Modern Vespa

You are gonna get scrapes and scratches on it in the city no matter what you do. Knocked over best case a couple scratches. Most likely some decent dents and possibly broken panels if it's plastic.

Twice, I've come out to find my Vespa parked on its side stand (which I never use unless I'm standing next to it). It's the telltale that someone molested it.

Once was last night. Thankfully, I couldn't find any damage.

The other was 6 months ago. I had parked it against a piece of curb that couldn't have been more than 18" long; it was surrounded on both sides by driveways. I was sure nobody could hit it there, and sure enough...

Luckily, I had just had crash bars put on the week before. The lefthand mirror, brake lever, front fender, and legshield trim were all scratched. Someone was even nice enough to leave a note with the offender's license plate number. I've seen the car in the neighborhood often since then - I think they live in the building I was parked in front of.

I reported it as a hit and run to the SFPD, who wouldn't do shit about it. They told me to wait two weeks for a report, which was literally just a written copy of what I'd reported. It didn't include any of the driver's info. To get that info, I need to either file a form with the DMV, or submit a claim to your insurance. If you file the form with the DMV, the person whose records you're requesting gets your information in a notice. If you submit a claim to your insurance, it counts as a collision, which means you need to pay your collision deductible. They'll reimburse it if they can get money out of the other guy, but they don't have standing until they pay you money, which means you don't know going in whether you're paying or they are.

Of course, I'd like the damage fixed (both as a point of pride, and as a fuck you to the entitled asshat who thought they could knock my moto over with impunity - I left a note that they never responded to). But it's so minor you have to be looking for it. People regularly tell me the Vespa looks brand new, even now. I haven't wanted to risk opening a claim with insurance, or having a stranger get a form from the DMV saying "your neighbor requested your records," so I haven't done anything about it yet.

The only scrapes that really bother me are where someone's bumper roughed up the paint near my engine vents, before I had the crash bars put on.

If you park in tight gaps between cars on the street it is a matter of time before it happens. Steel bodied Vespas are not well suited for getting knocked down unfortunately and you could get some dents in the cowls. Something like the PX has removable cowls so not a big deal.

No one has ever purposely knocked over my scooter, and I'd like to think it's unlikely to happen here in Connecticut. Knocking one's scooter over without cause would be a shitty thing to do, and I don't understand the motivation for randomly doing so... If I saw Hilter's scooter or David Duke's scooter, I'd knock that shit over in a heartbeat, but who goes around knocking scooters over for kicks? Alex from A Clockwork Orange ?

I have accidentally dropped the scooter off a motorcycle lift and also laid it down driving over an unreasonably high transition into a gas station. Both occasions sucked, but the damage was minimal - some scratches (which I painted over with touch-up paint) and cracked plastic exterior silver trim (which I replaced). The scooter runs fine and most people wouldn't notice the "repairs" as the damage was minimal.

I have just resprayed the back of mine with Rust-oleum hammered black and then black over that to hide the blemishes. There are some slight dents "hidden" under there. I will do other parts of the scoot the same to give an overall image.