Modern Vespa

What is the one favorite trip you've ever taken on a scooter?

Maybe an Iron butt, Cannonball, a cross-country sojourn, local joyride or just a trip to the store? Let's hear about it.

Started on Phuket ,Thailand via Malaysia and onto Singapore and then back again. 3300 Kms round trip.
Simply amazing countries to travel through on a scooter.

I lost my phone on the return journey and lost some amazing video and photos of the trip.
I'll do it again once I find another willing rider to join me.

The first time I rode it after the purchase!

It’s a toss-up and three-way tie: 1) moto-camping Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, State College, Hartford, Portland ME, Montreal; 2) Pontedera, Volterra, San Gimignano, Chianti, Florence, Pontedera; and 3) St-Petersburg up to Apalachicola and back.

Mine was the coastal road along the European side of the Bosphorus in Istanbul from the Black Sea down to the Marmara sea. You go through amazing waterside villages, castles and bridges. You can stop off and drink and eat in places like this https://theistanbulinsider.com/bebek-istanbuls-trendy-village-along-the-bosphorus/ A scooter is definitely the best mode of transport around the small winding roads there.

Blue Ridge Parkway for me!

fried okra

2014 SCBR Hyder Ak to New Orleans La

Three months this past summer in the Black Hills - riding our scoots regularly. Each day was a delight (Iron Mountain Road, Custer State Park, Vanocker Canyon, Spearfish Canyon, Nemo Road), and any one of those day trips could be "the favorite." But, taken as a whole, it was a great summer of riding!

I’ll whole heartedly agree with this, then add, anytime I ride for ‘fun’ and then home from work.

Last edited by KABarash on Tue Dec 04, 2018 6:44 am; edited 1 time in total

After posing the question, I am having a tough time answering due to similar circumstances.

I'd have to say my favorite trip to date was riding up to Landa Park in New Braunfels and then up and back on River Road to the the Canyon Lake Dam. About 75 miles total trip about four months ago.

AmeriVespa ride to Bainbridge Island. Started in Seattle at the University/Hotel, rode through downtown Seattle, took a ferry to the Island, rode around the island, returned via ferry and back through the city. So much fun!

Riding with wmak through Kentucky and Virginia to AV this past summer. Great scenery, good roads and a great destination. Slightly brutal on the mileage (and the butt), but still loved it. Thanks, Warren!

There was a paucity of good coffee on the way, but it was more than compensated by the abundance of chewing tobacco.

I lived in New Braunfels for a year. Wish I had my Vespa back then.

My favorite:

Million Dollar Highway, Colorado,

and toured all over

Big Bend National Park, Texas.

Which PTW?

As previously posted, SW Wisconsin Amish/Hill Country is a two wheeled riding delight. Scooting along hills, valleys, and streams is a real treat. This Region is attracting many riders.

The area is about 200-300 miles from Frost Bite Falls Minnesota. My riding
group (Minn-Max Scooters) and Dave Langholff aka Fledermaus with
his annual (Wisconscoot) rally have taken advantage of this area for years.

Bob Copeland

After reading a book about the building of the Erie Canal, I wanted to see the Canal for myself. So I loaded up the BV350 and rode across from Minneapolis to Manitowoc, Wisconsin, took the Badger ferry across Lake Michigan to Ludington, then on across Michigan to Port Huron. Riding across Ontario to Niagara Falls, I hopped from one Tim Horton's (donuts & coffee) to the next during breaks in the rain showers.

I was running short of time so I didn't get to follow the Canal all the way, so I looped around Seneca Lake and Watkins Glen. On the way home I went through Pennsylvania where I visited my aunt and uncle. I was glad to have done that before he passed away. I avoided Chicago by going as far south as Kankakee, Illinois, and that way I had a chance to see the Fourth of July parade in the small town in Illinois where I grew up. Straight across Illinois and up through Iowa brought me home.

I'd do it again, definitely!

Sounds like an amazing trip JKJ. How many miles and how many days?

