More test riding - Piaggio BV-500

**Edited to add: HEY! Post 200. Man I write a lot!**

I did a lot of roaming yesterday. I had to make a delivery to a co-worker who was at Goodwill's Homefields farm. It is a wonderful program which allows persons with developmental disabilities to work in an agricultural setting.
The smell of the earth was intoxicating. Couple that with the smell of strawberry plants, and there's a wonderful bouquet for the olfactory nerves.


After leaving the farm, I headed west toward Washington Borough. I'd never been in that part of Lancaster county, but it reminded me a lot of my home in New England. The woods were dense and the hilly areas were cool and refreshing.


I turned south and found my way to the Conestoga River where I finally turned around to head back toward Washington Borough and Columbia. In Columbia, I turned onto rt. 462 toward York and stopped at Don's Yamaha in Hellam. They sell Kymco scooters, so I thought they might have an Xciting 500 Ri for me to try out. They did not, so I headed home.

Today, my son and I rode to Lebanon to visit the Vespa dealer there. I finally had my chance to ride the Piaggio BV-500. It was, to say the least, impressive.

Upon first sitting on the scooter, I was immediately aware of the solidity it possesses. It is well put together and the fit and finish are far better than other scooters I have sat upon. It sits a little higher than the People 150, or at least, it feels like it does. The BV-150 has an unmistakable feeling of mass, which, when combined with the hum of the engine, gives it a presence that is exhilarating.


The BV-500 is not only stable at speed, but also for slow cornering. It feels much like riding the People 150, though the engine has considerably more power and the acceleration was much more peppy, not that this was unexpected. The BV 500 does not feel quite as nimble, though it is very close, then again, it is substantially heavier than the People 150.

The rear disk brake is very nice. It had enough stopping power on its own, without the help of the front brakes, though out of habit, I did use both. Considering how good the rear brake is, the dual front disks are, unsurprizingly, even more grippy.

The seat was very comfortable, which is a big issue for me since I plan on taking very long rides. I didn't feel any hint of discomfort in the half-hour I was riding. That was quite nice. There is a definite depression in the seat where the operator's posterior comes to rest, with a slight lower back support, which at first felt a little strange, but after a few minutes was hardly noticable. The Vespa dealer had actually suggested that I take the scooter on a far longer ride, but due to time constraints, that wasn't possible. It was a nice gesture though.

The single cylinder operated smoothly with none of the pounding I sensed when I rode the Yamaha Majesty. It was obvious I was riding a thumper, but not blatantly so. Rather than a violent shaking, the scooter gave more of a smooth, intermittent vibration.

Storage is minimal compared to most other maxi-scooters I have looked at. It wasn't nearly as poor as a Morphous or my People 150, but it has about half the storage of the Majesty. Of course, adding a top box would fix the problem completely.

All in all, the BV-500 is a beautiful scooter. It is more than capable for the riding I do, and my conclusion at this point, barring falling in love with something else, is that I really, really like the BV-500.

Addendum added later:

I would like to add an interesting note. The BV I rode evidenced a strange canting from side to side. It was very slight, but noticable. I spoke to the dealer after the ride and he explained that the scooter had taken a spill when they took it off the trailer after the Ephrata Ride-in on Sunday. The spill had scraped some of the paint on the right side and cracked the right mirror. To some extent, I wish they had allowed me to use an undamaged scooter because it might have given a better idea of the performance of the vehicle.

I also disliked that there was only a small "Flyscreen" on the scooter. For something with the capacity for speed that the BV-500 has, a windshield is a must in my opinion. Traveling along at 65 with my cheeks flapping is not exactly my idea of a good time.

The last issue I had was with the price. The dealer wants to add on various dealer fees, prep, and so on. These are the sort of things that a savvy buyer generally will attempt to haggle down. If I do decide to buy the BV-500 from them (a nice midnight blue one, not the beige demo model), I will try to get them to throw in a full set of riding armor and a full helmet if they want to charge almost $7,500.

Still, the price is better than a new Silverwing...oh to dream.