Modern Vespa

If this has been posted here PM me so I can delete this...

Otherwise enjoy. I stumbled across this today thought it was interesting.

dude needs some caffeine. he sounded half asleep.

Yeah...despite his lack luster tone he does give it a good review.

He points out the most glaring flaw in Piaggios design IMO...the inability to put a full face helmet in the pet carrier but I'm surprised he didn't mention the Toys-R-Us horn that Piaggio kindly provides us with...especially since he points out how it's highway worthy. You'd think he'd point out how dangerous it is to have a vehicle that is harder to see on the highway with a horn that is harder to hear.

Don't get me wrong. I LOVE my GTS but those are my only two issues with her.

The problem with that he is a sport bike rider and sport bike horns are just as worthless. He is just used to it.

Cool, learned something new today.

I find the talk of horns interesting. When I had my '06 GTS I tooted (yup , beep, beep) my horn at a group of school kids who were waving at me. They all nearly jumped out of their skin and one girl actually broke into tears... I found that it was plenty loud enough and the tone was really piercing. I must admit that I never had cause to use it in traffic so I can't comment on how it would have done against a rusty Honda with a couple of 15" subs....

When I put the Stebel on my BV 500 I was somewhat disappointed with the tone and volume....

Dave

Thanks - it was sad to see all of those sunny dry roads though

My BMW cage has a worthless horn too - almost embarrassed to use it! Good news is that it is relatively easy to upgrade the horn on a scoot.
Thanks for posting the review.

I'd add one other small design flaw - the half-round plastic cover to the turn signal lights on the dash pretty much obscure the blinking lights during the daytime. The domes catch the sun's reflection and that's about all you see unless you're staring down at it.

But, uh.... you can lock a helmet under the seat

there are two little pegs near the front that you put the D clip of your helmet on and when you shut your seat, voila!

This doesn't work with any of my three full face helmets. The chin strap is short, causing the helmet to hit the seat on closing. I have to use short steel cable loops as extenders. Not a big issue - just takes me an extra 10 seconds or so to rig it when I park. Most of the time I use a top case anyway.

None of my motorcycles ever had a helmet fit under the seat so I guess it's no big deal when my scooter can't.

I am aware of that option. It's not a substitute for proper storage. Your helmet is a razor blade away from being gone. Piaggio is basically telling scooter riders to only ride with a "scooter" helmet. Again I love the scooter but that is a glaring flaw. Dave I have heard or I should say Not heard the Scooter horn from inside a car. It's very scary. In fact, I had trouble on the last group ride I was on, hearing the person behind me beep when there was an emergency so...I really have nothing nice to say about he horn. I have replaced my BV horn with a Stebel and its very very noticable. I believe this is much safer.

I find all the angst about the "glaring flaw" of not being able to store a full face helmet under the seat to be amusing. What scooter or motorcycle does have storage under the seat for a full face helmet? Those few that do are huge. You can't have it both ways; both compact and capacious. Over a period of 40 years of riding I have never had a scooter or cycle that would store a helmet in anything but a rear case, and you can put a rear case on any Vespa.

What part do you anticipate them using the razor blade on? Your seat to get the whole helmet off? They'd be at that for quite a while, not seconds like a lock. Especially with a razor blade.

the strap of your helmet? cut that and hey - now your helmet is useless. imagine that. can't sell it, would fly off in a heart beat in a crash... oops.

D-rings have been securing devices for helmets for ages on motorcycles. That's just how it goes. And they're just fine for day to day storage. Even though you don't find it acceptable, thousands of motorcyclists in my city alone rely on it for daily storage.

*shrug*

As previously noted, the motorcycle world has it much worse than us.

I can't complain about the pet carrier capacity on my new GTS 250; my P200 and Stella never had such a thing, so I'm accustomed to relying on a rear case. The horn is indeed ludicrous and will be replaced with something that's audible. The glove compartment is of marginal utility, at least compared to the one on a P200. And the centerstand is an invitation to a hernia. On the plus side, and far outbalancing the previous nuisances, the GTS 250 is fast, quiet, smooth and comfortable...all in a package that still boasts the classic Vespa profile.

It's interesting to me that he said that he only got 59 mpg during his 500 miles of testing. I am 6'1"/225 pounds and I have never got less than 65mpg and routinely get 70 mpg (and that's with a full windscreen) on my GTV (exact engine & body as the GTS). My wife consistently gets 75-77mpg on her GTS but is 5'8"/130 pounds. Sounds like his test scoot needs a look-over by the repair shop.

Catskill Rider - Thanks for posting the review. Nice to hear the positive comments from a Sportsbike Rider!

Cheers,

Gianni