Piaggio Beverley 350 anyone?

[DTO]

Used to have one....great engine, roomy underseat space, hated everything else! I'd say they are great for commuting, but I found it very uncomfortable for longer journeys - my shoulders ached like hell after 15 mins! Maybe that's just my strange body.... Disliked the suspension and handling as well - poor feel, especially in the wet. Found it really hard to ride out of town. It may be relatively light weight but its quite top heavy. The big issue I had with mine was that the engine block sprang a water leak
Buy a Tmax - SO much better a bike. The 400 Burger is OK, won't handle as well as a Tmax, but should be more comfortable than a Bev.

Have to 100% agree with you

[Bingo]

The early Beverly 350 suffers from coolant leaks if not changed every 2 years , It rots the engine freeze plugs and head / base gaskets .
I also found both the early seat with bolster and later seat without to be very hard at the bottom of my spine .
I brought it new in 2013 and traded in ( with mystery coolant leak ) at 3 years old .

I’ve had my t- max 530 for 7 years now with zero problems just saying

Thanks. What is "An early Beverley 350"? The one I am looking at is 2014 however there is another one appeared on Autotrader which is 2017 with apparently just 93 miles on the clock. No photos yet but unless its a typo it will be interesting to hear the story on that one.

I think I would prefer a T Max but I just dont think I am keen on getting something older than say 8 or 9 years max so unless I dig deep I might have to compromise. The "chancellor" (SWMO) is already not happy with me talking of spending £3-4k.

[MrGrumpy]

I think my old Bev was a 2011 model - can't be sure as it had an unusual number plate! That's a pretty early one I think.

[StephenC]

I think my old Bev was a 2011 model - can't be sure as it had an unusual number plate! That's a pretty early one I think.

You should be able to check it on gov.uk if it still has the same plate

[MrGrumpy]

I think my old Bev was a 2011 model - can't be sure as it had an unusual number plate! That's a pretty early one I think.

You should be able to check it on gov.uk if it still has the same plate

Isn't technology wonderful! Had to find a photo of it, as I'd forgotten the Reg No! It seems it was first registered in 2012, so I think the first ones were in 2011.
Interestingly mine seems to still exist but the Tax and MOT have long since expired. Probably used in a Ram Raid in London and abandoned somewhere......

[blackmoon181]

I had a 2013 Bev 350 from new which I kept for 3 years and rode it every day. It was a brand new engine design from piaggio. wet clutch (relatively uncommon for scooters) and a pretty high compression engine. The engine is a peach and goes like stink. i used to rag mine with some motorcycle buddies in the highlands who were always amused about how quick it went. I still maintain that the handling can't quite keep up with the speed that thing can carry! A poor man's tmax!

i had overheating issues with mine which were most likely after an autobahn jaunt and ended up selling as it was never quite right even after a new top end under warranty. Note the head gasket is a very thin metal type. Had a few issues with wiring corrosion on the mode switch, and failure of the regultor/recitifier ( which left me at the side of the road) which was most likely due to poor pre-maintenance on my parts and bad location on piaggios. From memory it also takes really thin and expensive oil!

I've always wondered if they managed to engineer out the engine's niggles as the refined the design. After riding an SH300 for a few years now, i miss the refinement, undereat carrying capacity and speed of the bev. But in true honda fashion its been more reliable...


I'd check out the modern vespa forum who have a healthy american Beverley contingent.

[StephenC]

I think my old Bev was a 2011 model - can't be sure as it had an unusual number plate! That's a pretty early one I think.

You should be able to check it on gov.uk if it still has the same plate

Isn't technology wonderful! Had to find a photo of it, as I'd forgotten the Reg No! It seems it was first registered in 2012, so I think the first ones were in 2011.
Interestingly mine seems to still exist but the Tax and MOT have long since expired. Probably used in a Ram Raid in London and abandoned somewhere......

Ah, I think it's probably dead then but the plate hasn't been reallocated. Unless it came up as SORN? Or it could have been exported, once it was switched to left-hand drive, obviously.

[MrGrumpy]

I had a 2013 Bev 350 from new which I kept for 3 years and rode it every day. The engine is a peach and goes like stink. i used to rag mine with some motorcycle buddies in the highlands who were always amused about how quick it went. I still maintain that the handling can't quite keep up with the speed that thing can carry! A poor man's tmax!

Oh yes, it was crazy!! Could keep up with a Tmax round town anyway. I remember I'd been to the York dealer for one of its recalls and it'd been a long day and I was tired and wanted to get home, and found myself 'cruising' at 85mph (according to the speedo anyway) on the A19. There again, the early SH300s were even more mental - who could have possibly thought that putting a rorty MotoX engine in a pizza-scooter would be a good idea I don't know, but they were right! However, it was even more uncomfortable than the Bev......

[Bingo]

For those of you who have had both the SH300 and the BV350 is there much noticeable difference in power as in acceleration and top end? I tried a 2009 SH300 with us both on and thought it was pretty gutless. It was a bit of a windy day, Im no lightweight and I had a big coat on but I wasnt impressed.

I was hoping that the BV350 would be a fair bit more punchier although I appreciate its only 50cc larger than the SH And I think about 6hp more.

Got to speak to the dealer selling this BV 350 and he sent me some photos over.

https://tinyurl.com/327zwasz

Looks in good condition but it should be. I thought it was a typo but it has only done 93 miles in three and a half years. I tried to get to the bottom of the story but he was unsure why. Their warranties are pretty good though with 4 months or 4000 miles which ever comes first and apparently a life time warranty on the gearbox and engine. Should I be concerned about a bike thats literally been stood doing nothing for three and a half years?

I still think I prefer this one.

https://tinyurl.com/j5yxcshv

[MrGrumpy]

Surprised you found the SH300 gutless - as I've said I thought it was utterly mental. I've mad memorys of cruising along the outside lane of 3 lane dual carriageways at wildly illegal speeds leaving bikers terrified in my wake! The Bev was quite similar, though possibly the gearing on the Bev was a bit lower so it accelerated around town a bit faster, but wasn't as insane on dual carriageways as the SH. The SH was very small so very limited frontal area cutting down drag (and limited weather protection for the rider!), and lighter.
Its always a slight worry if a bike/scoot has been sitting around for years - the fuel system could get gunged up if the petrol goes off, which it will have. I guess there are some sort of petrol treatments for this, though.