Modern Vespa

Or, for that matter, why do people choose Lambretta over Vespa?

Because they stopped making legit Lambrettas quite a while ago
and I wanted a modern one

New Lambretta or Vintage Lambretta?

I don't like the new Lambretta,
Would rather have a vintage Lambretta.

I'd bet this is the case with most modern riders. There was no lambretta option to even choose from.

cos lammys where stopped years ago and the money they want for them now is a pisstake and id rather ride than push ..........
if i ever had the coin id have an italian sx chop .....the sx makes the best lamb chop by far

For me it was never really a choice. I never looked at anything but a Vespa. Then what attracted me to Vespas? Classic styling, tradition, memories of the neighbor kid's Vespa in the 60's, reliability, and name recognition, to name a few.

I didn't know there were other scooters other than Vespa. Vespas are Scooters, Scooters are Vespa.

I love the angular lines on Lambrettas. There are several models I'd live to own someday. But as a wise Lambretta owner and mechanical guru recently told me: "When people tell me they're getting a Lambretta, I say, 'Hope you have a toolbox THIS BIG.'"

That stereotype/joke about Lammys at the side of the road? There's something to that. I'm only starting to gain mechanical competence working on my modern Vespa and Buddy. I can't afford to own a Lambretta and have someone else fix it for me!

Someday, though...

Having both helps. Which I choose to ride depends on how far I want to go without fear of a "happening". Modern = distance!

Accessibility. My first scooter was a Vespa, because I could get it for $500 (those days are gone). After that it's been dedication to the brand, which is odd because in other realms I'm not brand conscious at all.

I know a few owners of Vintage Lambretta Scooters in San Antonio, TX home of Amerivespa 2010 they claim that Lambretta made better Scooters back in the day. While I was with Alamo Scoots, the Lambretta owners never had issues on rides as opposed to the Vintage Vespa owners who would breakdown or get flats on occassion. Just my observations.

Anecdotally, it seems that Vintage Lambretta's have gotten more reliable in the past 10 years. I think it's the fact the more dedicated enthusiast are buying them versus the random rider. Also it seems that the distribution of parts and repair shops has increased, especially with the advent of the internet. Let's face if you had a Lambretta in 1990 it was tough to find parts, today it's a click a way.

For nostalgic reasons.

While a Lambretta was the first scooter I ever sat and rode on (as a little boy, on our neighbor's L), it were the Vespas I would later encounter during numerous vacations in the Mediterranean that left a glowing desire, and getting my GTS was basically buying back and bringing alive those precious memories. It would have never worked with anything other than a Vespa!

lammys are nice to look at and ride BUT if you want a scooter that likes to be worked at all the time buy on lol Vespa more reliable

EXACTLY

It depends on your mood, as they say.....

Riding a Vespa is like making love 8)

Riding a Lambretta is like having sex

That's why I own one of each

I like both. Think I'm going to need a Lambretta.

Just to be clear, Lambretta as an Italian scooter manufacturer no longer exists. The name Lambretta was purchased by Scooters India LLC which has licensed Khurana Group LLC to sell rebadged Adly Moto scooters in the United States under the Lambretta brand. Adly Moto scooters are manufactured by the Her-Chee Industrial Corporation of Taiwan.

The Khurana family's main enterprise is coal trading but they have recently expanded into petroleum coke and the construction business. And now apparently, into the scooter re-branding business.

There are many many threads about this on the forum for anyone who wants more info. The Lambrettas sold in Europe come from a totally different company and are actually rebadged Chinese scoots similar to the Lance Milan and a Honda Joker clone. I think this is the company behind the Pato plastic-bodied concept, but not too sure on that.

The newest Italian Lambretta Scooters are now 40+ years old.
The Spanish and Indian versions are a little bit newer.
Vintage Lambretta and Vespa Scooters are the epitome of classic Italian design, engineering, and styling. New ones, not so much or not at all.
It takes a lot of time, effort, skill, and money to keep a Lambretta going.
Lambretta SX is pure cool, period. So is the Vespa GS/SS, nice butt!
There is a place in my garage for Vintage and Modern.

I've never choosed.
I first began with a Vespa 15 years ago, many vespa later, I bought a Lambretta, and many more, so now I own both of them.

