Modern Buddy

I just got a return email from Piaggio and they said:
"Thank you for contacting Piaggio Group Americas, Inc.
We are happy to note your interest in the Piaggio brand.
The Piaggio BV 350cc will be available on the US market during the
spring 2012.

Best Regards,

Thierry Customercare"

I hope that helps anyone who might be interested.

If I had $6k laying around......but its still one of the coolest intro's into our market in awhile.(Maybe THE coolest)Thanks for the info.

will it really be $6000? drats. I am surprised about spring 2012. Our local scooter shop said we would be lucky if we could lay eyes on a model late this year.

It was on the solicitation/order sheets for spring, but sometimes these things come when they come.

For what it's worth, the 350 has yet to be CARB certified for sale in CA. Piaggio usually doesn't being over models until this happens.

Meanwhile, the MP3 hybrid has passed, was announced for the US years ago, and has never appeared here.

So… :shrug:

I have it from my dealer that they are expected in for April, which by Italian standard time really means more like May.

ericalm wrote:It was on the solicitation/order sheets for spring, but sometimes these things come when they come.

For what it's worth, the 350 has yet to be CARB certified for sale in CA. Piaggio usually doesn't being over models until this happens.

As California goes, so does the rest of the country when it comes to such things, so I'll believe it when I see it.

mattgordon wrote:As California goes, so does the rest of the country when it comes to such things, so I'll believe it when I see it.

Right. How did that Stella 2T shopping go in the Golden State, then?

PeteH wrote:

mattgordon wrote:As California goes, so does the rest of the country when it comes to such things, so I'll believe it when I see it.

Right. How did that Stella 2T shopping go in the Golden State, then?

Genuine, SYM and other companies have released scooters in 49 states. Vespa did with the PX, but with any model intended for 50-state sale has waited on CA certification before releasing it in the other 49.

Curious: What email address did you send to that garnered a response from Piaggio?

Also, "Thierry Customercare?" Must be a French name.

I sent my inquiry to: [email protected]
The amazing thing is they acually responded and in a few days .

ericalm wrote:Curious: What email address did you send to that garnered a response from Piaggio? Also, "Thierry Customercare?" Must be a French name.

Thierry is the fellow that runs customer care at Piaggio USA. I've talked with him several times. He has alwaysd been knowledgeable and helpful.

ericalm wrote:
Also, "Thierry Customercare?" Must be a French name.

Insert Blackadder joke about Frenchmen and scooters...

//Don't have a joke ready; wish I did.

$6000 would be the OTD price. I think the msrp is $5399. This is going to be a fantastic scooter.

Bob

ericalm wrote:Curious: What email address did you send to that garnered a response from Piaggio?

Also, "Thierry Customercare?" Must be a French name.

You should recognize his name from prior threads
(surely you remember every thread ever from all forums!)

http://modernvespa.com/forum/topic76252

Just got back from Technical training on the BV 350 in California.

Pretty damn impressive engine..
The Clutch is incredible!

30k intervals for valve adjustment!
15k intervals for belt replacement!
6k service intervals!!!
and more!!

Dealer meeting is next month and we will see/ ride the bike.
Not all dealers will receive the bike though.. the ones that did not shell out the $$ for training and tools will NOT receive the bike.

I can't wait to ride it.
I have plenty of pictures of the engine and clutch but got all my stuff stolen from our rental, in L.A 3 hours into our trip (except camera which I had on me), including camera cable and laptop.
Got replacement coming in this week and I will post pics.

Alexbv200 wrote:30k intervals for valve adjustment!
15k intervals for belt replacement!
6k service intervals!!!
and more!!

Dealers are going to hate this thing!

Dealer meeting is next month and we will see/ ride the bike.
Not all dealers will receive the bike though.. the ones that did not shell out the $$ for training and tools will NOT receive the bike.

Very good to hear! As the new engine and transmission make their way into other models in the next couple of years, I'm sure dealers will have no choice but to get training.

I can't wait to ride it.
I have plenty of pictures of the engine and clutch but got all my stuff stolen from our rental, in L.A 3 hours into our trip (except camera which I had on me), including camera cable and laptop.

Dammit, LA, making us all look bad! If you ever come to town and have some time to kill, let me know; we can even gout riding. Sure we can get a scoot for you from one of our local shops.

You can add my name to the list that eagerly awaits the BV 350. I've had my eye on the BV 500 for a long time, but thought it might be just a little too much for my wife. But the 350 should do it.

