Modern Vespa

Not sure if this link has been posted .

Have a look at the novel Spare Tyre Carrier visible on the photos of the Vespa.

http://soloscooterist.com/day-1-the-city-to-vryburg/

Thanks for sharing, I will have to read it later!!

That's one overloaded bike. Excellent start. to what looks like an adventure.

Thanks! Looks to be a good read.

Hardcore.

Interesting pics of the journey so far.

I have travelled those gravel roads countless times in a Ford 4x4 , camping all over and I must admit I never thought of doing it on a Vespa!

http://soloscooterist.com/the-route/

Love it!

Thanks for the link again. Brings back great memories of my 3 weeks camping in Namibia. Set out from JHB, ....

Love it!

Looks like a great adventure! 8)

I met a couple of South Africans on the Cross Egypt Challenge last year and they told me of some great riding there. Must pay 'em a visit sometime.

Look forward to your dispatches...

Bump New update

Beautiful pics and interesting stats.

http://soloscooterist.com/the-route/

Lots of pictures and stories in the new updates !
Enjoy


http://soloscooterist.com/the-route/

Wow i missed this thread first time around. Thanks. Awesome. I've done some of Africa as pillion but man if i was only younger. Thanks PAUL. 8)

the dude has a killer, painted pic of Nelson Mandela on his scoot!!! One of the coolest things I have ever seen on a scoot.

New update, looks like Michael is having a ball !

http://soloscooterist.com

I wish I had the opportunity to do something like this. Looks amazing.

Lots of updates, have a look !

http://soloscooterist.com/

Michael's Vespa has now passed the 40,000Km mark and still going strong !

Lots of updates and thoughts about Africa.

http://soloscooterist.com/

Not sure how many of you have been following Michael's ride from South Africa, but he crossed into Israel from the Egyptian Sinai peninsula. How do I know this? Because the security folks at the border called me on my cell phone to ask if I knew a crazy guy on a scooter who claims to know me. I explained he was legit and he is now resting comfortably in Eilat.

I had heard about Michael's epic journey here on MV, but it was Lostboater who PMed me to let me know that Israel was on his itinerary. I sent Michael an email letting him know my family would love to host him while he's here, and we've been in touch as he has traveled north.

Tomorrow he is riding up through the Negev desert and I'll be meeting him in Beer Sheva and escorting him up to our neck of the woods.

In addition to home hospitality, I'll be hooking Vic (his scooter) up with my mechanic for a service, and hopefully will get a chance to ride around Jerusalem and points nearby with the soloscooterist.

I feel like I'm about to meet a celebrity!

Hi Trep, Thank you for sharing that.
I sensed a little weariness in the last few reports from Michael that I read. But then it has been an epic journey so far.
Let say it a little more forcefully, It takes balls to do such a journey through Africa!
I am sure he will be well looked after!

Hey, you both are! Wish I was gonna be there. Some good scooting tales will be told...

Buy him a couple of cold ones for me.....after he posts a update.

Epic !

Amazing.

Better than that, in addition to showing him some of my favorite rides and eateries in the Jerusalem area, he's joining my family for Rosh Hashanah Dinner with all the trimmings!

But I'll be sure to lift at least one cold one with him and make sure he understands it's from you.

Sounds like his timing is good.

Just make sure he knows that his audience is waiting to hear from him on the blog.

Had a nice ride with Michael from Beer Sheva and took him to my mechanic to have his scooter sorted. It was in pretty good nick considering the punishment, but he had to have the roller housing replaced due to some really horrible wear that resulted from a couple of the rollers having been installed backwards. Afterwards we dropped of his gear and enjoyed a nice dinner. Wasn't able to buy him a beer for you, but he had a nice glass of local wine.

Great guy. Although amazingly, he wasn't familiar with Modern Vespa. I rectified that, and I wouldn't be surprised if MV gets a new member from South Africa when he finally gets home.

Sent from my iPad

Great pics! Thanks for posting. I've enjoyed following the adventures.

Brilliant!

Michael and his scooter are now in Italy, but it was really a pleasure spending time with such a special person. I can't thank Lost Boater enough for making the connection between us.

Michael has signed up for MV (under the name 'soloscooterist', of course), but will probably not jump into the fray until he finishes his trip and is safely home in South Africa.

In the mean time, he has brought his blog almost completely up to date, so if you have a few minutes, it is worth a look:

http://soloscooterist.com/

That's a wonderful adventure. I really enjoyed the departure interview video and the blogs so far. Also, kudos to Treppenwitz for hosting Michael in Israel.

I took a six-month motorcycle trip through Mexico and Central America in 2001, and Michael's blog brings back memories.

For those considering a similar journey through less developed parts of the world, I highly recommend Chris Scott's Adventure Motorcycling Handbook.

There's not much scooter-specific content, but the concepts are the same. Here were my favorite tips.

