Vespa Primavera Vs. Piaggio Liberty 

Complete in depth Comparison!

Hey, everybody, it's Peter. We are here at Jim Gilbert's PowerSports where we are going to compare the Vespa Primavera with the Piaggio Liberty. Here's the thing. There are a lot of differences between these two vehicles and I'm going to do my best to compare each one for you. But I'm probably going to miss a few things, and you're probably going to have questions about either one of these. Here's the best thing about this channel and working with Jim Gilbert's PowerSports, they allow me to have full access to their scooter lineup, so I can come back to these vehicles, compare all the things that you want to see. Do me a favor, subscribe to the channel if you're interested in these vehicles. If you have questions, ask me in the comment section and I'll make sure I answer them both in the comments section and in future videos, so we can build a little community here of people getting answers to all kinds of questions.

From here you can watch Peters Video or Read What he says the choice is your enjoy... this is a great review ether way...

First of all, let's start with what we have in front of us. This is the Vespa Primavera. It is a 150cc. This is the Piaggio Liberty, also a 150cc. Both of these are available in different engine sizes, 50cc, 150cc. I happened to choose the 150, but I don't know that that matters too much. I like the 150 size, because it gives you a go anywhere type scooter feel. Again, if you're taking a second person, they're going to have a little bit more power to do that. We're going to talk about some of the abilities of each of these. They do share a power train, but there are a whole lot of differences. Let's start by digging into some of those differences right now. 

 The first thing you're going to notice between these two is the styling difference. This one is perhaps a little bit more modern style, this one is certainly more traditional. More Porsche 911, Volkswagen Beetle, let's keep the same look. Whereas this has evolved like every other car has evolved since those days. You've got two different styles. But along with those different styles comes a different philosophy in design. Where the Vespa, the frame is actually built into some of this body work here and it's just part of the styling. Whereas this is more like a traditional sport bike or something, where the frame is underneath and you have plastic body panels on top to give it the look. It's very similar to what we do with modern cars. Modern bumpers on cars are now plastic, whereas old cars, there was a lot of the metal work, did a lot of that sort of styling.

In addition to the styling differences that you obviously see, that frame being different matters. Now they do share a powertrain. I don't know if I mentioned that before, maybe I did. Powertrain-wise it's very much similar. But obviously, the big styling and performance difference is going to be the wheels. Let's talk about the tires and wheels right now. When we look at the rims, especially in this shot, I want to point out, yes these are larger diameter but those are also further back. So they're not quite as different. The camera shows them a little differently because this is closer. But let's talk about these larger diameter wheels.

They are 16 inches for the diameter of the rim, that makes it only one inch smaller than something like a modern sport bike, which puts 17 inch tires on there. So they're very much motorcycle style tires. One thing you don't see the difference between, and these are sixteens, those are 12 inch diameter. But one thing you don't see is that the Vespa has wider tires as well. So while there are some advantages to a larger diameter, certainly bumps you're approaching at a different angle than you would be on the Vespa. There are also advantages to having wider tires. So each one has its pros and cons and each one feels slightly different on the road. Now that may not be something that you notice too much because there's not a whole lot of difference, but there is a little bit different feel between each vehicle.

The other thing you're going to notice when we're looking at these front wheels is, this has a fork tube right here. It also has a fork tube right there. If you take a close look at the Vespa over here, you'll see no fork tube over here. There's a different style suspension here on the Vespa than there is on that Piaggio. We'll talk about that as we come to the other side and take a look at the brakes.

We'll start with the Piaggio here because it's very much a traditional motorcycle style thing that you would see on any motorcycle. That's really the thing is, a lot of the technology here is closer to a motorcycle than on a typical Vespa scooter, which is more scooter traditional. You do have these large vented disc brakes. Again, the larger diameter rim allows you a large diameter brake, and that can help in performance in braking. Although with both these vehicles, braking really isn't an issue. You've got plenty of power on both. You do have this little ring in here and that signals that you have ABS brakes out front here. That is sort of a sensor, and you have ABS brakes available on both of these vehicles so you have that ability. When you're riding a scooter or a motorcycle, if you lock up the front wheel, you're pretty much going down. So having the ABS brakes, preventing those lock ups, really helps keep you safe. Ventilated discs are there partly for style, but they do help dissipate heat as well and that can help you just have consistent stopping distances.

Now let's take a look at the Vespa's front wheel. Taking a look at the Vespa, you really have a different look here, but functionally it's very much the same. You still have a suspension here, so you've got spring and shock right in that area. This is a bit of an anti-dive suspension, so it's a different design that gives support only on the one side. So the wheel mounts on an automotive wheel, it connects to the axle from the one side instead of a bicycle or a motorcycle like the Piaggio, so it's still a very secure connection, especially for this type of vehicle, the smaller diameter rims. You have the ABX ring in there as well, which is hard to see, and the vented disc break as well. So very similar. Little smaller vented disc, again to fit those little bit smaller tires. But similar function here in a completely different design.

