Modern Vespa

Just turned 71 and I put about 2500 miles on my four Vespas this year. I never commuted but, when I can, I will almost always take a scooter over a car during the salt-less months.

This isn't actually a Senior Riders story because although my buddy Ron is a Senior, he is no longer an active rider. I'm posting it here anyway because it's too good a story to not share and because I didn't want to start a new "Stupid Things We've Done on Vespas" thread.

Ron is a high school buddy with whom I've recently reconnected and with whom I used to ride Vespas in the early '60s… (see my avatar). There were also a couple of Lambretta and Cushman owners at school and together we would ride and sometimes we would do Stupid Things. Ron outdid us all in the Stupid Things department though when one day in 1961 he took a solo ride across the Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco.

Coming off the bridge, he took one of the primary offramps, 19th Avenue, where traffic generally runs at 40-45 mph however, he got stuck behind an old empty straddle carrier that, even unloaded, couldn't do more that about 30 mph. (For the non-Senior Riders, straddle carriers were used to carry lumber mostly in lumber yards and on construction sites but were able to travel on streets and roads as well. When empty they looked like an inverted U. See pics. They were phased out in the 1970s.)

Ron, being young and impatient, didn't see an empty straddle carrier in front of him, he saw a tunnel and to him, a tunnel existed only to be gone through and that's exactly what he did. He hit the throttle, zipped right through the straddle carrier, waved to the astonished driver and continued on down 19th avenue. The rest of us were in awe and conceded the Stupid Things crown to him.

Fortunately, that straddle carrier incident apparently satisfied Ron's need to do Stupid Things because he later had a successful career as an airline pilot and to the best of my knowledge, from then on, he never drove a scooter or a 747 anywhere that it wasn't supposed to go.

I most certainly would have done the same as your friend. That IS a tunnel needing to be driven through!

YES!!! Great Story and thanks for sharing I would mosdef hit that tunnel and blast the horn

Are you sure this was your buddy "Ron"? You know an awful lot of detail bout it. Are you changing the names to protect the innocent? Wink wink

"Ron", I love you man!

How old does one have to be to be a "senior"? Asking for a friend

Yes qascooter, I'm certain that it was Ron who ran his Vespa through the straddle carrier… just as I'm certain that it was Ron who lit the paper bag full of dog crap on fire on the front porch of our algebra teacher… yeah, that was him too.

For this forum "Senior Riders" is undefined however you could probably say that the term applies to a rider who is old enough for someone to say, "What?... You're still riding at your age?" Otherwise, I like to think of a Senior Rider as someone who has accumulated the wisdom, maturity and knowledge that comes with experience (well, for some of us).

Well I tried.

Several years ago, I started this post to find out how many of us old guys are still riding and I've enjoyed updating it every year on my birthday. In the back of mind I always had an unofficial goal of "80 on 80", that is riding my 1980 Vespa on my 80th birthday. I missed my 77th birthday when I had to undergo surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff (non-scooter related) and now I'm missing my 78th… and I'm not sure I'm going to be able to bounce back for my 79th.

A couple of months ago I started medical treatment for a touch of cancer on my tongue. . Now this particular cancer is no big deal and is an easy fix so treatment progressed nicely but with side effects of a loss of energy and a lack of enthusiasm for much of anything. My recovery was progressing nicely until a particularly nice Sunday afternoon at the end of September when I spent some time in my backyard enjoying the sunshine. All was good until I came back into the house and the loss of energy from the radiation treatment caught up with me and my legs gave out from under me. I collapsed on the living room floor and broke my right leg.

I spent a couple of weeks in rehab and now am back home where I'm likely to be for the next couple of months. (Us old guys don't heal quickly) I'm obviously going to miss riding on my 78th birthday but expect to be back on two wheels in the spring. In the meantime, my buddy Steve will be stopping by periodically to give Spermy a run around the block.

In the meantime, I have to ask how many other old guys are still riding? Just wondering.

Keep the faith brother. Chris and I see you as an inspiration, so keep the faith.