Rob

Alexbv200 wrote"Not all dealers will receive the bike though.. the ones that did not shell out the $$ for training and tools will NOT receive the bike."

If this is true, do you think it will be possible to order the scooter from one of these dealers and have them ship it? I don't believe the dealer near me (120mi.) will be one of those dealers, they are more of a dedicated super-bike shop, although they do sell the BV 300 and 500, I think I'll give them a call tommorrow to find out.

P.S. as soon as I know they are in dealers I'm selling the cage, teehee don't tell the wife

I would really be interested in the new BV, I also have a friend who is now in love with scooters and is trying to budget to be able to afford one when they come out.

On the other hand though I am also starting to fall for Honda's new NC700X

Lokky wrote:I have it from my dealer that they are expected in for April, which by Italian standard time really means more like May.

more like July. 2015.

Note to Phil-Please introduce the Genuine cruiser by 2013 or I may have to buy the Bv350. I am literally drooling all over my keyboard here.

my husband has been taping his People 250 together to hold out for the BV.

2wheelNsanity wrote:Alexbv200 wrote"Not all dealers will receive the bike though.. the ones that did not shell out the $$ for training and tools will NOT receive the bike."

If this is true, do you think it will be possible to order the scooter from one of these dealers and have them ship it? I don't believe the dealer near me (120mi.) will be one of those dealers, they are more of a dedicated super-bike shop, although they do sell the BV 300 and 500, I think I'll give them a call tommorrow to find out.

P.S. as soon as I know they are in dealers I'm selling the cage, teehee don't tell the wife

Do you really want your primary source of warranty support, service and maintenance to be a dealer that's not trained on this new engine and transmission?

Eric wrote "Do you really want your primary source of warranty support, service and maintenance to be a dealer that's not trained on this new engine and transmission?" I'm not sure I follow you, I just want to know where I might be able to get one. As for the warranty, I live way to far from any "certified" dealer to use it anyway, so a warranty means little to me. Besides I still have my 170 as a back up .

2wheelNsanity wrote:Eric wrote "Do you really want your primary source of warranty support, service and maintenance to be a dealer that's not trained on this new engine and transmission?" I'm not sure I follow you, I just want to know where I might be able to get one. As for the warranty, I live way to far from any "certified" dealer to use it anyway, so a warranty means little to me. Besides I still have my 170 as a back up .

Where will you be having the 350 serviced? If the closest dealer is 120 miles and they won't be trained on the bike, how will you keep it maintained?

Well as far as the little stuff (Oil changes, spark plugs, airfilters) I can do that myself, for the bigger stuff I will have to trust the Yamaha dealer in the nearby town. These are everyday issues we folks who live in the middle of now-where have to deal with on a daily basis. I don't have the luxury of living in California.
My Mazda is a perfect example, when I purchased it the nearsest service dealer was 120miles away, so when something needed attention I fixed myself or had the local mechanic take care of it. I never did use the warranty or contact Mazda when something went wrong, I figured they would give me the run around anyway, I don't like to haggle over stuff like that (lawyers are alot smarter than me and always seem to have some language in the warranty that favors them and not the consumer) so I just take care of it.

I figure crap happens so why get mad about it, just use it as manure and grow some flowers, the bees need all our help .

No worries Eric, I contacted the KC dealer and he informed me that they will be selling the BV 350, W000000000000T for me . Now I just need to get a small pick-up so I can trailer it up there when I need service, all smiles .

Maybe its just me but the point of getting a new vehicle is not to have to worry about things going bad for a while. If I lived far from the dealer and I absolutely must get that model I'd wait for used ones to pop up on the market.

2wheelNsanity wrote:No worries Eric, I contacted the KC dealer and he informed me that they will be selling the BV 350, W000000000000T for me . Now I just need to get a small pick-up so I can trailer it up there when I need service, all smiles .

Awesome.

My whole point/concern was that the BV350 is a new engine and a totally different transmission than any other CVT scooter. If you take it for service to a non-Vespa dealer and they screw it up, you're pretty much out of luck as you've blown any warranty coverage for that part. Since the BV 350 requires special training and tooling, I wouldn't trust any other dealer to maintain it—certainly not a Yamaha dealer who would have no idea what they were looking at when presented with that clutch. It is that different.

