Archive for the 'Vespa' Category
A number of close friends have had real problems finding a full list of UK and US vespa dealers. I have done a little research and I have created an article that will help you find your nearest Vespa dealer.
US Vespa Dealers
- First place you want to visit is: http://www.vespausa.com/dealers/zips.cfm This page on the VespaUSA site has a search function for both state and town. This page will give you an idea of authorised VespaUSA dealers but does not list the independents.
- Third place you want to visit: http://www.scootrs.com/ If you are not looking for a new scooter then scootrs does some great restoration projects. If you need to find an old Vespa wreck to do up then I suggest visiting Ebay or gumtree.
- Fourth Place you want to visit: http://www.google.com Try some long tail searches based on your area - e.g.: “Vespa dealer in washington”
- Fifth Place: If you want to not pay dealer price then by all means find a near new Vespa on Ebay, I have found some great bargains this way. Just remember to ‘watch’ a few before you make a bid, so you can get an idea of the market price.
Vespa Dealers UK
As I am based in the UK I have a large number of independents that you can check out for both new Vespas and restoration projects.
- http://www.buzzsolomoto.com/ If you live near Halifax and need a Italian/Spanish restored Vespa then this could be the place for you. Again not had personal experience but worth a visit for research purposes.
- If you live in the Manchester/Stockport area then http://www.phoenix-heinz.co.uk/navigation.htm should be checked out. You can also give Scooter Crazy a call on: 0161 476 5800 I have used these guys and they are really good (plus very affordable.) If you ask them what you want they should be able to track down a classic Vespa for you in the North West area of the UK.
Again my advice for the US still stands for the UK, it’s worth checking out Ebay for some second hand bargains.
The many practical uses for a GPS device have been expanded even further than the average consumer may expect. For one, GPS can assist in helping with the recovery of your stolen scooter! Here’s how:
The Innovation of the LoJack
The LoJack Stolen Vehicle Recovery System is a motorcycle tracking system than can be installed after the initial purchase of your bike. It allows vehicles to be tracked by police after the motorcycle/scooter is reported missing. The LoJack’s manufacturer claims a 90% recovery rate, and for good reason - the LoJack is unmatched by competitors when it comes to stolen vehicle recovery.
How the LoJack Works
The LoJack takes a page from cutting-edge GPS technology’s book and goes it one further. It employs a radio frequency technology, that actually allows it penetrate walls. If your stolen car happens to be
stashed in someone’s garage or building - or even if it’s concealed by dense foliage - LoJack’s radio frequency technology can find it.
The LoJack, named as such to sound as though the device is the “antithesis of hijack,” has assisted in the retrieval of over 200,000 vehicles worldwide since its introduction nearly twenty years ago.
Another key feature that helps police locate stolen vehicles with the use of the LoJack is its Police Tracking Computers, or PTCs. These devices are directly installed within the patrol cars themselves.
Where applicable, PTCs may also be installed in helicopters and other aircraft.
One Example of LoJack’s Success
Recently, a New York Surgeon was walking out of a movie in Yonkers on a Sunday evening, only to realize that his 2006 Honda motorcycle had been stolen from the parking lot outside the theater. Soon
thereafter, the Yonkers Police Department was able to quickly recover the doctor’s motorcycle - and all with the help of the LoJack For Motorcycles. The recovery happened literally within minutes of the
doctor’s call to the YPD.
For the road warrior, the rebel, a weekend journey into the unknown on a motorcycle can be the height of adventure and freedom. Now, with the help of a new TomTom device - the RIDER 2nd Edition, which is made for motorcycles - the motorcycle lover can enhance his or her trip even further. The RIDER 2nd Edition is a motorcycle gps that has many desirable features, including Fuel Prices Service, TomTom Map Share, the Help Me! feature, and TomTom Traffic, complete with a 30-day free trial, which includes brand new maps of the highest graphical quality.
Additionally, bikers now have access to dedicated trip statistics that can make any road trip much simpler. The feature allows the biker to view the average and maximum speeds at which he or she traveled per journey, the distance from home, and the total miles traveled.
Even if you’ve previously purchased the RIDER device in one of its earlier incarnations, you can still benefit immensely from the updated software features - and software may be updated for free using TomTom HOME. Completely new maps are available with TomTom HOME as well. If a new map is purchased - along with a 2 GB DB card (which must be bought separately) - users will then also be able to easily take advantage of TomTom Map Share.
TomTom also offers a map guarantee. The guarantee states that if any new map is released within thirty days of the time the GPS user begins using his or her device, then it may be downloaded for free.
The new enhanced RIDER 2nd Edition comes already equipped with the newest Tele Atlas maps of North America as well. Comprehensive maps of both Canada and the United States make up the set.
With the advent of the RIDER software, motorcycle aficionados can now enjoy the same inventive features that users of the automobile products have enjoyed for some time. Best of all, it’s just in time for summer - prime motorcycle season.
