what up guys? I'm Adrian from YouMotorcycle.com and today we're talking about large frame and
small frame Vespas and how they're different. I got all my notes with me so let's go through it!
There is a ton of actually pretty good content on this already it's been asked a million times
on modernvespa.com and there's a couple of videos about this already but they're kind
of on tripods and they're sort of really flat and 2D so i really wanted to make this
a lot more three-dimensional so you can kind of see
the difference in the widths and sizes and i'll talk about all the features
while i'm walking around these two vespas. On the left we have a S series which is on a small frame
and on the right we have a GTS series which is on the large frame. There's a lot of different
Vespa models but they're all based on one of two different frame sizes and that's what a
small frame or large frame is. A small frame is gonna be typically a motor up to about 150 cc's
and a large frame is going to go up to 300 ccs. Before I get started i just want to show you guys
physical dimensions so i lined these up so they would both be just a little smidgen over this line
right here so the front of the bikes are equal and from this angle you can really see that the
large frame gts really sticks out a lot further. We're going to talk about how
that's going to affect things later on and yeah these two bikes might be from different
years ones i think only a few years old one's about 10 years old but the current ones are
still using the large frame and the small frame chassis with minimal changes so this is still
going to be really accurate information even years and years later. The first thing i want you guys
note is that the small frame and large frame seat height are not necessarily any different so while
the small frame might be overall smaller the seat height isn't going to be that much more manageable
or not manageable. What's going to make a bigger difference for you guys honestly is if you have
something like this if you can get a seat where it's not just big and bold what's
at the front where here it's very obvious it has cutouts so that your legs come down
easier that's what's going to make a difference more than any seat height difference.
A nice skinny seat in the front it still gives you lots of protection for your butt in the back
is gonna help you get your feet down and that's honestly what's gonna help out you smaller riders.
One big difference though is definitely in the weight of these two bikes a small frame bike is
typically going to be 90 pounds lighter than a large frame bike. So 90 pounds heavier 90 pounds
lighter. If you're someone who's kind of scared of the weight of heavy things maybe you yourself
only weigh like 95 pounds a 90 pound difference is really substantial and if it's your first bike and
you're kind of nervous it might you know lean you more towards this one than that one however it's
important to note that even the large frame bikes they're not excessively heavy or anything they're
they're pretty similar and comparable to what a motorcycle the same size would weigh just these
guys are just so small that they're just that much lighter. The next thing we should talk about
is the wheelbase. The wheelbase is the distance between your front axle and your rear axle now
obviously because the gts the large frame is a bigger bike it's going to have a longer wheelbase.
Wheelbase is going to affect tight handling and nimbleness and flickability that's why you'll see
a sports car which is much more compact is going to out handle a big truck. There is a three inch
difference in the wheelbase between the large frame and the small frame vespas and yeah it
makes the small frames super super easy to manage and easy to juggle but these large frames are
no truck either, they definitely handle well and can turn on dime especially with these
smaller tires, they'll they'll out maneuver in tight corners even a little 400cc motorcycle
no problem. The motors on the other hand are a big difference. On the small frames you can get
maybe as high as 14 horsepower versus on the large frames you can get up to 21 horsepower so that's a
big difference. They come in all different sizes the small frames have come in anything from like
50 cc's to up to 150 with all sorts of 100 125 and other situations in between and the large frames
i think have mostly come in as little as 125 all the way up to 300 ccs. A small frame can get up to
about 62 miles per hour or about 100 kilometers an hour if you just leave it stock from factory but
the large frames on the other hand can get 80 miles per hour 130 kilometers an hour. Obviously
gts is gonna be a ton more easy to manage and less scary on the highway because on one
you might be able to keep up on the other one you can definitely keep up and you might even
have a little bit of extra power in order to you know get out of trouble's way if you need to.
Now with all that power comes great responsibility so let's talk about braking. The
braking situation definitely favors the GTS or the large frame vespas and that's because
while they both have a disc brake in the front the GTS or the large frame vespas also has a disc in
the rear. See if we look on the small frame it's just a little drum brake we can tell by this rod
will be pushed when you activate the lever and that's going to expand the drums inside of there
to slow down your wheel from spinning, versus here we have a disc brake and what i want to show you
guys on this bike is this right here is an abs sensor. You don't have that on this bike at all.
Some of the newer small frames will have that kind of right into here but they'll
only have it on the front they'll never have it on the back or at least not as of 2021.
Those little abs sensors add a lot more safety for braking and traction control on the more fancy
more powerful large frame vespas. Now there are some other things to keep in mind as well on the
large frames you're going to have a wider but more shallow storage box and that's because the motor
underneath there is kind of bigger in the overall layout and design of the bike if you want to fit a
full face you're probably not going to fit it in here unless you have a top box mounted versus on
small frames you have a very deep box because the motor is not very big. Here you can definitely fit
a full face helmet there you can't, so bigger does not necessarily mean better. Of course
like i mentioned these small frames they they won't pull as hard especially when you're riding
two up versus on the bigger large frames the bigger motors you will generally find that they
pull just fine whether you're one up or two up it all seems to be all good. The final question is,
which one of these two bikes do i prefer? Which would I recommend? If you want the
option of touring or commuting that takes you on the highway every day, any sort of rides are
probably longer than 20-30 minute durations in one direction, I would probably go with the GTS.
But if you prefer just local trips staying in town, you're not going to be leaving the
city or going on any highways, this small frame bike has more than enough
speed and power for you. So personally what would I pick?
Well honestly I went with a small frame. That's that's my bike right there. That's a customer's
bike that's just here until it goes up to storage tomorrow, but yeah I absolutely love
the small frame Vespa. The reason I went with a small frame for myself personally is because
the advantages that this bike has over that bike. It's all good if it's going to be your
only motorcycle but for me the vespa is just it's more of a city ride. For me I have a highway bike,
I have a big litre Harley-Davidson V-Rod, I don't need more power, longer wheelbase or anything
more fancy. I picked this thing up for like a thousand bucks american
and it's great. It hauls ass, takes me where I need to go, and it was cheap and super reliable.
The advantages that the large frame has over the small frame aren't what I need. If you like this
video please hit that Like button to give it a thumbs up, i would really appreciate that!
If you want to see more videos about vespas and all kinds of other motorcycles please subscribe
to my channel or visit youmotorcycle.com! thank you guys so much for watching. Peace!