During a ride this morning I noticed the odometer on my 2006 Vespa GTS 250ie scooter rolled over to 28000 miles. Considering I seldom take long rides I was pleased with the miles I’ve gathered on the scooter. It also reminded me of the relative durability of the machine and I’ve seen reports on the ModernVespa.com forum of riders far ahead of me with 50K, 75K miles and higher.
Considering the abuse I’ve dished out through years of salty winter riding and many miles of dirt and gravel the Vespa has performed like a champ. I’ve gone through a lot of tires and oil changes, a fuel pump, a couple batteries, drive belts, brake pads, and that’s about it. Mostly wear items.
Since I bought the scooter I’ve ridden a lot of different machines from BMWs to Ducatis to URALs to Truimphs. And after all these miles on a lot of different machines and I still love the Vespa. For me, it’s the perfect ride.
Here’s hoping there’s another 28ooo miles in the scooter and in my old body!
The perfect ride? You know the machine and its quirks, and the rider knows of himself, and his quirks. In metric that about 46,000 kilometres give or take. And yes the consumables can be a burden however you do not operate a fair-weather machine! And given the
relativiely low price of gasoline in your country, a bargain. Currently hovering about C$1.20 litre here, that’s C$1.20 per quart for those readers not metric familiar.
Enjoy the summer, high of 30 C here today, humidity pushing 90 percent…
I suppose there are a multitude of “perfect rides”, each unique to the rider. For me, the Vespa fits the bill in terms of performance and appearance — both important to me.
Even with paid for service on the Vespa it has been a remarkably inexpensive machine to own. And fuel is inexpensive because it doesn’t use much. Over the weekend I paid $3.08 for a gallon of 92 octane fuel. I always put the higher octane in because of the high compression engine.
Congrats on the milestone Steve.
Just went over 20K km on the Ural, less than half of what your Vespa has done. I sure hope it reaches the Vespa’s milestone without major issues.
You’ll probably pass my mileage mark this summer. Sooner if you hadn’t been lounging in Italy for a month!
Not to be a wet blanket but seeing the problems Bill Leuthold has with his at a mere 66,000 I would say Vespa durability is OK….but. A good owner helps a lot.
http://billleuthold.blogspot.com/2015/04/stranded.html
I saw a brand new Mercedes being pulled on to a flatbed truck last week. Bad things can happen to any machine. All the things that have gone wrong with my scooter were predictable issues that I could have had fixed pre-emptively. Especially the fuel pump. I knew it was going, I just didn’t want to think about it.
Bill has a lot more miles under his belt and I think has run the Cannonball on his Vespa. That is a testament to the relative durability of the machine.
That breakdown was a simple vacuum hose break that I hadn’t caught. I took it to Boris who saw it immediately and replaced it. No problems since.
I have put 10,000 miles on my new-to-me 2005 GT (Razzo) since buying it in late February this year. Those included rides to Virginia, North Carolina, Pensacola, three rides to Apalachicola and an Iron Butt Saddlesore 1000. No issues whatsoever.
Even though I have had a couple mechanical failures I consider the Vespa to be very reliable. I know of one rider who swore them off because of ongoing problems but it turned out to be one simple issue that the mechanics didn’t find. Once it was identified the fix was easy. I see that more an issue of the technician than the reliability of the scooter.
Most riders I know (and I know a LOT, having ridden for the last 45 years so far). . . most of them trade in and replace their rides LONG before they get anywhere near wearing them out, or even in need of any major mechanical overhauls or rebuilds. My BMW has 60K on the odometer, and I’m sure it has many more miles left in it. There was (maybe still is) an elderly gentleman from the West Coast Helix Club that used to routinely put 100-200K on his Helix scooters, and usually with pulling a trailer! All most any two-wheeler needs to go the distance is reasonable routine maintenance. But I do understand the lure of a replacement machine. I was at the Honda shop recently for a state inspection, and while I was there I walked the showroom and saw at least 3 or 4 two wheelers that caught my eye. I actually considered asking them about trading in my 20-year-old Helix – but then my inspection was over and I got the hell out of there, before I actually did something stupid (for me). There are lots of motorcycles I would like to own and ride, and I have in the past – but for the last 12 years riding a Helix has made me quite happy, so I’m content. . . . Now if I could just get those Harley riders to wave to me when we pass each other in opposite directions (:>)
I like the idea of keeping the Vespa a long time and try and wear it out. I was talking to another rider who wished she could have been one of those people that could ride it for 100K miles but had an unfortunate accident. Now she’s on a GTS 300.
