Modern Vespa

Not everybody here is from an area that is "scooter heaven" like Cali or overseas where scooters are the more prefered means of transportation. So what got you into the scooter lifestyle? For my wife and I, she is for one Italian, so pics from her parents trips to the home country showed loves of them. Combined with both of us having low paying jobs at that time and needing to save $$ on gas, which was very high at that time in the USA. I started on a 04 Honda Metropolitan and she had a Chinese scoot. We moved up to 150's and got our MC endorsement, then 250cc Hondas. Right now she is without a scoot, but I am riding a 2011 Vespa LXV150ie. I was always drawn to the Vespa quality, the metal body and Italian styling, just had to wait till my employment improved to afford one. I dont ride year round(gets brutally cold in northern Indiana in the winter) but ride as much as I can the rest of the year. While I have longed to live out west where the scooter scene is more active and its warm enough to own just a scooter with no need for a car, that will remain a dream. Cheers Mike and Michele T

My father's passing. An extremely bad time for me. I'd always wanted a Vespa since the first time I'd ever seen one at a car show in Panama with my Dad back in the mid 60's.

It was something I'd always dreamt of, it took my mind off of things and it brought me closer to my Dad, even after he was gone.

Ciao Mike ... I chose the scooter because it is comfortable and practical but also because i am invalid to the left hand and therefore an obligatory choice.
I started with my brother's PX 125 in 1983 with which I made a serious accident four years later (but it wasn't my fault, the truck driver was drunk and hit me frontally ... ouch!). Disabled, he started riding on two wheels in 1995 (at 35 years of age) with an Aprilia rally 50 LC, then an Aprilia Leonardo 150, then a Yamaha Majesty DX 250, then a Piaggio Beverly 250, then an Aprilia Scarabeo 400, then a Yamaha T Max 500, then a Yamaha X Max 250 and finally a Yamaha Tricity 155 ... but I don't know if I will stop, it has become a vice. I think that in a while I will need a psychotherapist also because there are many in the forum, I should have a healing holiday in the U.S.A.

I started with scooters at 15 when I didn't have access to a car. Rode scooters and motorcycles for about 15 years and then moved on. After my kids grew up, I started thinking about scooters again and how much fun I had with them. I came back and have been enjoying them ever since.

I will add that I am on the autism spectrum and a scooter is much easier to ride and manage than a motorcycle. I especially dislike getting soaked from my feet to my nuts on a motorcycle in the rain. The leg shield on a scooter keeps one much drier than on a MC. Mike

I reached an age where I was keen to continue my passion for motorcycling, but at a less frenetic pace and to reduce my dirt road riding from a risk management perspective. I still have two events per year that I attend - one is my BMW Airhead interest and the second is a BMW Clubs GS gathering.

So, I was looking for something FUN without the weight and speed of the bikes I am used to riding. The Vespa fitted directly into my desired category. I met up with a fellow BMW Club member and we got talking. I mentioned my desire to ride a Vespa and he connected me with a guy who had bought up a, end of lease fleet of Vespa 300GTS scooters from a pathology lab. He stripped and reconditioned the Vespas, repainting them in the colour of your choice.

We discussed options and accessories and shook hands on a deal at around 50% of the cost of a new machine. So began my adoption into the Vespa Famiglia. The Vespa club is small and friendly - very much like the early days of my BMW club. So I am now a passionate Vespa rider and having more fun than I can remember. I will slowly but surely dispose of my selection of BMW bikes over the next year or so as I so seldom ride them. When I have liquidated some two wheeled assets, I will buy a new HPE and share the riding between Sunny and the HPE.

My wife likes the idea of fewer bikes in the yard.

Buddy worked at a Honda dealer just outside SE Washington DC, the hood and drug dealers would wreck them all the time and give the wrecked scooters to my buddy. He would put a scooter together with parts from wrecked ones and he sold me an Elite 150 for $150

My job changed.

I had been working in Downtown Dallas, and my employer paid for a monthly bus/train pass for me. There is a bus stop 5 blocks from home, and the bus would drop me around the corner from work. If I missed the bus, the train stop was 3 blocks farther from home, and I had to walk 3 blocks from the train station to work, so not that big of a deal.

Then things changed, and they moved my work location from the client site in downtown, to a retail store north of downtown. And they stopped paying for a bus/train pass. My wife and I only have one car, which she uses. My new job location was literally right next door to Vespa Dallas. We figured it was cheaper to get a scooter, riding gear, and motorcycle endorsement than it would be to get a second car.

