Modern Vespa

Hello there MVers,

After lurking around the place for a while learning all sorts of fabulously useful things such as how not to dump gas all over my GTS while filling up, why my GTS front brake makes a weird sound, and why my GTS makes rude noises after I turn it off, I figured it was high time I said hello!

I think I may already know a few of you from my time over at Modern Buddy, or from leading the LA Scooter Group, or from my new scooter group, The Adventurists, and other sordid scooting fun.

I've been riding for about 4 - 5 years now. My first scooter was (is) my beloved Genuine Buddy 150. What a great first scooter. I have put about 26,000 abusive miles on it so far including riding it to Amerivespa in Los Gatos a few years back (alongside EricAlm), going back and forth to San Diego numerous times, heading into the mountains, and generally pushing it well beyond its intended use. I tend to like to ride as far away from the city as possible.

To that end, I recently became the proud owner of a beautiful new-to-me 2012 GTS300 Super in titanium grey and have been having a blast putting the first few thousand miles on it. All I can say is what an exquisite machine!

Such a difference. The best word I can think of is effortless. Everything I used to have to strain for on the 150 is now effortless. No more tucking to eek out a few extra mph, no more wondering if I am pissing off some cager in a hurry behind me, no more slowing down when going up hills. It is heaven! The Buddy will remain my city scooter, it is absolutely perfect for that, and the GTS will be for points beyond. What a treat!

The inaugural ride on the GTS was with TeacherQuinn - 300 miles from LA to the Santa Ynez wine country for a glass of wine (well worth it, great wine and great company!). Since then I have been back and forth to San Diego, explored Crystal Lake and the top of Mt. Baldy, travelled the Old Ridge Route (as much as is open to the public - BTW, did you know the gov't has declared it a national historic route and last week opened up bidding to repave the entire thing? How sweet a ride is that going to be when it's done!), as well as explored a few other long rides with the Adventurists. And there's lot's more in store for the year ahead!

So that's about it for my hello post. I do want to thank everyone who has posted here and made this such a fabulous resource. I have learned an amazing amount thanks to all of you. And my thanks in advance for future answers. Hopefully one day I can return the favor and contribute something that you find useful.

Cheers! And safe travels everyone! I hope we get to ride together soon.

Shalom and welcome from Israel.

Shalom! I hope you are all staying safe over there! I had the pleasure of visiting Israel a number of years ago with an orchestra I played with. We were all over the place - Haifa, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, the Golan Heights, Gaza. We even stayed at Ein Gedi and Ein Gev. Really a lovely country. And the people were without a doubt the greatest music audiences I ever got to play for! Really wonderful. Cheers! Have a Maccabi for me

Ah, nice to know you've been here. Sounds like you've seen a fair amount of the country!

BTW, I'm a trombonist (played professionally - my 'night gig' - in New York for a little more than 18 years before moving here). What do you play?

Now that I think about it... there are a surprisingly large number of MVers who are musicians. Must be that the scooter tendency comes from the same side of the brain as a tug towards performing arts.

Definitely a right brain thing. Double Bass here. I don't play any more. In fact sadly after many years I've just put my bass and bows on consignment. Very tough to do. I played jazz and classical. In Boston mainly where I went to college (Berklee officially and New England Conservatory unofficially). Freelanced a bunch and played regularly with the Phil. But this was all many moons ago.

I had never owned a scooter back then but my dream was to have a scooter with a sidecar and ride to gigs in my tuxedo with my bass in the sidecar

What kind of music did you play? Nights in NYC I immediately think jazz.

Club Dates (e/g/ weddings, private parties, corporate affairs, etc.). Did that (in addition to my day job) 3-5 nights a week for nearly two decades. Takes it out of you. I figure in all that time I got to play no more than 3-5 hours of truly sublme music. But I'd do it all over again for those 3-5 hours!

At some point we should take this to Private Messages (PM), but I'm sure others are interested to know more about you.

BTW, not sure when you were at Berklee, but did you know Harry Max or Todd Schwartz back then? I played with both of these Berklee grads in NYC for many years and am still in touch with both.

Welcome to MV. I Actually rode with you during Amerivespa 2009.

Hope you enjoy your Vespa 300 as much as I do.

Welcome.

Even though this forum focus is for Vespa, Piaggio and Aprillia-branded scooter owners, I have to give Genuine props; not only for their products, but also the way the company seems to relate to American scooter owners.

However, after reading all about them, their vision and business plan, unfortunately, it seems that they see scooters as serving urban motorists only, and my situation requires that I own at least a small maxi in my rural environment.

There are some great, one-of-a-kind features in some of Genuine's products that I would love to see extended to larger scooters. For instance, a 300-plus cc Stella, with a large windscreen and a manual grip shift transmission for improved highway efficiency, would cause me to jump ship in a heart beat.

Welcome Skootz, from yet another double bass player. And three bass guitars, a strat, a Seagull, an oud , an ukulele, a Hawaiian tiple, a sanxian, a Yammy keyboard, a plastic recorder and a harmonica. (The last seven I can't play).

Oh, and a red GTS 250.

Welcome to MV...lots of information in the Wiki Library and a lot of good folksn on the MV Forum.

Welcome Skootz Kabootz! That's just fun to say. Great avatar too!

Skootz! Long time ole buddy! So you finally took the Vespa plunge, huh? Congrats and I look forward to hearing more from you.

Edit-Bass player here, also.

Welcome!

Sounds like we've accumulated a lot of musical talent on the group. I'm thinking of an MV musical production a la Playing for Change
(Hey Trepp...is Tula at all known over there?)

