Modern Vespa

Last summer I hired a Vespa while on holiday in Sardinia. There was something magical, travelling with my wife as a pillion, along golden sands, white dunes, the crystal blue Mediterranean, lovely warm air, vineyards....need I say more?

We enjoyed it so much I have since bought a white (second hand) GTS 125 Super. Admittedly, the romance of driving a scooter in the dreich wet and windy weather of Scotland in winter, is somewhat challenging...but I can only dream of better weather.

So here is my dilemma as a nubie to this forum and the scooter scene. I love the romance of the Vespa as an Italian, Mediterranean way of life. But I'm also thinking about putting a badge bar on my scooter to fit a couple of badges. But how will this effect the look of the scooter? Will a bar of RAC and similar badges, as well as other bling, take away from the Italian look, instead giving the scooter a more 'Brit' retro look? Without any additional accessories the Vespa possess a continental charm that is the Vespa allure.

I would be interested to hear and see how others feel...what kind of look do you prefer, the natural Italian look or a more 50/60s retro look....or even somewhere in between? I realise it's a matter of personal choice but any comments or advice would be appreciated.

Do you prefer Quadraphenia or La Dolce Vita?

Personally I would stick with Italan

Firstly, I think your GTS looks great already 8)

Secondly, styling is just a personal choice. Personally I prefer the sleek, uncluttered, minimalist Italian styling. Front and rear luggage racks are all I would ever put on my scooters; purely for the functionality of carrying loads.

I would never go down the route of chrome crash bars wrapped around my scooters, with oodles of badges, mirrors, horns and lights. I don't like that look at all.

But I know plenty of people who do love that look and are mainly into the scooter scene because it is still largely a 'mod' scene...they want replica Quadrophenia scooters, Northern Soul on vinyl, parka coats that come all the way down to their Dr. Martens boots...and that is all fine by me, each to their own

Stick your badges to the cubby door, and keep the lovely lines of a clean Vespa.

Mike

The Italians love to put gigantic windscreens and granny blankets on their scooters. Not very stylish.

The very best things to ever put onto a scooter are your butt and miles.

Hi I know your styling dilemma. what made scooterists and mods different to commuters is that they loved and personalised their scooters rather than just using them for cheap transport. I'm an original mod and have modded mine up... however the latest GTS riders tend to be a bit more restrained. I've got a bespoke paint job in several shades of silver, but done graphically.. Most GTSs if painted at all they tend to pick an oveall original colour. Mine was black before I had it resprayed. I live in London so to me crash bars were essential not just for show as the parking spaces and traffic is tight and bars are cheaper than resprays. I've come off a few times and they've saved a lot of panel beating. A lot of GTS guys go for the black metal look if they have accessories. Each to their own. I have a short screen, It's less buffeting, less rain, and aerodynamically better for speed. The black tint ones are shorter and would look good against white. I've got a stainless PM pipe, again for a bit better performance, lighter and will last forever, unlike the stock pipes that go after 2 or 3 years. The Acrovitch?? ones look good and do the job and look good in a GTS sporty way. A small low back rack or a bigger one to carry more stuff, yor choice. Extra bling I do have is stainless cappings on the inner leg shields and stainless foot runners instead of rubber, and a stainless rack over the battery bit. Also a Stadium mirror on the legs hield front crash bars. Ive seen some nice front badge bars with RAC , club badges, and stickers etc on the inner leg shields plus go faster stripes. I've not seen a really full modded look on one, either slightly mod or sporty, or original. . Go to some rallies and see what people have done, see what you fancy. Some scooterists go for hotting them up, and everything spent has gone on the engine, shocks, brakes, tech etc Make it yours and enjoy the ride. Pic of mine in Bilbao on a jaunt. Gass silver machine GTS 250

I love chrome the more the better! Like a previous post stated the Italians use them for transportation for the most part and care LITTLE on what they look like. Gass, where did you get the leg crash bars and windshield? Can you post a better pic?

Very true Gass, I too would be interested to hear where you got the crash bars from and also would love to see more pics of your scoot

\personally, I'd avoid metal badges as they're just to attractive to kids with sticky fingers. Even worse if they damage the scoot while tearing them off. Of course things might be better in Scotland but I guess it depends on where abouts you are. Personally I'd save the money and put it towards another Italian holiday.

I googled Vespa badge bar and I found out what it was, lol, I had no idea! I just bought a 2016 GTV 300 and I'm trying to Mod it out. Where can I purchase a badge bar and where do I get badges?

In Finland, the original Mod culture was a very marginal phenomenom. That compared with the fact, that most parts of the country provides only 4-5 months warm enough for comfortable scooting, the Mod style Vespas are a rare sight around here. Most are "purposeful" with wind shields and back boxes, some are "crome decorated" with all possible crome add-ons, some as bare and lean as possible.

I personally like the lines and curves of the Sprint body to the point where I e.g. rather suffer a bit of wind than add a wind screen. I've been thinking either some quality paint jobs (pin stripe style) or custom made stickers, but haven't decided on either yet.

I do love the romantic, simple Italian view to scoots - that was yesterday, but who cares.

The cleanest and easiest mod look is accomplished by leaving the scooter stock, and adding lots of patches/badges to your fishtail parka. Nothing to add or remove from the scooter, and portable from scooter to scooter .

I have seen it more than once here.

Cheers,
Bob

Lol ! Like mine

A windscreen will protect you from the wet weather.

(To heck with looks, I want to be dry! - And warm)

That is part of the fun is to customize. Adding chrome I thinks helps to be seen, so safer? + chrome is cool

Soooo, any pictures of a badge bar? Where or how can aquire badges?

I have never bought anything from these folks, but if you scroll down the page there is a picture of a badge bar and badges: http://www.dreamscooter.net/Pages/Web_Pages/Accessories.htm

I have bought flags and an aerial from Royale Enamel in the UK. They sell bar badges: http://www.royale-enamel.com/products/royale-enamel-badges I purchased through their eBay site. Seem to have more available on eBay.

I have various stickers on my Vespa. From stickers copying badges to MV stickers, superman logo, Notre Dame, Wasp, US and Italian flag, snoopy to club stickers. They are items that are towns or items that I love and relate to. I have an Easter Island Vespa Club sticker (which doesn't probably exist) and a Bolivia Club Sticker because I was a student in HS there. I stick them on my garage door and change them as my mood sees fit. A member said that they glue/stick the stickers on a magnetic sheet and trim it. So I can change them out as I like.
Funny story is that I put my Vespa out on the sidewalk of my store. We have homeless come by all the time. Mainly because we feed them and they go on there way. One stopped by the bike and moved the stickers all around the bike. Was very funny watching him.