Vespa: Why the Vespa Sprint is an impostor

by

Menus

Why the Vespa Sprint is an impostor

Vespa: Why the Vespa Sprint is an impostor-Audi Source Audi Source Audi

1 of 7

A Vespa has never been prettier to look at.

Source: Vespa

Vespa: Why the Vespa Sprint is an impostor-sprint

2 of 7

The new Sprint version is not only available in four very pretty, fresh colors and in black, but, like the Primavera, also as a Mokick roller with a 50 cubic centimeter lift…m.

Source: Vespa

Vespa: Why the Vespa Sprint is an impostor-sprint

3 of 7

Vespa buyers do not get a lot of technical equipment: Piaggio restricts itself to what is absolutely necessary

Source: Vespa

Vespa: Why the Vespa Sprint is an impostor-sprint

4 of 7

The chassis with 7.8 centimeters of spring travel at the front and 7 centimeters at the rear filters out both rough and fine bumps equally well

Source: Vespa

Vespa: Why the Vespa Sprint is an impostor-Audi Source Audi Source Audi Source Audi

5 of 7

The Vespa Sprint costs from 4250 euros.

Source: Vespa

Vespa: Why the Vespa Sprint is an impostor-Audi Source Audi Source Audi Source Audi

6 of 7

The Sprint differs from the Primavera with its angular headlights.

Source: Vespa

Vespa: Why the Vespa Sprint is an impostor-Audi Source Audi Source Audi

7 of 7

For the first time, a Vespa with a so-called “small body” rolls on (relatively) large 12-inch wheels.

Source: Vespa

After the new Primavera, Vespa is now adding the Sprint variant. In addition to the optics, the quality is also impressive, in contrast, the two-wheeler is less convincing in another discipline.

E.There are only a few metropolises that could challenge Rome for its status as the world capital of scooter traffic: Barcelona, ​​Paris and Milan are among them. But which city is better suited to the everlasting success of the Vespa than the Eternal?

No metropolis is better suited to demonstrate the advantages of an agile scooter than the narrow streets of Italy’s capitals. And so we dig our way through a dense cone of traffic with the 125cc version of the new Vespa Sprint.

Vespa Sprint: return of a classic

Vespa Sprint? There has been a model like this before. In 1965, Piaggio launched a scooter with this designation for the first time; it was the Vespa 150 Sprint. This somewhat sportier version of the normal Vespa was available until the mid-1970s. Now there is another sprint.

From the end of 2013 presented Vespa Primavera it only differs in two details: its headlight is not round, but square. And their cast aluminum wheels are designed a little more filigree and measure 12 instead of 11 inches in diameter.

Motorization: The Primavera appears sportier

For the first time, a Vespa with a so-called “small body” is rolling on relatively large 12-inch wheels. And one more difference: the Sprint version is € 200 more expensive at € 4,250. In return, buyers receive what is unquestionably the prettiest Vespa that has ever existed.

Rome’s streets are a burden on the chassis – of cars as well as two-wheelers and their drivers: cobblestones, holes, faults, cracks, tram rails – driving a scooter in Rome is not always a pleasure.

Amazingly, the Vespa Sprint masters this ordeal without any complaints: The chassis with 7.8 centimeters of spring travel at the front and 7 centimeters at the rear filters out both rough and fine bumps equally well, as far as this is technically possible. The wheels, which are still relatively small compared to so-called large-wheel scooters with 16-inch tires, offer good stability up to a speed limit of around 80 km / h.

The Rome test also shows that the Vespa Sprint 125, which now weighs 130 kilograms, with its 10.7 hp three-valve single-cylinder engine is not lavishly motorized. Although it comes out of the starting blocks well at the traffic lights, because the automatic CVT converts the gas commands smoothly into propulsion, it lacks the liveliness that the word "sprint" suggests.

No, this version is just as little a sprinter as the regular Primavera, it might even appear a tad more tired than that version.

Piaggio on a technology diet

"Welt" editor tests new Vespa with a retro look

Piaggio presents the new edition of the Vespa Primavera, which was very popular in the 1960s. “Welt” editor Benedikt Fuest tests the scooter in Barcelona and breaks an exterior mirror. Source: The World

Vespa buyers do not get a lot of technical equipment: Piaggio is limited to what is absolutely necessary. But these details make a good qualitative impression: This applies to the chrome mirrors as well as to the seat cover, the operation of the front flap or the storage space under the seat. It also comfortably holds full-size helmets.

The fact that the Vespa is the only scooter in the world to have a steel body gives it an advantage, because the resulting torsional stiffness is impressive on the poor roads of Rome. In the easily readable but economical set of instruments there is nothing more than a speedometer, odometer and a timer.

The switches for lights, indicators, etc. snap well and are also optically successful. However, the fact that there is no socket in the front compartment is not exactly customer-friendly.

Vespa Sprint comes without an ABS system

It would also be nice if Piaggio could supply an ABS for the latest Vespa generation. How long it will take until the prerequisites for the installation of at least one single-channel system are created at the company’s headquarters in Pontedera, which at least keeps the front wheel in check, is one of Italy’s eternal secrets.

The new Sprint version is not only available in four very pretty, fresh colors and in black, but, like the Primavera, also as a Mokick scooter with a displacement of 50 cubic centimeters.

The customer can choose between the subtle four-stroke engine and the two-stroke engine; both perform the same or little with 4.4 hp and cost the same at 3350 euros. The 50 cc versions will be available from April, the 125 cc will be available a short time later.

Related articles

Please follow and like us:
error
fb-share-icon
Tweet
fb-share-icon

Leave a Comment