Modern Vespa

Ninety years old??? Damn, I'm impressed!

I was thinking that riding at 80 was going to be a pretty good accomplishment but I take my hat off to your dad. Wow!

My true respect to all the older guys and ladies still riding vespas. I admire you for what you do.

Wow! 90. You're dad is an inspiration. Sounds like he knows how to live. Not everyone does. It's an art form.

For most of us I think it's just our way of staying "young"... or at least our version of it. I especially enjoy the fact that I'm still riding when I see people my age who have mentally given up and moved into a retirement home.

Not for me..

It was 73 degrees in Fresno yesterday so I took a ride with a couple of other Old Guys… sure felt great!

68 years old been riding 51 years

👍

Trip planned in 4 weeks to visit and ride with my 90 YO pop! Might have to tune up his old cut down.

Jroberts - Promise me that you take some pics and post them on here.
MichaelRyerson - I was kind of in the same situation as you in the past. My wife asked me to quit riding when my daughter was young. The problem was, we kept having kids so there was always a young one. 15 years later I started up riding again. But during the down time, I wrenched on bikes and scoots in the evenings and weekends. It worked out because I worked out of my garage near the kids and it brought in a little coin, too.

I just committed publicly to living to 90 and still be riding my scooters at 90kmh.
A little back story, my Dad died at 87 and a bit. He always said he wanted to live longer than his mother had. I confidently told a nurse at the home where he spent his final years that he had done that comfortably.


By about 2 months!

I need to do better than that.

You are in the right place to do that . I would move the NZ in a heartbeat if it were at all possible.

Wrenching on Vespas is the second best thing you can do to a scooter. Six weeks to my 80th. Deep into my cold weather maintenance, carb rebuilding, checking the auto-lube drive, clutch and wiring. Replacing kill switch (broken lever), going to a halogen headlight. At the same time, ordinary maintenance on my other pride-and-joy, my'68 VW double cab. Temperature in my garage today a brisk 46. Got the oil heater going. Hoping for mild weather on or after Mar 27. Plan to truck Maggie May to Galveston and then ride her from Boliver Roads to San Luis Pass (a tad over sixty miles round trip). Then lunch on the Strand.

That is so cool! Your Pop is an inspiration. I ran across this song a few years ago and it seems to fit your dad. It's sung to the tune of Pinball Wizard

Burnin' up the highway
He rides as fast he can
Always on a Vespa
Won't drive no other brand
Throttle to the limit
He doesn't give a damn
That old man on the highway
Sure is a mean scooter man

He flies like he was 20
The years don't slow him down
If someone tries to smoke him
He runs them to the ground
Ain't no one left to challenge
'cause they ain't got the sand
That old man on the highway
Sure is a mean scooter man

He's a scooter demon
Never cries Enough
A scooter demon
He likes to ride it rough!

Why do you think he does it? I don't know
What makes him so good?

He won't wear no helmet
He's ridin' to be free
Don't need no limitations
That's how it's gonna be
He rockets down the backroads
Always in command
That old man on the highway
Sure is a mean scooter man

He's a scooter demon
He lives his Rock and Roll
A scooter demon
Don't ever call him Old

He rides like he was driven
By furies yet unseen
He may look meek and mild
But he ain't what he seems
Twistin' on the throttle
For every mile he can
That old man on the highway
Sure is a mean scooter man

Goal Reached!

Some years ago I set a goal for myself to be Eighty on Eighty. That is, I wanted to ride my 1980 P200 on my 80th birthday. Well, today I reached that goal. It was a short ride, just a couple of miles, but that was only because it was cold and not because of any physical limitations. My wife says that I'm too old and that if I'm going to continue riding, I'm going to have to get a note from my doctor. Well, I often go out for a beer with my doctor so that shouldn't be a problem.

I guess now I'm going to have to buy a 1985 Vespa and set a new goal.

Happy Birthday!

And many Happy Riding Returns!
Welcome to the more cautious, slower eighties.

