[hemanth.anand]

The Need:

Early 2013, I got a wonderful news that my wife and I are becoming parents!
My wife was advised by the doctor to avoid riding her two wheeler to work.
The 2008 Scooty Pep (Wimbledon edition) which used to be her daily ride to work had its running reduced from 40kms a day to 40kms a month.
After a few months, my sister in law finished her studies and got herself a job in the city.
She needed a vehicle. We just transferred it to her.

By the end of 2013, we were proud parents! Now it’s close to 7 months.
My wife has resumed her work and she badly needed a Vehicle. Luckily my sister in law is not in station this month. We had no plans to take back the Scooty and so arised the need for a two-wheeler.


The Selection:

Since 2008 when my wife bought a Scooty Pep, The Indian scooter market has changed a lot.
Back then, the selection of Scooty was purely based on Seat height, Size and Weight.
I never liked the Scooty Pep but for the criteria mentioned, no other vehicles were matching.

Fast forward to 2014, there are many scooters in the market to confuse you.
Luckily for me staying in South Bangalore, the Outer Ring road has all the Two-Wheeler showrooms almost one beside the other. I listed down and there were 25 Vehicles in total! Below is the list and my reasons for short listing.

• Suzuki

1. Swish-Rode my neighbour's vehicle and wasn't impressed
2. Access-After having driven Swish, Removed Suzuki entirely
3. Lets-Ditto as above

• TVS

4. Scooty Pep-Not wanted to go for the same pathetic vehicle again
5. Scooty Streak-Copy from above
6. Wego-Was impressed with the drive but overall quality was terrible
7. Jupiter-Based on a user's positive feedback, decided to check out

• Bajaj

8. Kristal-Didn't even bother

• Yamaha

9. Ray-Based on a user's positive feedback, decided to check out.
10. Ray Z-Same as Ray but with a sporty theme
11. Alpha-Decided to check out along with Ray

• Hero

12. Pleasure-Why should Boys have all the fun! I rejected this
13. Maestro-It’s such a Boy thing! My wife rejected this

• Mahindra

14. Rodeo-Had seen my friend's vehicle. Didn't like it one bit
15. Duro-It's a rodeo in a new dress
16. Flyte-Same as above
17. Kine-Scooty is a lot better than this

• Honda

18. Activa-Segment Leader, dad already has this. Just wanted to know the current price.
19. Activa i-Decided to check it out.
20. Activa 125-Decided to check it out.
21. Dio-My wife has driven my cousin's Dio, too tall for her.
22. Aviator-My wife has driven my sister's aviator, too big for her.

• Vespa

23. Vespa LX-Knew it was Expensive-Decided to check it out just for the looks.
24. Vespa VX-Same as Above
25. Vespa S-Same as Above

So here's what we had in our "check-it-out" list-10 Vehicles from 4 brands.

• TVS

1. Jupiter-Based on a user's positive feedback, decided to check out

• Yamaha

2. Ray-Based on a user's positive feedback, decided to check out.
3. Ray Z-Same as Ray but with a sporty theme
4. Alpha-Decided to check out along with Ray

• Honda

5. Activa-Segment Leader, dad already has this. Just wanted to know the current price.
6. Activa i-Decided to check it out.
7. Activa 125-Decided to check it out.

• Vespa

8. Vespa LX-Knew it was Expensive-Decided to check it out just for the looks.
9. Vespa VX-Same as Above
10. Vespa S-Same as Above

The above order is as per the distance of the showroom to my home-Nearest first.

So on Saturday the 14th June 2014, my wife and I set out to test ride the vehicles in our list.
We entered the TVS showroom and took a brochure and quotation for Jupiter.
But as soon as I saw that it’s basically a Wego but with a Plastic Fibre Body, TVS was rejected there itself. We didn't even take a test drive.

Next was Yamaha.
A Sales Executive explained all the features of Ray, Ray Z and Alpha. He also gave the price list.
Alpha was the least impressive of the 3. Ray Z looked good but upon careful observation, I didn't feel that that the quality is good enough to last the distance.
On asking for a test drive, the sales executive went inside and didn't come out for at least half an hour. No one had an idea where he went.
The test drive vehicle was parked at the entrance the keys were not there.
We had had enough and we left without a test drive

Next was Honda
We only wanted the price list as the Activa's prowess was a known entity and it was the best option IMO.
We wanted to see Activa-i and Activa 125.
While Activa-i looked cheap with all the plastic body, Activa 125 resembled the Aviator and so my wife rejected this.

So even before riding any vehicle, the decision was almost made. One more Honda Activa would join our garage.