The stock transmissions on most other scooters are similar enough that you could take it elsewhere, although there are special tools used for the Piaggios/Vespas.

Fortunately, it will require far less frequent maintenance than existing models.

ericalm wrote:Fortunately, it will require far less frequent maintenance than existing models.

That's what I keep thinking.

Considering this...

Alexbv200 wrote:30k intervals for valve adjustment!
15k intervals for belt replacement!
6k service intervals!!!

...and the fact that some scooterists never put that many miles on a scooter the entire time they own it, some folks won't ever need a routine service after the first oil change. It's a pretty surprising thought, but those are the numbers.

I just got off the phone with the KC (Reno's Powersports) dealer, after my inquiry this morning they contacted the Aprilia/Piaggio rep. and they are going to get one (Black) in late March early April. The MSRP is going to be $5,895 plus dealer fees ($145). I was impressed with the speed at which they got all the information. I'll definetly go check them out, they're going to give me a call when the scoot shows up.

ericalm wrote:

Alexbv200 wrote:30k intervals for valve adjustment!
15k intervals for belt replacement!
6k service intervals!!!
and more!!

Dealers are going to hate this thing!

Dealer meeting is next month and we will see/ ride the bike.
Not all dealers will receive the bike though.. the ones that did not shell out the $$ for training and tools will NOT receive the bike.

Very good to hear! As the new engine and transmission make their way into other models in the next couple of years, I'm sure dealers will have no choice but to get training.

I can't wait to ride it.
I have plenty of pictures of the engine and clutch but got all my stuff stolen from our rental, in L.A 3 hours into our trip (except camera which I had on me), including camera cable and laptop.

Dammit, LA, making us all look bad! If you ever come to town and have some time to kill, let me know; we can even gout riding. Sure we can get a scoot for you from one of our local shops.

Thanks Eric..

The trip started bad, but then we went to the beach (Newport) to watch the Superbowl. The Petersen museum was incredible and the pavillion on the Scooters even more incredible.. a MUST see!!
Training was a lot of fun too!
Surprisingly, it seems that there are more scooters/ motorcycles in Dallas than the Costa Mesa/ Newport area.
Took a trip down to San Diego to the fine folks at Vespa Motorsport.. wow.. what an operation!!

Yes Vespa is being very, very, very picky now about who gets the franchise!
They don't want to get a repeat of 2008; I can tell you that since the new CEO came on board, things are a lot better at Piaggio!!!
Now, Technical HAS to approve the dealership; if there is not enough space to work on Vespa or dealer is not willing to spend the $ for the tools, they are not getting the franchise.
The very cool thing about that engine is that to check on the valves, all you do is remove a pin, and the rockers slide over to chech the valves.. freaking cool!!
The transmission case is a good 8-9 inches longer than the outgoing 300 motor so I see why it won't fit in the GTS body!

I apologize for my excitement, but this bike will put all bikes on notice!!
There are a lot of very, very good bikes out there, but this one... damn.

any pics and what is the specs

easy wrote:any pics and what is the specs

http://www.cycleworld.com/2011/11/03/20 ... irst-ride/

http://www.bikez.com/motorcycles/piaggi ... e_2012.php

Hang on..."clutch"? I was drooling up until that word....

pugbuddy wrote:Hang on..."clutch"? I was drooling up until that word....

It's still an automatic scooter. The way the clutch works is different than the present setup. Most riders won't know it's different other than it's smoother and engages much better. Keep drooling- I am!

Bob

pugbuddy wrote:Hang on..."clutch"? I was drooling up until that word....

It has a wet clutch instead of the dry centrifugal clutch used in most CVT scooters. Very strong design and more durable. It's not a manual clutch.

Excellent news! I have repositioned the drool cup!

I finally got the cable for my digital camera so here are the pics of the engine and clutch of the beast!!!

More...

Whoa! Much longer. Some interesting looking stuff going on in that engine, too. Thanks for posting this!

I know these are coming soon, but someone asked me if they're going to be 2012 or 2013 models. I assumed 2012, but figured I'd ask.

Replied before all the pics were up. Now even more stunned by these.

8-roller variator!

I'm guessing a pretty long stroke length. Giant, domed valve cover? Is that what that is?

2013 model.

The valve cover is actually smaller than the 400/500 cc, and the coolest part is that to check the valves, once the cover is opened, you remove a tab up, and the rockers just slide to the left.. freaking cool!!!!