Yeowch!

 

It looks worse than it is...

 I really like my Vespa.  But, one aspect of it is a real pain in the ass.  Well, in the hand.  Piaggio (the parent company of Vespa) changed the design of the engine with this new model.  It now uses oil.  Not just mine, all of them.  Normally, that wouldn't be a big deal - you just keep some oil on hand and add a few CCs every other fuel up.  However, in their Italian design wisdom, they put the dip stick and oil add opening on the other side of the bike (from my previous Vespa)... where it is close to the muffler (hot)... and they put it under a body panel, so you have to get down on your hands and knees to check or add oil.  To add to the fun, they changed the top of the dipstick from low profile to this tall plastic handle that makes it even more of a pain to get the dipstick aligned so it will go down in the hole.

Unnecessarily inconvenient.

"It uses oil?" you ask.  Thanks for asking, and yes.  It is a "high performance" engine.  It's right there in the name: GTS 300 HPE (the "HPE" stand for High Performance Engine).  I have not been able to find a funnel that works with this stupid oil filler location; not even the ones with all the bends in them.  The flexible tubes at the bottom of some funnels is the opportunity to spill oil all over.  So, I came up with a ketchup dispenser that works.  I've used the same to add distilled water to the batteries in the motorhome.  It is relatively easy, and allows me to see exactly how much oil I'm adding.  Still, it's a work-around for a really stupid design.

All that said... it's a Vespa.  I love the looks of it.  It handles like "Superman's bicycle."  It is just a fun ride that fits me.  And, it suits me.  Insert your own "putting up with something for love" joke here.

;-)