I've forgotten exactly. I have a log from my GPS somewhere...

Yes. Enquiring minds want to know!

Sounds epic at any rate.

A ballpark guess would satisfy my curiosity.

Now, Fledermaus the stickler on the other hand...

Many of the trips I’ve taken with the scooter are memorable but this one sticks out because of how beautiful NM can be: Enchanted Circle NM

http://modernvespa.com/forum/topic68782?highlight=mexico

What a great trip that must have been. Your photos are fantastic! Where did you get the mod stickers on your rear fenders?

Missed that post....then again it was 3 years before I arrived.
Would love to do that on a scooter...covered much of the same ground over a couple of trips, but alas, in a car....

Having put more than 130,000 miles on my scooters over the duration, my most favorite trip was the time that 7 Bridges Scooter Club rode the Natchez Trace, which cuts Mississippi diagonally from southwest to northeast. The 7 person, 7 day trip covered the following:

Day 1 -- Jacksonville, FL to Auburn, AL
Day 2 -- Auburn to Birmingham, AL via Barber Motorsports Museum
Day 3 -- Birmingham to Franklin, TN
Day 4 -- Franklin to Tupelo, MS (first half of the Trace)
Day 5 -- Tupelo to Natchez, MS (second half of the Trace)
Day 6 -- Natchez to Biloxi, MS
Day 7 -- Biloxi to Jacksonville (500 mile day)

Just shy of 2000 miles on my Vespa GT200 with the only problem being a blown fuse that was remedied in 5 minutes.

I can't remember a ride of any distance that I didn't enjoy.

So all of them are very good.

Doug's suggestion of the 2014 SCR, Hyder to New Orleans (Arkansas for me) was true magic. The first four days were stunning and so much fun.

15 or so Oyster Tours with Lostboater (Including most of David Masse's St. Pete to Apalachicola) have all made me very happy.

Three VCdM Rallies, Tuscany, Greek Islands and Catalonia...all fantastic, and my wife even comes on these.

7BSC rides to the mountains (and around North Florida) have all been great.

And the MP3 Spring and Fall Gatherings...so nice.

The best single ride may have been on a rental BMW motorcycle with my friend Drew. We rode from Denver to Glacier NP and back. 2700 miles in 8 days. 4 National Parks. Great hotels, food and company.

Getting a 50cc Malaguti for Christmas in 2002 changed my life...for the better.

Bill


Me at the Beartooth Pass. What a road!

The ride from my house in San Jose, CA to Pinnacles National Park. A trip that was 200+ miles as I took some side trips for exploring.

Problem is there is a single "favorite" rather a selection of favorites from the 2.5 weeks on a Vespa in England and Wales to cannonball. Then there is the memorable ride from Port Douglas to Cape Tribulation, Queensland, Australia with the almost too close encounter with a cassowary.

Then there was the motorcycle trip to the north end of the Grand Canyon.

From my house to Cape May and back via Princeton, west NJ and the Pine Barrens. Basically the NJ equivalent of riding to Key West. Picked two days of perfect riding weather and an overnight in Wildwood. Approx 140 miles each way.

w.

A week in Tuscany on my honeymoon 7 years ago with my bride and I each riding our own matching red rental LX125s.

We did a total of 1300 km each riding the twisties out of our base in San Gimignano to Florence, Sienna, Cinque Terra, Lucca, and many nearby medieval hilltop villages.

The ride of a lifetime for us.

That was a great ride -- not my best-ever, but quite fun indeed!

Favorite trip ever? I have a few, depending on how I"m feeling.

The couple of miles from my dad's house to the beach, then back. It was the only time he ever rode with me (as a passenger), a few months before he passed away.

Ogden, UT to Las Vegas, NV -- several times. The actual ride was pretty tedious superslab most of the way, but it was for visiting my wife (at the time, my fiancee').

As a trip in and of itself? Los Angeles to Seattle via CA-1/US-101 for the aforementioned Amerivespa and visiting relatives near Poulsbo. In retrospect I probably should have opted for more of the in-city rides there since I'd spent a week riding through forests, but it was still great fun.

