Modern Vespa

Hey the bosses just got back last week from the piaggio owners meetings in palm springs. Stuff in the works the rumors are NO MORE GT200!! This makes me mad I love my GT and its a perfect amount of CC's in my book. The new Vespa S-50 is going to be 4valve so thats cool because the LX and fly 50 are not quick. The real super 300 is coming the MP3 hybrid should be here by christmas 09 and a 4stroke automatic P series. Just a few things to look forward to. I heard Jay Leno showed up for free!!
No more GT's what are they thinkin!! Should we strike??

4C P-Series? yeeehaaaaaaa!!!!!!

I want spy photos!

Mmmmm - Four Stroke P series??!! Really??!!

Desi B.

Well it will look just like a PX just no shifter.

Yea I guess alot of people complain about the seat hight on the LX and S so to compete with the buddy its there fix to the problem.

Being a total idiot regarding the mechanics of how it would work, I wonder if the GT 200 motors would fit in the body of a new P Series scooter - that would be a good way for Piaggio to continue making the same motor without having to retool...

Just wonderin'

Desi B.

if there's a will there's a way I heard a guy put a GT in a LX and had to do a couple mods but it worked now could you put a PX 200 2 stroke in a automatic P???

Have to ask,will the P-series be 150 or 200cc or something else? Got to know. Thanks for the info.

4-stroke auto P... I can't help but feel a little let down by this. Seems to me the things which made a P a P are not included in that vision. Just a fancy new Vespa borrowing a classic body... That said, if I was in the market for a new Vespa I truly would love to have one with such strongly classic looks as this will.

Um, when did the last new GT200 roll out? Hasn't it been well over a year? Was there an '08 GT200?

The 4-stroke auto P series will arrive just in time to compete with Genuine's rumored cheaper 4-stroke auto P series clone by LML (the fabled automatic Stella). Many have said that the reintroduction of the PX to the US came after the success of the Stella. Hmmm...

There's a lot of people that love the look of a P but don't want to shift we have women that come in and look at a stella and ask about it and as soon as I say you have to shift there like show me automatic I think it will sell very well. Don't get me wrong I love to shift I have a P200 I love the smell of 2stroke Thats why I have both automatic and a shifty. We will see!! You never know maybe it will never come out. I also heard that if you bought a mis-marked 250-300 super and you never drove it and framed the letter with the 250 sticker from piaggio it will be worth a couple bucks in the a couple years I heard there was a ET4 that came out in the late 90's there was only 10 of them that made it into the US and were painted the wrong color I was told it looked kind of like the vintage red and there's a guy that even left it in the crate and they say its worth any where from 20 to 30 thousand dollars. I know it would be really hard to have a scooter and not ride it but it would be cool to have something like that!

Don't know but if I had to guess I would say 150

We have 4 08 GT's I just heard what they have in the state's is it no more coming from over sea's I did not get this info in a email or letter just from the meeting in palm springs if there's any dealers reading feel free to jump in and lets hear what you heard.

True enough. But if the price is right, I predict it will be the #1 selling "second Vespa" for many current MV owners.

Vespa heritage, coffee table book history, purist sensitivities and legacy aside, it's genius -- and overdue.

Absolutely there was 08 GT200's and even a very short supply of 09's. My rep called me and asked me if I wanted "10 of the last ones, 09's of course" and I of course said yes. Maybe they are the super rare ones now? Dunno however we have like 3 blue and 1 black left.

SDG

I hate when I buy something that they quit making. Like buying a new car and the next year is a different body style. D'oh!

Dunno,

Pretty happy with my 2 GT60's.

SDG

I'll definitely consider it as a second scooter, but would have loved to see a 4- stroke P series come out with a manual transmission!

Thanks for the insight...look forward to the new "P" whatever size it ends up being. It's nice to see the legacy continue, even if it's a bit modern.

