I really should have been riding this scooter in the spring. As all the cognoscenti will know, Primavera is Italian for spring! This latest incarnation of the Vespa Primavera follows the original and collectible, classic 2-stroke lefthand gear change version from 1968.
This is a modern 4-str9e single cylinder ‘automatic’ or ‘twist and go’ producing 11 brake horsepower with electric (non-kick starter) start. The fuel tank holds a huge 8 litres and the factory figures put this out at 113 mpg, and it is Euro 5 compliant – very important! This has marked it as a lifestyle scooter and it looks right and just goes!
I always feel that anything under 125 CC for a scooter or a motorbike is challenged power-wise in keeping up with traffic. Anything more than that gives you some oomph and you have to decide whether you want to go for Economy and lower price with a 125 or go for one of the higher capacity scooters about. For example, the 300 GTS Vespa is a very different scooter despite its similarity outwardly in looks.
What do you want from a 125 scooter and from a Vespa? You want the heritage looks, you want in this case reliability and economy, and the ability to nip in and out of urban traffic and park anywhere. This scooter has it in spades.
Due to the worldwide problem in obtaining electronic chips and spare parts for all motor vehicles, Motech in Byker didn’t have a new demo scooter, but had this second-hand scooter which they were more than willing to let me try out. I wanted to see the difference between an electric scooter I’d earlier had from them and say for example a 300 GTS. This plonks itself right in the middle of that range.
I was shown around the scooter by Andy. The bike was sporting Learner plates – he asked if he should take them off, but I declined because it would remind me that this is also for the learner market.
Every single time I ride a 125 CC engine scooter or bike I’m always astonished at how easy it is to get off the stand (no heavy lugging) and how light it is when I set off. Caught out by how light it was, I had a wobble before the gates (embarrassing) and then off up the road. I made the classic error of pulling my left hand, which is normally a clutch on a classic scooter/motorcycle, but all that does on this bike is act like a bicycle brake and put the back brake on! Oops.
This scooter, which has some extra luggage to qualify for the ‘touring’ moniker front and back, had no problem in keeping up with 40 mph bypass traffic and of course, also is quicker off the mark at traffic lights because it is so light. Scooters also have an area underneath the seat which should fit 2 full face helmets (also handy for groceries if you carry your helmet around with you), and the charming luggage hook to hang your grocery bag underneath and between the handlebars in the ‘footwell’ of the scooter. Do this and you can easily transport yourself mentally to whizzing around the back streets of the Amalfi coast on one of these popping to the local market!
Obviously, this isn’t the scooter to go to Wooler and back on, on fast A roads (although you can) but is more suited to the urban environment. I decided to leave the East End of Newcastle and take all of the ‘bottom’ roads via the River Tyne to end up at the North Shields Fish Quay, then cruising along the coast from Tynemouth through Cullercoats, Whitley Bay and up to Blyth before doing a U-turn cruising back. Lots of this is at 20 mph and I had time to look seaward for the sights. It was a glorious late August afternoon and I decided that I had to search out an Italian pit stop.
I alighted upon Pranzo, a pizzeria/trattoria owned and run by an Italian family, on Station Road down from Whitley Bay Metro station. I parked up the scooter on the pavement, in sight of my outside seat, ordered my flat white and of course, it had to be the tasty Torta Della Nonna. The owner and kitchen staff were just finishing as this was a late stop off and we had a great chat about motorcycles and scooters, obviously the Italian variety. Their first words were of course looking at the scooter ‘bella bella’!
I decided to dash back down the A1068 coast road from Whitley Bay to Newcastle to see how it fared. I had no problem at 60 mph on the dual carriageway. I didn’t feel intimidated by the traffic before turning off and zipping through the streets of Heaton to return to base at Motech in Byker. I parked the scooter back up amongst the row of both classic and modern scooters. Motech was bought by the owner Paul Hamilton from an Italian, Angelo, who ran it in the 1980s under the fantastic name of ‘Angelo’s Scooter Station’!
This was a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon on a nippy, zippy, economical and stylish-looking Euro 5 equivalent of the classic Vespa scooter. It sits as I have said neatly in the middle of the range of modern scooters and would bring a smile to your face. ‘Ciao Bella.’
Mark Hipkin is a Partner/ Head of the Personal Injury and Civil Litigation department. He welcomes your e-mails or calls on the law (or your biking experiences) at wbay@aldersonlaw.co.uk or call 0191 2533509.