I started riding scooters back in India ( used to steal rides on my dads Vespa) Then when I got into college I had a Motorbike for a long time, I owned a 1987 Suzuki 750 GSXR, that I got in 1990 and put 147000 miles on it, that got stolen in 2002, then I was without a motorbike for several years, then in 2012 I was pissed off with the NYC subways, getting late for meetings etc. I then started looking for a Vespa ( I wanted something more practical than a motorbike) I found my Vespa on Craigslist in 2013 May, bought it in October and it has been my basic mode of transport besides my bicycle.
I think for me the Vespa is for transportation in NYC as it is cheaper to maintain than a monthly subway pass. I know for many the Vespa is a hobby to ride on weekend etc for many of us it is a mode of transportation, that is fairly reliable.

I started by renting Honda 90s in the early 1960s. In 1964, when I was 16, I got a job delivering stationery supplies to businesses. The store had a 90cc Fuji Rabbit they called "Harvey". I did this for a year.

Then a l-o-o-o-o-o-ng layoff.

In 2007, my wife and I were empty-nesters living in a townhouse with a two-car garage and no outside parking. It came down to a choice between having a wood shop or a second car, at which point my wife said, "Why don't you get a motorcycle?"

I had recently seen a video review of an MP3 250 and had thought, "If I ever ride again, I'll get one of those".

The rest is history.

Hate - flirt - lust and love relationship

I must have been around 16 years old when I first tried a Vespa on a holiday in Greece. It was a 2-stroke shifty, probably with a badly adjusted cable, or clutch or something...it was simply annoying.

Still, when I later went to an university and was after cheap wheels, I did seriously consider buying a Vespa. They were not that expensive at the time, they were practical.... but as it happened, I found 4 wheels dirt cheap. Room for pals, cover from rain and snow... so I forgot about Vespas.

... for a long, long time.

After having already been sure I don't do any 2-wheelers anymore, I got the itch again I thought to scratch it just a little bit. At the very same time, Vespa released the new generation of the smaller ones, Primavera and especially the Sprint. The "sporty" one with bigger rims. A shiny yellow Sprint spoke to me so clearly, I just could not resist.

I had the Vespa just for two seasons, but I'm glad I did. It was fun. It had character. It also re-established my relationship with 2-wheelers. At the moment my Triumph motorcycle is just perfect for my needs, but I still like Vespas. I could also well imagine switching back to a Vespa again one day.

Long story short, I was a Mod during the revival and moved on to scooter boy as many of us did. So plenty of Lambrettas and Vespas in my past and then I took a long break. Got back in to it and love my Vespa and TBH all my bikes. I'll always have a large frame Vespa though, just something special about them. Other traditional (300 CC and under) modern scoots I'm pretty indifferent to but can understand why others like their non Vespas.

After nearly 4 decades of not riding a PTW, I was originally flirting with something to get me cheaply and efficiently to work in good weather. Getting older, and with challenging roads, bicycling to work wasn't really enjoyable, and was sweaty in hot weather, too much for windy, etc, etc.

Turned out that I didn't even fit on the Zuma the dealer here had....so eventually found a used Vespa for the same price which fit. Plenty fast for starters, but then the GTS was roomier and faster and fit the bill almost perfectly.

As for a commuter, I'm guessing I should have all but 4-5K miles by now, but I'm much closer to 20K. Something went haywire with my plans.

I've always loved two-wheeled machines, but never was a fan of riding until a buddy introduced them to me. He let me ride one of the best scooters in my opinion and I was hooked ever since. Italia Dragster 180. That was the most fun on a scooter I've ever had. Lightweight and scary fast for a small scoot.

this is SO interesting as my school age kid with ASD also hates getting any part of his clothing & shoes wet. He loves riding double up w/ me though, and don't mind the wind/cold.

on topic: got into scooters when I visited Ubon Ratchathani ~13 years ago and was too lazy to walk around. Rented a scooter for a few days and loved it. During the same trip, rented scooters AGAIN in Vietnam and was hooked. Came home and bought a sport city 250.

15 to 17, dirt bikes. 17 to 35, street bikes. 30 to 50, windsurf/jet ski/wakeboard. 50 to now, scoots. If it wasn't for twist-n-go, I wouldn't be riding now.

for me it was about the economics and convenience of driving thru the city for work...once i moved into the city i realized how much of a paperweight my car was...i had my triumph tt600 but with the gridlock, car and triumph became frustrating...also in my city they dropped the speed limit to 25 mph citywide...

In my state, i learned that i could get certain 50cc scooters that didnt need a plate (free parking in the city - save $40/day parking for work), and that legally they are allowed in the bike lane (50 min car commute becomes 12 mins on scooter)...I rode a yamaha razz for a bit... upgraded to aprilia and vespa so i could derestrict ...not to break a speed record, but so the 50ccs could carry a passenger...ever since i have been tuning and tweaking these 50s (one hits over 60mph)

for me, switching over to scooters was more about finding a more suitable commuter vehicle for the city

im rebuilding an et2 from the ground up and looking to make it look a bit "mod"...i'd love to pick your brain as it starts to shape up....its all apart and being painted at this time..but i will let you know once its built and tuned..