Reasons I didnt buy a Lamby back in the day:

Reliability
They overheat
You have to push start them
They have crappy turn radius
I didnt like the clutch on a lamby

first scoot was 79 sil lambretta only other lammy riden was 63 LD never riden a shifty wasp only MV's. I purchased my lammy in 1980 solely on economics. I bought lammy cheaper than chicago dealer was selling P200e's or Bajaj Chetaks. I've heard lammys are faster but wasps turn better more reliable. Nowdays new wasps are simply more attainable & servicable. new lammys are rebadges, Cmsi's which are ultra rare or carbon fiber lammys which are too expensive. still miss my lammy though.

i want to get there lammys are far more maintanance intesive even as standard tuned ones may be fun but engine rebuilds can cost the same as a new GTS ,ANYTHING NON STANDARD WILL DRINK FUEL 40mpg being good what i like is the fact they spend all that money going fast but have to stop more often, on a 200 mile dash my gts will beat all but the most specialized lammy (big$$$$$$$$$ engine) but mine will do it again and again without complaint also as im 6 foot comfort and riding possition are in the gts faviour .... i guess its down to the owner to decide. there are plus points though in general both classic lammy and vespas can be fixed on the side of the road with a few tools and have kickstarts which is sadly lacking on the gts

because I can spell Vespa,

TNG
4 stroke
water cooled
electric start
economical
reliable
affordable parts and service
head-turning conversation starter
ownership of a genuine piece of Italian automotive design (I can't afford a Ducatti, Moto Guzzi, Lamborghini or Ferrari)

Modern Vespa - Check on all counts
Modern Lambretta.....................still waiting

When I bought my first scooter, my brother already had a Vespa and was a member of the Vespa club, so I followed suit. I have stuck with Vespas ever since, but came close to switching to Lambrettas once.

It was funny in South Africa. Lambrettas were as popular as Vespas in Johannesburg, but in all the coastal cities - Durban, Port Elizabeth, Cape Town - you hardly ever saw a Lammie, only Vespas.

My favorite Lammies are the D models and the Li series 2 models.
My favorite Vespas are the GS150, Rally200 and GT/GTS.
Only other scooter I would like to have is a Rumi.

Mike

Why choose?
I have both.
Beautiful old Lambretta for sunny summer days and a 2009 LXS for commuting to work.

Bought it new in '67, still have it. Not sure how many bits it has now, left the factory with it, but that goes for the both of us, and neither of us have grown up, we both get faster.

Lambretta for posing, a Vespa if you need to be sure of getting there.

The Mp3 with the big screen is a lot warmer.

This Lambretta followed me home one day... I sold the Vespa. Still an excellent Rally Scooter and not all that unreliable for a 44 year old machine.

I currently have two '05 Vespa GT 200L scooters. They're a delight to ride and perform wonderfully. However, given my "druthers", I would much prefer the old four speed transmission and clutch that I had on the Lambrettas that I had back in '61 to '63 when I was stationed at Anderson AFB on Guam. I really don't care for the "twist and go" system we now have. Shifting gears never seemed to be anysort of a problem for me.
I guess that leaning to drive and becoming a licensed driver well before the first automatic transmissions appeared on american automobiles had a bearing on my choice. I remember when the first hydromatic transmission appeared in the Oldsmobiles. "They'll never take ahold!"

Why Choose? Both are beautiful.

'Cause I wanted a shiny new one. It's my daily transport, so reliability and convenience are a must. One day, when I have the space...

+100, I miss shifting, the GTS would be a kick butt shifting scooter.

To be honest, I've always preferred the look of the Lambretta. Back in the 60's there were many more around my area than there were Vespas and its just stuck.

That said, I love my GTS. If there was a really good looking, reliable Lammy alternative I'd probably go for it but I doubt I could afford it without selling the GTS and I'm not sure I'd want to do that.

I didn't choose Vespa. Vespa chose me.

Ericalm is that how you explained the scooter to your wife? "I don't know how the new scooter got in the garage....It just followed me home from the store where I was buying you flowers."

they sell scooters and flowers in the same shop over there? ........... odd

Flowers weren't nearly enough. Eventually, I had to get her a scooter of her own!

He can't say he was at the scooter shop so he has to make it sound that it was wandering alone in the parking lot. But it is not a bad idea for every store that sells guy stuff to sell flowers as well and every store that sells expensive girl stuff sells lingerie.