I turned 60, rode the 60 year old Allstate to Yachats with Chris & Geoff, for an over 60 mile ride on my birthday. It was awesome..

https://www.relive.cc/view/vRO7JRB8Byv

I didn't know we ever missed birthdays. In fact, we only have one, and that one is impossible to miss.

Well that sure sucks but it sure sounds like you definitely WOULD have been riding except for an inconvenient busted leg, so I'ma give you credit for that. Heal fast, FattyBear, like your tongue!

At same age as you I still ride regularly, but now I need the weather to be nicer than 10 years ago, so I don't ride as often . Or as far . Or as fast . Also I dislike riding at night where there are no streetlights more now, and same in my car.
OTOH I think you'll agree we're lucky to still feel comfortable riding and showing ppl that we can.

What a story, Fatbear! And what fascinating contraptions. I don't recall seeing a straddle carrier before, and I was born (1968) and raised in San Francisco. Maybe this indicates with certainty that I'm a middle-aged rider, rather than a senior one. If the straddles began disappearing in around say 1970, I wouldn't remember them.

At 54, I'm still riding motorcycles & scooters but I usually keep it below 60mph and I don't frequent the highways. The BMW airhead 750cc is beginning to feel a little heavy to push off the center stand but I plan on sticking with it for a while yet. I wish you a speedy recovery and hope to see you riding by springtime.
-Z

Thanks for the good wishes zachyzach. It's really frustrating knowing that I won't be able to ride until after the first of the year. Especially when i go out to the garage and see Spermy just sitting there... waiting for me

Learning to be patient

At the young age of 70 I still ride regularly, commuting on my modern to that job I wanted when I was 18 but wasn't mature enough to have; - driving other people's nice cars. (Lexus hybrid 450 SUV thing today, but more commonly VW group product). I still take the shifty out on nice days so she remembers that she's loved.

Your Shifty is lucky to have an owner who cares!

I'm getting closer!

I've always had an unofficial goal of "80 on 80" That is, I'll want to be riding my 1980 P200 on my 80th birthday. Well, I just hit 79 and took a 50 mile ride on Saturday so I guess there's a good chance I'll be able to meet my goal. If I do, then I guess I'll have to start shopping for a 1985 Vespa.

How many octogenarians do we have currently riding?

I'm only 46 but have the bones of a 137yr old. So I'm either an honorary senior or senior adjacent.

Right on Lucky bear!

I'm a few years behind, but last year on my 60th, I was able to ride over 60 miles on B62, which was 60 years old also at the time.

I'm hoping I'll be doing as good as you when I reach 79....

Honorary works!

Looking good, Fatbear! So glad you made it out on your birthday I have full confidence you'll reach your 80/80 goal. Wishing you a very happy year ahead!

Thanks Kimono... it's always good to hear from you. I'm guessing that you're probably getting ready to shut down for the Winter but I look forward to your reading your posts again when it's warm enough to ride in Minnesota.

Our Vespa Appreciation Group took our Last-Ride-of-the-Season on Saturday but we will probably get together for lunch and/or beer regularly during the cold months.

Thanks for responding to my post.

Jeff

Well, not so fast, Jeff….. October here was rather chilly and I thought riding season was all done, but MN forecast next week magically says 50+. So today I bought two gallons of e-free and a couple squirts of 2-stroke. Plan to ride until my fingers tingle—a happy last hurrah. Then I'll probably have to tuck Blue in for the looooong winter, moof😢

So great that you have a burger/beer/Vespa Enthusiast Group!

Just look at the sheen of that machine!


The Vespa looks pretty good also.

🙂.

Yeah, yeah, yeah but I'm a born and bred native Californian so 50 degrees doesn't work for me. In fact, anything under 70 degrees is too damned cold to ride… especially now that I'm getting more "senior". On the other hand I also don't ride at much over 100 degrees any more so my comfort zone is pretty narrow.

I expect that I'll winterize Spermy before too much longer but I'll keep tinkering with Red Rover as long as the garage stays warm.