Good luck with the Harley riders. They’re a mixed bag. Had an encounter over the weekend that I’ll share later in the week.
I still say you should get a Suzuki Burgman 200 or 400. You never would have had the breakdowns you had, ignition wire, etc.
Yeah, but then I would be riding a Burgman….
The Burgman 200 is a very good scooter, but you would not want it in most of your pictures like the Vespa – photogenic it is not.
I didn’t want to say it for fear it would hurt the Burgy owners — but it is one ugly machine. I would have trouble photographing it, or I would be seeking out scenes where it actually might look ok — strip mines, garbage dumps, run down cityscapes. I’ve traded reliability for beauty…
Perfect answer. I couldn’t agree more. Some people get it, some don’t.
I’ve consumed all the Vespa Kool-Aid.
Looking at the dash of the Vespa, it looks far more advanced than anything I have. A gas gauge, what a concept. But the CEL will have to go. That implies some sort of computer…
Congratulations on the miles! So when is the long road trip?
I like the instrument cluster on the Vespa — RPMs, coolant temp, gas gauge, odometer, trip odometer, clock AND an ambient temperature readout. It’s just like riding a big new BMW! *grin*
Not sure when the next “long” trip will happen. Won’t be soon enough for me though.
I’m impressed by these little beasts.
A tribute to the Wasp and its owner.
Sure hope my GTS does as well.
I know some people are disappointed with the technology that the Vespa is build on though I have to say when I talk a little with them it seems to me more an issue with service — the inability of a technician to diagnose and fix a problem, often meaning multiple trips to the shop until a problem is resolved. And those problems are often simple things that a more skilled or experienced technician would find immediately. The same would happen with almost any motorcycle in the hands of a mechanic not quite familiar with it.
Hope you have many carefree miles on your scooter!
You are absolutely correct Steve; this is why I travel 50Km to have my Vespa services. I am not known for having mechanical skills!
I hear you. My skills and desire are limited.
Steve – we all find our moto nirvana on different bikes and scoots, wishing you way more miles on your trusty steed!
Sorry. Not convinced. I read over at MV-a lot.
Maybe you didn’t have time to catch this.
http://modernvespa.com/forum/topic130381.2
Sorry Steve but the Burgy rider is right. Remember that Vespa has only been in this Country again since 2001. It takes a company awhile to adapt to the habits of a nation. Ask the Chinese.
I remember that post on ModernVespa.com! It was a scary look at mechanical disaster of a Vespa. But you don’t see a lot of those. I accept it could happen but I’m not concerned that it will. Sort of like I look at a second heart attack — could happen but I’m not focused on it.
Besides, look at all the mechanical knowledge I would gain if I had to rebuild the top end of the motor!
There are many Vespa riders out there who have found that the scooter is a fine, reliable machine. I have 67,000 miles on Rocket, my 2006 Vespa GT that is used heavily, riding to the mountains of North Carolina three times and even the 2014 Cannonball. It did break on the Cannonball after 3500 miles of hard riding, but that was my fault for not having a fresh variator at the start. I have seen a GT and GTS have valves break, ruining a perfectly good engine, but have also seen many last many miles. The most important way to get it to last is proper maintenance, especially oil and filters. I change both, roughly every 5000 miles.
I’ve read about Vespa problems but aside from recall items I have not been worried about any intrinsic issues with them. Your post reminded me to change the oil and filter — I’m approaching the 5000 mile mark…
Great.
And when I first read that I couldn’t believe it: I’ve been a frequent rider for all the last eight years, though I slowed down much in the lest two because of my newborn daughter, but my LXV 125 odometer reads over 72.000 km that’s around 45.000 miles.
I couldn’t believe I rode that more; your blog is inspiring and it gives the impression you’re a much more frequent rider than I’ve been but I was wrong.
I just don’t blog that much, and I’m always sorry for that. I maybe should.
That road was fun, and your rides and words are always on my mind when I get on my Vespa.
Keep on riding, keep on writing, Steve.
I need it 🙂
Like you, circumstance slowed down my riding for a couple years with longer trips becoming rare.
I also swapped scooters during my blogging time so the total Vespa miles is around 45,000 miles. Add to that some thousands more on motorcycles that I reviewed and the riding totals go up.
If I had no other responsibilities my riding totals would soar!