Modern Vespa

Last spring I lost my semi-legit scooter parking.

I've been on the bus since, with the rare occasion that I decide to pay SEVEN DOLLARS to park in one of the six motorcycle spots in a nearby ramp which is HIGHWAY ROBBERY...but I digress.

This made for a long and dreary summer. One day late last fall I stopped by a local shop for...somethin. I don't remember what. I was sitting on one of the barstools at the front desk and happened to look out the front window...

Me: "Say...that's a moped plate..."

Shop Guy: "Yeah, it's a moped plate."

Me: "Tell me it's story."

Shop Guy: "One owner. Traded it on a Sprint."

Me: "Hmm."

Well, y'all can see where this is going. Allow me to introduce Luna.

Awesome. Can you park it for free now? The 200's are way bigger than the Sprints and LX'S. Is it a 150? When the guys (they have 200's) and i meet up for lunch i can park my LX in places they can't. Have fun with it my friend

love et's

Love the color!

Nice! Have you brought her home yet?

Like that color..... 8)

Nice to meet you Luna. Love the color!

Great color and free parking to boot! Congrats!

Luna totally rocks, especially in that color.

All this, and parking too?

Outstanding find

Looks NEW!
I'm a little jealous.
Enjoy!

I can indeed park for free because it is moped plated. It's an ET2. Some ET2s are MN moped plated, some are not. Hooray for DMV confusion! I should have just sucked it up and ridden her home this past Friday when i finally paid her off. But I didn't. And now it's going to be at least a couple more days til the alley to my garage has a snow-free path.

She is a beauty! Miles of smiles to come!

R the DMV gave me a moped sticker also. Love confused people.

A very nice looking scoot! Well done!

Nice scoot and parking solution.

Love ETs, the mother of the Modern Vespa 8)

Is it a 4T or 2T?

I think all ET2s are 50cc 2-stroke. Peppy stock, but they can be de-restricted and hopped up a bit. Solely de-restricting the motor will give you top speed close to 50mph, versus restricted at 43mph.

I'm a big fan of modern 2-stroke scoots. Almost got an Aprilia SR50 2T before I fell in love with the look of the modern Sprint. Also, I had trouble finding the 2T version in decent shape. Our local Aprilia/Guzzi dealer has a bunch of the 4T SR50's in stock. They use one as a shop bike for errands. Nice looking bikes, suspension. But the 4T versions sound slow and, like a typical 4T, a pain in the ass to make fast. 2T on the other hand seem to love being hopped up. Within reason.

The ET2 seems like a really special scoot, and a total sleeper with the moped plate. Pretty amazing solution to urban parking too. Scooters rule in cities. A 50cc 2T with top box seems pretty perfect.

I stand uncorrected

Vespa ET2

OOH!! Thank you for that link!!

5.1 bhp?!? i had no idea. I'm even more pleased with my purchase!

Apologies, and thanks for the link!

Seems like most states register vehicles under 50cc as mopeds, it they even register them at all.

I'm guessing Minnesota registered this one correctly, but what do I know cause I don't live there

fried okra

In Minnesota to qualify for moped plates a vehicle must meet all three of these criteria:

1) Under 50cc
2) 2 bhp or less
3) Mechanically restricted by the manufacturer to a maximum speed of 30mph on a flat surface

Piaggio does not restrict the 50cc Vespas, and per the wiki the ET2 is 5.1 bhp. Therefore, Luna's moped registration is not correct; she should be titled and plated as a motorcycle. But i'm certainly not going to tell Driver and Vehicle Services how to do their jobs

In Finland 50cc Vespas are more common than larger Vespas. 50ccs are allowed to park practically anywhere. When I owned the 125cc Sprint, I took full advantage of this - just always parked the scoot so, that the license plate was backed very close to something obscuring the view from behind....did it all the time, never cought a ticket. Sprint 125 is physically equal size to a Sprint 50cc, so I did not feel like being a serious criminal.

That picture can't be in Minnesota. Isn't there supposed to be snow on the ground?

I miss my ET's. Fun. Reliable. Easy to work on. Enjoy the

That's from last fall, at the dealer's. We should have some riding weather this weekend.

Some of us have been riding off and on since February

It's the first day of Spring, and the first day at work for Luna

She looks good sitting there......and hopefully doesn't need to be chained to the bike rack

fried okra

That parking looks 🙌