Tomorrow morning my GTV-300 starts her long journey east to her new owners whom have never scooted before. He rode motorcycles and dirt bikes. I prepared the following video with some tricks and hints on how best to have an enjoyable time riding and touring with the Vespa.
Call to Arms to Scooterists!
Please add your own hints, tricks and comments that could further help the new owners have a wonderful relationship with the GTV-300. PLEASE Leave it in the comments section.
A few final hints:
- Because it has no gears, it cannot turn the engine off if the side stand is down so as a safety, the side stand is spring loaded and will spring up when you straighten the bike to ride. Be careful since if you do not expect it to spring up, you may find yourself off balance and drop the scooter. It is best to use the center stand until you get used to the side stand and only use the side stand on level ground.
- When you are touring through the country, never say no to a gas station. She does not get as far as cars and most motorcycles. Many use a 1-2 Liter safety gas container.
- Search out local Vespa riders for mechanical and maintenance help. If you bring it to a non Vespa Motorcycle Dealer get ready for a wild ride that comes with free nightmares. Often Vespa dealers can be like that too.
- Always use super gas and preferable Ultramar or Shell V-Tech because it has no ethanol. Also, this is especially important for the last few tank fill-ups before storage. Check Winter Storage.
- Always wave at children because they just love seeing a Vespa 🙂
- _________________________________________________________See comments section…
MG Driving/Riding Adventures 
Hey Peter, congratulations on selling your Vespa. It was a very unique scooter, with all the upgrades you made on it. Congratulations to the new owner, may he /she enjoy many happy kms. on it.
I have to say that I don’t totally agree with your comment about “Non-Vespa Dealers”. Some dealers focus on their bottom line, ( ie: Local BMW/ Kawasaki Dealer, who shall remain nameless) while others don’t work on Vespas or Scooters very often and we, as owners, land up with headaches. But, there are other shops that really are part of the scootering community and support us with products, knowledge and help when we need it and are willing to go out of their way and spend time with us, to educate us about our scooters and how to maintain them.
Although I do much of my own maintenance, I support Canadian Dealers like ScootArt in Montreal and Motor Sport World, here in Ottawa. I am sure there are dealers / shops out there that also fall into this category, and I am very happy that they are around.
Sometimes other scooterists don’t really know all there is to know and can leave you in a worse predicament, then when you started.
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Quote Non Vespa motorcycle dealers meaning Honda, Suzuki etc.,. and often Vespa Dealers. I don’t categorize Scootart as a Vespa Dealer. He would be a local expert which you would find by asking local riders as suggested above. In fact, I am certain that Scootart fixes many issues on scooters that were created local Vespa Dealer.
For example, David in Toronto went to one Vespa dealer who told him his complete scooter was in need for a rebuild yet the other Vespa dealer found one defective part and when replaced it runs like a champ. Good dealers are few and far apart.
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Ahh, got ya! Yes, he probably has fixed many issues after others have messed things up!
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