name can be displayed on the dash. It’s worth
a play. Playing music, skipping a track or raising
the volume are all accessible via the joystick.
Mapping is of the turn-by-turn variety and my
phone linked very easily after downloading the
app. Riding around with the direction data
clearly displayed works a treat, and the local
speed limit blinks if you exceed it. As an
addition to easy direction-finding it’s excellent.
Comfort-wise the seat is excellent, was good at
highway and city speeds, and looks very smart
with its colour coded stitching. The test version
was grey with yellow highlights and it was very
trick indeed. I do have to say that grey is a
colour choice that I like, but it may not be my
first choice after numerous idiocy incidents.
Car drivers failing to see me, entering my lane or
entering roundabouts without giving way were
far too common and I was forced into extreme
wariness at all times. It is a colour that probably
disappears a bit, given what we now know as to
why drivers simply ‘don’t see’ motorcycles. So,
caution is required, if one decides they are
going with the smart grey colour option.
Lighting too has taken a leap into the future with
excellent LEDs front and rear; my night time rides
had fewer incidents of apparent invisibility.
There are some down sides. Vespa STILL doesn’t
make an underseat box that will accommodate a
helmet other than one for a child. And although
the rear vision mirrors are almost adequate, to
get a clear rear view one’s own arms still obscure
35% of the sight picture. There are better and more
usable configurations that Vespas designers could
fettle, surely? A minor niggle.
Retailing at around $10.9k I’d say it’s up there,
but given that you get a great deal more bang
for buck than the original 300 GTS, and that was
$9.5k four years ago, I believe it represents
extremely good value. All in all I’d say that
scooters are fun, as well as practical, stylish
and a bit hip, but the Supertec Vespa deserves
its title, it is SUPER-FUN and it’ll keep you as
happy as a summer picnic.
KIWI RIDER 101