Cool! Post in the NSM section and I'll give my input and I can guarantee you there are a lot of old Mods in there. Hell maybe even a few from the original wave.

Funny thing is the build from a Mod and scooterboy perspective is different. As a scooterboy scoots were built for (me anyway) rallying more so than pure looks and accents. It's so easy to do a "mod" type scooter that looks tacky. Seriously the NSM section here is an amazing collection of experience and knowledge. Especially now from bodge to mod is a narrow path to travel. Plus there is revival mod and traditional mod. As such as we respected the original crew we were different. Face it as much as I love The Jam they aren't exactly what you would have heard during the first wave. Our tastes in scooter modification were also a bit different.

Crap.. now I have to listen to All Mod Cons... Need to hear Billy Hunt and Down in the Tube Station at Midnight at least.

Billy Hunt, Billy Hunt, Billy, Billy, Billy
Billy Hunt, Billy Hunt, Billy, Billy, Billy
Billy Hunt, Billy Hunt, Billy, Billy, Billy
Billy Hunt

I always had a pedal start moped but got a car that was a nickle and dime machine. On the way home from the car mechanics I passed a Honda dealership and stopped for a look. They had a new/damaged (cracked panels during shipping) Elite 80 for cheap. I missed 2 wheels and bought it, not knowing I needed a M class to legally ride it! Bunch of motorcycles and scooters later I now have a Liberty 150 and my wife has a SiIlverwing. Scooters are just plain fun. Oh, and I do have a M class!

I got my first bike, a 1969 Honda Z50 for my 9th birthday. I've had bikes ever since. Fast forward, my daughter was competing horses and it seemed every time we went to an event, she always left her crop, number or brain back at the trailer or barn. Sprinting back and forth retrieving these items was frustrating and became family theater over time. While attending a show outside of Ocala Florida and getting our steps in, I noticed a local Honda/Yamaha dealer was set up in the vendor area and they had scooters. After my daughter's ride, I stopped by, looked, priced and whipped out my credit card and bought a Honda Ruckus. What a game changer. We eventually had 4 and they got a lot of use. I wound up taking several to a home we owned in Florida and came to realize they were too slow for the public roads, so I purchased several Aprilia SR50s. I eventually souped them up to go faster, and we found that we used them extensively when there and enjoyed doing so. A friend at home had a Rally 200 and made the mistake of letting me ride it, and the rest is history

I'd always had fun with bikes with motors. From my friends with a Honda 50 in the late 70's, the neighbor with the pedal Vespa moped in the 80's and then when I was 21 I bought a Honda VF1000R. Super fun. Took some years off but would always rent scoots on vacations to Mexico. Bought a Harley in 08 and rode it regularly until a 2013 trip to Phuket convinced me that I had to have a scooter.

In Thailand a scoot is a great way to get around and for almost two weeks I rode shoulder to shoulder with the Thai people. Fun! Came home and found myself an S150 on Craigslist. In the 6-7 years since I've continued collecting them in different flavors and now have most sizes, 150, 200, 250, and 300. It's an addicting hobby that I'll likely never grow out of.

My local scooter dealer was once close to a grocery store we frequented when I was a teen and I always admired the Vespas on the street and wanted one. Life happened and as most childhood dreams reality set in. At our local street fair this September and they had a booth with a few Vespas advertising them. It had been a hard year, my mother had just succumbed to terminal cancer a few months prior and I had been feeling adrift. Got my motorcycle class and my license obtained within a matter of weeks, tried out one scooter and then bought my Vespa. Has been a mental game changer.

They were quite common, while growing up in Montreal in the 60's. Ironically, upon turning 60 and being declared "clear" from cancer at around the same time, Bonnie decided that we should celebrate my
birthday in Italy.

She knows me so well. The moment we left Venice after a few days, and reached Firenze, we started to play the "Vespa, not a Vespa" game. I was hooked and she knew it and even was keen on it! We returned in early October and I needed to hear from our accountant on the extent of my tax bite that year. It was a good year, so on December 23, 2012, we went to Vespa Toronto West and met with Lou (wonderful person) and we helped him close his year with one less Vespa; my first GTS300ie.

Bonnie liked the Prunio Rosso and I was not about to argue, even though I wanted a different colour. The same thing had happened in 2006 when I bought my Corvette. I wanted black and she said that she preferred the "arrest me Velocity Yellow". When your spousus maximus is cool with your toys, you don't debate on the colour. 😀

I like traveling on two wheels but hate shifting gears.

I also hate shifting gears, but would do so again to get a classic P series. I wanted to get a 200 or 300cc Vespa, but in my price range they were all carb and not fuel injected. I was able to get my nice 150ie with some extras and fuel injection. I wish I could have grown up with a local scooter shop, but there was none that I remember, just a big Schwinn bicycle shop. My exposure came later with TV shows and something about them just drew me in. Mike

Vespa!

