My friend is thinking of getting one (my suggestion as Italian haha)

Does anyone know much about them? She wants a 125. Reviews say they're pretty reliable. Just wondered if anyone had any good knowledge and where would be best to get one?

Cheers

They're fairly bullet proof, just keep on top of the servicing and keep it undercover when not in use.

Heard good reviews about these folk:

http://www.youlesmotorcycles.com/scooters-manchester/

I don't know about undercover, more like locked away! Easily stolen for parts...

So what does he want? A 1967 125 GT or a 125 LX? I happen to have both of them in my garage... although they're not mine.

Both are quite reliable (the 125 more so if you keep on top of engine rebuilds - hah!). I'd compare the '67 GT with a Fiat 124 spider and the LX with a modern Punto (with a mix of Coupe, as it comes with three keys for the immobiliser).

The latest are just good drives and they're still the highest quality scooter around of that size. The '67 is a classic with all the fun and quirks and irritation that comes with them (and a manual shift). So far my neighbour had to call me out for a flooded engine, front brake cable that snapped, oil in need of replacement, spark plug replacement, clutch adjustment, gearbox slack,... which is great fun. They're not fun to do a total restoration on though, with double layers of bodywork everywhere (and of course lots of water in between them) - although the 'Wespa' (bumblebee) in the garage has been restored it will need some attention unless the owner wants it to have evaporated in 3 years time (err... oh and it is worth £5.000 or so).

I simply cannot see the appeal of a Vespa (or any other scooter for that matter).

Underpowered, unrefined, unreliable, naff handling little things

I'm struggling to see any redeeming features - a perfect definition of form over function if ever there was one.

Catch me in an open-minded mood and I might just concede that one of the modern big-engined scooters could be a bit of a hoot for a few minutes, but that's probably because its actually a "proper" motorcycle styled like a scooter and thus does all the things that a proper motorcycle should do (like go, stop and get round corners - fundamental really, but scooters seem to fail on several counts)

In case its not clear, I'm not a fan....

Nigel - anyone who's had the pleasures of a real bike (Buell in your case?) would say that I guess. Considering the laws (here at least) on 125cc bikes, I'd happily get a classic Vespa. If I'd find a good one for not much. I just think they make sense in a few ways (parking, speed, traffic evading,...).

A customer of mine deals with Vespa's in his spare time.
He has a workshop at his house, i'll find out the name of the website.

Thanks, I think she's going to get a fairly new one but not brand new. One of the engineers I work with seems to know a few good garages also (dealing with write offs etc)

We're going to look at some soon. I quite like them but wouldn't personally buy one. I wouldn't feel safe - rather a car haha