Now that we've covered off some technical components, let's cover off some practical stuff. What is it like to ride one versus the other? Well, let's talk about seating position. On the Vespa here, of course, the benefit of a scooter is you have that step through design. Big thing with the Vespa here is, this is how I'm sitting. This is where I am and we can compare this in a couple seconds when I go over to the Piaggio. On the Vespa, there is a little bit of a design through here that just helps with stiffness. Again, this frame is part of this. You don't have a flat floor there and that might make a difference if you're carrying something down there. We're going to talk about luggage capacity in a little bit. But this is your general seating position here on the Vespa.

Let's jump over to the Piaggio as we do the exact same thing. Flat floor here, all plastic down there, whereas that one is more of a metal look with the rubber strips. Technically, I can move my heels around a little bit more here. This one feels more modern. It looks like a more modern vehicle. It depends on what you want. Both of them have very similar gauges. We'll take a look at that in a second. But there is a little bit of difference in seating position but not a whole lot. You're going to feel similar riding them both.

If we're talking about taking a passenger, the Liberty is a little different. First of all, this is an accessory available on both of them. You can get it back case here on either one. This is not standard on the Liberty. So that would give you a back rest, and you can do that on both. On the Liberty, you have foot pegs down here, so I'm going to show you just what my legs look like hitting those foot pegs before we head over to the Vespa. Sitting on the back of this vehicle, can a six footer fit here? Yes they can. There's plenty of room for the driver and you have the foot pegs, you're high off the ground. So when you go around corners, no risk of dragging anything like that. The Vespa's a little different, let me show you that right now.

On the Vespa, you don't have fold out foot pegs, you have a permanent foot peg for the rear passenger. So same thing here, setting across, setting back with my feet there, my heels come out a little bit more. Now, I have big size 11 feet. So they come out just a little bit more on the Vespa just because it goes around that bodywork. Not a huge deal. You've got room to move them in and that kind of thing. But if I put my toes on the same style foot pegs, there is a little bit difference for the passenger on this one. It's a little bit of a sacrifice for style versus the Liberty, which has those pegs that go out wide of the body work, which gives you a little bit more room for your heels on the passenger side.

One of the key benefits of going with something like a scooter is it gives you a lot of storage. One thing that people forget about is there's these little hooks here. Now they're in different spots on the Piaggio and the Vespa. This one here, it's a little different style as well, is sort of open. You can just hook your grocery bag or whatever it is on there, your little bag. Again, when you're sitting across the bike, your bag is between your two legs and supported by that hook. So that is a spot and it comes out of the seat on the Vespa. So that's there.

As you ride, you're going to be able to pop the seat and fit a large helmet in here. Now it's my assumption a full face helmet will fit here based on how I'm seeing. I haven't tried it with my full face helmet, but it is a large storage area. And again, while you're riding, you're going to put your gear in here. This will easily fit my laptop in here with all the stuff that I would need for the day, my lunch, other stuff like that. Pair of gym shoes, running shoes, gym clothes, all that kind of stuff. When you get to where you're going, you go put your helmet here, take everything else out of here and off you go. Let's compare that to the Piaggio.

Having a similar view here on the Piaggio, you can see that your grocery hook or your little hook that goes to be able to hold cargo between your legs here, is a little different style and it's a little different position. The style is a style that I quite like. It holds that bag on. If you're bouncing around, it can't come off the top. That's a nice little feature. Instead of coming out of the seat, it comes out of the front. I don't know if that's better or worse, but that is what it is, and it folds in like that. Down here, you can turn the key to on, you can press the button there, and that opens this bottom area. To me, it felt like the left side is a little bit larger on the Vespa, but you also have this area here. This again, it doesn't really matter, it's going to hold your phone, your wallet, maybe a pair of gloves, something like that. And that's really all you need for your daily stuff here.

Now, this one has a button up on the handle bars to pop the seat and there you go. To me, it looks a tiny bit smaller, but still looks like it'll hold a full face helmet in here. So lots of space, doesn't matter which vehicle you get. Again, your regular daily stuff here, and again, the Vespa over there. Again, I think my laptop would fit a little nicer in the Vespa, but I haven't got it with me today to be able to show you. So again, very similar storage containers, but a little bit different style in how they work.

Now let's take a look at the controls here. One of the ways to tell that this is a 150cc, in kilometers anyways, is kilometers an hour, it goes up to 140. Miles an hour, it goes to 90. That tells you it is a 150cc vehicle. This is the Vespa that we're looking at. You can see Vespa, obviously, in the center of your screen. Little bit of blue-black lighting, which you can see because it's a dull day today. I'm trying to keep the glare off. The camera shows more glare than your eyes see. So don't worry too much about the glare, it's really not an issue. When we signal, we'll show you just what they look like there. You do have the dual signals blinking. So even though I'm signaling to the right, you have both signals blinking, it's not your four-way flashers on, there is no four-way flasher function on this vehicle.

You do have the option to switch through a few menu items in here. We'll do that right here. Trip A, trip B, total kilometers and that's it. So trip A, trip B, total kilometers. You do have a fuel gauge right there as well. You can see this one needs some fuel, and a clock as well. Let's take a look staying with the Vespa at the left side and right side controls before we move to the Piaggio.

