Modern Vespa

Just come back from a short holiday in Sorrento, Italy.

Quite impressed with the volume of scooters around (approx 50% or so of all the vehicles to my calculation)

And also quite impressed with the mix of Piaggio/Vespa product.....

Also a nice mix of both Modern and NSM....

...and a few more....

...a couple more....

...a last few....

...and finally, a shrewdness of apes....

Very nice pics.

Posted one on What's a nice girl like you...? Scooter photo funnies.

Was there last May. Thanks for making all the wonderful memories flood back

Nice pics

Russ 8)

Nice pics. Thanks for sharing.

What's most amazing to me is how it appears as though the bulk of scooters have such large wheels. I would have thought smaller, more nimble wheels would be more popular in an italian metro area.

Thanks for the pictures. Much appreciated. Big-wheeled scooters are very popular in Italy.

Its perhaps a "pothole" thing - - the roads over there are in terrible condition (top-surface wise).

Thanks for the great photos!

Now we know where all of the Vespas that should be in Rome went.

Yes they're all in Sorrento and on the Amalfi coast, the roads are so narrow and the population condensed into such tiny villages that there are a load of scooters as they are very practical on the roads where cars/scooters/lorries and pedestrians travel (no footpaths on many higher speed roads) and can park easily and without charge ( I think but I could be wrong with this).

Fuel is very expensive too at 1.8 Euro/Litre.......

Pleasingly enough there were a fair few modern Piaggios and older Vespas.

Hey Fabio !
great posts. I'm heading to Sorrento for a week in July with the wife.
Did you hire a scooter anywhere in Sorrento? anywhere you can recommend??
Frankie

Hi Frankie

No I didnt (I don't think I'd have come back alive!!! - the traffic is very busy and there doesn't seem to be any road rules [and i mean NO road rules] )

But there are many scooter and car hire places - scooters seemed to be 20-30 Euros a day or there about for a 125/150.... cheaper per day if you booked for more days.

I think if I wouldn't have gone with my family then I'd have hired one for a day or so.... I went with work a while ago and hired one then (about 20 years ago)

Have you been to Sorrento before? I've been a couple of times and really love it...

Ciao!

No, it's our first time, really looking forward to it. Doing a bit of a tour of Italy and finishing with a week in sorrento.
I see from some of the posts on tripadvisor, etc that it's a bit manic alright, traffic wise. I think I'll get a feel for it for a few days first and make a decision then. I've looked at some scooter hire places after i read your post and they seem reasonable, EUR30-40 per day. I'd love to drive from sorrento to positano but i think the wife would be too nervous on the back. We hired a vespa in Paris before and went around the champs eleyses which was good fun.

The trip from Sorrento to Positano around the Amalfi coast is pretty awe inspiring - lots of winding roads and every view is amazingly beautiful....


Positano...... (found this photo on the internet ..... but it does actually look like that!!! )

Oh man, great pics! BTW, was there a dead Bishop on the landing upon your return?

Nice!

We went to Italy in 2012 to celebrate my 60th. It was my awesome wife's idea (I was paying of course) and we took our adult children with us (did I mention that I was paying of course?).

I came back obsessed with getting a Vespa, not a Sym or a Kymco or even a Piaggio, No, I wanted that Italian classico. It had been a good year for me as an IT consultant and our Prime Minister had not been too rough on my taxes so I bought
Donatella Vespace on December 22, 2012. We had done mods on her before I ever even drove her. All I can say is "miles n' miles of smiles"

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Thanks for the pics! So, once again we learn that in the land of Vespa, the scooter is a utilitarian working vehicle rather than the shiny thing of obsession it is in some places

Great photos, thanks for posting.

Inspiring pictures.. i was there too and it brought back lots of good memories.. thanks for taking the time to post ..

Totally agree !! It's funny I thought the exact same when I have been over to Rome, etc. I think of how we polish, clean, prim, preen,upgrade and admire our Vespas and then we go over to the home of all things Vespa and they really just treat them as a work horse-all dents and scratches !!
Sacrilege

I dont think that I saw even one scooter of any make that wasnt dented - most were damaged in fact, I was only commenting the other day that even most cars over there are damaged/scratched/dented to an extent that in the UK they would be taken straight into the bodyshop for repair - over there they will stay like that until they become unusable (notice I didnt say unroadworthy because I suspect that a lot of their vehicles are)

Hey Fabio,
did you ride to Positano by any chance ? that photo looks amazing and by all accounts that drive is one of the most famous (dangerous) in the world

Scooters were once utilitarian in the US.

My intro to Vespas was in the 50's in NY. At the time, it was considered a convenient, inexpensive vehicle, ideal for local transportation. Also, enjoyable to ride. My Dad had a Cushman in the late 40's, and then his brother bought a Vespa in the late 50's, upon which I learned to ride and love the beast. Rather than have a car to run around town, I was granted pretty free access to his Vespa.

Of course, "Roman Holiday" also gave it a touch of romance. Etched in my memory is a fair number of women, riding to work in NYC on Vespas. As my Mom said, "Vespas are more dignified than motorcycles. You can ride one with your knees together."

The image of the Vespa as a utilitarian vehicle has stuck with me.

By all accounts the Amalfi coast drive is one of the most scenic in the world, and it has some infamous history too, app it was Musollini's favourite and only became popular after he ordered his engineers to make the mountain road into a viable modern road...

Well if it's good enough for " Il Duce"............

Il Duce was erroneously credited with getting the trains to run on time (never happened), and never really credited with his impact on roads and the amazing renovation of Rome: http://www.amazon.com/Mussolinis-Rome-Rebuilding-American-Paperback/dp/1403980020

Link doesn't work...

We honeymooned in Sorrento and fell in love with scooters there. We rented a couple for the weekend and rode along the Amalfi Coast through Positano down to Revello. Bought my GT200 shortly after we returned.

Thanks for the pics. Brings back fond memories.

Hi Dario,
did you actually ride from Sorrento to Positano ? Is it worth doing?
I'm thinking to do it this summer when I am there an I'm wondering how ACTUALLY dangerous it is?
I mean, I get it that it's a winding road and hugs the coast and has a lot of traffic but I'm a pretty experienced rider now at this stage and I'm not a speed demon so i think I might be OK.
I'll have a look while I am there and see what the story is.

Fixed it by taking it out of the text.

http://www.amazon.com/Mussolinis-Rome-Rebuilding-American-Paperback/dp/1403980020

Aviator's link produces an error "We're sorry. The Web address you entered is not a functioning page on our site". The URL changes into another with a Modern Vespa tag.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/Mussolinis/?tag=modernvespa-forum-20

I think it's perhaps because his link is for American users only, maybe...

Fabio,
do you have a brand new Primavera ??

Cheers for sharing Fabs, as my daughter would say. Amazeballs!

----------------
I can open the said link when I enter it manually into the browser or search for the book on Google.

I'm in Thailand at the moment.

For some reason, MV's software is subverting the link.

Rather than click on this, copy and paste it into your browser

www.amazon.com/Mussolinis-Rome-Rebuilding-American-Paperback/dp/1403980020

Or click on this Barnes & Noble link

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/mussolinis-rome-borden-painter/1100412762?ean=9781403980021