If you’re after something to brighten up your mundane commute, then what better way to do it than on a bright orange Vespa? A grey day in Blighty is soon made a bit more special when you have a slice of Italia to get you about!

It is, undeniably, a premium option for what is essentially a CBT or A1 licence-compliant 125cc scooter, coming in at £4,855, but does it justify its price tag enough to warrant your hard-earned cash?

I would be pretty hard-pressed to kick off this review without first mentioning the ‘Arancio Impulsivo’ paintwork (orange to you & me), and doesn’t it look fabulous?

If orange isn’t your thing, other more muted colour options are available (Italian named, of course) with Bianco Innocente (white), Blu Energico Glossy (dark blue), Nero Convinto (black) and Verde Amabile (a lighter sort of mint green) too, but I reckon the orange on our test bike is the best choice and is a proper head turner.

I particularly love the attention to detail Piaggio has gone to as well; it really does seem like nothing has been missed in terms of appearance, and it almost turns into a game of ‘spot the Vespa logo’ (they really are everywhere).

I think it also does a reasonable job of remaining in keeping with the original Primavera, but I think this lies more with individual styling cues rather than a complete remake and is evidently a modern take on the original whilst still keeping that distinctive Vespa silhouette.

Onto the important bit, and the Vespa is powered by an i-get forced air-cooled, 4-stroke, 124cc single cylinder making 11hp and 10.7nm of torque. It may not sound like much, but out on the road, I found it very responsive and never lacking except on the dual carriageways.

This is mainly due to the top speed of a little over 60mph but I do feel like for the price, it would have been nice to see a liquid cooled engine making a bit more power to help it along at a 70mph but nonetheless, I didn’t particularly find any issues with the acceleration of the Vespa, even when pulling out onto faster roads or away from lights.

The twist and go CVT gearbox likely helps matters and just makes life with the Vespa so much easier with no gears to worry about, as much as I personally love a manual myself. City and town riding was a breeze and is where the Primavera truly comes into its own.

Also mentioning no stress, the Primavera comes with an 8 Litre tank that may initially seem small, but it only costs roughly a tenner to fill up from near empty and will get you in the region of 180 miles of range thanks to its 112mpg efficiency, which is great if you’re using it to commute and just proves how generally affordable smaller 125cc scooters are for the day to day. 

Now, talking of commuting and using the Primavera day to day, I have to expand on why the Primavera is such a breeze in town or even the city.

With a low 126kg weight, it’s clear to see that it’s light, but what isn’t clear from a spec sheet is how that feels on the road. Some bikes have an uneven weight bias, meaning they can feel ‘tippy’ into a bend or top-heavy, leading to an uneven balance or even difficulty in manoeuvring off the bike, but that’s not the case on the Primavera.

The weight feels balanced both front to rear and top to bottom, enabling slow-speed manoeuvring in traffic, even down to just a couple of mph. I was able to ride at speeds as low as 2mph whilst still keeping my feet on the footboard, which I found inspired confidence for filtering or zipping through slower traffic; it’s like a cheat code.

As good as it is in town, it also proved to be a blast on higher speed roads. Whilst somewhat lacking in power as mentioned above due to the air-cooled engine, the Primavera gains back a really rather surprising suspension setup and just proves the level of development Piaggio Group has gone to in producing the Primavera; it feels like a premium product.

With 12-inch wheels front and rear, I was expecting it to feel unsettled on the quicker tarmac, especially around here on the Norfolk/Suffolk border, as sometimes there are more potholes than actual tarmac, but it was composed and very well damped.

Of course, it’s never going to be spot on. As mentioned, we do have very small 12-inch wheels, but the single-sided swingarm with coil spring at the front and single shock absorber at the rear handled even the roughest potholes and sunken manhole covers well, giving the Primavera genuine versatility, albeit with the restriction of its power figures.

Onto braking and up front, we have a 200mm disc with a twin-piston caliper and a 140mm drum at the rear, which, for the weight and power of the bike, was sufficient but did sometimes lack the stopping power I’d expect at speed, leading to a somewhat spongy feel and shorter stopping distance than preferred when entering into a corner on a twisty A-Road.

