Modern Vespa

I recently completed a cross-country ride and today posted on my blog of that ride photos and descriptions of the things I carried. I'm not sure if this link should be posted here or in Ride Reports. A moderator can make corrections as necessary. Here are pictures of my scooter and the contents of the pet carrier. Details are available at my non-commercial blog [url]www.SingleCylinderPsyche.com[/url]. I have also posted some trip photos in Ride Reports.

That is inspirational. Well done!

Thanks for the info!

Great post. Inspired by your travels and would love to do the same. Need to figure out how to afford the time off.

Jealous. I need to fly over to the mainland and do one. I feel like a gerbil in a wheel over here. Round and round i go but it's to nowhere i go.

Looks good! Just about what I carry for tools when I was on my GTS, cross-country.

Never carried a belt, rollers or the tools to change a belt. Had shops along the way change them.......but I guess you never know. Did carry an
extra header pipe (see picture below).

Love your states visited map on the trunk!

Nice report-----as long time rider, big miles, I find-----nice to be self contained,but I see on your trip you had a few times on tow truck. Nice job of keeping load forward.

Too bad no more Vespas with spare tires and wheels

Very close to what I carried on my kitted LX when I rode to Colorado and back a few years ago, except that I also carried two mounted tires and wheels. I stored all my spares in the cavity between the two rims and stuffed the wheels in a tight-fitting canvas bag. It made a very good backrest when strapped to the seat.

Impressive carrying capacity on that GTS! Would be cool to see pics of your LX loaded up too Silver Streak, if you have any from your Colorado trip

Nice kit!

Here ya go... the LX loaded up for the trip and ready to go:



The saddlebags turned out to be a bit of a pain in the butt because of the aerodynamic drag and getting in the way of getting the bike on and off the centerstand.

I am not mechanically inclined at all nor do I want to do any of the work but I do want to do a cross country ride. Is it necessary to be able to change a belt or other maintenance stuff?

Depends on whether you can afford the luxury of long waits for tows to competent mechanics and replacement parts when and if you break down somewhere in the middle of Nevada or someplace else many hundreds of miles from the nearest Vespa dealer.

I'm capable of doing my own mechanical work, and I knew I'd be staying off the interstates and riding lonely secondary roads, so I went prepared for anything. Turned out all I needed was a replacement rear tire for the trip back.

You cross country guys are a impression to all of us.
I was fortunate to get out today and ride to the local
store for stuff my bride needed for making dinner.

Bob Copeland
Minn-so-cold

We all end up back where we started.

Like I said I've never carried a belt or needed to (with my GTS), just had shops along the way take care of it. Had them also change the oil, etc. I can do most of the maintenance/ emergency stuff, but if i couldn't I'd still go! Before hand plan your route to have a few shops along the way to do maintenance or to help you out. Get AAA, cell phone and a SPOT Satellite Messenger http://www.findmespot.com/en/
They have a rebate now, I paid $149.00 for mine plus a year subscription for 99 bucks. Now no matter where I am (out of cell range), I can get help.

Read the manual for your scooter & get a service manual to look over.

Going on the trip will help you to know your scooter and be fun!

Now, highlight what you actually needed or used on your 7k journey. The rest was just for peace of mind.

I saw all those tools and wondered exactly the same thing. On longer trips I still don't take much in the way of tools, mainly because I'm pretty useless with them. If you know a belt will last so many miles then you can always just plan to do a stop over at a garage along the way. Alternatively you can just trust to luck as it can be quite nice meeting local people and staying with them when things go pear shaped.

One of the big advantages of packing all your stuff in such an orderly fashion is that you quickly notice if something is missing. Why did you chose to travel in November? would you use an electric vest next time. Would you ever do it camping? Did you have the GTS already or did you pick it specifically for that trip? Very nice write up by the way. Were all the photo's and writing done on your ipad? did you carry a small keyboard?

Based on now near 400,000 miles on rubber band drive scooters.....always carry spare belt. Japanese scooter dealers may not have one in stock......Vespa, where in US are you even going to find dealer?

Since 1990, first Helix, bought in Japan, have broken/shredded only one belt underway (Helix)---had spare, that scooter easy to change belt roadside. I always run OEM belts and keep drive train stock and change at makers recommend miles/time.

I hate walking/waiting.....and in 60 years of 2 wheel travel, and over 1.5 million miles....only been hauled off a few times.

One thing I would add to riders prep=everything must be 100% waterproof, including you in professional quality motorcycle gear and rubber overboots.

Again nice trip/prep/pictures

Mike,

It's been a pleasure being able to follow along on your trip around America and your wandering route. The post-journey summation of your experience with gear and the thinking around choices keeps the trip going and my interest as well. I'm glad you chose to blog over camp but I suspect the choice made the trip different. I think about Mike Saunders and his Honda Ruckus journey across North America. He blogged but it was more sporadic.

I know how much time it takes to create a post, especially shooting and processing images like you did, so on top of the riding you made a pretty large commitment to that as well. Maybe in the epilogue you're writing you can talk about that choice.

So, when does your next trip start? Some people have asked whether this got the epic desire out of your system or only just started it up?

There is usually not a day or week that goes by where I am not daydreaming of a trip like this. I often think of what I would bring, or not bring... Watched many movies.. daydreamed some more. Right now I am incredibly torn. I have a gap of time in between my semesters starting in December and before school starts up in January. I feel it probably is pretty foolish to do any long ride during this time unless I am incredibly vigilant about the weather.

Oh to dream though...

Thanks to everyone for contributing to the discussion. The answers to the "Why did you take it?" and "Did you use it?" questions are conveniently located in a single blog post. Please click and read: [url]www.SingleCylinderPsyche.com[/url]. Other issues will be addressed in an "Epilogue" post about a week from now.
Again, thanks for adding to the discussion. I love seeing the different experiences and perspectives.

Well, there are nearly a hundred Vespa dealers located in 43 states, so it is not as if you can't locate one somewhere. I grant you, the chances are small that it will be only a mile or two down the road from where you just broke down, but you could say that about any bike on a cross country trip. How many BMW dealers are there?

On Vespa dealers in US----not many period. As BMW rider since 1958, again not many dealers....and they break too often. Last year rode to 49 states, 46 on SilverWing, 3 TU 250 Suzuki----no need for dealers that trip, but with Japanese nice to know there are still some.

Sometimes I seem to lack it , but when it comes to belts......if I'm about ready to take a cross-country trip a new belt installed is required, fresh oil change, new tires, a spare tire (without rim, for a shop to install, they might not have the tire I need), all tools checked, spare parts (just in case dealer doesn't have one I need).

The lack of dealers or location of dealers never stopped me from going!

I have tow insurance from Progressive and it has the very important key words in the policy. "Will tow to the nearest qualified dealer".
I have used them a few times over the years and they will take you to the nearest "qualified" i.e. Vespa repair joint no matter how far. Remember all tow policies, no matter the company, use a sub-contractor service for phone calls and the tow vehicle. They may not be informed about your policy and you may have to call your insurance company directly, after talking to the tow company, to get the exact service you pay for. Using the tow service has never affected my rates the next year.

I'd say this is a more important consideration than whether you should carry the tools and parts to do a top end rebuild at the roadside rest area. (I do carry a spare CVT belt on longer trips BTW - but not because I'm planning on changing out the belt at the side of the road )

Excellent packing for your trip, but next time pack a Spork. It will free up a little space under the seat.

Great advice! Thanks.