As a scooter carries 66% of its weight on the rear wheel and only 33% on the front (a "regular" motorcycle carries a little more weight on the front wheel than the rear), the Vespa's steering system reacts differently than that of a motorcycle, as directional changes, in particular, are instantaneous.

I wish they made up their minds - either classic analog gauges and idiot lights, or this undicisive mix. We sure can use the digital information, but I prefer the old Veglia gauges we found on all Italian two-wheelers.

What about highway speeds? According to the speedometer, the little 250 ie accelerates energetically up to 70 km/h. Reaching 100 km/h is not a problem, except when running into a strong headwind on a flat section of highway, where I had trouble hitting the mark. In calmer conditions, it'll give you 120 km/h, and I even pushed a max speed of 125 km/h out of it, but that was in the wake of a big SUV in an even bigger hurry.

Well, that's it for now - I'm off to scoot!

* Ed note: When the owner of Piaggio saw the first prototype of the scooter without the bodywork in 1945, his comment was: "Ma, sembra una vespa!". In Italian, a vespa is a wasp.


Photo Credit : Matthieu Lambert