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Having a Universal Medical ID: UK will help patients find peace, knowing that in an emergency situation, responders will have their critical medical information.
Offering a broad line of medical ID alert jewelry, Universal Medical ID: UK makes sure you’ll find a style just right for you.
This idea is great!
Say you have diabetes or a risk of heart attack - then how are you going to tell the doc/ambulance geezers that? This has been a major problem as many different diseases have the same symtpons which can make it that much harder for the doctor to treat the patient. Thankfully a company has come up with an idea called Medical ID which has the all the critical medical information a emergency doctor would need.
I may look at getting one, so when i next wrap up my scooter, they will put the right blood type in my veins.
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Guide to getting the cheapest Scooter insurance
As some of my regular readers know I have a larger number of different motorcycles and scooters. So every year I have the problem of finding cheap and quality insurance.
To help my loyal readers and maybe some new ones, I have decided to put together a 4 step process on how to get the cheapest scooter/motorcycle insurance.
Step 1 - What cover do you need?
Step 2: Get your Quote
Step 3: Play with the quote
Step 4 - Renewal!
Now you might think that this guide will be only helpful to those looking to renew their insurance but you would be wrong! In nearly every insurance policy that I have had, you are able to cancel the insurance without incurring a penalty.
So even if you have just bought your insurance just follow these steps to check you have the cheapest insurance.
Step 1 - What cover do you need?
Age!- Are you under 21? then this will mean that you should only go for third party insurance as the excess will be massive. I knew of one young man who had an excess of £500 on a scooter worth £600!
Mileage: Don’t overestimate.. and remember its just for that bike/scooter not total mileage including driving. Generally my mileage is around 5000 miles for all my bikes.
Security: If you want cheap insurance then make sure you look at getting your bike/scooter off the road. Most insurance also require a gold standard lock so make sure you get one.
No claims bonus: On average a no claims bonus of one year can reduce cost by around 40% so make sure you keep your no claims if you can.
One of the main problems that i came across in the UK was the lack of scooter insurers, so you need to do a little research to find out what insurers work with scooters.
Step 2: Get your Quote
Get a quote via the main scooter insurance company. I like to use Ebike but you are free to use any that you find during your research.
Step 3: Play with the quote
Excess - Try different excess’s to find the right combination that works for you. Many insurance policy’s differ greatly depending on the amount of excess is chosen.
Haggle - Give the guys a ring and explain that you have found it for cheaper but would prefer to go with them. This can work… but i always feel a little cheeky.
Car insurance / House Insurance - If you already have insurance with the company you choose then try and get the price down even more.
Consider Pay as you go - Ebike actually allow you to get pay as you go insurance. This can work well if like me you don’t use all your bikes every day of the year. You can find out more at the Ebike website
Step 4 - Renewal!
Remember!! That most insurers will automatically renew your insurance.. so make sure that you have checked for cheaper insurance before this happens.
I got stung by this once, but never again!
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I just got rid of my 2003 Burgman 650 after putting 38,000 miles on it. For the past year and a half, it shared my garage with my 2006 People 250. This area of the country is frequently windy. I found that the P250 was just as stable in crosswinds as the Burgman despite weighing a lot less. I do attribute that in part to its wheel size. But it is the combination of everything that matters. Wheel diameter, tire width, weight, wheelbase, frame geometry, suspension quality, center of gravity - it all affects stability and handling. So you can compensate for what would be a deficiency in one area by excelling in others. Suspension for instance, is clearly superior on the Burgman.
A couple of other factors bear mentioning.
The popularity of smaller wheels is driven by two things. Styling is one. You can’t put two 16″ wheels on a scooter and get that popular flying wedge look (aka Burgman, Majesty, Xciting). Neither can you get the traditionalist “Vespa” look. You inevitably end up with the “People” look, which isn’t as widely popular. Also, the shorter riders have issues with getting their feet to the ground on the “tall wheel” scoots - which limits their market audience.
Functionally, I’ve noticed that the P250 with it’s 16″ tall wheels and narrower tires works very well in gravel. I hated riding the Burgman on gravel. The wider tire smaller wheel format caused it to squirm around a lot - probably aggravated by it’s greater weight as well. The first time I had to do gravel on the P250 I was quite pleasantly surprised - and the wheel/tire width set up has a lot to do with that I suspect.
The Kymco Grand Vista, the late B&W 250, the Burgman 400 - have a lot going for them despite smaller wheels. I’ll readily acknowledge that. They are fine scooters. However, I’ll take the opportunity to point out that the Burgman 400 DID up it’s wheel diameter as part of the ‘07 model revisions. 
