Vespa Primavera 150

With the arrival of the new Primavera, the junior Vespa has been upgraded to the quality and technological refinement of the Vespa GTS, and perhaps even a couple of steps beyond that. For proof, look no further than the new Vespa Sprint. The new Sprint is the “lean and mean” derivative of the Primavera. It has sharper styling for the headlight, handlebar and instrumentation, plus a more elegantly contoured seat with double stitching, a touch of red paint on the edge of the front air intake gills and on the coils of the front suspension spring. But the real evolutionary step is the move to 11-inch wheels, front and rear (12 inch in the case of the Sprint). There was a time when junior Vespas tiptoed around on skinny 10-inch tires.

As Vespa’s third generation of modern small frame scooters, the Primavera design continues to mark new ground. In the same way that the GT200 served as a stylistic inspiration for the LX series, Vespa’s new 946 design is the clear inspiration for the Primavera. It could easily be argued that the Primavera is a 946 for the masses, as it foregoes frills like ABS, traction control and hand stitching in exchange for an MSRP around half.

The front end of the scooter is also all new. The legshield is more angled back - especially in comparison to the tilted floorboard - which makes the design look sleek. Also present is the stylish triple vent above the front fender which is a clear tie to the 946. A neat touch up front is the inclusion of LED running lights into the front signals. Similarly, Vespa has added LEDs to the rear lamp which saves a few watts and looks pretty neat. Two other nice changes are the new 5 spoke rims and the more angular shaped exhaust. Also new is the gauge setup, which is now a more even mixture of analog and digital instrumentation. The speedometer is central and analog, with the smaller details like fuel level, time and odometer now found in the larger digital screen. The overall setup is simpler and more congruous than the previous LX and S series instrumentation. It also adds a helpful trip odometer and an oil warning light.

This recently developed Piaggio motor is a great step forward for the Italian maker, as it incorporates both fuel injection and 3-valves to increase power and fuel economy. The result is an a healthy 12.7 HP for the 155cc model (10.6 ponies for the 125cc), which is up 0.7 HP from the current fuel injected LX and up a full pony compared to older model LX scooters. Thus far the only milage estimates for the Primavera are Piaggio’s optimistic 100-120 mpg claims. It’s safe to assume you’ll never see that without substantial intention, but the Primavera should easily best the 65-75 mpg that the LX generation was capable of in real world conditions. 80 mpg is a good estimate for mixed real world use. Top speed for the Primavera should be an easy 60-65 mph. The LX 150 was claimed at 59 mph, yet it could wander to 60 - 65mph so I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Primavera wandering to 65-70 mph.

With the Primavera, Vespa has made substantial improvements to the three handling weakness of their previous small frame scooters: high seat height, short wheelbase and small wheels. The Primavera shaves a small but appreciated 0.3” off the seat height of the old LX, which in conjunction with the extra 2” of wheelbase should improve high speed handling. This isn’t an issue with the slower 50cc models, but bumpy corners at 60mph were a bit unnerving on the LX. The Primavera should fair better in this regard. Also benefitting its’ handling is an upsized rear wheel. The front wheel remains at 11” in the Primavera with the same 110/70 rubber, while the rear wheel gains an inch of diameter to join the front at 11”. In addition to improving tire life, this should deliver a little extra stability at speed. The larger rim also enables a move to a larger rear drum brake. The Primavera employs a 140mm rear drum brake, which is a substantial improvement over the 110mm rear brake found in previous small frame Vespa’s.