On a Vespa? So many variations of riding through the hills above Malibu with the LA Scooter Group (they kind of run together after a few years...). One memorable one was a night ride, with fog rolling over the crest on Mulholland. Surreal.

My favourite trip on a scooter was actually one where I was a passenger and not on a vespa (honda airblade). When visiting my girlfriend's family in Vietnam we went for a trip out from the town exploring into the countryside. My girlfriend in charge of her mum's honda and her niece being tour guide from her scooter (first time i'd seen a Piaggio Liberty, looked smart) left me free to look at the scenery and take some blurry pics/shaky videos). Great fun criss-crossing the rivers on small bridges and stop at a water lily farm for some food and a float around in the small boats they use on the farm. Great memory on a typically cold, rainy day in Manchester.

I rode the BRP, S VA/W NC/SE KY recently on some of the best roads anywhere as a break-in of my new scooter. Life is good.
Qualifies but also falls short:
My favorite scooter trip is still on my bucket list. Having done serious MC trips of length and only a few, couple day long, scoot trips- I have never done a thousands of miles scoot run as yet.
The Cannonball doesn't catch my eye as plainly, someone else tells me where to go, so hardly my dream ride and likely on roads I've been on before.
The socialization would be fun though.
For me, the "favorite trip ever taken"- is that next fly & rent/ride trip fixed in my minds eye to South America-Ecuador and Colombia (done separately) in ~ 2 week chunks of self touring, where I'll rent either a 250cc MC or a scoot but leaning toward the small MC.

Part of (not) aging out is having that special trip on ones horizon?
Sunday last here it hit 67 degrees and I got in a new exhaust, 18 miles trial run before it turned back into winter. 18 miles done near me is a twisty, scenic ride in the Red River Gorge area so fairly entertaining. The jury is still out on how much I like the Vespa with some "bark" to its exhaust note?

The first five-six hours of every day on the Cannonball, day after day.

Worst rides? The second five-six hours of every day on the Cannonball, day after day.

Not really, but I did learn that I cannot maintain euphoria for more than five hours.

But, on the other hand, I could handle ten straight days of euphoric mornings!

300 GTS both trips.

Love this thread! It's triggering all sorts of happy memories like Cape May, Florida Keys, Million Dollar Highway, Blue Ridge parkway, Natchez Trace, etc.

A couple of my favorites not mentioned are a lap around Australia and the "Cannonball warm-up" ride to Prudhoe Bay. My very favorite ride has to be down the Baja Peninsula to Cabo San Lucas. It's not as long or scenically varied as the others but there's a bend in the road as you're heading south from Mulegé where you catch the first glimpse of Bahia de Concepcion - it's nothing short of spectacular. Takes my breath away every time.



PS- also love getting great ideas for future rides. Thanks for posting everyone. Keep 'em coming




edited for clarification and spelling - bah

Last edited by ks7877 on Wed Dec 05, 2018 5:45 pm; edited 1 time in total

Why, I remember the trip I rode buck-ass nekkid to the South Pole with only...

For me it has to be my trip to 'visit' with the Cannonball in 2016.
I rode from Madison to Cape Girardeau, then rode more or less along the cannonball route to Lincoln, Nebraska.
Spent some time with Motovista, WLeuthold, Capt. Gary, and CDWise among others.

I really appreciated the camaraderie.

That, and the ride home was spectacular. Had a 'really' big storm front over my left shoulder almost the entire 500 miles home.

Sorry for the hijack.

Bald Wasp, I live about 15 miles from your zip code, so I'm wondering, are there any Vespa Clubs in the area?

(I grew up in the area and went to Watchung Hills RHS.)

pics needed for verification

I did ride to "North Pole" which, for reasons I do not understand, is south of Fairbanks. It was cold and rainy and I definitely was not nekkid

Moto camping down 101 Washington to California to ride Three Peaks Challenge and return lacing forest roads through the Cascade Mountains. Two up.