But everything should have a '*Conditions apply' shouldn't it? Our * said '* if Vespa isn't impressive'

We entered the Vespa dealership. The Receptionist cum Sales girl greeted us and asked us if we had any specific interests. We asked her to give an overview of all the 3 models available.


The reception Desk


On Display


Modeling


Vespa VX, LX and S exhibited outside the showroom

Every one of us already loved the retro styling of the vehicles. The candy colours were also so beautiful (except for one horrible metallic pink).
The sales girl started her explanation starting with the Monocoque steel body by showing the Monocoque steel body exhibited at the entrance.


Monocoque Body


Monocoque body with a nostalgic scooter

I then asked her to tell us the differences between the variants. And the price difference.

She told me that the engines are the same for all the three. The VX had a tubeless tyre and a front disc brake over the LX. S has a different sporty design with Rectangular Headlamp and mirrors.

With the main differences being highlighted, we asked for a test ride. As we waited in the small lounge area, a red Vespa S was given to us in 10 minutes.


Waiting Lounge

The one big concern we had about these vehicles was the seat height-It was theoretically more than the Honda Dio.
Our First surprise came here-My wife's feet could touch the ground! She's 5' BTW
As soon as she started it; I just loved the sporty Exhaust note. My wife drove through a traffic zone deliberately to test if she could actually reach the ground in dense traffic conditions. In ten minutes she came back visibly impressed.

I then took the vehicle from her and went for a test ride. I went is relatively Empty roads. To start with, the exhaust note was wonderful.
On empty stretches the power was awesome. Obviously, it’s the most powerful scooter currently on offer in India at 10.06 PS @7500RPM.
I actually felt the vehicle to be much smaller and much lighter than what the specifications suggests
The vehicle was easily manoeuvrable in traffic and the Disc brakes had just enough bite for good braking
Among others, I found the horn button a little too far for the thumb to reach.

To keep it short-We were impressed!

After the impressive drive, we were sold completely! I knew there itself that I have to get ready for a big hole in my pocket.
We took the price list and this is how it read (OTR Bangalore).

• LX 80999 (Ex.shroom 68366 + Rd tax 9107 + Insr 1749 + Handling 1777)
• VX 86999 (E 72349 + R 9637 + I 1850 + H 3163)
• S 91999 (E 76508 + R 10191 + I 1925 + H 3375)

I definitely knew that the Scooter in itself was not worth the price tag.
But hey, people do buy not-so-exclusive iphones and ipads for high prices. An Exclusive Vespa is also similar isn't it? I thought on these lines and I decided to go ahead and pay the premium for exclusivity.

We didn't want the drum brake variant so it was between VX and S.

We told the sales girl that we would return in the evening to confirm the booking and we left.


The Booking:

In the evening we returned. My mother and my 6 month old daughter also joined us. I had liked the looks of Vespa S very much. My mother liked the round looks of VX better. My wife was confused.
So we shifted our focus on colour which would help us narrow down upon the choice.


Rainbow


Colour choices

For Vespa I always wanted Candy colours. So the dark blue and the wine were out.
The new pink and a green were horrible...So they went out as well.
Yellow Vespas were becoming common though very nice.
So that left us with Red, Orange, and White.
I and my mother just loved the orange. But my wife thought otherwise. For her, both the orange and red was a bit too much.
She liked the White very much.
Then came the biggest confusion... Matt Black. Wow! How amazing does it look! I always wished to paint my car was Matt Black.
Matt Black (and Orange too) was available only in Vespa S.

We finally had to choose between the Two Whites and the Matt Black.
I asked the Sales guys to park the three together to aid us in our decision.
So we had this...


The choice

The more we saw it, the more we got confused. We spent a good half an hour to decide but we couldn't.
So I took the photo and told them that I would confirm the variant and colour the next day.
However I booked a vehicle by paying 45K advance and left.

After going home we had a very long discussion with my family members about the colour. We were equally divided on the colour.
I sent whatsapp messages to many friends and both colours got equal votes! All this however reduced the choices to 2 White VX or Matt Black S

Things that went in favour of white VX were:

• The front glove box had a lockable lid-also easy to wipe
• The round headlamp is more feminine
• White is easier to maintain than black

Things that went in favour of Matt black:

• The Matt black colour is so unique and so hot-there were already 3 white vespas in our apartment complex
• It comparatively had less of chrome (just enough IMO) and the chrome present is better accentuated.
• When we are buying it for exclusivity, the rectangular lamp and mirrors made it more exclusive
• The instrument cluster looked a lot better compared to that on the VX

Sunday 15th June 2014. I invited BHPians avinashsg and pumpy_raj to the showroom. We went there to take the final call. After 15 minutes, the decision was made. Matt Black Vespa S 125 it would be.