Right on Luckybear! May we all be as lucky as you

Happy Birthday 🎂

Happy Birthday LB!

Great way to celebrate.

Love your attitude. Happy birthday. 🎂🎉🎁🎊🛵

Very entertaining read this. Thanks to all contributors.

Me 68.
First moped when 16, motorcycle at 18.
Rode bikes and sidecars as a ´life style´.
Raced (incl. internationally) for 23 years.
Still have a sidecar and half a dozen two wheelers of which two Vespas.
Slowed down a bit because three fused vertebrae, two ti hips and one ti shoulder.
All is relative though as this afternoon went out shopping in stormy weather on the pedal bike; 20 mountain kms away and back with a loaded backpack. It is part of the Vespa performance improvement; reducing my own weight

Fatbear, you are my hero, Happy birthday!

FB5....All the Best!
85 on an 85? You may want to start wearing some PPE

Yes of course. Going Helmetless was only for photo-op. I wanted to show off my big smile

Also, you can ignore the Safety Third sticker on the cowl

Well, actually, when he was young, helmets were very much optional.
Mind, just as important and I thank my existence to my dad wearing head protection (at the time the max was puddin´basin model).

Why ignore it when you can live it?

Happy Birthday!

The odds aren't in my favor (and not because of my riding habits), but I hope I'll get to do my own 80 at 80...probably KmH, but to each his own, right?

Good for you Fatbear! The key to a long and healthy life is enjoying it and you have picked one of the best ways, in my opinion. Wrenching keeps me moving, flexing and bending and I don't even notice because I'm enjoying it. Going to a gym or yoga class would not give me the same benefit. Probably because I would hate it and never go.

Ride on, Fatbear!

Yes, take a look at my avatar. That was taken when I was 16. All I needed then was a pair of sunglasses and l was good to go

Hey, KmH still counts…. and you still get bragging rights

I have a friend who brags that he played in the 1962 Rose Bowl. When I asked him what position he played, he told me "first saxophone". It still counts!

I like your thinking!

a good looking sister.

Yes, she was then and still is at 76.

Belated!

Awesome stuff.

Congrats on surviving another trip around the sun!

I think I'm wanna retire in Asia and get a tuk tuk, with a "tall local in heels" to be my companion, old enough

I háve retired; in the southern andalucian mountains. No tuktuk, just a Suzuki micro van. No local companion, but import from Paraguay 17 years my junior so well old enough.
Careful what you whish for though; hard work that, a younger charming company. If it does not work with ´mine´, I am not going live together anymore. LAT and fleetings it will be. And Vespas, another Vespa.

I opened the gates of the Hell I was in with idle fantasies, like a teenager wishing for the fastest scooter. I have my own set of keys,

I have 53.
First scooter was 6 years ago Yamaha Vino.....

Today I have small collection:
VESPA LX 125
Yamaha vino 50
Honda dio 50.

I used my Vespa full year, in winter too.

Another year and still riding! I hit 81 this week and I haven't slowed down! Well, I should say "I haven't slowed down much". I was part of a 100 mile group ride a couple of weeks ago and recognized that I don't ride as aggressively as I used to. There was one woman riding with us and she was slower and more conservative than the rest of the group… and I rode behind her.

I currently have one Twistie and one Shiftie and while my 1980 P200 is still my favorite, I have to admit that I sure like the electric starting on my 2005 ET4. Maybe my age is catching up with me.

What other "senior" guys and gals are still riding?

I'm a conservative rider too. I was an idiot when I had a scooter at 18 and am lucky to have never been hurt.

I feel that I don't have anything to prove by going fast, I'm just happy to enjoy the ride. As I ride more, I am more comfortable going faster. Being able to ride at 81 is much more impressive to me.

Riding since 5 years old off road on my Taco mini, moved up to a DT60

Now 65" and my wife is almost half my age , surfing and standup jet skis I still enjoy.

GB