Friend at work is buying a Vespa for his adult son. He asked me about their helmets and if they were any good. Are they? They like the styling, but if they're crap helmets I'll send him elsewhere. Does anyone here know who makes the helmets Vespa sells in their stores? AGV, maybe?
How about pulling the helmet liner back a tad and look at any ID that might/should be there, or have someone at the Vespa Retailer do it 4 u over the phone type deal? I bet they are better than the ones made by "DOT" True story - Back in the old Roswell Honda days a kid calls up and asks if we have helmets made by DOT. Not "Dee Oh Tee", mind you, but Dot, like a ladies name from the 50's!! STILL get a kick outta that one.
Seems like AGV Italy made them but not 100%...and has he priced them yet. Seems like they are stoopid $$...like $200-300 for the vintage or "chopper pilot" halfies.
Alright, I'm scratching my head on this one, as I know nothing of the new Vespa scooters or their quality. The new LX150 scooter the kid wants to buy is $5500 OTD and that's too high for him. The dealer instead has a clean, used '08 LX150 w/ about 8k on the clock for ~$3600 OTD. He's OK with that. The question now is, is that high miles for this bike, or are they more durable than that? Will he get a few good years and another 10k out of the bike, or should he be looking for something else?
Does he have to have a Vespa? They're cool enough looking but couldn't he get by with a Yamaha, Honda or even an Aprilia scooter?
:shrug: I dunno. He seems to have Vespa on the brain. I have an Aprilia for a pit scooter, it's been questionable at best in the reliability department. I would suggest a Yamaha 125, too, but that's not what they're asking me about. That same dealer has a 400cc Suzuki superscooter on the floor. But that's too big, he wants something smaller, less like a motorcycle. I think 150cc-size is his limit. This'll be used for urban transportation around San Francisco. They're just asking me what history these bikes have. Are they 10k machines that then blow up, or are they built to go 20-30-40k?
The quality is questionable at best, parts are sometimes hard to come by. And if there is any damaged to the rear of the scooter you just cant go and buy the damaged rear parts. I have seen several that have had to have fuel pumps replaced, and a couple that have had to have ECM's replaced. Most of them the rear of the scooter is part of the frame. We see quite a few in here at the shop and I cringe every time I see one pulling into the parking lot. If it were my kid I would point him into the direction of a Honda or a Yamaha, but that is just my 2cents.
Hope this helps; I've been spinning wrenches at a scooter place for a bit and I can tell you this about Vespas, they are way overpriced. Very nice, but unless your friend wants a Vespa specifically he should shop around and check out a few other brands. I would suggest Genuine. Specifically the Buddy, Stella, or my favorite the Rattler (110cc 2T) Yamaha is a solid choice as well. The Vino or the venerable Zuma are both very very good. Kymco offers a few nice ones like the People 150 which are as reliable as a hammer. As for the LX150 it is a decent enough bike, but easily 2x the price. An LX with 8k on the clock is fine so long as it has been serviced and cared for. It will also need a belt and rollers (if not already done) and Vespa parts are pretty spendy compared to the others. If your friend plans on any highway riding the only one from the above list that I would use would be the Stella. The People 250 would also work well. As for helmets the same applies to scooters as it does to actual motorcycles; get a good fullface helmet from a reputable manufacturer.
