Modern Vespa

Has anyone had this happen to them

I was riding a swooping turn doing about 35 mph leaning my body into the turn thinking nothing of it when all of a sudden I notice the bike is not leaning with me it went straight and by the time I realized I was going straight and tried to lean harder it was to late I hit the curb. I got a bit bruised and and banged broke some peaces on the scooter. So I got back on it and rode off slowly it was fine? The same sort of thing happened about a week earlier coming out of a driveway at work, and I didn't think much of it then. I was at a driveway talking to someone so I had the suspension locked, when I took off it stayed locked for a moment almost went into the next oncoming lane, but then it broke loose. Anybody else have this kind of experience Please let me know.

I had the driveway experience but it was my fault. It was down hill so I started moving by releasing the brakes and had not turned the throttle enough to disengage the lock. Nothing happend but is scared me for a moment.

I would not ride that bike until it is fixed. I have never read anything like that in this forum. As a matter of fact I would tow it to the dealer. There is a major and dangerous flaw in that bike.

Let us know what happens.

Were you counter steering or just leaning your body into the curve? The bike will respond to a body lean, but it's not stable in the turn and will easily right itself; you have to keep that countersteer pressure on the handlebars. It's also possible your stand scraped the road and the bike bounced up. A lot of things can happen so you have to be aware.

I've had a couple of close calls with the tilt lock at stoplights. A little left or right slope on the road or the front wheels aren't pointed absolutely straight ahead is enough to cause the bike to suddenly veer to the side when you turn on the throttle. If I use the tilt lock, I turn it off before I start moving. It's just too dangerous.

Wow... That is really scary! Glad you're OK !!

I know nothing about how the suspension lock system works but I am now very curious about what the bike's computer uses as feedback. If it's all electronic, then a simple electrical glitch could pretty much kill you. If it's all mechanical, then I might feel a little bit better. Me and my girlfriend are new riders (still have just our permits). This post makes me a little nervous. Going for my road test in two weeks...

Were you counter steering or just leaning your body into the curve? The bike will respond to a body lean, but it's not stable in the turn and will easily right itself; you have to keep that countersteer pressure on the handlebars. It's also possible your stand scraped the road and the bike bounced up. A lot of things can happen so you have to be aware.


I was counter steering and leaning and the turn wasn't that acute that my stand was hitting the bike wouldn't lean

I had it happen when my Stebel horn, mounted over the front suspension, came loose and interferred. I could turn left fine, but to the right only slightly before the suspension would go no more. The suspension was not locked, just interferred with. I removed the Stebel until I can come up with a better mounting system. Too scary.