Modern Vespa

I live in Central WI and am taking county highways (rolling hills,etc) on my GT200. I travel approximately 20 miles each way. My scooter speedometer reads 50-55/60, however my roommate was infront of me on her Harley Sportster and said that I was only going 45 mph according to her Speedometer.

Is it hard on the scooter to go 50-55? Who else out there commutes @ high speeds, and what speeds are average for my scooter?

Help??[/b]

Welcome!

I ride a GT200, and I have had varying speeds, with a top so far of 70 mph indicated. You'll find on these boards that the actual speed is a few mph lower than indicated...As for it being hard on the engine, mine hops up to 50-55 in no time, and it seems to be running fine. As for long term wear, I can't say at this point, since it is still breaking in. Hopefully, it will end up going faster.

Good luck, and ride safe!

Where in Wisconsin?? I just moved from the Madison area. Having lived in Wisconsin my whole life, I have traveled many back rodes consistently at an indicated 65-70. My buddy has seen an indicated 82 on his GT, just never felt the need to try that myself.

I hit 80 indicated last week with full wind screen and top case. I run pretty consistently in the 65MPH range - again indicated speed. My best guess is my speedometer is 4-6MPH fast at the higher speeds - so I guess my real speed is typically 60MPH.

Over 7K on the clock with no repairs outside of scheduled maintenance.

Oh, and here in Germany they have little radar readers that flash your speed.

Eyeballing it when I get "flashed" the speedo seems pretty dead nuts on at 45MPH and below.

We have a chart for exactly such an occasion: [topic40]

So mechanically why can a single cylinder 250 sport bike go 100+ and the GTS tops out at roughly 80? Is this all because of the CVT?

Gearing and horsepower are different than cc size.

The GTS is a 250 that puts about 22hp out and the Kawasawki Ninja puts out a lot more (I think around 26-27, I'm sure some one will provide exact numbers).

And then gearing and torque play into the speed mix also - acceleration at low speed vs. higher top speeds.

The Ninja also can rev significantly higher, and produce HP at those higher revs. Redline on one of those is what, 16k? That, combined with gearing, can get a bike moving quite a bit faster then the fastest Vespa.

The Vespa engine isn't designed with the same goals. While many of us treat the GTS as a sportbike (I'm guilty here) it is plainly not. The tires aren't rated as fast, it's not geared to go as fast, and the engine isn't capable of revving that high.

The fastest I've held my GT at was 75 MPH per GPS. I hold 65 - 70 indicated on the highway pretty regularly. You shouldn't be limited at 55!!!

See Jess' chart for 'precise error' (new oxymoron!) but if you just approximate that it's indicating 10% high you're close enough (eg 55 indicated is 50 actual)

Lomunchi - I like the quote!

I live in Merrill, just north of Wausau-I want to commute from Merrill to Wausau via a county highway (speeds 50-60)- and it's a great ride except when it's windy...

I bought my Vespa down in Milwaukee...
I actually bought my GT after selling off my Harley Sportster last year, because I have wanted a Vespa since I can't even remember!

My gt200 (2004) has been up to 80 mph and had room to do more. but I got scared and backed off. I ride on the interstate all the time and usually drive around 65 to 75 mph.

Do you have one of these for a GTS or would it be the same?

I like that "precise error"----sounds like something the gummint would use. I don't know what Stephanies top speed is but she cuises very smooth at 50 to 70 indicated. Art

I have tested my GT 200 several times. I have consistently tested at 73 MPH before addition of LV exhaust and 76 MPH with the new exhaust. I believe my speedo is 1 mph off which is what I was told by an officer who had me on radar.

When driving up north I have for some reason been able to achieve higher speeds. Usually 75 to 78MPH. I know they have a different formulation of gas than we do and it may also have something to do with the elevation.