Now if I can just get this accordion to work

Welcome from an old French Horn player who now futzes around on Guitar and plays Bagpipe on occasion. Been thinking about putting a more "musical" horn on my scooter.

Aloha and welcome to the forum from Hawaii. Where's the pic of the new steed? Have fun with it and be careful out there. I can play a mean air guitar.

Hello from Texas, the friendship state,
and a really mediocre ex-cello player

Welcome Skootz. I do not have the ear or coordination to play any musical instrument well but I do like to make noise on a guitar from time to time.

Cool video. I'd never seen it before.

'Tula' is a wonderful, talented singer but never hit it big here (at least she hasn't yet). Her real name is Tal Ben Ari and she is currently living in Spain somewhere (last I heard) doing a bunch of world music collaboration.

Very cool video.

I'm not much of a musician.... the only thing I play is the radio....

But.... I digress.

Glad to see you over here too, Skootz. I lurk here, for community reasons and because I too hope to add a purty Vespa to the stable.

I always look forward to your contributions on MB, so I can't see it being any different here.

Hello! And all midi from me!

Thanks for the info...she seems to add some celebrity flair to the collection....if you like the project there are more on youtube...oops, in danger of hijacking this thread. Now back to Skootz Kabootz

Thank you for all the nice welcomes everyone! So nice to see some old friends too!

Fledermaus, what an awesome video! Totally set my mood for the day and hopefully longer. How is it I have never heard this song before? Clearly I need to get out more.

I'm amazed how many musicians there are here! Creative minds unite! I have to say again, I really don't play much any more. I feel like you're all meeting a previous incarnation of myself. Nowadays I'm a creative director, web geek, marketing geek, who spends every free second riding his scooter, solo or with a group, listening to all kinds of music along the way, then planning new rides. Hmmm, that sounds kind of one dimensional now that I read it, but really it's not too bad a thing at all. A larger displacement Stella would be wonderful! While not a 300cc, I have heard rumor there is a larger one on the way - 200cc? 250cc? Also a CVT version (blasphemy, I know). I don't know all the specifics. I do know Genuine has plans in the works for a Genuine designed 300cc touring scooter, but last I heard the economy has unfortunately stalled that project. One must remember what a tiny (and young) company Genuine is compared to Piaggio/Vespa, Honda, Kymco, Sym etc. Bringing any new scooter to the US is no small undertaking for them.

I will say Genuine has carved out a wonderful niche for themselves - they are great urban fun machines - and it has been the perfect way for them to gain a foothold in the US. My experience - they offer quality products and exceptional customer support. Personally I can't believe my Buddy hasn't exploded after all I have put it though! Seriously!

For me, anything/anyone that helps to popularize riding a scooter and bring quality scooters and the scooting lifestyle to the masses in the US is a great thing. The more the merrier.

But I digress... we're on MV! Let's talk about the incredible GTS300Super that is now rocking my world! Scooter love for sure! All the longer, more challenging, more funner, new rides that I can now do are like a gift to me! I am so excited! Now I just need the time and money ride them all!

Welcome!


I'm a pro guitarist..so maybe there is something in the scooter/musician thing..


And


Congrats on the 300!

SKOOTZ!!!!!! WOOT! Glad to see you here! Nice to have another Buddy person!

Scooters and musicians.... hmmmm. Interesting. I play the piano, (though I no longer have one), Guitar, (I have a Tele and a Stratocaster-12 string), and Bass...... haven't played out in ages though.

Nice to see another familiar face, er... avatar! Welcome!!!

welcome Skootz,

I traded my six string addiction for a two wheel addiction.

See you around town, hopefully soon.

Oh good, I'm not the only one! Fair trade I'd say. Pay is about the same

Wow, maybe the best intro post I've ever read! Welcome aboard...

Welcome aboard. Congratulations on your new scoot. I hope it continues to give you many fun and adventure filled safe miles.

Welcome Skootz. You'll find this forum as exciting and interesting as the MB forum. We've got our characters over here. Welcome aboard... Probably a good thing you don't own a BV350. I still play my Kazoo...

Yiasas and welcome from the sunny Aegean

Thank you again everyone for so many nice welcomes! Hey there Mutt The Hoople, Raiderfn31, skully93, and Rail 50! Nice to see you guys over here on the MV side of the pond. Glad to have someone here who can vouch for my character... or lack thereof

I just noticed the request for some scooter photos. Here ya go.

I couldn't be happier with each of these scooters. BTW, the GTS seat is from Pirate Upholstery and was on the scooter when I bought it. I have to say it is one quality piece of workmanship. It gives me an additional 2" - 3" of seating space compared to a stock seat and is extremely comfortable.

Next on my "to buy" list is a Bonneville T100 (I've wanted one ever since I was a kid) then, once I have a place where I can work on one, a nice vintage scooter. I'm thinking Lambretta GP250 at the moment but unfortunately it will be a little while before I can make this one happen. I have to stick to buying daily riders at this point.

Hey Skootz... We can definitely vouch for your character... You are A-Okay!!!!! Bonneville....yummy. Don't blame you there. Dooglas is here too... A number of us ride Buddies and Vespas. And lastly.... Wow, that is an awesome GTS!!!!

Thanks! I gotta say, I think she's pretty sexy too

Hey Skootz! Welcome!

im new in this so i could use a good advise: what scoot should i buy to modyfy
my beautifull vespa ? typhoon engine or hexagon ? also the rims : do they fit or?

Welcome, Skootz. Nice introductory post - and music.

The MV community grows!

Shalom and welcome from right next door.

If you want to get the most advice, I suggest you start a new thread. You'll get a proper welcome that way too!