First Long Trip On The 2007 Vespa GTS250ie
On March 1, 2025, my Vespa came out of hibernation after 4 long months, and we embarked on our first long shakedown ride together. 241 miles total, with all detours and side trips included. Eastern PA didn’t disappoint, what with its sinewy forest roads, Revolutionary War landmarks, and varied terrain – perfect environment for finally testing out this iconic scoot.
There’s so much to love! The 244cc Quasar engine was butter smooth and relatively quiet, happiest when cruising along in the 45-60mph range. It’s fairly zippy around town thanks to the CVT trans, which just keeps things on tap all the way through the rev range. It’s easy to pull away from traffic from stoplight to stoplight in town. On a top speed run with all 21 horses violently stampeding through the drivetrain, I managed to hit 83 mph fully tucked. (Note: 83mph on a scooter with 12 inch tires on a very windy day is not for the faint of heart!) Despite the abusive throttle, the Vespa returned an astonishing 68.7mpg overall on this trip!
Comfort and ergonomics are superb, thanks to the enormous, overpadded seat and neutral seating position. The instrument cluster is everything you need to see at a glance, and nothing you don’t. Almost perfect – perfect is the previous generation GT200, which had exactly zero digital gauges. Handling was well balanced, not top heavy, and easy to make tight turns with. Brakes are adequate for the speeds involved.
The Italians are the undisputed world champions in perfecting the intangibles that make motorcycle enthusiasts like me giddy. Sultry styling? Check! Character? Check, in spades! Personality? Absolutely! The right sounds, the right smells, the right vibes, the right feel. Riding an Italian machine is a very sensory, very visceral experience. These qualities are, far and away, the hardest to get right – and the Italians do it without even trying, even on a scooter like this.
The flip side, of course, is that they never get the basics correct. The Vespa’s fuel filler neck erupts like Old Faithful with nearly every fuel stop. It doesn’t matter how much you try, or how wonderful your fine motor skills are – fuel is gonna overflow. And they perfectly positioned it to overflow directly into the luggage compartment, so everything you store there is swimming in a gasoline bath, which can be pretty fucking inconvenient. A child could have designed this more thoughtfully. The clock, after a week or so, routinely reads 12 minutes fast. If you wait a month, it’s an hour ahead. The speedometer is wildly optimistic, sometimes showing a 15% delta vs. GPS. So on, and so forth.
And so, the Italians are like mathematicians who can perform abstract algebra, but can’t add 2+2. This, too, is part of the experience. The Italian motorcycle’s owner initially becomes frustrated, and then gradually submits to these idiosyncrasies and quirks because, hey, “it’s Italian!” And it goes without saying that all of these flaws are quickly forgiven and forgotten once underway, especially on an icon like this 19 year old Vespa.
241 miles passed today in the blink of an eye, and my smile couldn’t be larger. I love her, truly. 2025 is going to be a year of many more Vespa trips!
