Piaggio Vespa LX125 Review, Test Ride

An Italian legend has landed in India, bringing with it a beautiful design that has fought the sands of time and emerged even more beautiful. Put your hands together for the Piaggio Vespa LX125!

In September 1945 the MP6 prototype remained completely nameless until it was presented to Enrico Piaggio who claimed that “it resembles a wasp,” it was then that Piaggio Vespa LX125 (Italian for wasp) was born. Today, Piaggio Vespa LX125 has evolved into a style icon and was created by auto giants Piaggio in 1946. Since then there have been numerous models that have come out with almost all of them receiving immediate praise and success. The revolutionary design of the Piaggio Vespa LX125 has prevailed since its inception till this very day, and the success lies in the Monocoque full steel body construction – single-piece steel body construction unique only to the Piaggio Vespa LX125. This gives great strength and rigidity to the vehicle and improves safety significantly. Vespa also has a history with India as Piaggio had licensed production of Piaggio Vespa LX125 scooters to Bajaj in the 60s. This was cancelled in 1971 and then LML Motors formed a joint venture with Piaggio to manufacture the P series of scooters in India up until 1999. Fast forward to this year at the Delhi Auto Expo where Piaggio Vespa LX125 announced its India plans and has now the Piaggio Vespa LX125, which is simply being sold here as the Piaggio Vespa LX125. So we decided to do the Vespa LX125 Scooter to figure out how good or bad is it.

This was my first ever ride of the legendary Piaggio Vespa LX125 and I simply couldn’t help feeling weak in the knees during the entire length of our Vespa LX125. I’ve ridden a lot of scooters but only the Japanese and Asian ones. The Piaggio Vespa LX125 simply has this aura around it, and it was basically because the bright yellow one that I had was breathtaking in its classical design and modern appearance and there are lots of chrome elements as well. As soon as I sat on it I could feel a different world altogether – it is really comfortable and has a great riding position with plenty of room for your feet. I was riding through the crowded streets of Andheri and the Piaggio Vespa LX125 seemed ever-so-smooth and its engine was very well refined. It was so easy to handle the Piaggio Vespa LX125 even at very low speeds as I hardly needed to put my foot down on the road. The acceleration is unlike any scooter I have ridden before. The throttle response is instantaneous and the power delivery is seamless.

The engine is a 125cc single-cylinder engine that gives you 10bhp and 10.6Nm of torque which is more than enough for small crowded streets or open backcountry roads. The suspension setup is phenomenal even on our harsh Indian roads. The scooter we had for our Piaggio Vespa LX125 was super smooth and actually really fun to ride as well. Apart from the engine smoothness and high quality refinement, it is also very economical as it gives you around 60km/l. The finishing quality of the handlebars and the instrumentation is phenomenal and that’s exactly what – the attention to detail – makes the Piaggio Vespa LX125 pricier than the rest of the scooters in the market today. A Piaggio Vespa LX125 is associated with style and finesse and is not just a means of transport. I was shocked to see that even roadside workers would stare at the scooter and some fellow riders even stopped me to ask what company made such a good looking scooter. The on-road price for the Piaggio Vespa LX125 is around `73,000 in Mumbai which to some might seem shocking but if you know anything about branding, that cost is justified for quality. However it is very unlikely that the average Indian consumer would even think about buying the Piaggio Vespa LX125, but nonetheless, it is very practical and convenient and super fun for city driving.