Am lovin' it. Review on Piaggio Vespa LX 125

I got a red vespa back in november 2012 and the following is it's review, consolidated into points to provide a pleasant reading experience. My vespa has now clocked 850+ kms and completed two services, so, I think I am elligible to review it.

Need for a bike-

1. 2 year old electric scooter with a completely drained battery-8000+kms on the odo-never gave me any problem.

You may read my review on it here - https://mouthshut.com/review/BSA-Street-Rider-review-unuuoormln

1. wanted a bike but parents din't allow(not even the dream yuga or the discover 100:()

Search for a scooter-

Shortlisted dio, ray, rodeo RZ and swish 125

1. First preference to dio for it's looks and coolness factor. Went to the honda dealer. loved it's flickability but that power wasn't sufficient for me. moreover, my mom felt it too fat and she thought I wouldn't be able to handle it. I'm pretty short(only 5.4 feet tall) and very lean(only 45 kgs:P)

   
   




2. Visited the yamaha dealer next. Ray was OK, felt too small and the power again wasn't sufficient. also, since it was projected as a feminine scooter, din't want it.

   
   

Vespa story-

1. A neighbour of mine had bought a yellow vespa. My mom just loved it's design as it looked very compact. I felt otherwise. Didn't have the coolness of dio, I thought.

   
   




2. My mom urged me to visit the vespa dealer. and so it was. Went to the vespa dealer one saturday(24 nov 2012).

   
   

Vespa dealer-

1. sachin motors at avinashi road, coimbatore. Showroom was new and so, better than other showrooms.

   
   




2. Asusual, this sales rep too bragged about his product in terms of reliability and quality, and dishonoured other scooters. I never believed him, but my mom did.

   
   

Initial impressions-

1. I ranked it no.2 in terms of looks, second only to the new dio.

   
   




2. Average switchgear quality

   
   




3. too much chrome for my liking

   
   




4. short seat(can be cumbersome for pillion)

   
   

Requested a test drive(i never had a license at that time) and was immediately granted one.

Test drive 1-

1. White colored vehicle(slightly dirty). The road was good.

   
   




2. engine felt very good and the power was satisfying

   
   




3. felt a bit tall for me(it is the tallest among the scooters)

   
   




4. felt a bit heavy too due to it's all steel chassis.

   
   




5. felt not worth the premium it commands over other scooters.

   
   

Immediately rejected it and came out of the showroom.

The dilemma-

Just outside the dealership, I was thinking of which dealer to visit next. Rejected rodeo since it had reliability issues(never wanted to take chances after using a very trouble-free electric scooter). Rejected swish as my uncle who has an access complained about it's service. Also, I felt that the quality of access was worse than the vespa's. Mom advised me to get the vespa(she liked it so much) but I never wanted it. Eventually, since all other options started to fade away, stepped back into the dealership again and requested another test drive.

Test drive 2-

1. Went for a longer distance than the last round.

   
   




2. The road was full of stones but the sales rep riding pillion urged me to ride it more faster so that I could test it's suspension.

   
   




3. I was left spellbound by the suspension. No other scooter has such an osm suspension.

   
   




4. The engine comes to life only after 50 kmph. It touched 80 kmph in no time. The scooter was rock solid and damn stable even at such speeds.

   
   




5. Drove it straight over a small pothole at 50+kmph speed and all that I felt was a slight bump. Am pretty sure other scooters would've lost their composure here but this was completely stable and under full control.

   
   




6. The handling, is still not upto the mark of the dio but is very good.

   
   




7. Front brake was only satisfactory. It lacked the bite. The sales rep cooked up yet another story for this. He said it was designed so to prevent stoppies(and he thinks i'm stupid to believe him).

   
   




8. rear brake was too powerful. Slight panic braking ended up in skidding.

   
   

Came back to the showroom about 70% satisfied. Booked a red vespa and paid the full amount.

Delivery and the dealership-

1. Since I din't have my driver's license then, requested them to deliver it to my home while booking and they immediately agreed. They said they'll deliver on the same evening.

   
   




2. The sales rep told me that I was their toughest customer(no wonder! I don't go by sales rep's words)

   
   




3. It took a flood of phone calls to make them deliver it to me. Grew very angry on the dealer. They told all sorts of lies for their delay in delivery.

   
   




4. Got it delivered only after 2 days(26 nov 2012).

   
   




5. None of the accesories were fitted(but the manager once lied to me through phone telling that accesories were being fitted on my scooter and that it would be delivered to me after that)

   
   

First rides-

1. Din't have license, so I was denied of riding it for more than 1km a day(imagine the pain of a riding enthusiast to be denied riding a new vehicle:(). Those days were really hard for me.

   
   




2. The engine felt pretty bad, Lacked the pickup I experienced in the test drive vehicle. Felt cheated. The scooter never crossed 75kmph.(i shouldn't have done it as it was in it's run-in period, but I never had the patience to wait)

   
   




3. front brake was pathetic. The rear was too strong.

   
   

First service-

1. Had got my driver's license by then. Took the scooter for service by myself. The scooter never crossed 75 kmph even though it was a highway. felt the performace too bad.

   
   




2. 125 kms only on the odo.

   
   




3. Service personnel asked me to change the engine oil

   
   




4. The new oil that went into the scooter was of AGIP brand(guess, specially made for the vespa)

   
   




5. Complained about the front brake but, they weren't able to sort it.

   
   




6. Complained about the performance too.

   
   

After first service-

1. The ride back home that day was just splendid.

   
   




2. The pickup had greatly increased and it now felt more willing to rev than the test drive scooter

   
   




3. touched 90kmph

   
   




4. scooter was rock solid at that speed(all thanks to the monocoque chassis)

   
   




5. The air resistance offered was too low(best in class)

   
   




6. Took great pride and had much fun in overtaking pulsars, apaches and fzs.

   
   




7. started to like the vehicle.

   
   




8. service staff were ok. Scooter was cleaned very well.

   
   

The scooter felt good to a whole new level.

Second service-

1. Clocked about 500+kms.

   
   




2. Never bothered to complain about the front brake thinking that it would again go unaddressed.

   
   




3. Paid service cost me Rs.250

   
   




4. The manager himself asked me if I was satisfied with the scooter to which I just returned a smile.(didn't want to tell him about the brakes)

   
   




5. Asked the manager when the discs are coming out for this. He didn't know.

   
   




6. The sales personnel remembered me and had sorted out the brake issue. Don't know what magic they did, now the front brake feels best in class(no wonder, vespa is the only scooter to have 150 mm front drum and 140 mm rear drum. Other scooters have only 130 mm drums)

   
   




7. Also, they had fitted a new seat cover on my scooter.

   
   

Misc-

1. suspension is the best in class.

   
   




2. attracts a lot of eyeballs. People have even stopped me to enquire about this scooter. U'll feel like a celebrity riding around in this.

   
   




3. This scooter is not for slow riders. The engine feels good only above 45kmph.

   
   

Now, after clocking 850+ kms on my vespa, I can whole-heartedly say that this is a very good scooter . Though it commands a premium over other scooters, it is very well worth it. Even now, my heart skips a beat when I see a dio, but still, vespa gives me better refinement, ride quality and performance. The scooter is now giving me 50+kmpl even though I ride it hard.:D