Piaggio has been talking about this for the last 10 years. Now that the 2 stroke it out of production I guess they might get around to doing it.

One interesting thing I picked out at a dealer meeting around 2003 is that "Piaggio will never release another Vespa with a motorcycle style clutch" Most likely it will be a CVT style push button shifter like in the Mini Cooper. Rumor of a new shifting Vespa will most likly take that form and now that the 4 stroke P seem more like a reality if it shifts it will be a push button. That's my prediction.

My dream was the orbital direct injection "ditec / purejet style two stroke. I heard there was a prototype at one point.

-michael JKSC

The GT 200 was discontinued long ago in Europe because it can't meet the emission regulations with a carb. And equipping it with fuel injection makes it too similar to the GTS 250. There would simply not be any difference in production cost. Instead they will most likely equip the GTS 125 with the new fuel injected engine, which has more torque at lower revs and significantly improved MPG (compared to the old 125).

Yeah, but that's a collector's item. You knew when you bought it that they weren't making many of them, right? I'm just sayin'.

"MP3 hybrid should be here by Christmas 09" If that is the case I may be selling both of my GTS's and getting two of these.

Whoa, an automatic P?! Kinda makes me think about selling my 79.

Let me ask : being that you have a wonderful P-series and have seen how absolutely NOT HARD it is to learn to shift, why would be the motivation behind wanting an automatic version?

They could come out with a p-series where i could control my speed by making increasingly louder farting noises with my mouth, and i really wouldn't be interested.

If you're doing it because you want a 4-stroke version ( like the Bajaj Chetak ) then fine ..i see the environmental reasons for it. If you're doing it because you're a shop owner and you notice how many people walk in that WANT a PX150 but immediately walk away when you tell them you have to shift ... i guess i understand ( i mean, you gotta sell scooters to make a living, right? )

But once you KNOW how to shift, and how easy it is ... why would you want the exact same scooter but an automatic version?

Fine, I'll buy it.

showing up at a rally with an auto p would be even worse than doing it on a modern vespa in some places.

damnit. now i want a scooter i can vary the speed of with farting noises.

no auto p series for me I've got the real thing X2

Try farting from the correct end.

Well, its entirely possible that putting the Leader engines in the frame design of the PX is going to return a level of previous ease in the average person working on the bikes [again]. So long as they don't pin down the cowls on the original frames, whether the engine is centered or in the classic configuration it could make normal maintenance return to original (and appreciated) design advantages.

As a motorcycle guy, to me one Vespa is another Vespa. I'm not tied to the history or modliness of owning one of the older bikes. Shifters or formerly shifters, whatever. If they change from what they were, like em or don't.

Me, I just like Vespas.

Harv

+100
But, Eric, there are people who buy inflatable Rachel Welch dolls, aren't there?

Al

Do you think that with the current engines we can return to a point where they are more user serviceable like the old ones? Is the main problem the fact that the way the engine is mounted in the body makes them largely inaccessible ?

what takes 2 seconds to check on a p takes 1.5 hours on my et4. complete pain in the ass design. they're designed to be hard to work on, is my theory, to increase service for dealers. but, that's just my pet conspiracy theory.

hehe very funny

Harv

$30k et4s? This is priceless.

Well, it's not inherent to the ENGINE, is it? Aren't they throwing them in lambrettas now, a la the "Series 5" by ( PM Tuning?!?)

As long as you build the body to be easily removable accessible like an old vespa / lambretta, couldn't you service that Leader engine more readily? And complete wishful thinking, i'd wager.

Could that be the objective? Build an automatic Vespa that can be more readily owner serviced? That would make sense to me, and the P body is a good starting point. Squeeze a modern engine into a beloved, iconic body.

Al

nah, the engine is easy enough, it's the access to it. it's like when you need to change a belt on your car, and you have to take the whole engine out to get to the pulley.

Unless I'm missing something, the accessability thing is what I mentioned a few posts above you guys.

I'm confused...

Harv