Modern Vespa

I like irony -

Like when you spend ages deciding if you should sell your bullet proof Kymco X-iting 400 so you can relax a bit and enjoy your riding again.

You choose to then go out and buy a Benelli TNT 125 and a Royal Enfield Continental 535 just for a contrast.

Within days of collecting your purchases your local dealer rings you to say that he has a 2018 Kymco AK550 with 80 miles on it for $2500 less than retail.

Then -

You get an amazing offer from a dealership in the US to lend you a Coast to Coast scooter so you won't have to buy, register and insure it then sell it post ride but it means riding a brand and model that you've been knocking for the last 5 years.

I may have to eat rather a lot of humble cupcake or be really stubborn and stick with my principals.

It's like raaaaa- iiinnn on your wedding day......

Bill x

Huh.


Mr. Play-It-Safe afraid to fly?

Cross the pond, ride the scooter, have a great time, and then suppress all evidence it ever happened.

Like Roswell in '47...

10,000 scooter when all you need is a wife?

Stick to your principles and send me the offer from the dealer which I will then ride coast to coast.

Bahahahahha

I can't hand this over to anyone else.

I'm enjoying the conflicted moral knot that it's putting me in.

So funny and uncomfortable at the same time.

Me and my big mouth.

Bill x

... other choices?

There is another choice and its very generous one but it doesn't have support of a dealership or a brand which counts for a lot.

You see I didn't approach the brand, a dealership approached me which makes it very embarrassing.

You're all welcome to jump in and call me a hypocrite at any point.

Lets face it, I deserve it.

Bill x

Which one?

Freedom of choice is the basis of everything we do, from this also comes respect for the person; i do not know you but from what little i have read i see a certain sharpness in knowing how to distinguish what is necessary from the superfluous (sorry for the bad translation).

I just don't like wasting time.

I don't like being vague.

I often open my mouth and say the first thing that I think of.

It's not always good.

I often have regrets but love to speak my mind.

Bill x

How does this thread relate to the title, Alanis Morissette???

The thread is about irony, hence Alanis' "Isn't it Ironic".

But surely your opinions have been on the old GTS? I assume they're handing you the HPE model so do the write up as if it's a new bike. If it fails then, sure, slag it off but do the write up fairly. You could angle the write up on how well it makes a grand tourer then perhaps offer a view on how it might be as a city commuter. The contrast and compare with the old model should work well.

PS I tried looking for good songs on selling out but didn't find any.

Here's the rub, it's a 2012 GTS.

Same as the one I had.

Strokes beard.

Bill x

Sounds like you're standing on wobbly ground

I'm just finding it incredibly funny.

Be nice to those people on the way up because you might meet the same people on the way down.

Bill x

I'd say just get over yourself, take the free ride and enjoy the trip. Remember to post full details of the trip here so everyone can enjoy taking the piss. I'll admit I'd never heard of Alanis Morissette before this thread and I'm really enjoying her stuff. If you ask her nicely, maybe she'll let you use her tune for your video review.

Intetering... and what do the dealer get from you riding a 2012 GTS from coach to coach? Just knowing that some folks seem to do that every second year anyway...

Probably because I'm going to do it my way, not their way.

Coach to Coach ? Like a Greyhound ?

Bill x

Something like this??

It won't play.

Send me the link via a pm.

Thank you.

Bill x

Ha, some spell anti-checker attacked my post, send from a mobile... I so love those.

Well, they do make life interesting... it's not long since I made a promise to send further information by e-male....

I love the Cannonball but while competing in it I realised that I could ride more than the 300 to 400 a day miles we had to cover which is how I got into the 1000 plus a day stuff.

Riding the distance above is tiring but it's not exhausting so I'm planning to do few more miles in a day, have a small rest in Denver then finish a few days later in LA.

That's the plan any way.

Bill x

I ran into her once on a beach in Kauai, about three years ago. ...a cute, very short chick was walking toward me in shorts and a bikini top and I thought "hey, that's Alanis Morissette!" And it was, because, yes, I went back to our condo and Googled "Alanis Morissette Kauai".

And I thought a) "what a weird thing to be a celebrity" and b) "I wonder if she went back to her room and Googled me?"

Also, I only happened to notice her because she was a cute chick in a bikini top, and I thought "think of all the things in this world I'd notice if only they were all cute and in a bikini top."

And I only bring this up because it's not relevant at all and that's how we do here.

Life is made up of opportunities. Sounds like one has just presented itself. So, do it. Enough philosophizing. (we are obviously not going to hold it against you if you ride a Vespa across the US next summer - and no, we don't expect you to be consistent anyway)

This Summer.

Starts June 27th.

Bill x

This is so funny.

The Royal Enfield cost £6323 and went back because of some build quality problems.

The Kymco AK550 cost $9200 and had a duff battery fitted so the the internal Nav killed it dead.

The Benelli was $2900 and you have to peel me off it.

I've not been gentle with it and so far there haven't been any issues.

Any excuse to get on the damn thing to buzz out somewhere and I'm on it.

I ride it smiling and often laughing.

I love it.

Bill x

I just watched the Beatles document by Ron Howard, "The Beatles: Eight Days a Week - the Touring Years"...

"Tell me that you want those kind of things
That money just can't buy"

Principless Schinciples. I had a set of principles, then went to school where I had several principals, and got some more principles. Then I went to work, where I got more principals. Now I'm retired (but older than you), and I'm dropping principles in bushels.

What was I saying?

I honestly have no idea.

I'll be back on the Benelli tomorrow.

Can't wait.

Best get some sleep.

Bill x

This too will pass

I doubt it.

Bill x

Nope.

3 lovely hours of playing tunes with the gearbox while the engine sang along.

A mix of urban roads plus country lanes and two lane highways.

Just 11.7 hp.

Love it.

Bill x

Pics of the lovely?

My life choice

She's a real beauty.

It's a little bundle of joy.

My little bike, not even the Kymco has made me smile this much.

Bill x