Part 1: Vespa GTS Buyers Guide – 2005-2018 | FEATURE

For many scooterists the Vespa GTS has become the modern long-distance equivalent of the PX200. Its a thoroughbred workhorse with the modern attributes and style a premium-priced scooter needs.

In this two-part feature we’re going to take a look at the model history, things to look out for when buying used and take you right through to the latest RST22 model.

This was the first GTS 250 I rode for a magazine feature back in 2006, I rode it two up to Belgium and was won over by its performance and touring ability

Accepted?

The GTS 250 first arrived on the market back in 2005. Like anything new, modern autos were scorned by many die-hards on the scooter scene, but you only have to look around a rally campsite and you’ll see loads of them. The GTS has also caught on with ‘ordinary’ Vespa fans, commuters and even teenage scooter-jacking/robbery gangs – ’nuff respect innit?

One thing is for sure: with the average age of scooterists creeping ever upward, modern autos have kept many older riders on the road. None of us are getting any younger, so never say never.

If you’re thinking about sampling the automatic scooter of choice for rally-going scooter riders (although Royal Alloy is giving Vespa a run for their money) here’s a thorough guide to help you avoid some of the pitfalls – whether buying new or used.

I bought this red ex-Piaggio press fleet 250 in 2006 and kept it for a few years before trading up to a 300

GTS 250

Launched in 2005 to replace the similarly styled Vespa GT (Gran Turismo) 125-200, the GTS 250 was quickly adopted on the scooter scene by those looking for a Vespa with more power than their PX or T5.

Vespa GTV

The special edition GTV 250 (pictured above) came with different handlebars and instruments, as well as a ‘low light’ mudguard mounted headlight as a nod towards the 1950s Vespa Faro Basso.

The similarily-styled but much rarer grey GT60 was released in 2006 as a limited edition run of just 999 scooters to celebrate Vespa’s 60th anniversary.

My first Vespa GTS 300 Super replaced the 250 for a while

GTS 300

The larger capacity 278cc GTS 300s arrived in 2008 with minor styling mods and different instruments. As a scooter, they’re both quick (80+ mph), quite comfortable two-up, can carry plenty of luggage, are economical to run and will polish off a few hundred miles without breaking a sweat.

Although the GTS is generally reliable, we scooterists tend to give them a harder life than they were designed for, so things do still go wrong on occasion and can be expensive to fix. So what do you need to be aware of if you’re buying one?

I owned this blue 250 for a year or so and sold it just before Christmas 2023 

250 or 300?

The long-discontinued (2005-2011) GTS 250 is still regarded by many fans as the better model in terms of build quality. The engine doesn’t lack anything other than a slight bit of torque in comparison to the bored-out 278cc lump of the 300 so there’s nothing to worry about there. If you can find a decent low-mileage example you’ll usually get a good clean, rust-free scooter.

Still going strong

This was the second red 2006 250 I’d bought. I owned this until 2015, I bought it to replace my white ill-fated 2012/2013 GTS 300 (more on that dodgy model year later) and it was certainly a much better scooter. In more recent years I’ve owned another three 250s, all were very good for their age and still going strong. If you get lucky you can still pick a decent 250 up for less than £1000 and you’re getting a lot of scooter for the money.

The remnants of my GTS 300 engine, it died on the way back from Woolacombe in 2011

Four-stroke

After being used to a two-stroke scooter, the liquid-cooled, fuel-injected four-stroke engine in a GTS is like black magic. You push a button and it starts, thrash it for a hundred miles at a true 80mph non-stop and it’ll need about a tenner’s worth of fuel, then thrash it again and repeat. Nothing will drop off, it won’t seize and life becomes so much less stressful.

The downside to a four-stroke engine is that they’re not as easy to work on if things do go wrong. In the event of a big end failure (not common), you’ll be looking at a new set of engine casings (not cheap), that’s thanks to the way the bearing shell is machined into the casing. I had one go at just 6,000km on a 2010 model 300 and had a new set of engine casings, a new crank and plenty of other bits under warranty. Thankfully it’s not a common problem but you must stick to the service schedules and keep an eye on your oil level.

If buying new, consider taking out the extended warranty to cover you for up to four years. Also, think carefully about buying a high-mileage used machine if you don’t know its history.

Fitting a Malossi V4 cylinder and head

Tuning?

Tuning a four-stroke is expensive and the results aren’t as worthwhile, or as cheap, as they are on a two-stroke. Top speed is governed by the gearing and rev limiter so you’ll get there quicker but be frustrated earlier. On the positive side, a tuned four stroke is generally still reliable.

Unless you really have a yearning for more power it’s best to leave a GTS standard, other than fitting an aftermarket exhaust if you prefer it to sound a bit meatier and get rid of the troublesome exhaust gasket (more on that later).

