What a cool looking scooter! No idea about displacement size but it's probalby small. Will it make it to the US?... http://hellforleathermagazine.com/2012/11/the-future-of-vespa-is-beautiful/
Its a concept that is unlikely to ever see production in that form however the engine is in the new Vespa 125cc to 150cc available in Europe. If past behavior is anything to go by it will be here in a year or two.
That IS the production model, Cheryl. Piaggio is giving that info out, and they're launching it next week in Milan.
It was a concept at last years EICMA. But now it will be a production bike that will be revealed at this years show in a couple of days and it is going into production in a matter of weeks. Whenever it arrives to USA or (for me) to Australia is another matter... one thing's for sure: unless they price it completely silly, the demand will be huge!
It's a beautiful bike isn't it? And aluminium too, I rekn that's good for about a 10-15kg weight loss. AIR-COOLED!!!!! Onya Piaggio! They should sell squillions of them if the price is similar to the LX range.
Well it does look like they are going into production with it which was not what folks had expected of the concept scooter. Speculation is that it will be a limited edition and that if it comes to the US it will have a whole bunch of bolt on crap required by US Department of Transportation in terms of turn signal pods front and back and be plastered with reflectors. Price is highly speculative but given the increased cost of aluminum over steel and its likely limited production the number I'm hearing bandied about is $7,000 plus. Its stylish but not practical at all and I really like my 250, a 125 or 150 won't be in my garage. Here's the AU info http://www.scootersales.com.au/News-4677-vespa-946.aspx
It is beautiful! But a bit small for me. Taken from the text referenced above: "The new motor is an air-cooled, fuel-injected 3-valve 4-stroke. Its a 125 with 11.6bhp at 8,250rpm and 7.6lb/ft at 7,000rpm." But should be great for around town or campus!
It is a production model: it will be powered by a 125cc. More pics and details here: (it's in French though) http://www.scooter-station.com/Vespa-946-2013-Premieres-photos-avant-infos.html
They'd be insane to ask $7k for it here in the USA. The LX150 is $4,599. Even if they price it as a limited-run halo model I can't see it selling for much over five grand.
Wonder if they'll be making it in China, as some of their other small scooters, in an effort to keep the price down?
Hmm. Retro and modern at the same time. It looks good, until you see the original. It's amazing nobody can get anything right anymore. That's why I'm not ashamed to ride my Stella, it is more Vespa than a real late model Vespa is, it was inexpensive, as far as I know it does not have any Chinese parts on it, it is 100% made in India, and just like real Vespas USED to be, it is a manual shift 2 stroke. And while the LX150 may be priced at $4599, it goes out the door for over $7K. My Stella was priced at $3500, but I got it new OTD for $3K. Something seems to be wrong with Vespa's math.
Nothing's made anywhere anymore - which is to say everything is made all over. You can probably play "find the origin" with any motor vehicle manufacturer and it'll include China and Taiwan. That said I do think most Piaggio, Aprilia, and certainly Vespa-brand bikes do have their final assembly in Italy. This would be easy enough to check by looking up their VINs (but, again, says nothing of the origin of their content parts...)
I'll have to look for that on the Piaggios and Aprilias next time I'm in a shop. I don't doubt it, the Flys and SportCities are pretty inexpensive. And just so my position is clear: I do not own, and have never at any time owned, a Vespa, least of all a modern one. No Kool-aid here! A shop in Vietnam and India is no surprise, they've done similar before. It helps save on shipping costs - and import tariffs. Vespa's done it before, with Bajaj and LML in India and PGO in Taiwan (yes, the companies that make Genuine's lineup were all previous Piaggio partners). Vespas have also been built in Germany (half a century ago), and Lambrettas were also built in India and Spain. Hell, Harley's opening shop in India (for the local market) and KTM has a partnership with Bajaj (for the local market + export). Honda and Yamaha both make bikes in Taiwan. Some Triumphs are made in Thailand. In my opinion it's not worth fretting about where a vehicle is made anymore - just how nice the end product is.
Yes, but where the vehicle is made can still be a pretty good indication of how nice it is going to be - especially after it's been used for a couple of years. Some examples: - Honda makes their CBR250R in Thailand and in India. Those made in Thailand have been pretty good. those made in India are of much poorer quality. - SYM is a Taiwanese brand, but they actually manufacture some of their models in mainland China (as does Kymco for that matter). Until very recently, our dealers offered 4 year warranty on models made in Taiwan, but only half of that on those made in China. Clearly, they themselves don't have the same confidence in both! - Honda's old CB250 (parallel twin) was made in Japan and was practically indestructible. It was finally replaced by another CB250, this one a single that was made in Brazil. It was nowhere near as reliable and lasting as the original one.
