Scooter Review Vespa GTS 250 i.e. long-term test Farewell,old friend all good things must come to an end, and so it is with our long-term Vespa GTS 250 i.e.
Words & photography by JEREMY BOWDLER To say we’re sorry to see the Vespa go, after 10 months of almost daily use, would be an understatement. The black beauty has become a part of our lives, patiently waiting for whichever of us needed the power, poise and practicality the GTS offers in spades. Its going leaves a hole in the Scooter garage that’ll be hard to fill.
But, misty-eyed sentimentality aside, what has it been like living with a Vespa? Remarkably trouble-free. In fact, the only things that have gone wrong are an indicator bulb that blew on our fi rst ride, and a flat tyre – and you can’t blame the Vespa for that.
We’ve racked up more than 4000km, at about 100km per week which, I’d imagine, would be about the sorts of mileage an average owner would cover. There has been one service for a total servicing cost of $229. Fuel costs? We knew there was a reason we got a long-termer! Fuel economy remains consistent at about 3.74L/100km, though with our resident snapper on board – with an aggressive right wrist and ample frame – we saw a high of 4.42L/100km. More on economy later...
Over the 10-month loan period, we kitted out the GTS with the range of genuine accessories from Vespa. The topbox is a must, and we’ve used that more than anything else, otherwise we’d have nowhere to stash the full-face helmet. I imagine we could have lived without the rubber fl oormat, but it has kept the running boards clean and protected so, in terms of resale value, that’s cheap insurance.
We never used the folding front rack, but it looks the part and the flexibility it offers can’t be understated, so I’ll tick that box too. I’m in two minds about the screen, however. While it deflected the wind away from my chest, the breezes then went straight to my helmet, resulting in buffeting. On a fi ne day, I’d take it off (a 30-second job) because I rather prefer the clean lines of the scooter without it, but in the rain the screen comes into its own and extends the dry zone to the edges of my shoulders. It really does offer good weather protection. Speaking of weather protection, we come to
the hot cover. A nice idea, spoiled in application. It’s a bit fi ddly to fit, making sure all the magnets are where they are supposed to be and, while it covers your lap and legs, it leaves your bum open to the weather and that fi rst drop of water to roll down between your cheeks makes you rethink its value. At least there is a fl ap that allows you to insert and remove the keys without removing the whole cover.
As an aside, the magnets are not held securely in their pouched and can fall out quite easily. Nothing a bit of glue wouldn’t fix, but an irritant nonetheless. The lower edges also fl ap noisily at speed, becoming an distraction and it’s a weird feeling poking your leg out of the cover every time you come to a stop. I’d keep the chrome rails though, despite their making the centrestand trickier to use, especially when you’re parking the scoter next to a wall. They look great, and that’s worth the price of admission. As always, we ran out of time with what we had planned. There
is as yet almost nothing in the way of go-fast parts for the GTS, so instead of creating a street sleeper, we left it stock. It would be interesting to see what could be done to the engine/transmission.
What we wanted to do, but didn’t get around to, was to fine-tune the suspension. There are huge benefi ts to changing the springs to suit your weight and the damping to match, and that’s where real performance gains are to be made: in handling.
One thing we did fi t, on the other hand, was an i-Kat – an electronic gizmo fi tted into the sparkplug lead and claimed to increase power, fuel economy and reduce emissions by making the combustion process more effi cient [see <www.ikatmotorsport.com>]. We dynotested the scooter before and after – to get an objective, repeatable test of power – and there was a power gain, but at 0.075kW, it’s pretty minor. On the other hand, the scooter felt a lot smoother in operation and we recorded fuel economy fi gures of 3.5L/100km compared with 3.74L/100km without it. Make up your own mind...
So, that’s about it. Farewell, GTS 250 i.e. We’ll miss you.
As published in TW SCOOTER MAGAZINE - 31/01/2007
Subscribe to Two Wheels Scooter magazine now! |