It costs over £2000 to fit a Malossi top end, Exhaust and variator to a GTS. Without a gear-up kit you’re just going to hit the top end and rev limiter quicker but without seeing an increase in top speed. Some more experimental tuners have increased a GTS to 27-30bhp but it’s not common or cheap. Scooterists will always try to push the boundaries though.

Transmission

Soon after the GTS was introduced it became common to swap for a Malossi, Polini or Dr Costa variator. This mod alters the engine characteristics. The scooter will pull away a bit quicker, but you’ll be sacrificing some top end speed in the process. Be warned, your scooter will use more fuel as well (around 20 miles less to a tank). Upgrading a variator isn’t as popular these days, I only ever bothered to fit one to my very first GTS.

Exhausts

The most popular ‘tuning’ modification is simply fitting an aftermarket exhaust. The choice ranges in price from around £100 for an eBay special to over £800 for an Akraprovic. Pipes of choice are Scorpion, Akra, Remus or TSR, although there are a few others available. Don’t expect any noticeable power gains from a four-stroke exhaust.

An aftermarket exhaust will usually be built from stainless steel/titanium or carbon fibre so won’t rust either (the standard mild steel exhaust will rust within weeks).

SLUK recommends

We supply Scorpion, Remus, Akraprovic and TSR Odyssey through the SLUK shop.

I recommend Scorpion because they come with a lifetime warranty, sound nice, look good and the factory is in England. The TSR Odyssey is a cheaper exhaust that’s well worth trying, they have some pros and cons, which you can read about here.

Manifold nuts

It’s not uncommon for the GTS exhaust studs to shear at the manifold and if they do it can be an engine out job to repair/replace them. They’re quite tricky to access and it’s nigh on impossible to get a snapped stud out in situ. If you’re planning to swap an exhaust on a GTS we advise you to give the manifold nuts a liberal spray of penetrant/release agent before attempting to undo the nuts. It might just prevent an expensive, time-consuming and frustrating experience.

Standard GTS exhaust header pipes occasionally fail but not often. Note this snapped one has the large ring welded above the lambda sensor to prevent hot gases from melting things if the gasket goes.

Exhaust gasket

The standard Vespa exhaust comes with a mesh gasket between the header and silencer and it needs replacing every time the silencer is removed. That means if you change a rear tyre, brake pads, oil filter or oil you’ll need to replace the gasket as well, it costs around £30 for a genuine one. Ignore this important gasket change and you will end up with a blowing exhaust at some time, usually on the way back from a rally with a hangover. Ignore it when it starts to blow and the hot exhaust gases have been known to melt the rear brake line on earlier 250 models. Piaggio cured that problem by fitting a deflector on post-2007 scooters. Early 250s were recalled to have a modified downpipe fitted, check to see if it’s been done. The later downpipe has a large washer welded around the joint.

If you do a lot of motorway riding, the exhaust gasket can need replacing in as little as 3,000-4000 miles. Always keep a spare one in the glovebox, just in case.

We supply an aftermarket exhaust gasket through the SLUK Shop for £6.99.

Fuel pump issues/recall

Back in 2008, some GTS’ started to cut out, or fail to start on the odd occasion. If you let them cool down, they’d be ok again for a while. It turned out to be a batch of rogue fuel pumps. Piaggio eventually started to replace them if the owner reported a problem. It takes a couple of hours to have the job done and your local Piaggio dealer will be able to tell from the Piaggio warranty system if yours has been replaced or not. 2008-2011 scooters suffered but a few late registered scooters on a 2012 plate were also prone to it.

The easiest way to check if yours has been replaced is to nip into (or phone) your local Piaggio dealer and ask them to check on the system using your VIN number. It’s free to have the pump changed if it hasn’t already been done. Most Piaggio dealers will do this for you, if your local one doesn’t we suggest you shop elsewhere.

Model Year (MY 2012) 2012 

In 2012 GTS buyers started to complain about their scooters cutting out at speed. The problem was affecting long-distance riders mostly and happened at motorway speeds. The scooter would momentarily lose power, and then carry on as though nothing had happened. Eventually, a new map for the ECU was released and within 15 minutes the annoying/potentially dangerous problem could at long last be solved. I had one of these problem scooters myself and fought to get the issue recognised and fixed.

The reason for it was that Piaggio had changed most of the electrical components during that year and the scooters suffered as the software switched from one part of the map to another, but only occasionally. I likened it to a two-stroke seizing. If you’re buying a 2012/2013 GTS ask if it’s been remapped and if not get it checked by a Piaggio dealer. They shouldn’t charge for the service and it only takes a few minutes to cure the fabled ‘hesitation’ issue.

