Inevitable really.

[Scootles]

I haven’t posted in a long time. Briefly - bought a Forza 300 which I initially enjoyed, but over time had a bad back whenever I rode it. This got worse until I eventually took it back to Mr Honda and got a good deal on a used CB500X. All very nice but the urge to have a scooter never left me. In the end I did what I should have done in the first place and went back to a Vespa GTS 300. Despite its tiny wheels I think it handles poor road surfaces really well. So - an expensive trip around the houses. Happy with the Vespa and liking the HPE engine. No fool like an ol............

[Pandrop]

Not a fool Scootles, its all part of the rich fabric of life enjoy your new ride

[Data]

Congratulations on getting one of the best midrange scooters on the market.

I agree about the ride comfort. Most folks are quite surprised at how comfortable they are over the bumps, in spite of the smaller 12" wheels. Much better than many other scooters or bikes in the same class (or above it) that have larger wheels.

Glad you like your HPE. Post often and when you are ready, a review of the bike with all your thoughts would be good and much appreciated. Pop it in the bike review section and let us all know when/if you do it. Ta!

[SH125Paul]

I do like the look of the Vespa GTS...
Had a Gilera VXR200 some years back... so finish on the covers, and electrical issues (Reg / Rec...) put me off... Nice scoot though.
Thing with the Vespas... what will happen first? Rust or Theft? - As you say, "Inevitable really"...
But glad you have found your 'One'
Enjoy ya new scoot!

[Data]

TBH, rust is not a problem, especially if you just make sure the underside of the bike is kept reasonably clean. Fit a front mudflap or fender extender and that does the trick. Pull up the floor and spray or paint Waxoyl under there and in the battery compartment and that's it for life. It won't rust. The newer bikes from around 2012 have electrophoretic primer too like cars so rust isn't a problem. The few bikes that have had an issue are almost always bikes that have not been cared for correctly. If you don't touch up stone chips, eventually they will rust. It's an all metal body after all.

[smeghead]

Awesome choice, they are tremendous scooters. Very capable machine, honed over the years. The HPE engine is as sweet as a nut.
Here’s one I bought earlier!

[Data]

How you getting on with the HPE then Scootles and Smeghead? It's going well I hope. I thought about this thread early in the week and thought I'd add something else to it especially since rust was mentioned earlier in the thread.

Just as an aside, the last year I've been largely using the GTS300 almost exclusively to carry out errands within the bounds of lockdown etc ie: picking up milk and bread, eggs and some other essentials when we run short. My wife, fortunately is a baker! Always baking and this means I've put on half a stone in weight during the various lockdowns. I've covered a few miles doing her bidding. And lately I've continued to use it for those same errands and more, instead of the car. I tend to do this at one of my local garages to avoid the big supermarkets. I fuel the bike at the same time. I also give support to a family member who is longer term ill and collect things for them and the journey is quite some way. So the bike has been used quite a bit on the salty roads of late and in the rain.

Early in the week I decided to give the bike a really good wash down, clean off the underside of the bike which is protected from the elements by Waxoyl. For that purpose I used paraffin on a very soft clean cloth, spraying the area lightly with said paraffin first. White spirit does the job just as well but paraffin came to hand and works well. Don't breath in the vapour if you do spray it. I wear a respirator. It's what we used in the trade too. After careful examination for stone chips I reapplied the Waxoyl making sure to coat the side and centre stands too. The underside of the bike, engine too, was very dirty and was carrying a considerable amount of weight in salty mud etc. Now all nice a clean. In fact, the bike cleans up just like new each time. So far there are no stone chips underneath the bike. The exhaust system doesn't have any rust at all, but the black paint could do with a refresh as it is slightly jaded near the hottest parts of the system. I'll do that when I change out my rear tyre. It's in it's fifth year now and the MOT was due last Wednesday. Always a good idea to present a nice clean bike if you can at an MOT. Makes the testers job a bit easier. It of course sailed through it's MOT. Just one advisory which I knew about. This related to the rear tyre which is getting a bit thin and was already on my list of things to do. I had intended to change it out last summer as I had some trips planned. However, we all know what happened to our trips don't we!

The point of mentioning all this is to say the bike continues to impress. I topped her out on the flat at a very illegal gps validated speed on Wednesday with the bike going well past the manufacturers quoted top speed. But still well away from the rev limiter. Power just keeps getting better and better. I fitted new belt and rollers at the last service which no doubt helped. Not a trace of rust anywhere. Not a single problem with it since buying it new except of course for an already mentioned (in another thread) minor hose leak of coolant due to a failed hose clip. Easily fixed and it wasn't an urgent issue that was going to cause a major problem anyway. Just dribbled a little overnight in the garage onto the floor losing about a tablespoonful of coolant as the system depressurised. I need to check the valve clearances at the next annual service. It's very easy to do that job (screw and locknuts if adjustment needed) but I'll post up some photos as a 'how to do' for those that are interested.

So my faith in the bike continues. They are solid bikes and really useful tools especially with the Vespa rack, top case bag or top box. I have the heated grips, mid size Vespa screen, and front Scootlabs fender extender. To my mind those are essential to get the most out of the bike in winter. But just wash the bike down properly once and a while, inspect paint down below, and you won't have any rust issues.

Continue to stay safe everyone!

[smeghead]

I’m loving it. I was bought a Faco twin screen for Christmas, I have fitted it but not yet been out to test it. I’m expecting it to be brilliant as I’ve had one before. The weather has been crap here for ages now, always wet, frosty too. I cannot wait for better weather and the freedom to go somewhere! Bloody Covid has a lot to answer for. I am averaging around 93 mpg most tanks full, this is calculated using the actual amount I’ve put in. The engine is very smooth, it handles brilliantly, like having a motorised bike! Love it.

[Data]

That's good on fuel smeg. I'm getting 88-92mpg pretty much all the time depending where I'm going of course. I tend to avoid town riding whenever I can though as my home town frequently gets grid locked and even with a bike can be frustrating to ride around. Funnily enough, it's pretty hard to get the bike to do less than 85mpg unless two up riding. Even when high speed running on dual carriageways and motorways it doesn't alter fuel consumption much. I went to Birmingham before lock down and all this covid business two up but kept to around 60-65mph for most of the run as it's nearly all dual carriageway and motorways and the round trip was 379 miles. Filling the bike brim to brim resulted in an astonishing 83mpg. Pretty good I thought for two up riding. I'd imaging that your HPE will no doubt just keep getting better and better as the miles go on regarding fuel economy and indeed power too. Glad you are enjoying it. Maybe later in the year when covid is on the run we can have that meet up for a cuppa and a bacon roll!

[horobags]

Bloody hell,,,, just saw and read this topic. Coincidence, as I'm really thinking of getting a GTS. Iv'e had 2 in the past and they are great scoots. I read too much on s/media thats my problem, where you hear about the ones that go wrong, not the ones that do thousands of miles without issues.
I do ride 2 up a lot nowerdays so pillion footrest extensions would be a must for me. My only worry would be removing the legshields to waxoil, doesnt look an easy job.( for me).