the "bike sag" not the rider sag is reduced.

Secondly my neighbour has a F750GS with BMW's electronic suspension. With that you adjust preload for , single rider, rider pillion and rider pillion and luggage via pictograms on the LCD screen. I was sat astride it and changed from Rider to Rider pillion + luggage and it whirred and buzzed then rose a good 50 mm and had me barely balancing on my tiptoes.

So in my opinion when sat on the bike preload Definitely increases ride height as it removes sag. If that sag is 25 % and 25% is 40-60 mm thats what the back end will feel like.

Just my opinion

The OP was happy with his rear shock performance so the last dozen or so posts have been off topic.

Can anyone recommend to him how to improve the ride quality from his front shock?


In answer to his other question, my 300HPE has done 8K miles and I have not noticed a drop off in front shock performance

by replacing it. many would suggest with an aftermarket one and then understanding terms like preload will be useful.

Front suspension is bottoming out, you need a spacer as there is no preload adjustment for front shock.

adjusting spring preload on factory front shock

Did mine with repurposed plastic plumbing fitting, but I like the 3d printed spacer approach better. Anything with the right ID would work. Shock comes apart easily.

I have been riding Rocket, a 2006 Vespa GT since I bought it new in late 2005.

It now has 110,000 miles on it.

At around 58,000 miles I noticed the rear shocks were bottoming out on tiny bumps so I replaced them with Malossi shocks.

The front shock has been replaced twice, at approximately 50,000 miles and 100,000 miles.

Last year I sold a 2005 Vespa GT at 41,000 miles, still with the original shocks.

I also have Vanessa, a 2007 Vespa GT with 32,000 miles, still on the original shocks.

Then there is Ghost, a 2023 Vespa GTS, now at 13,000 miles with the original shocks that still feel like new.

Bill

Seems that most modern day shocks last quite a while, at least 50K miles or more, you may want to consider trying a different spring. I like the progressively wound springs, gives you a soft plush ride first few inches of travel and then gets firm to control rebound. Used them on lots of cars and a few motorcycles, not sure if anyone makes them for Vespas....

the springs on the oem shocks on a vespa gts are progressive as are aftermarket (most/all?) such as sip.