Vespa GTS 250 Review

Overall Rating

Stunning looks. Quality build. Absence of cheap plastic. Excellent handling. Superb engine and transmission. Fantastic performance. Comfy ride. A total pleasure to own. Small and perfectly formed.

New price is excessive. A very slight tendency to wobble on deceleration at around 30 mph but easily damped and never gets out of hand.

The iconic status of the Vespa GTS is not just a PR stunt or image-making for the sake of it. Sitting in its comfortable seat then riding this machine made of pressed steel instead of plastic immediately communicates the enormous chasm between Japanese plastic and Italian soul. But the Vespa turns out to be just as reliable as any Honda, Suzuki or Yamaha, and the Piaggio 244cc engine and clutch delivers the smoothest power delivery and the chassis the best, most planted feel of any scooter I have driven, including Piaggio's own excellent X8 and Suzuki's Burgman.

Just three minutes on the Vespa will make you understand why this scooter really is the perfectly formed, exquisite piece of engineering it promises to be when you look at its simple beauty side-on before you climb aboard.

Everything is perfectly placed, from the elegant drop down glove box, to the neat recess for the toolkit, the superb pull out pillion pegs,and the intelligently sited controls. Critics of its "lack" of under-seat storage should consider how compromised the look of this beautiful object would be, and the seating comfort, if it was to fit two full face helmets. In fact the underseat storage is fine for a good two days worth of shopping or supplies, and the snug and generous vespa top box is the answer to more space, plus the option for a front luggage rack which if anything enhances the looks even more.

The only criticism might be the price, because in all other respects this Scooter is utterly sublime with its great handling, excellent ride and a stunning engine which smoothly accelerates you to speeds which no scooter of this size would be believed possible of achieving until you experience it. Keeping up with all but the most pressing and illegal motorway traffic is effortless, and on most A and B roads the Vespa can out-manoeuvre nearly everything on the road. It really is that good.

You can solve the price problem easily: Buy the GTS with a thousand miles on the clock and let the first buyer take the depreciation hit. There are plenty of second hand GTS's available. I saved £1500 by not buying new.

This scooter has given me easily the most fun I have ever had on two wheels, so much so that I am now selling my other machines and might even make do with just the Vespa, because it is versatile, comfy, a hoot to ride, beautiful to look at, simple to run and a pleasure to own.