Are You (or have you been) a Piaggio/Vespa Owner?

[WhiteNoise]

A/K/A the world's Finest Made Italian Scooter

Just Being Curious
Lately we've been reading bits n pieces from folks owning or having owned Piaggio branded scooters.

I'm simply wondering what brings folks from Piaggio's world over to Honda's world.

"Please Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood...."
We are thrilled that you have sought out Honda and our forums. If we can help you in deciding on purchasing a PCX or Forza we'll be more than happy to assist with any questions you may have.

So tell Us.....Why a Honda coming from a Piaggio/Vespa?
(Ouu..just the sound of That makes Me Feel Good All Over )

[honkerman]

A/K/A the world's Finest Made Italian Scooter

Just Being Curious
Lately we've been reading bits n pieces from folks owning or having owned Piaggio branded scooters.

I'm simply wondering what brings folks from Piaggio's world over to Honda's world.

"Please Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood...."
We are thrilled that you have sought out Honda and our forums. If we can help you in deciding on purchasing a PCX or Forza we'll be more than happy to assist with any questions you may have.

So tell Us.....Why a Honda coming from a Piaggio/Vespa?
(Ouu..just the sound of That makes Me Feel Good All Over )

I currently own a 2006 Piaggio Beverly 250. The durn thing is a pain in the tukkus. I purchased it for a very low price and had to re-grease the steering stem bearing, replace both tires, and replace the windshield and left lower fairing. The lower fairing has yet to go on it because I haven't had the time to take the whole rear end off to get at the one last screw that is stuck up under the fuel tank cover, which is pinned down by the rear panels. So, this weekend I'll get it taken care of.

There's also a rattle coming from the CVT on deceleration, so I will need to check the rollers.

It seems nice and stable, and comfortable, but man is it a pain to work on. I think Honda took notes from Piaggio when they built the PCX, but the PCX doesn't seem nearly as big a pain to take apart. I must have taken two dozen screws out of the Piaggio's front end just to get at the steering head bolt. Then I needed a specialty tool to remove the locknut off the steering head.

Once the side panel is replaced, I'll ride it for a while to scuff in the tires, but so far, from a mechanical perspective, I like the Honda better.

[DailyRider]

As I mentioned when I joined, we gave up on the Vespas when the closest authorized service (at 1 1/2 hours away) closed and the next closest one was 2 1/2 hours away and mainly a powersports dealer.

It was a good thing though, I love the Honda and the local Honda service.

[gn2]

Never owned one and am unlikely to buy one until I retire.

[you you]

A/K/A the world's Finest Made Italian Scooter

Just Being Curious
Lately we've been reading bits n pieces from folks owning or having owned Piaggio branded scooters.

I'm simply wondering what brings folks from Piaggio's world over to Honda's world.

"Please Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood...."
We are thrilled that you have sought out Honda and our forums. If we can help you in deciding on purchasing a PCX or Forza we'll be more than happy to assist with any questions you may have.

So tell Us.....Why a Honda coming from a Piaggio/Vespa?
(Ouu..just the sound of That makes Me Feel Good All Over )

I currently own a 2006 Piaggio Beverly 250. The durn thing is a pain in the tukkus. I purchased it for a very low price and had to re-grease the steering stem bearing, replace both tires, and replace the windshield and left lower fairing. The lower fairing has yet to go on it because I haven't had the time to take the whole rear end off to get at the one last screw that is stuck up under the fuel tank cover, which is pinned down by the rear panels. So, this weekend I'll get it taken care of.

There's also a rattle coming from the CVT on deceleration, so I will need to check the rollers.

It seems nice and stable, and comfortable, but man is it a pain to work on. I think Honda took notes from Piaggio when they built the PCX, but the PCX doesn't seem nearly as big a pain to take apart. I must have taken two dozen screws out of the Piaggio's front end just to get at the steering head bolt. Then I needed a specialty tool to remove the locknut off the steering head.

Once the side panel is replaced, I'll ride it for a while to scuff in the tires, but so far, from a mechanical perspective, I like the Honda better.

It doesn't sound like too much of a pain for a 10 year old scooter that you got cheap

[montliz44]

I had a Vespa GTS 250 for a while. I bought it new in 2009 and put maybe 5 or 6 thousand miles on it over a couple of years. It had very nice fit and finish and was a beautiful machine, but it suffered from the usual Vespa gremlins like cracking exhaust pipes, blown exhaust gaskets, fuel pump and evap system and belt issues, weak speedo cables, and other little things that a very expensive and supposedly high-end scooter should not have. (They cost over twice as much as a PCX and aren't nearly as dependable IMO).

Also, though it had enough power to go on the highway, it didn't handle well out there at all, mostly due to the small wheels, short wheelbase, and choppy ride. It was downright scary on rough inner-city freeways and overpasses, and I got rid of it for that reason.

That said, Vespa has excellent OEM and aftermarket parts and accessories availability and a terrific owners' forum (Modern Vespa Forum).

