Kymco Downtown 125 vs Piaggio Vespa

The Piaggio Vespa passes its MOT first time more often than the Kymco Downtown 125: 80.7% vs 72.7%, a 8.0-point lead.

MOT reliability, side by side

first-time pass rate, outright fail rate and tests analysed · 2005–2025

Metric	Kymco Downtown 125	Piaggio Vespa
First-time pass rate	72.7%	80.7%
Outright fail rate	21.2%	12.2%
Vs comparable bikes (age & mileage adjusted)	+3.0 pts	+5.9 pts
Engine size	124cc	124cc
Rank among all models	#4523 of 5428	#3439 of 5428
Median miles at test	14,760	10,023
MOT tests analysed	231	287,482
Most common failure	brakes	lighting and signalling

First-time outcomes on normal tests, 2005–2025. "Most common failure" is the component group with the most recorded defects on failed tests. Read pass rates against test counts: a smaller sample is noisier. Source: DVSA anonymised MOT results.

"Vs comparable bikes" is the first-time pass rate minus the rate expected for each bike's own mix of age, mileage and test class, in percentage points: positive means better than comparable bikes. How this works.

Pass rate by mileage

first-time MOT pass rate by miles on the clock at test

Mileage	Kymco Downtown 125	Piaggio Vespa
0k-10k miles	76.8%	85.0%
10k-20k miles	72.4%	77.0%
20k-30k miles	63.0%	75.3%

Bands with fewer than 30 tests for either bike are left out.

KYMCO DOWNTOWN 125 72.7% pass · 231 tests PIAGGIO VESPA 80.7% pass · 287k tests

See each bike's full report (trend, mileage curve, failure breakdown and rivals) on its own page.