Motor Scooter Guide

PIAGGIO SCOOTERS

In addition to being the parent company of Vespa and a few other scooter brands (Aprilia, Gilera and Derbi), Piaggio also sells a line of scooters under their own name. Piaggio’s line of scooters enables them to target outside of the traditional Vespa audience, without diluting the Vespa brand. Generally speaking, Vespa’s are high end retro styled monoque bodied scooters, while Piaggio models are priced more affordably with a few less bells and whistles and have modern looks, plastic body work and tube frames.

Piaggio returned to the USA as ‘Piaggio USA’ operating under ‘Piaggio Group Americas’ (PGA) which also runs Vespa USA, Aprilia USA etc and it entirely owned by Piaggio global. Piaggio Group American’s returned to the USA just into the new millennium with their Vespa brand, but the Piaggio branded models had to wait a few more years until 2003. PGA upset a lot of existing dealers and enthusiasts when they opted not to use existing dealers and their networks, but rather go their own route with new higher end boutiques. Conversely, in Canada the situation was quite different. Vespa and Piaggio models were originally imported by a privately owned CSC (Canadian Scooter Corporation) from 2006 to 2009. In late 2009, CSC’s contract with Piaggio expired and due to some politics it was not renewed. Accordingly, PGA now runs things in Canada as well under the name Piaggio Canada.

2003

Piaggio returned to North America selling Vespa’s in 2001, but it wasn’t until the 2003 model year that Piaggio actually began importing models under their own name to the USA market. Piaggio’s 2003 debut line up included the large wheeled BV 200 (above) and the LT 50 and LT 150 (right) scooters.

MODELS: BV 200, LT 50 / 150 (USA Only)

2004

Piaggio kept their lineup unchanged for 2004.

MODELS: BV 200, LT 50 / 150 (USA Only)

2005

The LT scooters didn’t last long in North America with Piaggio USA dropping them after 2004. Piaggio expanded their line up considerably for 2005 by introducing the BV 500, X9 maxi-scooter, Fly 150 and Typhoon (shown below in order mentioned). The Typhoon was sold in a regular model and a special edition ‘Norman Haas’ model.

MODELS: BV 200 / 500, Typhoon, Fly 150, X9 (USA Only)

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2006

Piaggio’s only lineup change for 2005 was the addition of a 250 variant of the BV. The new BV 250 used a 244cc variant of Piaggio’s QUASAR motor, unlike the BV 200 which used an oversized 198cc LEADER motor. These motors were shared with the Vespa GT200 / GTS250 respectively.

The biggest news for 2006 was Piaggio’s return to the Canadian market. Their original line up mirrored that of Piaggio USA.

MODELS: BV 200 / 250 / 500, Fly 150, Typhoon, X9

2007

Piaggio created a splash for 2007 with the introduction of their three wheeled MP3. Originally sold as a 250cc model, the MP3 used the same motor as the BV 250 and Vespa GTS 250. The three wheeled MP3 250 is able to lean into corners despite having two wheels up front thanks to its neat parallelogram front geometry. Piaggio also added the 50cc version of their Fly scooter. For its debut year, the Fly 50 used a 2-stroke engine, but this would be the only it would get this motor.

MODELS: BV 200 / 250 / 500, Fly 50 / 150, Typhoon, X9, MP3 250

2008

Larger 400 and 500 versions of the MP3 were introduced for 2008 using Piaggio’s MASTER engine. The 500 version had a different look, as it was actually sold as a Gilera Fuoco overseas, while the MP43 400 looked just like the MP3 250. The BV 200 was dropped for 2008, leaving the 250 and 500 variants of the BV in Piaggio’s line.

The other change for 2008 was a switch in motors for the Fly 50. The Fly 50 originally used a peppy 2-stroke motor that was shared with Vespa’s departed ET2 50, but for 2008 Piaggio substituted in a less peppy but more fuel miserly and lower emitting 4-stroke motor. This gave them their first 4-stroke 50cc offering in North America.

MODELS: BV 250 / 500, Fly 50/150, Typhoon, X9, MP3 250 / 400 / 500

2009

Piaggio dropped their aging and slow selling X9 maxi scooter for 2009, endings its run at four years. The 2-stroke Typhoon also was dropped, likely due more to emissions regulations than slow sales.

MODELS: BV 250 / 500, Fly 50 / 150, MP3 250 / 400 / 500

2010

Piaggio USA kept their line up unchanged for 2010, while Piaggio Canada tidied their MP3 line by offering the original body style in a 500 version and dropping the 250 and 400 versions. So now you could only buy a MP3 500, but you could opt for the MP3 Sport 500 (newer edgier look) or the MP3 Tourer 500 (original look). The MP3 line (250, 400, 500) was unchanged in the USA. Canadians also got an updated version of the BV with a 278cc motor, now called the BV 300. This scooter is the same as the BV 250 but with a larger (278cc vs. 244cc) variant of the QUASAR motor.

MODELS: BV 250 / 500 (USA), BV 300 / 500 (Canada), Fly 50 / 150, MP3 250, 400, 500 (USA Only), MP3 Sport 500, Tourer 500 (Canada Only)

2011

There were no changes to the USA Piaggio line for 2011, although the BV 300 did arrive at USA dealers in summer 2011 so some are considering this a 2011 model, while others consider it a 2012. For 2011 Piaggio Canada dropped the BV 500 and they announced a new generation of Typhoon 125 for the Canadian market in fall 2010, but this scooter never materialized in Canadian showrooms this year.

MODELS: BV 300 / 500 (USA), BV 300 (Canada), Fly 50 / 150, MP3 250, 400, 500 (USA Only), MP3 Sport 500, Tourer 500 (Canada Only)

2012

For 2012, Piaggio USA is bringing back the Typhoon with a 125cc 4-stroke engine and a sharp new look. The Typhoon was redesigned in 50cc 2-stroke and 125cc 4-stroke versions, but people in the USA will only be offered the 125cc 4-stroke. The new Typhoon 125 was announced for the Canadian market over a year ago and should finally materialize in showrooms for 2012.

MODELS: BV 300 / 500 (USA), BV 300 (Canada), Fly 50 / 150, Typhoon 125, MP3 250, 400, 500 (USA Only), MP3 Sport 500, Tourer 500 (Canada Only)

2013

Piaggio Worldwide announced a number of new models at the 69th EICMA show in Milan in November 2011. Some of these models are likely to come to North America but confirmed models are few at this point. Only the updated BV Tourer 300 -

now called the Beverly Sport Touring 350 - is confirmed at this point. The new Beverly Sport Touring 350 will arrive in spring 2012 as an early 2013 model for $5399. The larger BV500 gets the axe for 2013, with the 350 taking on the role as the one size fits all scooter.

Piaggio showed a few other new models at EICMA that could make it to the USA for 2013 or later, including a new X10 maxi-scooter that replaces the X9, new MP3 variants, redesigned Fly 50 and 150 scooters, and an updated 50cc Zip aimed at female riders. Most likely Americans will just get the updated Fly scooters for 2013.

The rumoured big news for 2013 is the simplifying of the MP3 line in the USA to just one model. The Piaggio Group as a whole is looking to streamline their offerings in North America. The MP3 line posts okay sales figures, but not really well enough to justify the three separate models that have been on sale here since 2008. Starting this fall, Piaggio is likely to yank the MP3 250, 400 and 500 and instead offer just the new MP3 City 300. The City 300 is known as the MP3 Yourban in some markets and it features updated styling and the same basic motor as the Piaggio BV 300.

LIKELY MODELS: Fly 50 / 150, Typhoon 125, Beverly Sport Touring 350, MP3 City 300

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