According to SIP the 125cc comes with 8,7 kW (11,8 PS) at 8250rpm, the 150cc version has 9,7 kW (13,2 PS) at 8000rpm.Piaggio Germany plans to launche the model in the 2nd quarter of 2013. The new Vespa will supposedly cost round about 8.000, http://www.sip-scootershop.com/comm...uarantasei-quot-will-be-launched-in-2013.aspx What that means if it comes to the US who knows but if the BMW and other scooter pricing US - EU pricing parallels hold it will be around $8,000 without the ABS.
And in turn if US - AU parallels hold, it would make it over A$10,000 down here. I hope this is wrong, because it is simply absurd amount of money. Hell will freeze over before I will even consider spending this kind of cash on 125cc scooter!
I have owned 2 Corvettes, a '74 and a '77. This was over 20 years ago, when these years were not really valuable. But I got into the whole thing in a big way, joined the NCRS, subscribed to all the magazines, went to all the local meetings, etc, until after spending over $10,000 on parts and getting pretty much nowhere, decided that restoring Corvettes was too expensive a hobby for me, so I sold them and went on to other things. But one thing I remember was one member of the group had a fit, and sold his nearly new ('92-'94?) Corvette after finding the wheels were made by Enkei in Japan. To some people the national origin of a vehicle is everything, it's important to me. My '01 Chevy sedan is a hodgepodge of parts from all over the world, but it is a disposable transportation car, so I don't really care. But my '64 Fairlane is 100% American made, my '72 Pinto wagon is American made except for the engine and transmission, which came from Germany. I cannot find any Asian parts on it. It still has the American made Appliance aluminum slotted wheels on it that it came from the factory with. Some things, like Corvettes and Harleys, have such a strong American heritage that I can see someone not being happy about Asian parts on them. Same thing with BMW and Porsche. They are German, and the fact that they are German has a lot to do with their perceived value. Put Chinese parts on them, and that value drops. Chinese parts and products have such a stigma attached to them that it seems the Chinese did their very best to earn it. It's not easy being the worst of the worst. To most people, Chinese means junk. Someone on another scooter forum even coined a word for it, putting Chinese and junk together in one word. Chunk.
My 2c, not worth anything more though! Also, right up front, not being argumentative, I have my own opinion, and that's what most of the previous comments are....... The Chinese are businessmen, always have been. They are also extremely pragmatic. If you want cheap nasty shite, they will give it to you, coz that's what you want. If you want excellent quality, that's what you'll get. There is a higher margin in cheapo nasty crap and also volume than decent quality stuff that a lot of people can't afford. I rekn if you're going to blame anyone for the rise and rise of Chinese industry, and the proliferation of cheap crap, then perhaps look instead to the billionaire importers who foist all this shite on us and have done for the last 50 years, to the extent of driving competitors of quality products against the wall. Ina consumer society people are DRIVEN to buy stuff, no matter if it's shite or shiny, it's drilled into their heads from birth and they can't help it. Cheap or good to them doesn't matter. My little Sportcity One is made in China, and the quality is far in advance of the air-cooled Japanese bikes from the '80s, and at least equal to most of the bikes of the early '90s from Japan. I should know, I've ridden and worked on them since they first came out. Oh yeah, and no, I'm not ethnic Chinese. But I have a habit of standing up for people who don't get a voice of their own......... Now, anyone else with further updates? Me personally, I'd pay 3/4 of the price of a GTS 300 for one of these things, ticks all the right boxes for me!
POINTLESS UPDATE: Gee, it's a pretty scoot, init? Sleek and subtly-curved classic Italian design, not a hint of the bulbous fat-assedness of the 250-300 series. Seems like just what the early, strictly plain-old-basic-urban-transport Vespas, made for a destroyed economy, would have evolved to as time passed, prosperity returned, the marque maturing, and acquiring the cachet of style and luxury it now enjoys. Come a long, long way from little 2T stinkers in sheet-steel hulls stamped out in repurposed 1940s aircraft plants, eh? I could see it; buying one (assuming an unlikely confluence of miracles; that it would be imported here, that i would be somehow showered with unexpected and disposible geetas), a younger self in well-appointed fashion, boots and googles, in louche sprawl outside a coffee shop jammed with hipsters, just waiting for another chance to pronounce that charming word "quarantasei." Capiche? What!? geez...and I thought i was a good judge of character ...