Since stocks were readily available, the dealer told me that the vehicle would be sent on Monday for registration and I can take delivery on Monday itself. The number however would be known only on Tuesday!

I paid another 20K and confirmed the variant, colour and accessories.
The back rest is not standard on the S but it is standard on the VX and LX however. There were two options available


Shorter one (standard for the LX)


Bigger one (standard for the VX)

We chose the shorter one. The other Extras that I opted were

• All round guard (including the step to climb for people sitting sideways)
• Front fender guard
• Floor mat
• 2-year Extended warranty over the 2-year standard warranty.

I also wanted a matching helmet. there were three designs costing ~2800, ~3200 and ~3900.


Helmet showcase

But they didn't have Matt black in any design. So we went to JC road in Bangalore for Helmet shopping.
I purchased a half covered Matte black Vega Helmet from Balaji Helmet Palace for 900bucks

On Monday, I received a call from the dealer that the vehicle would be delivered in the evening and number plate would be ready on Wednesday (18Jun)
Again in the afternoon, I received a call from the dealer that the Accessories are being fixed and the remaining amount was 31774/-
So the final costing on the road Bangalore with accessories is 96774/-. Below is the breakup of the vehicle price...


The Delivery:
The dealer had told that the vehicle would be ready by 6PM and I had confirmed the same at 5PM before leaving. I reached there at 6PM on the dot.

To my pleasant surprise, the vehicle was ready and parked at the reception area.


Ready for delivery

I checked all the accessories and it was fine. Odometer reading was 4Kms.
I paid the remaining amount and took the receipt. The service booklet, first aid kit, tool kit, insurance copy was handed over.

One unique thing I found here-There are 9 service coupons in the booklet.
But compared to others, every alternate service is free unlike others where the first few services are free.
The 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th and 9th are free services while the 2nd, 4th, 6th and 8th are paid. After the 9th, every service is paid obviously.
this is a nice strategy of keeping the customers coming back to the service centre for every service.

They took a photo of us with the vehicle and one guy explained all the features and do's and dont's.
The vehicle was taken out and the Keys handed over. That's it.
In 45 minutes the delivery was completed as smooth as the vehicle itself.


Black and white colour photo!


the two Italian beauties together

This is the story of my VESPA - Very Exclusive Scooter. Pricey Albeit


PS: Excuse all the poor quality pictures. All of them were taken from my smartphone

[Samurai]

Taking Live. Thanks for sharing.

[desdemona]

Good stuff man: Both the scooter and the pointed review!

There is nothing in India as perfectly automobilistic than the combo of your last photographs: a liveried Fiat (Punto) AND a Vespa! I have the same combination, and I mean it when i say that the Yellow VX is more fun than the T-jet, in the City!

Cheers, and congrats on the as-cute-as-it-is-badass Matt Black Vespa S.

[Madhu_Bengaluru]

Congratulations on your matt black Vespa and a very good write up. I too like the matt black color, very unique and goes very well with the looks of Vespa. On a side note, impressed with the exterior mods on Punto.

[TheARUN]

Thanks for the review. I have been trying to go to the Vespa showroom for more than a year now but never found the time, thanks for giving me a tour and telling me all I wanted to know

This one is for keeps, its going to last you a lifetime and is going to stay exclusive, its on top of the food chain and even if the maxi scooters come along in a few years, this is going to remain the 'Ferrari' of scooters, so its money well spent

Please keep updating this thread with your ownership experience

[infinitewheel]

Yesterday in the showroom I saw a white Vespa S with some of its parts changed to orange color and an orange one with its fibre parts changed to black. The looks were a bit more sporty.

[ghodlur]

Hemanth,

Heartiest congratulations on the Vespa. Almost a lakh rupees for a scooter is a bit going overboard but then you have to pay a price to own a timeless beauty isnt it? I felt the handling of the Vespa to be not to my liking, the balance was wavy whenever a heavy vehicle passed by. The exhaust note as you said was really sweet.

The acronym for Vespa was nicely coined.

[hemanth.anand]

Originally Posted by desdemona

...I mean it when i say that the Yellow VX is more fun than the T-jet, in the City!

The most powerful petrol scooter and a turbo charged petrol Tjet...you sure have a wonderful combination

Cheers, and congrats on the as-cute-as-it-is-badass Matt Black Vespa S.

Thanks desdemona.

Originally Posted by TheARUN

This one is for keeps, its going to last you a lifetime and is going to stay exclusive, its on top of the food chain and even if the maxi scooters come along in a few years, this is going to remain the 'Ferrari' of scooters, so its money well spent

Hopefully it serves me well. IMO apart from the Activa, this was the only other vehicle which looked like it will last for many years.

