Beverly and me: The Piaggio story

It's no secret that Italians make some of the most iconic scooters. In February, I had the opportunity to get my hands on one such scooter for a very reasonable sum. The 2006 Piaggio Beverly 250 was in sad shape, but the price was low enough to make it a reasonable bike to purchase and flip.

The guy I bought it from had crashed it, and the prior owner had laid it down as well. This had broken the windscreen and shattered the left floorboard. Neither were unredeemable issues, nor were the weather cracked front tire and the nearly bald rear tire.

The steering stem was the most concerning issue. Moving it from side to side was difficult and caused a horrendous wobble when the scooter was in motion. It left little wonder as to how the previous owner crashed. Still, the cost to repair this issue was still little enough to allow for a decent profit.

In early March, I got the handlebars off and discovered I needed a special tool to take off the locknut. There was no supplier in the U.S., so it had to be ordered from Europe. Once the steering head nut was off, the steering stem slid right out and revealed the problem: The original grease had turned into paste and was filled with contaminants.

So, I loaded it on the PCX, and took it to school to see what could be done to fix it. Once the old grease was cleaned out, the bearing could be inspected. It turns out, nothing was wrong with the bearing itself, so I re-greased it and took the fork assembly back home wrapped in cellophane to protect the freshly greased bearing. Once it was installed back on the scooter, the wheel went side to side smoothly with no dragging or clunking. The operation was a success!

New tires were purchased and installed, and I acquired a left floorboard from the closest full service Vespa dealer. The windscreen was a bit more complicated as they no longer make the stock screen, but thankfully, with a bit of finagling, a slipstreamer scoot 40 screen fit the bill. There is another story there, but we'll save that for another day.

So this morning, I insured the Piaggio and got a plate for it. It was time to take her for a spin. It soon beame apparent how much I've missed the big-wheeled scooter experience, with some reservations. After a brief shakedown ride, and a stop at Lancaster Honda to see about inspection (which is tomorrow), I ran the BV250 home to check the tightness of the various fasteners, then headed south with the intention of popping down to Maryland, which again did not happen, not because of the scooter, but rather because I got distracted.

The road south gave me the opportunity to test the scoot in traffic, which it handled well. Aside from the cooling fan coming on a few times, the stop and go stuff on Rohrerstown road was uneventful. Once past Millersville, the choice was straight roads or twisty. The straight road would have led directly to Maryland, but nothing tests the mettle of a motorbike like a curving mountain path. Yep, that was the distraction that kept me in Pennsylvania. This was a good thing, since it allowed me to see some lovely bits of road and beautiful vistas, and afforded me a chance to really see what I like and don't like about the Beverly 250.

Yes, I know the Piaggio is a ten year old model, just the same it's been suggested I should keep it and sell the PCX. So here's the good and bad, and the reasons I will either sell the Piaggio and keep the PCX, or sell Onyx and keep Beverly.

The Piaggio Beverly is a big wheel scooter, which gives it great stability and makes it feel far more like a standard motorcycle than a scooter. It's comfortable to ride, with a big wide seat that didn't get uncomfortable after an hour's riding. The 250cc engine is fast, easily running up to 60 mph without skipping a beat, and even continuing to 80 with little effort. Once underway, it feels more like a motorcycle than a scooter. The ride was pretty smooth and it flowed around corners even with the low end Shinko tires I put on it.

Unfortunately, there are some bad points. For starters, it's a ten year old scooter, and parts are getting difficult to find. At nearly 330 lbs with a 31" seat height, it's also very big and heavy compared to the PCX. I was not able to stand flatfooted due to the seat height and the width of the floorboards, and the weight makes it hard to get off the centerstand. The suspension is feeling a bit worn out, which can be corrected, but requires special tools from Piaggio. It's Italian, which means if I can find parts, they will be expensive.

I'll admit, I really like the BV250. It is planted and so much more comfortable to ride than the PCX, so long as I don't have to stop. I wish I could keep it instead of selling it, but I really need the money and it just doesn't make sense to sell a good quality, low mileage Japanese scooter in favor of an older model with a somewhat questionable reputation as far as reliability goes. There's a few things I need to fix on it yet, so I will have a little more time to ride it around before it goes on Craigslist.

One thing I believe this experience has proved. If you know what you're doing and keep an eye out for a really good deal, it's possible to get a bike or scooter for cheap and make it a viable everyday rider. Or, you can flip it if that's more your style.