[Skwirly]

Attachment 976371

The Piaggio logo is back in India- a bonanza for the classic Vespa restorers to pick that up and fit. The logo is unchanged !


The logo is a plastic clip that fits into the plastic horncast to cover the mounting screw, sadly it is not a decal and won't fit earlier models.

-Sean

[Skwirly]

Major differences that I notice between the Indian LX125 and the North American LX50 and LX150 (apart from the engine displacement).

North American models have an auto-choke so there is no choke knob above the legshield glovebox. As mentioned previously the front brake is a disc brake. The North American models appear to have a shorter kickstart lever.

As for the price difference between Vespas and other brands, I believe it stems from the construction of the chassis. Vespas have a steel monocoque chassis whereas the majority of competitors have plastic panels and a tubular steel chassis. The steel monocoque of the Vespa adds a great deal of long term durability. I can personally attest to this as my father has a 2010 GTS300ie (a fantastic ride!) and it has been laid down on each side (twice!) and is still in great shape, a similarly sized plastic bodied scooter would have required extensive panel replacement after these incidents.

-Sean

[sanyal779]

Lovely model from vespa- thoroughly enjoyed this thread. My first one was an LML-Vespa T5 1990 [ sold off ] and then a 1995 [ LML Vespa Select- fully restored and kept]. Happy to see Vespa is back . However a little unhappy to see only one model!

According to an old book from British Council Library Kolkata that I read way back in the student days, the core diffrence between a scooter and a motorcycle is : scooter comes with stub axles [ with single shocker obviously] while motorcycle comes with fork type axle [and twin front shockers]. Surely many presnt day scooters , mainly the Japanese origin ones clearly defy this classification! But these are scooters all the same.

Since the front side single shock issue was found discussed in many posts here- I would mention that the double shocker front end is always more durable in our Indian roads. I have been working with Vespa scooters since the Vespa 150 /Bajaj 150/Priya days upto the later LML-vespas, and have found the single shocker arrangement do not remain good for long. There is a pivot pin mechanism which eventually go bad on the 3-D Indian roads and can never be repaired to full satisfaction.

This scooter from vespa will remain a beautiful collectors item, but for practicality reasons, the discerning Indian customer will mostly remain with the Japanenese ones [ Honda, Suzuki] or even the Mahindra- for the single front shocker issue.

[apachelongbow]

In my limited experience with riding scooters, I found that the side engine design to be quite imbalanced, especially coupled with high cg and small 8-10 inch wheels. I felt I had to always watch out for this imbalance and constantly provide inputs using the steering handle. It was also prone to skid/slip on roads, if the road was a bit slipperly, wet or sandy. In whole a completely more challenging experience when compared to motorcycles.
Is the new breed of Vespas still the same to ride? I am asking this, because my better half is interesting in buying a Vespa, and she has very little exp in riding two wheelers.

[Sedate]

Sensing a foul play by Vespa India looking at their advertisements.

They claim a 60kmph mileage!
But this hilarious site claims

http://www.vespa3v.com/en/3v.html

"Despite the significant performance enhancements, fuel economy is drastically improved from the previous 55 km/l to 50 km/h (about 30% better compared to previous generation engines), while service intervals are now extended to every 10,000 km. The new 3V engine allows for extremely contained operating costs: in one year of use (during which the Vespa customer rides an average of 4,000 km), this allows a savings of about 34 litres of fuel which corresponds to an extra 1,500 km. "

[Skwirly]

I don't know the technical terms for what constitutes a scooter in India to differentiate it from a motorcycle, but in North America scooters are two-wheelers that have a "step-through" body design. This basically means that your feet are positioned on a floor in front of you rather than on foot pegs and the the engine is positioned below you rather than between your legs. Additionally the fuel reservoir is not located in front of you between your legs.

[Skwirly]

Here's an advertisement from 1965 explaining this:

[volkman10]

Vespa price cut,to take on Honda!

Piaggio Vehicles Private Limited, the makers of the iconic Vespa scooter has cut price for its classic LX 125 scooter to Rs 59,960 ex-showroom in a bid to take on market leaders Honda. The Class LX 125 was priced at Rs 66,661 ex-showroom in Bangalore before the price cut that is effective from January.

http://www.wheelsunplugged.com/news/...ing-market/776

[abybabykcc]

Loved the LX 125 and always wanted to buy, but the crazy pricing made me decide otherwise. Now, with the slight price correction, there's something else that's keeping me from buying; the promise of something better. Does anyone have any idea if and when Vespa 946 will be launched in India? I love the LX 125, but the 946 is just mind-blowing. If I have to pay a premium price, I'd rather do it for the 946.

[iSpoke]

Come across the price-cut article on ACR for Pune.
The OTR cost in Pune for LX125 was around 74.5K, after price cut its 69K now.

This scooter is now available at a price of Rs 68,827 (on-road, Pune), down from Rs 74,590 (on-road, Pune).

[ghodlur]

An ad in today's TOI mentioned that the Vespa scooter now has been priced below the 60K price. The price quoted was 59,996/- ex showroom Delhi.

So the ex showroom price in Thane/Mumbai is 62K which means the OTR cost in would be around 67K still making it the most costliest scooter sold in Mumbai/Thane.

[anjan_c2007]

The Vespa now comes in a two tone colour scheme. perhaps they are now to bank on retro looks.











These Vespas were located in the Piaggio stall at the 26/01 Cent Ind Vintage Automotive Association (CIVAA) V & C display at Nagpur.

[gaddiwale]

Originally Posted by anjan_c2007

The Vespa now comes in a two tone colour scheme. perhaps they are now to bank on retro looks.


These Vespas were located in the Piaggio stall at the 26/01 Cent Ind Vintage Automotive Association (CIVAA) V & C display at Nagpur.

Last week saw this at dealers showroom in Mumbai. They are charging Rs. 6507 extra for this. Quite costly affire however, the retro style looks good.

[abybabykcc]

Originally Posted by gaddiwale

They are charging Rs. 6507 extra for this. Quite costly affire however, the retro style looks good.

6.5 grand extra on an already overpriced scooter. When will Vespa stop milking the nostalgia factor. Absolutely disgusting. They're probably killing a beautiful product due to basic greed. Wait a couple of months, and there'll be a marked down price for this as well.

[Rajesh Rawal]

That's odd ,since the dealer in hyderabad is asking additional 2k for the two tone and is stating they offer multiple colour options for the same(e.g:- beige with black )