Pete Townshend

These short stories of life on two wheels are very beautiful, they tell much more than they seem; thanks for letting me participate.
A single cultural doubt, who is Billy Hunt ..?

Somewhere you have to start Mike, the important thing is that your path is satisfactory.

Shifting gears actually isn't "that" bad as you really do get used to it and it just becomes second nature. I find on a shifty I pretty much forget about it pretty soon and just do it. Engine sound/shift/engine sound/shift/ rinse and repeat as necessary. However a CVT is nice and I see the allure and have 2 myself. Only problem I have is it takes a second or 2 to get over how weird the "clutch" lever feels when getting on a CVT

Not a shiftie here... I am too uncoordinated. I mean that seriously.

I moved to a Scooter Heaven in 1990, Bermuda.

I had always wanted a motorcycle but it never worked out before that move.

Bermuda limits every household to one car, but as many scooters as you may want.

With a wife and child, they got the car, so I had to get a motorcycle to get around that 21 square mile island.

Bill

When my kids were both in school we were having one of our periodic spikes in gas prices and I was seriously sick of having to drive a minivan everywhere even if I was just going to get a cup of coffee over in the village (Rice University Village) where parking was nuts. I saw an ad for a Chinese 1\50 for under $500. Seemed like a scooter would be a good option for those local short runs that didn't need a lot of cargo capacity.

So being the research before jumping person I am I quickly discovered 1) I'd need a motorcycle license to ride in Texas, 2) cheap Chinese would likely cost more in the long run than buying a reputable brand, and 3) a 50 wouldn't cut it where we lived.

So off I went to Awesome Cycles and got my motorcycle license. Then I started looking at Craig's List where there was a lovely ET 2 but decided that while it was much better than any other 50 in that it wasn't restricted and would go an indicated 50 I really needed to be able to go 60 due to driving habits on some of the roads I'd be using. Ended up getting a Buddy 125. I had so much fun I suggested my husband get his license and we pick up another so we could ride together. One he could share with our soon to be 15 year old (m/c restricted license available in Texas at 15). Traded some services to one of the local scooter group riders for an ET 4 150.

We still have that Buddy 125 that is used primarily as a back up scoot/transport in Houston. Since then both my boys have gotten their motorcycle licenses. Neither has any interest in riding a motorcycle though the oldest is still a daily rider and has been for almost 12 years now. I've done 2 cannonballs, a dozen rides of more than 2,000 miles, ridden in all US states and 16 other countries. My husband has ridden in all the other countries except Canada with me.

I was told (pre and post-op) as a 13 y/o that I would never be allowed to ride a motorcycle. Hopes dashed (I've always fantasized about how it must feel to fly), I figured riding a scooter was a convenient little work-around doctors' orders. Many years later, decided to upgrade to something that needed a license so I got my M endorsement.

It's just fun. It looks like fun, it feels like fun, it's fun. I don't even hate commuting when I'm on my scooter. A great way to reframe my work day.

Edit: I was informed about 2 years ago by a new neurosurgeon specializing in spinal fusions, that there is "no such limitation" on motorcycle as I'd be no more "mangled" than he would. -Got my license a few weeks later.

I lived in Istanbul for a couple of years and needed something to get around on. Got hold of a Piaggio Zip and rode it along the Bosphorus daily. 20 years on I am on my 4th scooter. I went from 3 automatics to a shifty!

Came for the design, stayed for the fun.
I'm a design junkie. I'll buy something because of it's design just to have it. Saw an ad for the Stella when they first hit states happened to coincide with a scooter shop opening in Chattanooga. When I saw one, I had to have had to one. A Stella was my first of many.

Holiday scooter rentals got me addicted. Apparently its a common pathway, a 'gateway drug' you could say.

I started riding at 14 on small dirt bikes and transitioned to bigger and faster bikes as I got older. In between bigger bikes, I also owned a number of mopeds and small scooters that served as fair weather transportation in college and aircrew training.

After I retired from the USAF, I got a job as a teacher in Dallas and needed to haul classroom stuff and stay clean at highway speeds while my wife had the car. A local Honda dealer had a used 1976 CB550K I fully intended to buy, but it was sitting next to a slightly used Helix on the showroom floor, which I had never seen before. Always ready to try something different, I bought the Helix, and it opened my eyes to the possibilities a big scooter could offer.

These days, with a bad back and bad hips, it's very hard for me to swing a leg over a bike anymore, and I'm not sure I can do long trips. So, a step over/step through two wheeler with good acceleration, top speed of around 60, storage, and weather protection ticks all the boxes.

When I was about 12, my dad let me ride his Honda P50.