Dodgy paint

During that same model year, the paint finish suffered. The paint was chipping off the front every time I rode mine, and within a few months, the scooter had 50 or 60 stone chips on the legshields. Other owners also had paintwork problems. I’d had enough of that scooter and sold it as quickly as possible after the mapping had been sorted. The new owner was planning to vinyl wrap it so he was happy enough.

On the way to St Tropez 2016 with just enough camping gear and luggage for two weeks away twos up

Front end wobble

I’ve owned ten GTS’ so far and most of them have suffered from the front-end wobble. It’s nothing to worry about but can be a bit disconcerting when you’re filtering through traffic two-up with luggage and it feels like the front wheel might drop off. The problem has been attributed to various things, from having the wrong weight bar ends fitted (heavier weights are recommended if you’ve got a top box/luggage), to unbalanced tyres, rubbing wires going through the headset, a loose headstock and wheels out of true. In reality, nothing cured my own wobbly front wheel. The problem occurred at slow speeds when I was riding solo, two-up, loaded or unloaded. The wobble never really bothered me too much though and you don’t feel it at speed. Properly balanced wheels set to the correct pressures (1.8 bar front, 2.2 rear for two-up riding) certainly help, as do heavier bar end weights. My blue 2015 GTS 300 (pictured above) didn’t suffer from the problem – maybe the revised front suspension cured it – or at least helped. Piaggio quickly reverted to the original front setup though…

Note; Malossi RS24 shock

Shock absorbers

Although the standard suspension is fairly good, like anything they can fail and I’ve heard of a few front and rear shocks going. Usually at between 20,000-30,000km. Nick at South West Scooters advises “If you’re doing a lot of two-up mileage make sure you adjust your suspension to the hardest setting, they’ll last longer.”

Aftermarket suspension choice is varied on the pre-2014 models (post-2015 models). I’ve used both Malossi RS24s and Bitubo on my own scooters. Both improve the quality of the ride, although I prefer the Malossi ones because the finish lasts much longer.

I built this GTS for touring when planning to ride to Croatia in 2015. 13″ MP3 wheel conversion, Frando brake upgrade and SLUK Guard. All worthwhile upgrades. No front suspension upgrades were available when this 2014-2015 model arrived.

Model year 2014 suspension

The revised 2014 model GTS used a single pivot point, as opposed to the original’s which has two bolts at the bottom (like a PX). Aftermarket front suspension choice isn’t as plentiful on the 2014-2015 models but Malossi offer the RS24, Bitubo also supplies one and Zelioni do a fully adjustable shock. This style of fork was ditched after a year and Vespa went back to the original style (check yours before ordering parts just in case you gave the single pivot fork).

Front end clunk

Although the front-end wobble was solved on the 2014 model GTS, or pretty much, the revised front suspension added another new problem. There was slight play between the bottom of the front shock absorber and the pin, if you ride off the edge of a low pavement you’ll hear a nasty metal-on-metal clunk. It feels, or at least sounds like the suspension bottoming out but it’s just a clunk from the excess play. I had a front shock replaced under warranty but it didn’t cure the problem. I learned to live with it, just part of the Vespa character we all love/put up with…

Walrus cry

A change to the fuel tank breather in 2014 means many owners were baffled by the muted cry of an imaginary walrus trapped within the confines of the fuel tank. After a ride the tank cries out in pain until it’s cooled down, nothing to worry about it’s just expanding gasses escaping. Do not feed it any fish!

Swinging arm

The GTS has a swinging arm fitted and the bearings have been known to fail on higher mileage machines, a repair kit is available though and can be done at home with a bit of patience. Use plenty of grease in the bearings and it’ll last much longer. Getting it done at a shop will cost an hour’s labour plus parts.

140 section (top) v standard (130) size. Note: I stopped using Schwalbe tyres after problems with bulging and delaminating. I currently use and recommend Nankang.

Tyres

Compared to a traditional scooter with split rims, a GTS tyre isn’t quite as straightforward to change at home, you really need a tyre machine unless you’re built like Geoff Capes. Removing the wheels and taking them to a scooter shop to be changed will make it much easier. It’ll cost between £5-15 to have a tyre fitted to a loose wheel.

Ideally, you want to get the wheels balanced but not many bike/scooter/tyre shops will bother to, or have a balancer for scooter wheels. Readspeed has a specially adapted GTS rim for their wheel balancer though. Tyre life is around 3000 miles for a rear, 5000 for a front. Expect to pay between £30-£60 for a tyre, depending on brand.

Some owners prefer to fit a larger 140-section rear (standard is 130/70-12) to raise the gearing slightly, although the rear mudguard usually needs trimming to stop it rubbing on the larger profile tyre. A 140 rear tyre can help faster riders stop bouncing off the rev limiter as often.

