Qu’est-ce que c est* ? / LIBERTY

[Stig / Major Tom]

AF1-Racing, my go-to parts dealer in TX for my Piaggio - is showing some new colors for the Liberty.
If you're like me - I like looking at scooters. (SYM, Genuine, Peugeot's many models, Kymco, Suzuki, Yamaha, Honda, etc.)

I like this color!


and of course the obligatory matte 'Meteora' - primed and ready for the new owner to paint??


* I don't get this "Rally 68" - limited to fewer than 150 models for the U.S.A. market.
What am I missing here?


Stig

PS: I see that they are still not fitting, as standard, a side-stand. The kit is sold separately and I found it a bear to install! Some just sawz-all off the little body panel which needs removing, but I couldn't do that to my new scooter. Removing it was the hard part! You must first put the dog in the closet, remove your trousers - the tail light of your truck - the floor of the scooter - buy a 18" long screwdriver and lay for a day on your back. Afterwards you will not eat Italian for a month!
The valves? The spark-plug? Oil changes? Belt services? Wheels off? EASY. 
Side-stand is n o t.

[Neil955i]

Like that Rally 68… it’s red!

[JJJoseph]

These Piaggios are really nice machines, and a blast to ride.  But they're horribly unreliable and a nightmare to diagnose and repair. Everything runs along nicely until, on the highway a day's ride from home . . . it just stops.  But, that said, they're still a fun ride.

[Iahawk]

These Piaggios are really nice machines, and a blast to ride.  But they're horribly unreliable and a nightmare to diagnose and repair. Everything runs along nicely until, on the highway a day's ride from home . . . it just stops.  But, that said, they're still a fun ride.

Stig might disagree with you as he's almost daily ridden his Liberty for a few years, now, apparently with no trouble.

[Stig / Major Tom]

Stig might disagree with you as he's almost daily ridden his Liberty for a few years, now, apparently with no trouble.

Hawk,
I've been riding my Liberty since the summer of 2017. ("2018" model year)

Positive: style, Hx of reliability (nearly 1 million built), price, front ABS, good parts availability, nice build quality (Piaggio/Vietnam), mileage, EFI, stable big-wheel ride, spin-on oil filter, ease of maintenance (oils, valves, wheels-off, slip-on exhaust, CVT, air filter, etc)

Cons: plastic gas cap was junk - too easily cross-threaded. The answer was this nice RED billet cap from ebay for @ $12. Oh, and the Rear drum brake.


One small irritation on the modernvespa forum - dearth of posts by Liberty owners. Nothing to discuss...They never break or get sick! We just post pix....


I'm into my 8th year riding my Liberty. If it blew-up tomorrow - I'd figure I've gotten my $$'s worth of fun out of it.

IDK -JJ and his buds apparently have the worst luck with scooters - especially those with EFI.

Stig

[JJJoseph]

IDK -JJ and his buds apparently have the worst luck with scooters - especially those with EFI.

Stig

I like to follow this topic from time to time.  I truly don't know if it's a generational thing, or there is some serious issues with new technology.  Stig, recall the lengthy sessions you had with your Like 200 fuel filter problem.  I and a few of my older fellow motor-heads stick to pre-2010 carburetor machines, while the younger rich guys ride snappy FI Piaggios, FI Yamahas, FI Kymcos, etc.  They're really impressive machines, but when they stop working, you're going to be taken to the cleaners, no 2-ways about it! My more prosperous buddies trade their machines in at the slightest sign of a problem. Meanwhile, my 16 year old carbureted Kymco 100 keeps motoring along, long after the last Kymco dealer closed shop and retired. My buddy's Piaggio 350 is now being towed back to the Vespa dealer to have its $950 throttle body replaced. The throttle body had to be imported from Italy.  Required diagnostics and tuning are extra.  It's a work in progress. If I had to pay for that on my small pension, I'd have to give up motoring. I'll keep you posted.

[Stig / Major Tom]

I like to follow this topic from time to time.  I truly don't know if it's a generational thing, or there is some serious issues with new technology.  Stig, recall the lengthy sessions you had with your Like 200 fuel filter problem.  I and a few of my older fellow motor-heads stick to pre-2010 carburetor machines, while the younger rich guys ride snappy FI Piaggios, FI Yamahas, FI Kymcos, etc.  They're really impressive machines, but when they stop working, you're going to be taken to the cleaners, no 2-ways about it! My more prosperous buddies trade their machines in at the slightest sign of a problem. Meanwhile, my 16 year old carbureted Kymco 100 keeps motoring along, long after the last Kymco dealer closed shop and retired. My buddy's Piaggio 350 is now being towed back to the Vespa dealer to have its $950 throttle body replaced. The throttle body had to be imported from Italy.  Required diagnostics and tuning are extra.  It's a work in progress. If I had to pay for that on my small pension, I'd have to give up motoring. I'll keep you posted.

I think we might have to agree to agree a few things:
Those expensive Piaggios aren't as reliable as the same size Kymcos! running around for decades with Taiwanese EFI's.
It really wasn't too difficult to sort the problem with my LIKE a decade ago - I actually watched some vid's and posts and figured it out for myself. My IQ is above a cabbage, but below broccoli.
Crossbolts lent me the device to prove it to my dealer - who sells Kymcos out the side door - as most of them do in the USA.
We did have 3 maybe 4 reports of the 2012 LIKE having a bad batch of throttle position sensors. Mine was fixed under warranty....years ago on my 12 yr old LIKE200iEFI.
I agree that engine management systems are becoming complicated. Good mechanics will tell you they are not beyond their skills. Scooter mechanics in this country...? well, I think they sell 100 scooters for every skilled scooter mechanic.....and that is a problem waiting.
But it's not down to simple EFI...which has been around for decades. My EFI VW's ran like clocks for 30+ yrs with never a stall or hard start or icing or clogging - or any of the other carb problems.
A lot of guys didn't trust seat-belts or ABS...and I've no issue with the like smiling and sitting around cleaning their carbs while their less fortunate buddies wait for parts from Italy.
Carb-heads will never love EFI - and vice versa. There's no explaining cat lovers either....but.?
We do agree to agree that your scooter circle continue to have lousy luck with their scooters!

I'm OK with that.
Stig