Piaggio Fly 125 3v

[bornagainbiker]

Has anyone got this or an opinion of the new Piaggio Fly 125ie 3v? Here are my first impressions.

I knew they had their new 3v engine in the Vespa LX125ie but the same engine in the Fly 125ie at £1000 cheaper at £2220 and with a 0% 2 year finance offer looks tempting as a run about achieving up to 144 mpg.

However on leaving the showroom I noticed a customers 62 reg Fly 125ie. With only 750km it was shocking, it was a rust bucket. The rear chrome shock was 80% rust! and the exhaust was not too much better. Cleaning the crap off is a process that you have to do to preserve the bike but assuming it can be no more than 4-5 months old as I think they came out last November? I have seen a report that they are made in Vietnam.

Another issue was the bag hook on the seat. It would not retract, even the sales person tried and also commented that another customer who bought one asked how it worked. Checking the Fly outside the hook simply slides out. Checking the new showroom model under the seat and it is definitely a manufacturing fault as there was no rear plastic slider, it was basically a fixed solid piece of plastic.

I think the Honda PCX 125 esp at £2600 but offered at £2400 looks a much better bet.

[gn2]

The PCX also needs a fair bit of tlc to preserve the finish.
Mine is looking decidedly second hand...
Servicing requirement is a big plus point for the 3v motor over a PCX.
If you want the warranty to remain valid on a PCX it needs a full service every 2500 miles.

[bornagainbiker]

The PCX also needs a fair bit of tlc to preserve the finish.
Mine is looking decidedly second hand...
Servicing requirement is a big plus point for the 3v motor over a PCX.
If you want the warranty to remain valid on a PCX it needs a full service every 2500 miles.

Yes I forgot to mention that valid servicing plus point for the Piaggio. Apparently after the first service it's every 6000km (3750m) or yearly and it's air cooled. Looking at the parts on eBay they also seem good value. It also has slightly more hp at 12 and not sure if speed limited like the pcx?

[gn2]

I Believe it's a half service at 6,000 miles and a full service at 12,000 miles for the 3v motor.

[jamie]

if your looking for a budget run around the lad has just bought a sym jet 125, 1700 quid brand new ,, 3 year warranty 2 years interest free finance and 1 year free insurance

[bornagainbiker]

I Believe it's a half service at 6,000 miles and a full service at 12,000 miles for the 3v motor.

Even better. 10k and 20k Km.

if your looking for a budget run around the lad has just bought a sym jet 125, 1700 quid brand new ,, 3 year warranty 2 years interest free finance and 1 year free insurance

Yes, i like the Sym brand but their dealer network locally here to me in the NE is not very good. One so called Sym dealer does not have a single scooter on display. And people wonder why they do not sell as many units?

[bornagainbiker]

I bought one and nearly a year down the line and the Piaggio Fly 125 3v is a fantastic little scooter.
Had the initial 1000km service and currently on about 2500km.
For servicing according to the book and dealer at 5000k it is purely a safety inspection at 30 minutes labour, I think I'll skip that. So 10,000km is a long way off yet, but I may change the fully synthetic oil and filter before then.
It's got loads of power, 8.9kw so about 11.9hp and being air cooled is simplicity for servicing.
I go most places at indicated 50-60 mph, under favourable conditions it easily achieves 65 mph and top wack is 67-68 mph. I'm 15st and it currently achieves ~96 mpg. However the fuel guage is not very accurate, when the needle its the bottom stop pin, it still has a little over 2 litres left, with its 7 litre tank.
Wind blast is amazingly low from its sculptured small headlight plastics.
The underseat storage is good, I can get my open face, jacket and gloves in, but my full face will not fit, so with that I simply hook my strap and buckle over the edge and then close the seat, thus securing it to a limited degree.
It has no rust or issues as I always wipe it clean and store in my garage, so the first fly I seen as above must have been sadly mistreated.
This initial 2013 model now is a better specification than their current revised 2014 model.
Mine has gloss painted internal apron and handle bar plastics, painted silver grab rail, side and main stand, rear disk brake and apparently coated wheels. The new model has unpainted plastics as mentioned, no side stand and they have reverted back to a rear drum brake and costing about £200 more.

[MrGrumpy]

Veering slightly off topic, the build quality on the Bev 350 seems pretty good After two winters it seems mostly in excellent condition, certainly not a rust bucket like the Fly was described as.