New 2010 Vespa?

[nikster]

Nikster - what was the warranty offered and what about insurance? How is your wife finding life with a Vespa?

Thanks, safe driving...

FF..

Sorry totally missed this post before. A Vespa is a Vespa - we're loving it. The bike is so beautiful. As thai4me has said, it's excellent in the city thanks to an incredible turning radius, and those little wheels. It out-races all the other scooters at the traffic light - seems to be tuned for low end torque rather than speed, top speed is 100 km/h, but it's pretty slow acceleration from 90 - 100. Seat position is very high - Fino/Scoopy are toy-sized, comparatively.

Mine is not fuel injected - good to hear the Vietnamese model already is, I suppose if the 2011 isn't yet, it will be soon. The only weak point of the Vespa is fuel consumption. It's easily 2x that of a Scoopy. 25km/l, maybe a bit more. Lack of a trip meter makes it a bit hard to measure. But fuel injection should improve this quite a bit, even though Vespa probably can't compete with Honda engines in this regard.

One good thing - it has a safety system on the key. Works with a transponder. I have heard that this really works. If you lose the master key, you have to replace the whole system for 20k baht.

[thai4me]

You are spot on Nikster, without the brown master key, you could not duplicate it. Since there are so few modern vespas running around here in Malaysia (presume it is the same in Thailand in comparison to the total bikes), you could safely leave the keys hanging and nobody would want to steal it. Models that get stolen are the popular models where the parts are easily canibalized and resold. It is so uncommon that a somchai riding it a local soi will get noticed easily.

I weigh 105kg and 95km/h is Vmax, lighter people can get 100km/h or about 108km/h with slight downhill. It is due to the weight of the original rollers. Change them and you get higher Vmax. As i mentioned in other post, all bikes / scooters are built for a specific purpose. I happy to get 90km/h from the LX. And it performs well between the 0km to 60km range, thereafter to 90km/h is more than acceptable for most city conditions.

Not many people realise that despite the smallish wheels, it performs well due to the "aeronautics design" front suspension. Its basic principles are the same as those in the landing gears of an aeroplane. It has a rated 200kg payload. Going up a small hill 2 up is no sweat for the LX.

I have an iphone app that allows me to record the data as i fill up. It is showing 27km/l.

I bought a 2nd LX because I wanted to keep it for a long time. Having heard that the carb version is going towards the end of its lifecycle, Vietnam is the only place making the carb version. The carb version is easier to maintain in the long run. Anyone with some basic knowledge could easily take the carb apart and clean it. Fix it back and you are on your way. FI models needs more care and you could not fix it if you ran into electrical problems. Even if the fuel pump plays up, you could not get the engine started. Carb version has its advantageous especially in Asia.

Nikster - what was the warranty offered and what about insurance? How is your wife finding life with a Vespa?

Thanks, safe driving...

FF..

Sorry totally missed this post before. A Vespa is a Vespa - we're loving it. The bike is so beautiful. As thai4me has said, it's excellent in the city thanks to an incredible turning radius, and those little wheels. It out-races all the other scooters at the traffic light - seems to be tuned for low end torque rather than speed, top speed is 100 km/h, but it's pretty slow acceleration from 90 - 100. Seat position is very high - Fino/Scoopy are toy-sized, comparatively.

Mine is not fuel injected - good to hear the Vietnamese model already is, I suppose if the 2011 isn't yet, it will be soon. The only weak point of the Vespa is fuel consumption. It's easily 2x that of a Scoopy. 25km/l, maybe a bit more. Lack of a trip meter makes it a bit hard to measure. But fuel injection should improve this quite a bit, even though Vespa probably can't compete with Honda engines in this regard.

One good thing - it has a safety system on the key. Works with a transponder. I have heard that this really works. If you lose the master key, you have to replace the whole system for 20k baht.

[nikster]

^^ very interesting, thai4me, I need to get my hands on that iPhone app, of course there would be one!

27km / l sounds about right, like I said I didn't _really_ check it.

Also the same bike - LX150 - is USD 4,000 in the USA, so paying $3,300 here really is a bargain. It's quite possibly the only bike that's cheaper in the LOS than in the USA!

Edited March 30, 2011 by nikster

[Richard-BKK]

You are spot on Nikster, without the brown master key, you could not duplicate it.

Actually it's not that difficult to clone Vespa keys. Sure it would be much easier (cheaper) if the owner has the original master key... but it's not completely impossible.

[thai4me]

The app is called VehiCal.

I was told that it is retailed in Vietnam for USD4000.

[Richard-BKK]

The app is called VehiCal.

I was told that it is retailed in Vietnam for USD4000.

I had the idea that VehiCal was free? Vehical on iTunes

Another app I found helpful is Motorcycle Minder which costs US$ 3 (99 THB)....

[thai4me]

Sorry Richard, The app VehiCal was for free or 99c or thereabouts.

The USD4000 is the price for a Vespa Lx150 sold in Vietnam. This was in response to Nikster's post that Vespa in Thailand is cheaper than in the USA.

Sorry for the confusion.

BTW, i did not find Motorcycle Minder useful for me.

The app is called VehiCal.

I was told that it is retailed in Vietnam for USD4000.

I had the idea that VehiCal was free? Vehical on iTunes

Another app I found helpful is Motorcycle Minder which costs US$ 3 (99 THB)....