All in all, though, I think the Forza is a much better highway scooter than the Vespa, and my PCX is the best overall scooter I've ever owned, period.

Johnny

[Embattle]

I've considered the x10 for my next bike but the following generally rules it out KPH speedo, Italian electrics, average dealership network, awful spares stock.

[honkerman]

A/K/A the world's Finest Made Italian Scooter

Just Being Curious
Lately we've been reading bits n pieces from folks owning or having owned Piaggio branded scooters.

I'm simply wondering what brings folks from Piaggio's world over to Honda's world.

"Please Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood...."
We are thrilled that you have sought out Honda and our forums. If we can help you in deciding on purchasing a PCX or Forza we'll be more than happy to assist with any questions you may have.

So tell Us.....Why a Honda coming from a Piaggio/Vespa?
(Ouu..just the sound of That makes Me Feel Good All Over )

I currently own a 2006 Piaggio Beverly 250. The durn thing is a pain in the tukkus. I purchased it for a very low price and had to re-grease the steering stem bearing, replace both tires, and replace the windshield and left lower fairing. The lower fairing has yet to go on it because I haven't had the time to take the whole rear end off to get at the one last screw that is stuck up under the fuel tank cover, which is pinned down by the rear panels. So, this weekend I'll get it taken care of.

There's also a rattle coming from the CVT on deceleration, so I will need to check the rollers.

It seems nice and stable, and comfortable, but man is it a pain to work on. I think Honda took notes from Piaggio when they built the PCX, but the PCX doesn't seem nearly as big a pain to take apart. I must have taken two dozen screws out of the Piaggio's front end just to get at the steering head bolt. Then I needed a specialty tool to remove the locknut off the steering head.

Once the side panel is replaced, I'll ride it for a while to scuff in the tires, but so far, from a mechanical perspective, I like the Honda better.

It doesn't sound like too much of a pain for a 10 year old scooter that you got cheap

Pain is pain, regardless of the cost.

The issues it has are to be expected. I'm still way ahead on cost/resale, so that's not really a concern. It doesn't lessen the fact that Piaggio put more screws on the body panels than they really needed when slots and tabs would have sufficed for at least half of them.

[you you]

Pain is pain, regardless of the cost.

True, same as anything is anything regardless of the cost. It's probably the same for all nouns really.

[WhiteNoise]

Bump
Is That You?
I think I might be recognizing a few of our old and newer members. Perhaps you've come from the Modern Vespa forum? I would like to hear from you if I'm right.
Do you still have your Piaggio/Vespa, or did you sell it and buy a Honda. Oh gosh, I grinned again PCX style

[thunderkat59]

Im not a Piaggio owner, but Ive had two revelations after owning a BMW. Painfully, I have to come to the realization I am just not a motorcycle person anymore. Try as I may, I now prefer the utilitarian aspect of scooters over the perceived 'cool' factor of glitzy motorcycles. Also, and what is relevant to this thread is, that after owning a hi-maintenance item, the simplicity and reliability of the "boring" Honda is very nice. Comforting. I can totally understand why people 'digress' to a Honda. Just knowing it is going to start every day and if you need a basic part, its close by and under 150.00 or so . . .


BTW~ I have a nice BMW RS1100 for sale ---- >cheap!

[chicaboo]

I considered buying a Piaggio Scarabeo 200 or Liberty 150 3V.

[jims]

I had a Vespa in the mid 60s. It was a 90cc red model with a spare tire on the back rack. It had a top speed of 39 mph. Got my drivers license on it. That was real easy because it was raining and the guy just made me ride down the parking lot a bit and come back to him and stop.
Only problem I had with it was broken clutch cable. Traded it in on a 250 Duc and have had many motorcycles in all these years. I got my PCX a couple of years ago for short toots around town. Still have a motorcycle that I run longer distance and to get groceries. The PCX is a lot of fun and is the right tool for what I use it for.

[Mel46]

Dave and I went out on a run with the local Vespa club around here. They have varying size engines, including some 300cc models. I just could not imagine ever getting on the freeway with one of those things! Why else would you need one with such a large engine, though? The guy riding the largest one was a heavy weight, but to me he just looked a bit funny on a Vespa. We were doing back country roads with lots of curves and they seemed to hold their own, but I was glad that we were on PCX 150s. They just seem like they handle curves much better. The Vespas had to slow way down to take the curves.

[Simon0867]

Bought a brand new Piaggio B125 from a local dealer a good few years ago now. I only had it a month. The engine had a habit of stalling when you pulled away from junctions etc which was extremely dangerous. It went back to the dealer on two occasions but they couldn't seem to sort it. Final straw was parking outside in the rain one day and coming back to find all the electrics had failed. Got the tow truck driver to dump it right outside the dealers door and was in the next day for a refund. Used the money to buy a Honda Dylan which gave me 15k trouble free miles.