Left side controls, you can see that vintage kind of styling. You've got this metal colored or painted color coming into a chrome look. You also have a little bit more vintage style buttons, by that I mean, they're a little bit smaller. Headlight there, you can flash to pass like that. You can hold on your high beam like that. So again, low beams are always on. Full on high beam, flash to pass is over like that. Signal lights, you pull towards you for your left signal. You push away from you for your right signal, and you can press to cancel them. And there's a horn, which is a quite loud horn for a scooter. You can see your grips here. Let's take a look at the driver's side as well. The right side of the scooter. 

 Wow, I got to watch my words. There's no driver's side to a motorcycle. Over here your kill switch. The mode button here, which was changing the trip a trip B settings in your odometer area. Your start button down here. You've got your twist and go throttle. Good grip here, nothing fancy about it, just easy to work. Again, no gears on these vehicles, so very easy to drive. Just twist and go. 

 Switching over to the Liberty, do things look familiar? I think they should. This is basically identical. Although the overall look is different, the information is the same. You have 140 kilometer an hour speedometer on these 150cc's. 90 miles per hour. But there are some differences in the controls and obviously there's a style difference here, but there's not really a function difference on this. Same thing, if you put the signals on for instance, you have the same exact double blinking lights, so the right side signal's on, that kind of thing. Let's take a look at the controls though, because there are some differences there. 

 Functionally this may not matter to a lot of people, but these are larger controls. They're a little bit easier to use, in my opinion, but it may not make a whole lot of difference when you're actually driving. They are more modern automotive style. Down here it says passing right there. Again, that's your flash to pass right there. Your high beam on right there. So it functions the exact same way. The wiring's probably a shared wiring harness between these two, but it is a little bit bigger, easier to hit switch. Same thing with a signal switch, it just feels a little bit more modern, I guess, and it has a little bit different feel to it. Horn sounds the exact same to me. It's probably a shared part between the two. Again, this is to pop that seat, where on the Vespa it's down lower, closer to that front, glove box style hatch. 

 Heading over to the driver's side as we called it before, the right side of the scooter, you still have this throttle here. Again, a little bit of chrome on this particular style. There are all sorts of styles. Some of them have chrome, some of them don't. But you do see a more modern appearance here as well. Functionally, this is the same. People think this is a button, that is just a label. No button there for your front ABS. You have your kill switch, you have your start switch, and the mode button there, which again functions the exact same way as on the Vespa.

As we near the end of the video, I do want to show you the front of these scooters because there are some differences here. You can't see them very well, but these are a single LED style lights down there on the Vespa. So that is what you see. If we start this up, you'll see the headlight is, oops, brake in, there we go again. Nice and quiet. You can hear it is running right now. As you start it up, you see the headlight is an incandescent bulb. Now that's going to be a little bit different than on the Vespa where we turn it on and we'll start it up as well. Two scooters running. You can still hear me without raising my voice. You have some LED lighting in here, three LED lights. And then this is an LED style headlight, which gives you a whiter light. You probably can't see it exactly on your camera there. Let's see if we can flash to pass there. But again, the LED headlight is a nice thing to have in my put opinion. The more modern headlight is on the less modern scooter.

 Let's talk about which one's for which. When I say which one's for which, what I really mean is, which scooter is best for you. It can kind of vary. If you are someone that has to have the vintage style, you can go with the Vespa and not lose any of the modern features of the more modern looking Liberty. Now there are differences obviously in the wheels and tires, they will handle slightly different. But it's the same thing as buying a compact car. A Honda Civic feels different than a Nissan Sentra. Feels different than a Toyota Corolla. Than a Kia Forte. Than a Hyundai Elantra. There are differences between cars and there are differences in feel between these. Even though they're much larger wheels, the performance is very similar. It's going to feel similar to drive. Some people are going to like the modern larger wheeled scooter for various reasons. Again, the Vespa does have the wider tires, which can also give you some shock absorption. But really they're not there for shock absorption. They handle and corner slightly different, but most people aren't going to notice the difference. 

 Really what it boils down to is, which one do you like the practicality of? Which again, the Vespa's very good here. You can add all kinds of things to add practicality. Which one do you like? Do you like a flat floor, that's more usable, a little bit more spacious. Do you want a little bit more space by having foot pegs that come out and clear. If you're taking a passenger all the time, this one may have a slight advantage that way. Taking my laptop, it's going to fit better inside this one than in that one. It really comes down to style, but it also comes down to being able to sit on them, to take them around, to see what they're like. That's the benefit of here at Jim Gilbert's PowerSports. 

 Again, I have access to their full product line, but this is absolutely a destination store. You can compare dozens and dozens of Vespas. All the styles. All the types. Same thing with the Piaggios. There's all kinds to look at. I love being able to be here. If you're in the New Brunswick area, swing by Jim Gilbert's PowerSports because they'll give you a good idea of what's available. You can try them out. You can sit on them. You can see what they're like. If you have questions for me, let me know in the comments below. If there's a thing you need to know about each scooter or one in particular, let me know and I'll do my best to answer it both in the comments section and on the video. Please subscribe if you can. Thanks everybody for joining us.