Again, as with the air-cooled engine, for the price of the Vespa, I would have expected a disc on the back, too. At nearly five grand, having a drum brake and an air-cooled engine doesn’t particularly seem to match up, even with the premium feel, setup and brand association. Maybe this could be addressed in future models to justify that premium price tag.

One thing I particularly liked about the Vespa was its seat comfort. It’s an approachable height of 785mm, making it easy for a lot of different riders, whilst also being super comfortable and well-padded, albeit rather wide, as most scooters are.

Whilst I found the width helped in comfort, it did mean that when stopped at traffic lights, for example, it wasn’t always easy to get your feet down each side (I’m 5 ft 9 for reference), so just bear that in mind if you are on the shorter side.

Equipment-wise, there isn’t too much to talk about on the Vespa. For lighting, as expected in 2025, we have full LED lighting all around with integrated LED indicators. We also have a reasonably basic split LCD/analogue dash and a small toggle on the right switchgear to control the functions, which, although basic, is fairly in keeping with its retro appearance.

I don’t think that a TFT or touchscreen would have quite the same effect, unless it was done properly to match the rest of the aesthetic. Mentioning functions, there is little aside from your usual economy stats and trip data, but we do get a little voltmeter as well, which is nice and allows you to monitor battery health on the fly.

You can also option in Vespa’s ‘MIA’ system (no, it doesn’t mean missing in action, but instead, ‘Vespa Multimedia Platform’) on the Primavera to gain phone connectivity for app integration, calls and music, but it’s worth bearing in mind that this doesn’t come as standard and is an optional paid-for accessory.

But aside from that, we have a standard key, which I personally prefer over keyless, as in my experience, it is a more reliable system, although we do get a fob to remotely unlock the seat and flash the indicators for the bike finder function, so it’s a sort of hybrid system, in a way.

Whilst Vespa doesn’t exclusively state the under-seat storage capacity, in our testing, I found that it was just a bit too small to fit a full-face AGV K3, and likewise with our full-face HJC lid, too.

We couldn’t test for an open face, unfortunately, as we didn’t have one to hand, but I reckon it would still be enough for a few of your essentials as long as you make sure that they are essentials you don’t mind getting warm, as the under-seat area does get very toasty, especially with the Primavera being air-cooled.

 

Aside from this, we do get a small glovebox in the front leg shield, which may look large from the size of its aperture, but only the left portion is actually usable underneath; it does have a USB port though to charge your phone, which is nice.

If the Primavera is taking your fancy for its retro appeal and commuting capabilities on a CBT or A1 licence, you may wonder what else is out there to fit the bill if the Vespa is just a little too much?

If so, then the Lambretta V125 Special could be an option. It comes with equally good looks and detailing but with a lower price tag of £3,199, over £1,650 cheaper than the Primavera.

It does, however, offer slightly less performance with 10hp and 9.2nm of torque compared to the Primavera’s 11hp and 10.7nm, and it also has a smaller 6.5L tank versus the Vespa’s 8L, and it is no longer made in Italy, but with that £1,650 saving, it could definitely be an option.

The Royal Alloy GP 125 MT is another contender, delivering 13.4hp and 12Nm of torque, in comparison to the Primavera’s 11hp and 10.7nm of torque, thanks to its liquid-cooled engine. It also comes with a larger 10.5L tank and a significantly lower price of £3,599, around £1,250 less than the Primavera. That said, it doesn’t have the brand reputation of a Vespa or the Italian build, but I think it still looks great and is likely the closest of the three to a proper classic.

In summary, the Vespa Primavera 125 is undeniably a premium option, but it does represent a quality scooter that handles great, looks great and is truly Italian-made, something not a lot of, if any, scooters can say nowadays.

It’s comfy, has great attention to detail, and the suspension surprised me with its damping on a variety of roads, given the small 12-inch wheel diameter. Of course, it’s not perfect, and for the price, it would have been nice to see a disc brake at the rear and a liquid-cooled engine making a bit more power, but for city and town use, it’s responsive, and I found it was never lacking in power or acceleration.

Overall, I enjoyed my time with the Primavera. If you want something a bit different with genuine brand heritage and excellent manoeuvrability for the day-to-day commute, I reckon this could be a great option.

If you enjoyed this review and are tempted to get your hands on your own Italian commuter, or even if you have your own already and need somewhere to insure it, head to Lexham to get a motorcycle or scooter insurance quote direct!