Please keep updating this thread with your ownership experience

Will continuously update my experiences on the thread.

Originally Posted by infinitewheel

Yesterday in the showroom I saw a white Vespa S with some of its parts changed to orange color and an orange one with its fibre parts changed to black. The looks were a bit more sporty.

The dealer told that we can choose any colour combination we want. the most common is White&Red. I have seen White&Orange and White&Wine too.

Originally Posted by ghodlur

Hemanth,

Heartiest congratulations on the Vespa. Almost a lakh rupees for a scooter is a bit going overboard but then you have to pay a price to own a timeless beauty isnt it? I felt the handling of the Vespa to be not to my liking, the balance was wavy whenever a heavy vehicle passed by. The exhaust note as you said was really sweet.

The acronym for Vespa was nicely coined.

Thanks ghodlur, I agree with you on the pricing point, and that's how the acronym came into being
Also my car's ownership thread is an acronym, so I kept the same format going.

I didn't experience the wavy feeling that you spoke about today morning on the NICE road (A tolled expressway here in Bangalore) where I drove for 20kms. Will keep a check on that. Thanks for the warning.

[GTO]

Congrats on the Vespa! Looks absolutely stunning.

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

I definitely knew that the Scooter in itself was not worth the price tag. But hey, people do buy not-so-exclusive iphones and ipads for high prices.

Well said. Buying a 50k smartphone is commonplace now. What's a 20K premium for a ride you really like?

When it comes to wheels, if I really love something, I will never back out because it's 'overpriced'. If I really want a car, and it's priced 1 - 2 lakhs too high, big deal...I'm still going to buy it. I got my used '03 City Vtec for 90% of the price you'd get a new 2nd-gen City (Dolphin shape) for in 2004. People thought I'm nuts to be spending 3X the book value of my Jeep on a new engine, but hey, that's where my heart is. The synthetic oils us enthusiasts use are 3X that of regular mineral....the list could go on and on. End of the day, these cars / decisions keep me happy & smiling. Do I regret them? No way.

Bottomline: You only live once, you work hard in life. When it comes to wheels - 2 or 4 - don't compromise. Reward yourself.

Ride safe buddy.

[noopster]

Lovely thread Hemanth! I don't haunt the 2-wheeler sections that much but your account was one enjoyable ride. Congrats on the black beauty!

I convinced my wife to sell off her trusty Flyte and use the Swift instead a couple of years ago. She still misses it! Maybe we will pick up a Vespa one of these days- they really look fantastic

Will keep an eye on this thread, meanwhile!

[arunphilip]

I think you've changed your thread title now, haven't you? It was earlier a catchy Vespa acronym, when I read it this morning - why the change? I liked the old one.

[hemanth.anand]

Originally Posted by GTO

Congrats on the Vespa! Looks absolutely stunning.

Well said. Buying a 50k smartphone is commonplace now. What's a 20K premium for a ride you really like?

...
Bottomline: You only live once, you work hard in life. When it comes to wheels - 2 or 4 - don't compromise. Reward yourself.

Ride safe buddy.

Thanks GTO

The reaction of relatives and colleagues whom I told about my vehicle

• "You are crazy"
• "It was unnecessary"
• "You are now a father, be responsible"
• "1Lakh on a scooter! you could easily buy your wife a used santro/alto/800"
• "Your company pays you really high-tell me if there are any openings for me"
• "If you have so much money, give it to me"

But the only place where I can find someone who can understand me - Team-BHP

Originally Posted by arunphilip

I think you've changed your thread title now, haven't you? It was earlier a catchy Vespa acronym, when I read it this morning - why the change? I liked the old one.

arunphilip, you are right.
It was VESPA - Very Exclusive Scooter. Pricey Albeit
I did not change the title. One of the moderators would have changed it. May be it is to make it easy for searching.

[Rajesh Rawal]

Congratulations! Love the matt finish on the scooter (wish they had the matt when i bought mine)

I feel the all round guard kills the look of the scooter.Do you really need it ?

[hemanth.anand]

Originally Posted by Rajesh Rawal

Congratulations! ...
I feel the all round guard kills the look of the scooter.Do you really need it ?

Thanks Rajesh Rawal

I agree with you about the all round guard. But sometimes, My mother or my mother in law will ride pillion and they sit sideways. So the step which is part of the guard was needed. Its for the same reason that we opted for the back handle as well.
While the rear handle had a better looking smaller option, there was no such option for the all-round guard

[tharian]

Enjoyed reading your write up as always.
The scooter is for sure exclusive. Matt, rectangle headlight and all.
I remember riding one when they launched it and what a difference it was from the Honda's and TVS.
It felt like a motorcycle and powerful too.
Congrats on the ride.