Modern Vespa

I noticed some talk about centre stands today and was thinking about the centre stand on my new 300 Super. I have noticed that it is much much easier to use than the centre stand on the GT 200 and a bit easier to use than the stand my old GTS 250. Has anyone else noticed this or is it just me?

Mine is very easy to deploy, but, if I put any weight on the bike while parked, i.e. sit on it, it seems to lock in place and won't retract unless I help it with my foot. A safety feature for when I am working on it? Doubtful. I use my side stand most of the time.

Mine is terrible, can't say I'm happy with it and it needs a warranty fix.

You are a very brave person or don't like your Vespa because it will be on the ground soon enough

Don't mind me - just my opinion learned the hard way

I am with Wonder on this, mine is not quite as bad, but it has developed a worrying squeky-ness about it and it occassionaly needs some WD40. I am thinking there could be rust somwhere I can't see.

Noooo

WD40 isn't a lubricant. You need to buy some white spray grease and use it liberally. My 300 stand was fine and dandy. Heavy beast to get onto it tho.

So WD40 doesn;t solve all of lifes problems!

Thanks Doug, as ever my nooby-ness shines through.

No worries here, I have had several Italian bikes with this set up.

Yes it needs lots of grease and my stand needs to be taken apart to do it properly. Nice job there.

A total pita as the stand no longer snaps up. I have to lever the bugger up with my foot.

Touch wood, no problems with my stand to date.

The number of times it's been to the dealer now for servicing and back tyres and what-have-you, I should think they could sort the centre stand out for me while I'm there, so I'm not too worried at present...

How many threads are you gonna start on each aspect of the 300, Benny? Not that I'm complaining, it's always good to see talk of the 300, especially from people who have seen the light and upgraded 8)

Oh I don't know, I guess whenever I notice something different about it that I wasn't expecting. Really other than the power, I wasn't expecting anything else to be different. I really think that the centre stand has been changed because it really is easier to put on and get off the stand. I wasn't expecting it though.

You know, the center stand on my 300 has the same problem. I haven't taken it apart yet to lubricate it, but I imagine that should do the trick. Perhaps Gino forgot to grease a batch of them on the production line one day?

Mine started out okay, but in the last week has become really difficult to use. However, I should note that I've got it loaded with about 30 extra pounds of luggage, as we are on a week-long tour.

I'm having to be really careful about the angle at which I park - if there is any rise from front to back, then I have to ask my husband to help. Pretty embarrassing.

Also, it doesn't help that the crash bars (which I am not yet willing to give up) make it much more difficult to reach the foot lever.

On grass don't even think of putting the Center stand down unless you want it to fall over. On the pavement the Center stand "usually goes down with eass

This is one of the reasons I prefer the Piaggio rear crash bars over the Vespa rear crash bars. I tried using the centre stand on a GTS with the Vespa rear crash bars and the bars interfered somewhat with my getting my foot onto the centre stand. On the other hand, this does not happen with the Piaggio bars.

Benny, are these the bars you are using?

http://www.scooterwest.com/item_detail/GTS-Premium-Rear-Bars/368/

Yes Sharon, those are the bars I have on my Super and they are the ones I was referring to in my post. They do a great job of protecting the scooter in a drop or accident (mine saved my rear cowls when I had my accident last year) and they do not interfere with using the centre stand as well.