Modern Vespa

The other day on the way to work, my rear brake on my GTS 250 failed. I pulled over, called in, they brought pickup and brought me to work. Now, I am thinking of trying to ride 15 miles home through a variety of traffic situations. Is this terribly unsafe and should I not do it or will it be ok if I go slowly and carefully?

I've got a half an hour before I get off work today!

HELP!

I wouldn't do it. There's no telling the cause of the issue. Could be a blown exhaust gasket cooking the rear brake line, brake fluid leak, or something else. NOT WORTH IT TO RIDE imho. Have it towed to the nearest Piaggio / Vespa dealer for proper repair. Don't risk it. Besides, you get home safely (maybe) and then what? Are you going to diagnose and fix the problem an home? Not me...thats on my warranty.

Be safe, catch a ride home, get the scoot repaired, ride the snot out of it.

What Platnum_ghost said.

Stopping is more important than going.

(Unrelated: I always have to teach my young soccer players that, they all want to run with the ball. But you can't run with it until you can contol it and you can't control it until you stop it!)

You should, first and foremost, check the exhaust. Is your scooter louder than it used to be? Sounds like it's got a pipe instead of a muffler? If so, it's quite possible your rear brake line got melted by a blown exhaust gasket. In this case, you should definitely NOT ride the scooter at all.

If your scooter sounds normal, though, you might just be out of brake fluid. Pop off the cover (just the body-colored plastic cover) and check the fluid level. If it's low, or there's fluid all over the inside of the headset, or the black cover isn't screwed down all the way, you have the culprit.

As for riding without a rear brake, it's not impossible, but I don't advise it.

I wouldn't advise riding that type of distance when you are missing the function of your rear brake. Imagine if you had to make a hard emergency stop. With only the power of your front brake you might flip your scooter and cause you some major bodily harm. Don't chance that.

I think only having one break on a Modern Vespa is still better than the crappy brakes on my older scooters.

Still I am sure that your life is more important than one day of silly work anyway...

I'll probably get flamed for it, but I say inspect your front brake closely, and if everything seems fine make a slower than usual, cautious ride home. Be alert and be looking for an "out" if you need it.

But in all reality the front and back braking systems are separate so if the front checks out. You should be fine. Then take it to your dealer immediately.

And yes, check your exhaust gasket because you don't want brake fluid or coolant or any other fluid getting on your rear wheel causing you to slip and go down.