Modern Vespa

Hello all,

I have been wanting to buy a Vespa scooter for many years, and I am now finally going to do it. After much research, I have settled on a used GT 200.
I managed to find what I believe to be a good deal on one, although it has rather high mileage. Hopefully, I can get a few opinions from some more experienced Vespa enthusiast as to what they think.
My work location is 20 miles from home, and I'd like to commute to work on the Vespa most days over the next 4 to 5 years, which means I would be putting tens of thousands of miles on it. I fully realize this will require a lot of repairs and maintenance. I am fine with that.
However, the scooter I found already has 15k miles on it. Mechanically it is in very good condition, but the body has a lot of scratches and dents on it. That doesn't bother me so much. If anything I will be less worried about scratching it myself and more prone to customize it with sweet stickers and what not.
Would it be reasonable to expect a scooter with this much mileage to last another 30k to 40k miles with regular maintenance?
Opinions?

Thanks

There are peeps on here with way more than 50k miles on their scoots. If the price is right and you think it has been maintained well so far, then I wouldn't be afraid to buy it.
Welcome to MV by the way

I only have 21,000+ miles on mine, but it has been an excellent commuter for me.

Is that 15k miles or kilometres? Makes quite a difference.

Best,

Mark

Aloha and welcome to the forum. MARK he's in the US so it's miles. I would make sure that ALL the maintenance was done with records. It should of had some costly repairs at 15k. If they were all done 15k is a drop in the bucket for these scooters. Maintenance is the most important factor.. GT'S are a great scooter. If you think it hasn't been maintained you pay the local vespa shop to have it checked. With all those scratches/dents it could of been ridden rough and not cared for then you will be in for some hefty maintenance costs. That said the person could of just used it and kept the "inards" in top working order and didn't really care about the dings and other bits. Good luck Also you can have him go )go with him) and pull the records at the vespa shop if he says he took it there for it's maintenance.

Hi Judy

We still use miles in the UK too but for some pesky reason our Vespas are supplied with metric odometers. Grrr...

Best,

Mark

MARK that's odd Wonder why? Thanks for the head's up

Wow, thanks for all the quick replies. The guy actually owns his own scooter shop and he has done all of his own maintenance on the scooter. I don't know if he has it recorded or not, but he gave me a run down of everything he has done to it. He seems professional and offered me a 30 day warranty through his shop too. The engine compartment is a little covered in soot, but like I said, it seems well maintained and in good working order.
He's offering to sell it to me for $2k, and it's a 2005. It is by far the cheapest one I have found. Plus I'm buying it from someone who know what they are doing. Besides, I figured it would be good to have one a little beat up as my first scooter.

Me too. When you're buying or selling you've just got to do the sums. Primary markings on the speedo are Km/h too. Double grrr...

Best,

Mark

WEB go for it. Run don't walk with the cash. Great price for a great scooter. Also cool on the warranty and he sounds like a stand up guy. I'm envious Post some pics of it when you can and ride it like you stole it

If you really want to keep it four+ years and put on that many miles, buying a newer/younger/lower-mile GT will make very little cost difference in the long run. Might even cost LESS due to less repair in case of hidden defects.

Just a thought.

Well, I just called him and told him I'm going to buy the scooter. I'm very happy with it. Thanks so much for the input everyone, I look forward to more discussions on this form.
Also, some of the silver plastic trim is missing on the front. Is there a good source to get parts like that for Vespa's?

BTW, I'll def be posting photos next week!

MotorSport scooters. Max and the gang have everything and if you mention MV you'll get a 10% discount. Congrats and can't wait to see the pics.

I agree with judy. Grab it fast. Good deal. You can always sell it for more if you don't like it, but I'm sure you will. Good luck.

I have a moderately high mileage GT200 (2003) in mint cond', regular maintenance and all.
I ride 30 km's every day, rain or shine, a mix of motorway and urban/suburban commuting.

Some little things that have set me back a few hundy $$ over the years....

A 'notch' in the steering top bearing (common on GT200). This requires a full pull down of the front end to replace a $40 bearing. Cost $500.

Front end shock - many here on MV replace with a sports version - $200 approx

Belt replacement every 5000 miles. $150, go with stock product, the Kevlar ones aren't worth all the hype.

Rollers - check and replace. $150

Oil and fiter change regularly, tyres as req'd.

Battery - one every 2 years, $150.

I'm still on my original exhaust pipe from 2003 but i wonder for how much longer?

That's about it; the GT200 is a bombproof commuter and if you keep it serviced you should have years of reliable riding.

It should also be said that most items on this list can be undertaken at home with basic tools and a modicum of technical skill and a laptop open to the MV Wiki pages.

Good luck out there.

damn - expensive bearing replacement !! If it gets notchy i simply replace and re-grease the top bearings, usually fixes it and no need to get access to the bottom ones. 6 quid bearing set, some grease and 1 hour.

Battery $150? Even those silly little old NZ$ shouldn't be 150. Say $50US or less.

Remember we are 12000 km from anywhere. Everything comes with a measure of 'freight'.
On that subject I was watching Alaska State Troopers on Discovery.
$US 9.00 for a gallon of milk

BOULTY i'll second that. They nail us here. Matson cut their costs back to the stores when gas prices went down but the stores didn't reciprocate

About a two hour service to do, the brake fluid will be flushed since the hydraulic lines are disconnected. It's also a good idea to have the clock battery replaced. $460 for labor would be way too much, that would be the price of labor to tear down the whole scooter.

BOULTY if you fly Max over he might even fix your scooter for free

You'll love the GT its so SMOOTH! 8)