Modern Vespa

So, I've typically had passengers hoist their leg over bikes while I am on the front. With my GTS though, my wife is very short and can't get her leg over. I do have the SIP peg extenders. Do you all have passengers step on the pegs to get up on to the seat while you are already on, or have them get on and scoot back while on the stand? Generally how do you have people get on (especially short people)? Is it ok to put all of her weight on the extended pegs?

Ususally get my passengers to get on while the bike is on the centre stand and with me off the bike so they can step through. I then get on and perform a powerful hip thrust to get the bike off the stand. It's all in the thrust motion, there could be no hesitation.

I discourage passenger 'peg climbing' scooter/motorcycle mounting as it makes the scooter unstable even when I'm in the drivers seat holding it upright. The GTS peg itself looks flimsy so I say its only for resting your footsie on. So for those vertically challenged (the wife)- the scoot is idling, off the stand, I'm in the seat ready to go, then passenger gets on by keeping one leg on ground, the other is thrown over seat and get on as best you can. Tough love.

I think it's meant to be difficult to promote buying ones own Vespa.

She got a Buddy Kick, but is still learning to ride it, she loves to ride with me! Buying her a bike was a clever ploy to be able to spend more money on mine.

We use the pillion on first technique as the top box makes an already tricky move even worse. No problems once we are both comfortably settled on the GT200. Have started to fix the problem by buying my better half an LX150 which she is learning to ride.

^^^this is what I do

Best Miguel

I use this method and it works fine, use the side stand if you have concerns about holding it while the passenger mounts up

My usual method. Other times the leg over mount.

We've always done it with the driver straddling the bike, standing and holding it upright. Then the passenger places their hands on the drivers shoulders, left foot on left peg, stand up and move right leg over the seat. The peg is easily strong enough to take the weight - note, it's not stamped on!

^ Precisely the safest and easiest method.

Yeah but he looks like he's got about a 40 inch inside leg

What I've always done - no disasters so far

Yip but my mrs hasn't and it works for her

Excuse the stupid verification request.......but are you saying the passenger peg will support the weight of a passenger standing on it to swing her leg over the bike to mount?
We have Harleys with fixed pegs, but the pegs on my 300GTS are SO flimsy and cheap compared. I must go out to the garage now to check them out further.......

Well, I just went out and put some weight on the peg, I'm 170 pounds, and there's NO way I would think that peg could support even a 110 pound passengers full weight. I'm not saying you're wrong, I just won't believe it till I see it,,,,,and I'm not allowing my wife to experiment with our peg.

I'm 180lb, and I've just been out to our garage to check - the peg *easily* takes my weight - and I bounced up and down on it too.

I'm sure Piaggio would have been inundated with complaints of failing pegs if they couldn't work with the normally recommended way of mounting (which is contained in my OP) - and in the 13 years MV has been in existence there's not been one report of peg failure.

If pillion mounting is the deal-maker, go for an MP3.

I have never had a pillionon Sunny.
The other day I was riding home and stopped at a traffic light.
A very tired and confused Gogo (that's what you call a Granny in Africa)
asked me for directions as she was lost and many city blocks away from where she needed to be.

So she loaded her two grocery bags into the liberated supermarket-carrier-basket-without-handle I have zip-tied to my rear carrier and she slid over the seat while I stood up holding the Vespa still.
(I guess she put her butt on first and swung over behind me - I wasn't looking)

I must say that the extra weight on the rear changed the handling so much I was surprised - and most disinclined to want to try again. I am a heavy set rider and even riding solo I need the full damping capacity.

Coping with the handling and an excited Gogo behind me on her FIRST ride on an isthuthuthu (i.e. motorcycle/scooter.) I rode the seven or eight blocks to where her daughter lived. Delivered safely to her destination, she alighted by reverse process and I went on my way. Just a tiny act of interracial harmony.

Give her a piggy back ride to the seat!

This is certainly welcome info and I will take your adamant word as truth. They are just so flimsy in their folding design I would have never trusted them to hold any weight. Nor do I allow my wife to "push off" of them to slide as far back in the seat as she can, to get as much room for me as possible. Looks like she'll be mounting the Vespa the same as she's been mounting the Harleys for years.

Thanks !!!

Side Saddle?

We've done it like this for years, too. I'd add the important tidbit to tell the passenger "Use me to lift". This tends to avoid the GIANT LUNGE. On a tall touring bike the lunge leads to horrible outcomes.