New Piaggio gripes

[Stig / Major Tom]

As previously noted - the turn signal thumb switch is dumb.
Adding : the gas cap is cheesy and takes care to thread correctly - plus the only way to fill up is to wait for the back-splash. ..and then clean it up. I can't see in the skinny neck.
Adding also: took me too many days and too many hours on my knees just to remove the little side panel so that a side stand can be fitted. Would love to know what a dealer charges to do the side stand installation. The panel has 3 hidden screws, wirh the heads facing the frame.
The foam exercise matt I bought for scooter mechaniking is a wonderful thing. Neary dozed off again! ( Use a roll of Charmin so your neck doesn't get sore while you're staring under a scooter)

That's all I  got...
Stig

[hypophthalmus]

What's going on with the turn signal switch?

I wish it were easier to choose a vehicle based on how easy they are to work on, cars and bikes alike. And that more thought was put into making it easy to service, and not just to assemble. There's always so many little things like that... inward facing panel screws that at you might not know about. Screw-type hose clamps facing where no tool can reach them. Cylinder heads that don't quite clear the frame when you go to remove them.

It seems like it should be possible to have panels that come off as easily and effortlessly as opening the hood of a car.

[Stig / Major Tom]

Agree.
My small panel would have been just as secure with the fore and aft screws....then some tabs slotted for rear slide off.
Had a Jetta that you could put your hand in, or the oil filter. But not both. Drop in the filter, then screw it. Coat hanger to pull it out.

Love to see how Robot put on side stand of the Liberty he previewed on youtube.
Stig

[de dee]

turn switch piaggio 350 BV.   you have to push it in straight or it wont shut off,  takes two or three pushes,  the panels on my scooter come off good to me,  just the screw clips fall off, I bought steel spring clips to replace them, it is the clips the screws go into,.  had to take every thing off to run wire from dash to spark plug,
wire,  for a RPM. Tach.  what fun that was,. 

[stuo]

Your well justified "gripes" pushed me over the line: I'm not going to own a BV 350 after all. My three Kymcos are more then enough without a new challenge to my sanity. I can just see those designers chuckling with evil glee as they devise those almost-impossible-to-remove-without-breaking plastic panels. The lower panels on my '09 GV 250 have to first move backwards 1/4"...then be delicately pushed up and backward to clear the tabs...or it's goodbye Charlie to the panel! Yet on my '07 P 250 the same panels come off easily with only the 1/4" move back. Why do things get more difficult with time?  And let's not start discussing the seat on the Downtown. Makes me long for the Ford Model "A"s I used to restore: bailing wire, a crescent wrench and a pliers did 90% of the work, and plastic had not yet been invented, hallelujah!

[gregspeople250]

The differences in design between Kymco and Piaggio is significant. I can work on a Kymco. Working on Piaggio products is quite challenging.
Reliability of the two products is quite different as well. The Kymco is reliable and the Piaggio is always a question mark. Frustrating things fail or don't work properly on the Piaggio. Why is it so hard to fill the gas tank in Vespa's/Piaggio's while the Kymco is straight forward. Spark plug caps that fail in Piaggio's. Why?
Having said all of this, I bought the BV350 for its ABS (in 2016) and its solid ride and handling. It's a real pleasure to ride, even though it doesn't have any more power than the People/DT duo, as I recall.

[Stig / Major Tom]

Your well justified "gripes" pushed me over the line: I'm not going to own a BV 350 after all. My three Kymcos are more then enough without a new challenge to my sanity. I can just see those designers chuckling with evil glee as they devise those almost-impossible-to-remove-without-breaking plastic panels. The lower panels on my '09 GV 250 have to first move backwards 1/4"...then be delicately pushed up and backward to clear the tabs...or it's goodbye Charlie to the panel! Yet on my '07 P 250 the same panels come off easily with only the 1/4" move back. Why do things get more difficult with time?  And let's not start discussing the seat on the Downtown. Makes me long for the Ford Model "A"s I used to restore: bailing wire, a crescent wrench and a pliers did 90% of the work, and plastic had not yet been invented, hallelujah!

stuo....no, no no....do not give up on the BV350 !
These little idiosincrasie italiane are what make these scoots so attractive to the American male.
Look at that BV350.
Ride her.
Enjoy looking at her fine European curves.
The choice of colors.
The seat.
At night the dash is arresting.
 Stuo - One can forgive many things to enjoy such a beauty each morning, is it not so !?

Panels smannels - parts will get here when she is ready to talk to her Pa-pa.
Who cares! Scoot with your h e a r t !





Really - you'll be laying there in The Sister's Hospital for the Old Goats  - thinking, "I'm glad I bought practical!"
Really?

Stig

[stuo]

Yeah, I gotta agree, the BV is a beauty...but I have learned the hard way via two divorces that beauty can be very expensive in the long run. 

[Stig / Major Tom]

Ahhh....

Stig

[de dee]

Yeah, I gotta agree, the BV is a beauty...but I have learned the hard way via two divorces that beauty can be very expensive in the long run.

 Ya you too , we got the moon and the stars,she got the caddy and the house  and  and and the boy friends

[stuo]

Welcome to the "Too Late We Got Smart" club, de dee. Or is it the "Little Head Running the Big Head" club?

[stuo]

Proof that "misery loves company" or maybe you guys promoting the GV 350 for its beauty own a Piaggio dealership?

Beauty is as beauty does...is my hard earned lesson.

Stuo