The Piaggio Group stepped up its small-displacement scooter game ahead of MY2018 with a new series of Primavera 50 models from its Vespa division. In addition to the base “CC” model, the factory also offers it in the “Yacht Club” trim package as well as a “50 Anniversario” for riders who are looking for something extra special to throw a leg over. Classic Italian looks and modern performance come together in this storied family line, and the bottom-tier engine keeps the prices well within the entry-level range.

Vespa Primavera 50 Design

Nothing in the world delivers a sincere, old-school Eye-Tie look quite like a Vespa Primavera, and with good reason. The “Wasp” defined the genre in post-war Italy as the factory produced reliable, affordable transportation for the war-ravaged country. You could say the marque made its mark bright and early in the game, and has long been the standard against which all others are measured.

The look starts off with an aircraft-style front end that uses a single-side standing member for support with a trailing-linkage and coil-over shock to soak up the bumps. A high-mount front fender rocks a bit of bling in the form of a small chrome crest, and on the fairing itself is the classic “Tie” feature that makes another connection to the old-school Vespa look.

The front blinkers ride recessed in the front legguard/fairing to keep the front end looking clean and well planned while also eliminating a source of drag. In typical fashion, the handlebar comes with a fairing of its own to clean up the control center, and that fairing pulls double duty as a housing for both the LED headlight and the instrument cluster on the back side.

A small glove box inside the fairing provides a dry place to store your mobile device, and it combines with the under-seat storage and 'tween-feet area to give this trio a certain amount of utility as commuters/grocery-getters. The bench-type seat comes with the slightest of shoulders to segregate you from pillion, and there's a chrome J.C. rail and footboards to form the other points of contact for your friend should you decide to share the fun. Oh, and of course, the grab rail can serve as an anchor for a bungee net and some extra open-air storage.

Like the headlight, the taillight rocks highly-visible LED technology with recessed blinkers set in the teardrop-shape side panels that hail all the way back to the beginning of the line and are largely responsible for the “Wasp” moniker that has stuck through the ages.

Vespa Primavera 50 Chassis

Piaggio loves their monocoque structures, and the Primavera line is no exception. Sheet-metal body components combine to make a rigid assembly sans any kind of underframe structure. New for last year, the Primavera 50 comes with 12-inch, cast-aluminum rims that roll with five paired spokes, and across the board, the factory opted to put the whitewalls on the outside for a dressy finish.

Coil-over shocks support both the front end and the rear. In the rear, the shock also dampens the motion of the swing-mount drive unit, but neither end offers anything in the way of adjustable rebound or even variable preload to make the suspension system very vanilla indeed.

As usual with scooters, the engine and transmission are used as a stressed unit in place of the swingarm. Amazingly, the factory sticks to its antique mechanical 140 mm drum-type brake to haul the rear end down, but the front anchor is all modern with a hydraulic caliper that bites a 200 mm disc plus ABS protection to deliver some safety and stability. As for the hoops, the 12-inch wheels mount a 110/70 up front opposite a 120/70 to make the final connection to the tarmac.

Vespa Primavera 50 Drivetrain

The 4.1-horsepower drive unit consists of a 49.9 cc, four-stroke engine and Continuously Variable Transmission to deliver a top speed around 40 mph. Fuel efficiency is a claimed 80.9 mpg, so the gasoline carried in the 2.1-gallon fuel tank will definitely outlast your rear-end stamina and get you around town on the cheap.

The forced air-cooled thumper rocks a 39 mm bore and 41.8 mm stroke that delivers 2.2 pounds of torque to back up the 4.1 ponies it packs. New for last year is the electronic port fuel injection system that keeps fuel consumption low and emissions down to meet Euro 4 requirements with a SOHC that actuates a trio of poppets in the head to let the thing breathe. A centrifugal clutch in the CVT automatically decouples the gearbox from engine power at idle to preclude the need for a manual clutch.

Vespa Primavera 50 Pricing

There are three different trim levels here, each with their own price. At the bottom is the “CC” model that rocks five separate paint packages and rolls for $3,999. The top is occupied by the “50 Anniversario” model that offers a choice between two new colors at $4,149 each to celebrate its half-century run on the world stage; Azzuro 50 (blue) and Marrone 50 (black).

In the middle of the price range resides the “Yacht Club” that comes shot in Bianco Yacht Club (white) paint with a dark blue seat cover and trim. It rolls for $4,099, and if you're wondering at the connection to the sailing world, the white sheet metal represents a new dacron sail and the blue trim looks like the common sail covers and sacrificial cloth that protect the sails from sunlight.

Vespa Primavera 50 Competitors

It's tough to find something with the same kind of curb appeal and historical chops that Vespa brings to the table, so I'm not even going to try and will instead go for the flip-side of the coin with a scoot that rocks a more modern design; the Zuma 50F from Yamaha.

The Tuning Fork company abandons all historical pretenses and goes with a contemporary look for its littlest Zuma. It leads off with a telescopic-fork front end and dual-beam headlight arrangement below a flyscreen. The rest of the hand-control area is naked and fairingless and the blinkers are of the hangy-downy variety, so the look isn't nearly as clean as its Italian counterpart.

In Yamaha's favor are the stealth knobbies that give it a go-anywhere finish that sets it somewhat apart from the Vespa, though I don't imagine they indicate a true dual-surface capability like we get from a small dual sport/enduro machine. A 49 cc engine delivers the same three pound-feet of grunt, and the factory claims it delivers 155 miles per gallon. Yeah, I'd like to test that myself, guys. Just sayin'...

Yamaha scores its main victory at the checkout with its $2,599 sticker, but the price is about the only detail that'll buy it some business in the face of Vespa's strengths.

He Said

“While the mill is way too small for my taste, there's no denying the curb-appeal the Primavera line brings to the table. Not only does it bring a historical look to the market, it's an authentic look as well, and doesn't have to borrow from anybody for its look. There are a lot of copies that enjoy variable levels of success, but this here is the real deal.”

She Said

My wife and fellow motorcycle writer, Allyn Hinton, says, “For 2019, the tailight is a combo LED and incandescent , which is quite eye-catching as far as taillights go. The side lenses on the rear are dead-lights, which means they function in other markets, but don't meet code in the U.S. market so they're disconnected. The turn signals are mounted on whisker bars for our market and kits are available to convert those dead-lights into extra taillights. Any additional illumination you can get for night riding goes to safety.”

Vespa Primavera 50 Specifications

Further Reading

Yamaha Zuma 50F / 50FX

See our review of the Yamaha Zuma 50F / 50FX.

Vespa Primavera 150

See our review of the Vespa Primavera 150.

Vespa

Read more Vespa news.