PIAGGIO VESPA LX125 (2005 - on) Review

Version: 125ie

Year: 2010

Annual servicing cost: £250

Excellent, reliable and cheap to run bike. After 13 years my vespa hasnt lost any of its shine, like all bikes used for all year commuting it has corroded in the usual places, like the fromt wheel arch and under tray. But with a little care and DIY attention this can be dealt with easily and to couple that with regular servicing the single cylinder motor and transmission hasn't dissappointed. My odometer currently reads 96500km and I hope to break the hundred this year! For inner city commuting you really don't need anything larger than a 125 and with its nimble and small frame this bike will carve through any level of traffic congestion you can throw at it. Even the occasional Marlyebone Rd blockage here in London (west london commuters will know what I refer to ;-))

Buying experience: Bought from a dealer for around £3100 way back in 2010.

I purchased a 2009 piaggio LX 125in March 2009. My wife and I go touring in our motor home and we take the Piaggio with us on a bike rack on the back, we have just come back from Spain where we spent 7 months there, during that time we did over 7000 kilometres on our Piaggio and although this scooter was is not built for touring we found that 150 mile round trip was quite bearable, once you got acclimatised to it, it performed very well with two up, with an amazing 73mpg, not bad for two 12 stone heavyweights on, and one Yorkshire Terrier in the top box, Just had to take it easy on the bends, I must take my hat off to Piaggio, it performed far better that I was led to believe. I am now going to part ex it for a Xevo 400 for our next trip, we would like something with a bit more power and comfort, to be able to go further distances.

I've had a black LX125 here in Bermuda for the last 14 months and done around 11,000km on it (not bad going for a small island). (I have a full UK motorcycle license and used to own a Yamaha DT125R years ago). The handling was good for the first year. Now I am starting to feel a disconcerting vagueness in the steering probably caused by wear and tear. Tyres don't last forever on such small wheels and the standard tyres are very quick wearing. A rear tyre will manage about 3,000km. Equipment is pretty good. Big speedo, useful seemingly accurate fuel guage and clock. After heavy rain condensation inside the speedo is a problem though. Quality is a slight let down. At first the bike feels solidly built but now there are plenty of irritating bodywork rattles. Rust is a problem on some of the chrome work. Reliability is pretty good so far. Performance is not inspiring- but no 4 stroke 125 ever will be! I miss my 2 stroke DT! I reckon these bikes are a little overpriced for the build quality but still like it for the style factor.