Couldn’t resist… 
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For the last couple of years I had been obsessed by the idea of owning a new Vespa GTS 250. I thought that it was the ultimate do-it-all scooter. A modern Vespa, classy, sleek, powerful. I wanted one really bad and decided that this was the year to fulfill my dream. So, what stopped me from buying the GTS and turned me toward the P250?
In one word, “attitudes”.
My local Vespa dealer, in more than one visit to his shop, indicated that he couldn’t't care less if I bought a Vespa from him. One small example is when I asked him to call me when a new gray GTS that supposedly was already on order came in. He said that it would be better if I just called him “every once in while to check on it” since I was more likely to remember to call
him than he was to call me. When I called him five days after this conversation, he sounded irritated and told me that he didn’t mean for me to call him so soon. Remember that he had told me that the GTS was already on order and was due any time and that I had repeatedly told him that I wanted the next one that hit the door. Needless to say, this Vespa dealer is not
the dealer from whom I am going to buy anything. I guess they are making more money as a Ducati, Moto Guzzi, Triumph & BMW dealer than from their not-in-stock Vespas.
Contrast the attitude of that Vespa dealer to the attitude of my newly discovered KYMCO dealer. They are exclusively a scooter dealership, no motorcycles. These folks were friendly, knowledgeable, candid about the pluses and minuses of various models, happy to answer all my questions, and passionate about both KYMCO & Genuine scooters in particular and scooting in general. They also wanted to be sure that I purchased the scooter that would best fit my needs rather than what would make them the most money or help to clear out their floor stock. In fact, they had a wineberry P250 on the floor but when I told them that I liked it but would really rather have a gray one, they did not try to talk me into the wine P250 but said that they would be happy to order me whatever I wanted. They also told me their personal choices on helmets, top boxes and other accessories that were not the most expensive ones they stocked. They even offered to deliver my new P250 by trailer to my house. Pretty impressive considering this KYMCO dealer is 110 miles from me!
So, I considered all the above and the many postings on modvern vespa.com and other sites complaining about PiaggioUSA’s failure to timely deliver not only accessories as basic as windscreens & top boxes but also spare parts. I also considered the reputation that KYMCO and their US distributor have built for reliability and customer service. Suddenly my decision of which scooter to buy from which dealer became a much easier one.
I decided on and ordered a gray P250, a Givi top-box and a flip-up full-face helmet. I’m almost ready to ride!
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I’m a firm believer in ABS which is why I updated to a 650 Exec only a year newer than my 2004 650. I believe both of my accidents would have been prevented with ABS. The first when the kid made a left in front of me. I never hit him, just locked the brakes and lost it. IN this case ABS would have allowed me to come to a safe stop upright
In the second I was going on to the gravel median due to gravel all over my lane on a turn and was very easy on the brakes, I thought. Never the less the wheels hit the gravel, locked, dug in and I went down sliding along for about 10 to 20 feet on my and the bike’s side. I think ABS would have again prevented the lockup and I would have been able to steer back onto the road.
In my case I think the price I paid for the bike with ABS was well worth it. I think of ABS the same way I think of any insurance policy. You hope you never need it but are very glad to have it when you do. In a way it’s cheap insurance.
Another cheap insurance policy, for your kids, is after they have had their driver’s license for about a year, send them to a good Skid School. What they learn there for a few hundred bucks may save their life many times over their driving life. Most programs only take two days.
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I am not Jewish but if I was, I would would be lighting one these Moped menorah’s today as its officially the second day of chinukah. I wonder whats next? Maybe we are going to see a Christmas tree in the shape of a Vespa ET4?
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As it’s now getting a lot colder and few of my friends have been asking if there is a danger that the battery in their Vespa might freeze.
My understanding is that a battery will not freeze as long as it is charged. In the past I have had motorcycles that had to stay outside or in unheated storage facilities. As long as I was riding them periodically I left the batteries in them. If I knew that I wouldn’t be riding at all for a month or two during the Winter, I would take the battery out and put it on a smart charger in the house. But I have had motorcycles left outside for several days in single digit temperatures with the battery in them without it freezing or losing its charge.
My car sits in the driveway no matter how cold it gets outside - the battery doesn’t freeze. My scooters are in an unheated garage. I leave the batteries in them - every once in awhile I get to ride during the Winter (depending on road conditions). I used to keep them plugged in to smart chargers, but the last couple of Winters I’ve just started them and let them run for 1/2 hour or so a couple of times each month. I’ve ridden for many years, and I’ve always lived in places that could get seriously cold in the Winter - I’ve never had a frozen battery.
With the old style batteries that had water in them, if you let them discharge completely there was a danger of freezing. If that happened, the frozen water would expand and the battery casing would probably crack, resulting in a serious mess as Tom mentioned. With these new jell filled no maintenance batteries, I’m not sure if that would still happen. But even though battery technology has changed, I think it is still safe to say that as long as you maintain a charge in the battery - it won’t freeze.
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