The Vespa has made its third re-entry in India, but this time the parent company Piaggio has gone solo. The scooter is positioned as a life-style product and is available in only one variant - LX125.
The Vespa scooter doesn't look like other conventional scooters. The design is iconic and retro. In order to maintain this styling, the company has gone for form over function but that seems to have worked very well.
The Vespa uses a monocoque steel high rigidity body structure. The vehicle has very good paint quality and there is high use of chrome as well. There is no excessive bulging at any angle.
The round headlights, round mirrors, swooping body lines and the Vespa emblem are all a work of art. Thus the Vespa grabs a lot of attention on the roads and is a eye magnet of sorts.
While the styling of the scooter is retro, the instrument cluster is very modern. The console houses a speedometer (marked till 120 km/hr), fuel gauge, indicator, hazard and headlight warnings. There is a digital clock too, which works even after you remove the key.
If you want to go shopping on the Vespa, you won't be disappointed. Other than the under seat storage (which can keep a full sized helmet), there is also a front storage, enough to keep small things.
The flat seat is comfortable but takes time getting used to. The sitting position is upright and due to the seat height, you sit higher than any other scooter. However your feet will still touch the ground.
Power comes in from a 124cc, single-cylinder, 4-stroke engine which has 3-valves. This engine produces 10.06 PS of power and 10.6 Nm of torque. There is some amount of vibration initially but the vibrations settle down as you reach 20 km/h.
The 3-valve motor performs very well. The mid-range performance is fantastic and the Vespa has almost bike (125cc) like performance, pulling cleanly to almost 100 km/hr. Post 45 km/h, the scooter comes in its own
The Vespa's performance is easily the best in scooters sold in India. It is the most powerful scooter on sale today. However even with such performance, the Vespa is very efficient and will easily return 45 km/l in city riding conditions
The ride quality of the Vespa is very good. The scooter absorbs all the irregularities on our roads with utmost gusto. The coil springs and dual effect shock absorbers do their job very well.
The Vespa doesn't handle as well as one would expect. The puny tyres don't inspire confidence and the Vespa is best left for sedate riding. Brakes are good though but a front disc brake is sorely missed.
Piaggio could have offered much more for the price as the Vespa is heavily localized. There are some places where quality could have been better, like the side stand, seat lock and panels
Piaggio has priced the Vespa LX125 at Rs. 78,300 (on-road price, Mumbai), which is not cheap by any means. Similarly powered scooters come for atleast Rs. 25,000/- cheaper and offer similar features too.
However, no scooter offers the stunning looks and performance that the Vespa does. Thus, if you have the budget, there is no better way to travel on 2-wheels than on the iconic Vespa.
The Vespa scooter doesn't look like other conventional scooters. The design is iconic and retro. In order to maintain this styling, the company has gone for form over function but that seems to have worked very well.
The Vespa uses a monocoque steel high rigidity body structure. The vehicle has very good paint quality and there is high use of chrome as well. There is no excessive bulging at any angle.
The round headlights, round mirrors, swooping body lines and the Vespa emblem are all a work of art. Thus the Vespa grabs a lot of attention on the roads and is a eye magnet of sorts.
While the styling of the scooter is retro, the instrument cluster is very modern. The console houses a speedometer (marked till 120 km/hr), fuel gauge, indicator, hazard and headlight warnings. There is a digital clock too, which works even after you remove the key.
If you want to go shopping on the Vespa, you won't be disappointed. Other than the under seat storage (which can keep a full sized helmet), there is also a front storage, enough to keep small things.
The flat seat is comfortable but takes time getting used to. The sitting position is upright and due to the seat height, you sit higher than any other scooter. However your feet will still touch the ground.
Power comes in from a 124cc, single-cylinder, 4-stroke engine which has 3-valves. This engine produces 10.06 PS of power and 10.6 Nm of torque. There is some amount of vibration initially but the vibrations settle down as you reach 20 km/h.
The 3-valve motor performs very well. The mid-range performance is fantastic and the Vespa has almost bike (125cc) like performance, pulling cleanly to almost 100 km/hr. Post 45 km/h, the scooter comes in its own
The Vespa's performance is easily the best in scooters sold in India. It is the most powerful scooter on sale today. However even with such performance, the Vespa is very efficient and will easily return 45 km/l in city riding conditions
The ride quality of the Vespa is very good. The scooter absorbs all the irregularities on our roads with utmost gusto. The coil springs and dual effect shock absorbers do their job very well.
The Vespa doesn't handle as well as one would expect. The puny tyres don't inspire confidence and the Vespa is best left for sedate riding. Brakes are good though but a front disc brake is sorely missed.
Piaggio could have offered much more for the price as the Vespa is heavily localized. There are some places where quality could have been better, like the side stand, seat lock and panels
Piaggio has priced the Vespa LX125 at Rs. 78,300 (on-road price, Mumbai), which is not cheap by any means. Similarly powered scooters come for atleast Rs. 25,000/- cheaper and offer similar features too.
However, no scooter offers the stunning looks and performance that the Vespa does. Thus, if you have the budget, there is no better way to travel on 2-wheels than on the iconic Vespa.
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