Belt & rollers

Putting a new belt and rollers in a well-used GTS is the equivalent to fitting a 210 kit to a PX; it’ll instantly increase performance and you’ll wonder why you waited so long to do it. A snapped belt is one of the most common GTS breakdowns so don’t ignore the service intervals. Genuine is best and will last longest but isn’t cheap – a new belt, rollers and guides cost around £96, plus an hour’s labour for fitting them.

The recommended mileage is 10,000km for the rollers and 15,000km for a belt but it’s best to do them both together to save labour costs. A genuine drive belt will cost you around £111 and £15 for a set of rollers.

Early signs of corrosion on a brand-new GTS

Stop the rot

Vespa celebrated their 70th anniversary in 2016, it was a great achievement for this iconic brand but are the latest Vespas likely to last as long as the company that builds them? The thing that still makes a Vespa stand out from a multitude of other scooters is its steel construction. Designed using aircraft techniques to press a steel frame, rather than relying on an ugly subframe clad in panels is fairly unique. Sadly despite 78 years (at the time of writing) of building Vespas, parent company Piaggio still don’t protect the metal properly from corrosion. The GTS is particularly prone to it in certain areas, the seam behind the front mudguard is one such place, so is inside the frame around the battery tray, underneath the floor and on the back end near the backlight/number plate.

Where to check

If you’re buying a used GTS be sure to check around the frame and underneath it thoroughly. Remove the seat tub and look inside the frame, if possible remove the battery (located under the centre floor mat) and check inside the frame with a torch. Use a magnet to check for areas that have been bodged with filler and sprayed over, or undersealed to hide a cheap repair.

SLUK Guards and inner frame protectors

Because of these common issues we’ve been developing and making parts to protect the GTS from stone chips, rust and water ingress since 2016. We make two styles of SLUK guard (the original and the longer Ultra version), as well as a SLUK Tail to stop excess spray, a SLUK Catcher to protect the inner frame and a Chassis Guard to protect the underside of your frame. They’re all made by us in the UK. You can get yours here or if you live in Europe buy through SIP in Germany to save import duty.

Spray it

Once you’ve bought a GTS, either new or used, give it a good spray with a corrosion protector. Putoline make a good one, as do S-Doc, Muc-Off and a few other companies. It’s worth investing in a tin and using it periodically for added peace of mind. I also fitted some invisible clear vinyl to the front end of my 2015 GTS when it was new, it stops the water/salt getting into the frame seam behind the mudguard.

Even a brand-new scooter can arrive with rust underneath the frame, I saw one recently with visible rust. It’s worth checking underneath at the dealers when you pick a new scooter up. Don’t be fobbed off, it’s a warranty issue that will get sorted. It’s also another good reason to extend your warranty.

GTS 125 learner legal

Most of these issues relate to all three Vespa GTS variants, the 125, 250 and 300. As a learner legal machine, the GTS 125 is still a good choice. The liquid-cooled engine means it’s able to cope with longer journeys without hassle (having said that we still thrash low-capacity vintage air-cooled two-strokes around Europe for weekend fun and touring holidays). The Euro 4 GTS 125 i-get came with stop/start technology for the first time and is very economical.

The GTS is a big scooter so it has a bit of presence in comparison to most 125cc scooters. That extra bulk and the width of the seat can make it feel a bit intimidating to some novice riders though, so a 125 Sprint or Primavera can sometimes be a better choice. The Sprint has the same seat height at 790mm but the seat and the floor runners are narrower so touching the floor is much easier for shorter riders. The Sprint also weighs 24 kg less than the GTS.

Lowering kit

If you are short and still want a GTS, SIP makes a lowering kit for them, it reduces the height by 20mm.

As with the 250/300 there are plenty of exhausts available for the 125 and tuning options available from the likes of Malossi but it ain’t cheap. I recently rode a fully kitted GTS 125, the owner had spent almost £2000 on tuning it. It accelerated very well and was quite good fun but in reality, wasn’t any more thrilling to ride than a standard GTS 300. It kind of made me question whether the owner would have been better off spending £700 on passing his test and trading it in for a 300 instead…

Buying a ringer?

As with anything that looks good, goes well and is popular, lots of GTSs have been stolen (my blue 300 was stolen and never recovered after I sold it to a friend). Many stolen 300s have been re-registered illegally as 125s. Our advice is to steer clear of any GTS ‘125s’ that state they’re 250/300 models in sales adverts. There’s every chance you’ll be buying a dodgy bike with an even dodgier history.

Protecting your Vespa is also important, we supply anti-theft engine immobilisers, wheel locks and MoniMoto trackers. 

Long distance

One thing the modern crop of automatic scooters has done it to make long-distance travel much easier. Not having to carry spares for all eventualities means these scooters have no limits. This was our camp on a small Croatian island (KRK) on the way to Vespa World Days 2015.