Modern Vespa

Definitely a concern. I won't be putting studs anywhere but down the center. I'm not interested in traction in turns on ice. For those times I encounter it I slow and proceed in a straight line. Not racing around in snow.

Plan is to put half as many studs. A little experimentation will be in order.

My scruffy ET2 on a cold trip to the coast. Got it running and on the road so paint is the next big job.

A recent ride in the tail end of winter. Have to confess I'm becoming less and less interested in riding in the winter. Soon I suspect I'll join the herd and put my scooter in storage on Labor Day...

If you can do those in the "sticks" I can't imagine what you'd do in the Tetons, Yellowstone, or Glacier.

I picked a favorite, the Christmas tree, and then liked the headlight in the fog, but then saw the Vespa in the alley with steam....so I gave up choosing a favorite!
++Calendar++

Often it's difficult to move past the postcard scenes when traveling in grand landscapes. For me at least, I have to be in a place for quite some time before I begin seeing it. That said, would love to ride the Vespa in the Tetons, through Yellowstone and Glacier National Park. Last time I was out that way was in 1970. And in a VW Campmobile instead of a Vespa!

I've thought about a calendar more than a few times. Maybe this is the year to give it a whirl. You think people are still interested in paper calendars?

Maybe I'm old fashioned, but I always keep a paper calendar to clip doctor's appointments and notes to.
Besides, I like a calendar with pictures I favor.
I don't buy generic calendars, I buy motorcycle, RV, National Park etc.
I doubt you'll get rich, but they make great Christmas gifts. I'll bet Vespa dealers would stock them.

Sorry, double post.
How does that happen? I do an edit and both show up??

Wildflower season in West Texas.

I've thought about calendars. They're on a list of things to produce using my photographs. Would be nice to make a little money to offset the costs of maintaining a privately hosted site along with the attendant costs for SSL certificates, domains, etc.

Thanks for prodding me along!

West Texas looks lovely. And your Vespa looks perfect in that landscape. White for a hot climate! How far are you from Big Bend? Seems like some fine riding down that way.

As the weather moved from winter to spring the amount of riding I'm doing has increased. The past winter was brutal for me -- physically and mentally. I still rode but with a heaviness that was hard to overcome until some miles had passed. Old age...

A recent ride reminded me of how good it is to be out in the world and shed, if only for a short time, some of the concerns of modern life. All on a modern Vespa...

Sorry for the delayed response. On vacation with the wife.

Thanks for the positive feedback! We're about 400 miles east of the Big Bend area, in North Central Texas, where Texas starts changing from green to brown, and West Texas begins. Generally flat roads, and open vistas. We get a nice wildflower season, especially during a wet Spring.

Big Bend has some amazing scenery and decent riding, but the Texas Hill Country is where our twisties are-Kerrville, Fredericksberg, San Antonio, Austin area. Hilly, two lane roads, beautiful scenery, and fields of wildflowers in the spring. One of the more popular rides is the "Twisted Sisters" loop west of Kerrville.

I'm envious of your trees and rivers. I have to go 200 miles east or south to get that kind of riding.

Take care.

Steve, I’d buy one for sure...or even maybe a book of some sort? Like a coffee table book of photos?

The rise on the left is known locally as "Steamboat Mountain".

W.A/N.T border near Kununurra. Half a metre below the sign , on the centre pole, there is a Vespa Motorsport sticker.

The hot, humid weather has abated (slightly) and has produced some foggy mornings in which to ride. Still moist, but a cool moist!

Wow. Really nice mood shot.

You can include me too Steve. I've often admired many of your Vespa shots that you post on Scooter In The Sticks. I find them atmospheric and thought provoking.

Ooh, likey!

Just a nice evening for a ride. Sunset over the Sierra Nevada, Bishop, California. Sunday, July 21, 2019.


A cool evening for a ride, and a lovely sunset over the Sierra Nevada.

I've posted this elsewhere, but thought it was fitting.

And one other. I'll stop now.



(I never miss the old girl until I start looking at pics.)

That's a lovely scene for a Vespa ride.

Beautiful photo of your old girl. Pictures have a way of triggering memories...

For the fifteen years I've been posting on Scooter in the Sticks. I've only owned a Vespa scooter. While I spent a few years writing reviews of BMW, Triumph, URAL, and Ducati motorcycles for a local dealer, the images of motorcycles were sporadic.

Now that my wife bought me a motorcycle for my 65th birthday (a surprise) I'll be adding stories and pictures of those experiences to the mix. Here's the first image of the BMW K75 on a gray, hot morning...


My 1992 BMW K75 "scooter".

On my way to breakfast with my friend Paul. Love riding in the morning mist and murk. Nice to have lightly traveled roads where you can park with pictures in mind.


Riding my Vespa GTS 250 with my friend Paul Ruby and his 2016 Honda CRF250L to the Inglebean Coffee House in Millheim, Pennsylvania.

Stumbled across this ride photo from a few years ago. Makes me want to head out on the road right now...


View from atop Jack's Mountain in central Pennsylvania.

Wife bought you a bike? She's a keeper!

Yeah, I think I'll keep her. I'm keeping my riding of the BMW infrequent. Don't want her regretting its arrival by being gone all the time. It's bad enough how much I want to ride the Vespa. Now with the K75 I'm finding even more excuses to "run errands."

My pal Gary on his 250 SportCity and me on my Citycom 300i on the top of Pikes Peak a couple of weeks ago. As there is construction at the top, they won't let you ride all the way up, stopping us at mile marker 16. After we returned from the shuttle ride to the top, my charming friend Gary sweet talked the flag girl into letting us ride the rest of the way up.

Cold weather is on the way. Rode the Vespa on the first snow of this cold riding season. Funny how you forget how slippery a slushy road with no salt can be...


Vespa GTS 250 on a short wander through the valley. Haven't installed the Heidenau snow tires yet, the Tucano Urbano bar muffs, or the apron. So it was a little chilly.

Perhaps my favorite time to be on the road, on the Vespa, is at sunrise. On this morning last week, the temperature was 29F but the sunshine warms the spirit. The Termoscud apron, bar muffs and heated grips do the rest!

There are more pictures from that ride on my post titled "SCOOTER PORN AND OTHER TALES."


My Vespa GTS 250 on a frozen morning on the way to The Choke and Puke Diner.

I've changed the engine oil and filter, hub oil, and checked everything over on my GTS before heading out on a test ride. Pennsylvania's Stay-at-Home order expires on May 8th so I'll be wandering again on the road.


My 2006 Vespa GTS250 along a rural road in central Pennsylvania.

Out shopping and a stop off on a hill above Talsarn and a look at the bluebell woods in Silian.

The bluebell woods

Both photos depict an incredible landscape, one calling out to wander on a scooter. Thanks for sharing them.

Thankyou it will be good to get out after lockdown

Sunday's Ride.

Wow that brings memories back. I bought a SymCitycom 300i new in 2008 and put 48000km on it in the 3-4years I had it. Loved that scoot. Great memories.
One of the videos of doing 900 miles in 21 hours on it.

A look back to a ride in mid-March, the last ride of my pandemic hiatus.

I love riding in the mountains. My riding friends wonder why I don't own a dirt bike. I tell them I have a dirt scooter.


My Vespa GTS 250 in Rothrock State Forest.