...though I find it hard to consider myself a senior, I am eligible for the discounted coffee at McDonalds.
I'm 55.

Sure, we can count you as a Senior Rider (Junior Division)

Gee, I hope I look that young at 55 Both of you look great! Must be the 2T.

Congrats on qualifying for the cool Senior Riders thread! May you have many happy rides zooming thru the McD's drive-thru for cheap coffee. Does the Allstate have cup holders?

First time I've seen this thread. The scooter habit can be a lifetime thing. I'll be 80 in March. Had scooters most of my adult life, sometimes just one, sometimes three or four. Making a living and raising a family got in the way some years. Couple of times I had to leave a scooter or two in a friend's garage. Couple of times we lived in a city that wasn't really scooter friendly. Now I'm sort of in the home stretch and down to one blue P200. Still feel like I've got a couple of years in me. We'll see. Gotta fix this damned latch.

^^ This would be the first scooter riders' club I've ever belonged to. I'm 55 too. I'm starting to see the junk mail AARP membership invites piling up around here.

I'm turning 54 this month, so I guess I'm a junior senior. The wrenching I do on my scooters and bus keeps me flexible and motivates me to learn new skills. It only hurts when I stop, so I'm not gonna.

Two older neighbors recently got rid of their big Harley's. I can't imagine that ever happening with my scooters.

You've got about 8 months on me… cool!

My oft-stated goal is to be riding my '80 P200 on my 80th birthday and I fully expect to reach that goal. After that, my wife says I have to quit. That's another matter for another time

I would keep on riding. I am a much more careful rider than I was in my teens, when I used my scooter as daily transportation in city traffic. A lot of it is having people who depend on me. I choose my conditions and have realized I don't have to scare myself to have fun.

Giving up the things you really enjoy can have a devastating impact on health unless it's crystal meth or free climbing El Capitan.

Fixing up yer scoot and riding at 80? You're an inspiration, Pops.

As long as you don't intend to touch 80 mph as well, I'm totally onboard with you. So far my wife has not given me an ultimatum but I know one lurks somewhere in the not-too-distant future. I'm not sure how I'm going to react. Begging from a kneeling position comes to mind. But I use common sense when I ride, gave up the freeways five or six years ago, try to ride early Sunday mornings, weather permitting, and I keep my scooter in good condition. All that works in my favor. But when she says unambiguously to stop, I will. Good luck to us all.

Yes, Common Sense is probably the best accessory a scooter can have. My riding style has been called Old-Man-Wimpy so like you, I stay away from Freeway and have for years. Fortunately, that's easy to do in Fresno as there are still plenty of more realistic roads to ride and enjoy.

Yes, The Ultimatum is lurking out there somewhere, but it might be the Great God Arthritis that makes that final decision for me. I took a 60 mile ride last month and the last five miles were really rough on my lower back so that might be what finally makes me pull the plug. Fortunately, my wife doesn't read this forum so I'll keep that little fact to myself.

That's my life now. Three months to the big eight-O. then we'll see what I've got left. In the end, the heart is willing but the flesh is weak so don't waste a day.

Short rides work too. Long rides on these things would be hard on anyone and probably more challenging than a motorcycle.

There's no doubt that aging imposes limits. I think even if I could only do short rides, it would still be worth it. Most of my rides are short because of time limits. But even a short ride gets me to somewhere I haven't seen before or looked at it the same way. If that's all I was able to do someday, it would still be worth the trouble. It still gives me that feeling of my first ride at 17. I would still enjoy working on them too.

In 4 days my Dad, aka Vespa Ed on the old BBS, turns 90. He still rides every week. He skips the bad weather days now or it would be most days. Has a stable of Vespas and a few motorcycles to boot including a couple sport bikes! His favorite Vespa that he still owns is the PX150.

I am 65 and there is not much as precious as when I visit and Dad and all three sons go on a ride. Waffle House always seems surprised to see the old geezers pulling up on such a mix of machines.