* Perform routine maintenance on your scoot for a few months before the trip. Every time you use a tool, place it to one side. That pile goes into the tool bag that you'll bring on the trip.

* Carry spare nuts and bolts. They will vibrate off in the middle of nowhere.

P.S. The Horizons Unlimited forums are a great place to ask questions about long-distance riding.

Happy trails!

-John
'98 Honda VFR800
'99 Suzuki SV650
'05 Vespa GT200

Hey, Trepp, that's awesome. Kudos to lostboater to make the connection too.

Great of you to host him...definitely a celebrity, especially in the Vespa world. Great photos too!

My wife and I got to spend time with Michael in Parma, Italy this week. He rode down from Milano and we drove up from the south. He has been roaming Italy and as far north as Lyon, France. On his return ride he thought "they will find me and Vic frozen to the side of a mountain" when he rode back over the alps to Milano. He is still chilled days later

He was so enjoyable that we spent 5 hours, well after midnight, (very rare for a old guy like me), over ossobuco, parma ham, and fine wine (he is a "wine snob", his self-description). He is a very philosophical person and his trip really moved him as a person. I think he went from being a native born African "resident" to a true African because of this journey.

Without a doubt the most impressive part of his ride to him was the people. Kindness and smiling faces met him everywhere he went and his eyes and face really lights up when he conveys these stories.

He has been uninspired to blog in Europe, which is easy to understand after the journey that he as done. Europe is great he says but not as awe inspiring after a solo scooter ride across a continent. Especially Africa. I told him he probably has a form of PTSD from going to from a challenging ride across all new territory to being back to the familiar. He described it as seeing people scraping the grounds to grow products just to stay alive to massive tractors in Europe plowing fields in their air condition cabs smoking cigarettes and highway signs "holding your hand and leading to every turn". It was a great mental divide. He says the trip was not a life "changing experience" as many describe their journeys. "If I had died on this trip, that would be a life changing experience. It is a awaking experience of what is so beautiful about Africa."

The next day we spent all morning talking of his adventure again. Ethiopia, he claims, has made him a caffeine addict as he polished off his fourth cappuccino. No matter where you are in Ethiopia, he says, there is someone serving the best coffee he has ever had and not in a Starbucks but a bucket on the side of the road.

Him personally describing days when it would take hours and hours just to make 100 km because of road conditions, or getting stuck at night riding and having his own night safari ride with hyenas, giraffes and "who knows what else", riding on a road with dirt ruts deeper than his tires and coming upon a luxury tent resort, where they invited him to stop and have fresh fruit juices, scotch that he declined, and food on a romantic candle lite table in front of the tent of luxury and then, stepping back into his world, returning to the night inching his way along.

After traveling 24,000 km on Victoria and her never letting him down or missing a beat he is very, very proud of her and Vespa. He got a tour of the Vespa plant. When I explained that is "unheard of" and that I knew not a single person that has toured the plant, he was a little amazed. He was also amazed to discover what most of us already know, Vespa is unimpressed with anything it's product does or with it's customers. He had formed a true bound with his trusty Vespa Victoria and is rightly proud of what she has down and was stunned that Vespa was not.

We saw him off on his last ride of this part of the journey. (Spoiler alert.....it ain't over yet.) He was on his way back to Milano to sort out the shipping of Victoria back to South Africa. Sounds like a simple task, but it seems to be a major, major operation. He has received many, many "no's" and just got two quotes of $11,000 and $3,000. He has hurried off to close on the $3,000 as tomorrow is a holiday and he is flying home on Tuesday the 4th.

I was really amazing to spend time with him and I am sure our paths will cross again in the future.

lostboater... Michael emailed me a pick of you two wearing my company hats. Glad the second one I gave him has a good home.

I feel lucky to have met and spent time with him on his special journey. I don't think I'd ever want to do something quite that extreme on my Vespa, so it was nice to be able to do it vicariously through him.

I'm looking forward to reading the coda to his epic voyage, and to hearing how he manages to settle back into something approximating a normal life again.

Great update! Thank you for sharing.

David, thanks for the hat. Sure hope he gets motivated to write some more as he does a great job of it. Lucky for us a friend told him he had to blog because he was not going to even take a computer as you may already know. It will be interesting to see where he goes from here. He seems to be a new person in his overall outlook on Africa

paulm

Do you know him? If not you should reach to meet him. It is well worth the effort.

No I have not met him, but will definitely do so. As you can see on the blog, the local guys gave him quite a send-off but I was unable to join in that.

I think there will most likely be a get together or promotional evening when he gets back at the local Vespa agents which I will attend. (Vespa SA if you are reading this make an effort!)

I really enjoyed his blog and have travelled on a few of the roads he has been on, so I know the conditions. Not on a Vespa though!

Such an amazing adventure. Hard to believe it's winding down. I've enjoyed following the blog and the posts here. Congrats to all involved...