Modern Vespa

Overall this machine I would say gets a poor review from me.
I have been using this machine now for over 40,000km and am glad to see it go. It was not worth the money I paid and lost. I will not go into details, but I do not recommend this product.

Why not go into details? After 40K miles what were the problems?

If you're not going to go in to details then you should delete the post as it's useless.

You can't put something out there like that and not justify your position.

Not even worth a response...doh damn it there i went and did it.

I also would like some info on your problems. I've had problems but nothing that makes me want to get rid of my Piaggio. It has saved my lots of money on gas and fun to drive. I am starting to see more of them in the Tampa Bay area and now see another dealer that just opened. We now have 3 in the Tampa area. I see them all over Europe (in particular Paris) and driven in much harsher conditions than I do. Have many friends and family in Europe that love them. I am a convert. Once we all get more acclimated as to how they work and how they run and how to tend to them - they will continue to grow in the USA.

But I would interested in knowing what went wrong.......as it would help me get better at knowing this machine. Thanks in advance.

Thanks for the comment. However, by not going into details your non-recommendation loses any weight it might have had compared to the many recommendations the MP3 has received and continues to receive from the many happy riders on here. We would really like to hear why you think it is so bad, but I think it is important for us to respect your reluctance to share your experience.

For me, that tells me more about your experience than the actual details would.

I think he is Whining because he had the steering notch, ignored it even though he thought there was a problem and then was deigned warranty repair a month and a half after the warranty had expired.

As Quoted "After a short while, not exactly sure how long, I noticed when I would turn the steering, while parking the bike, a slight vibration noise, I found it odd but disregarded it, because, it did not sound too bad and it did not happen often."

If he had just gone to the dealer and reported this problem and got it into the system he would have been covered. But he chose to do nothing and is complaining that Piaggio would not cover the repair out of warranty.
So he ignored a problem till warranty was expired, then is complaining because Piaggio won't fix it. Sounds like he screwed him self to me.

Does that sound about right montrealon3? The only person you have to be upset with is yourself for ignoring a problem.

Here is the info I am referring to.

"In the spring of 2008 I purchased the MP3 400 here in Montreal Quebec Canada from Vespa Montreal. After a short while, not exactly sure how long, I noticed when I would turn the steering, while parking the bike, a slight vibration noise, I found it odd but disregarded it, because, it did not sound too bad and it did not happen often. I would say at about ¾'s the way through the season, next indication. For fun, I decided to try and steer the bike without my hands at a reasonable speed as to not fall over, by leaning to the left and right. I found that I would really have to lean out far in order to get it to react. I disregarded that as I thought it might have to do with having 2 wheels up front creating more resistance than a regular 2 wheeler. As time went by another indication happened. It was nearing the end of season and as I would iniciate a turn I found it would give resistance, but because of the wear on the front tires, I assumed that was the reason for this. The tires where at about 50% at the time. All of the above indications where not pronounced enough to have that notch like effect. In the new season of 2009 I had new tires put on the front. It was time to change them out and I had no real indication of what was really going wrong until I put on the new tires. It started, ever so slightly, getting that notch effect when trying to turn to the left or right. Again, I assumed it was the new tires I purchased, because the tires I purchased have fairly large lugs on them and they tend to have a center groove when rolling. So I thought maybe this is normal, again thinking 2 up front wheels with 2 grooves. It must be this. As time went on it became quite obvious that there was something really wrong. At slow speeds I'm talking stuck in traffic crawling speed, I was and still am, fighting with the steering to initiate a turn from center. So I start investigating here on the forums for the MP3 and the net and you guessed it, I start hearing from all of you out there that this looks like the #1 problem with all models on the MP3 and that all those whom distribute this product are well aware of it."

Wayne B

um... should've gotten it checked out at the dealer. It is, after all, a machine and machines... well, you know... break.

Well with over 40,000km and only 9 posts, I'd rank this poster as somewhere between internet spammer and a pop-up ad. Unlike the others who are itching for the "Why?" of the problem and seeking more info, I figure if you've ridden that far and haven't felt the need to contribute the good with the bad then why start now. To me stating that you're "done" with the mp3 after 40,000km is like eating 15lbs of crab legs at a buffet and then saying, "That was the worst buffet ever...I'm never coming back!"

Wayne B

Overall this forum post I would say gets a poor review from me.
I have been reading this post now for over 4 seconds and am glad to see it go. It was not worth the time I paid and lost. I will not go into details, but I do not recommend this post.

This topic woke me up..Hell..the MP3 just starts 2 brake-in after 50000 miles..

Look at picture in UFO's post. The truth is out. The technology of the J-costa variator is copied from a UFO.

maybe ufo is j-costa 8)