Modern Vespa

Hello!

Last night I took my Lx150 out for a riding and I gave it full gas in my "personal circuit", a twisty road next to where I live.

When I ride the Vespa fast I ride differently than I do when riding fast more powerful motorcycles, e.g. I enter corners faster, brake harder, lean less and open the throttle as quick as leaning allows, trying to keep revs up all the time.

This is great fun and since the speed is low, 90 to 100 kph, it's even always safe, but after a while I get seasick - which is fin too because I was a sailor and I actually never suffered from seasickness aboard

So am I the only one feeling this way?

The only other motorcycle that ever caused seasickness while riding fast was the Triumph Street Cup, but that was a problem of throttle response and transmission smoothness.

I dunno about other folks, but I remember when I started riding I suffered from some motion dizziness until I became accustomed to it.

Here's another thing. I found out the hard way that as we get older we don't snap back from motion like we used to. When I was younger I was always spinning and flipping and swinging and stuff. Later on, I remember a time I was at a fair with my kids. We got on one of these stupid spinning strawberry things with the wheel in the middle that you used to make it spin around and around (and around and around and around). They stuck me in one with a whole passle of kids. I swear we must have been in there an hour (likely more like five minutes). It was hot, there were no windows and the kids were all screaming, "Faster! Faster!" About halfway through I remember saying, "I have a great idea ... lets go the OTHER WAY!" Again I hear, "Faster! Faster!".

As I sat on the bench beside the ride with my head between my knees desperately trying to hold onto my lunch, I realized that I just wasn't into motion rides anymore.

Maybe it's all in what you're accustomed to.

It sounds like you ride a lot, so it's not likely something you're doing differently, is it?

As we age, men especially, can develop small crystals in the fluid of the inner ear. If these crystals shift around just so, they can cause unexpected vertigo and queasiness. I'm experiencing a bout of it now. Happened a year ago. Neither time seemed to have a proximate cause. There are exercises you can do with your head and neck to dislodge the crystals, if that's what's happening to you.

Here's a link:
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjtpISaoovyAhUZHs0KHT7mA-UQFjAJegQIBhAD&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.webmd.com%2Fbrain%2Fhome-remedies-vertigo&usg=AOvVaw1GmhDbOEvdoe7iPEMP3I6r

Now these are really interesting points I never thought about. Maybe I'm just getting older.

Thing is, I'm just 36 yo but I begun riding when I was 6 and I ride almost every day, every season.

This is already taking its toll, with my knees and back beginning to hurt when it's cold - my wrists too, but that's because I broke them both and the bones didn't recover perfectly.

Also, the bones inside the ears: my other hobby is scuba diving, begun when I was 12, but I had an issue to my right ear and now I don't push myself as I used to do.

So this may well be the reason - right ear is slightly damaged and this may cause seasickness, but why only on the Vespa?

Not on the Guzzi, nor on the Suzuki, not even on the small Gilera I use for track days.
Maybe it's just the way I ride the Vespa - not smooth, trying to keep the revs as high as possibile, and causing continuous weight transfers between the front and the back (accelerating, breaking, accelerating, breaking, etc).

And I also think it may be because I nove my body less on the Vespa. I don't move my legs, but I do move my torso to counter balance leaning, which is something I never do on motorcycles.

Maybe all I need is train harder and harder...thanks for your time and advices guys

A visit to the otolaryngologist is a must.
At 61, I have tinnitus and with the whistle I feel like I'm driving a jet.

I can attest that the above works for vertigo.

Maybe it's a perception issue? Your eyes and brain haven't become acclimated to the change in position. The seat height on my Guzzi is the same as my Vespa but I feel more "perched" or elevated on the former.

Sure, my Guzzi is a 1973 California 850cc and the Vespa is....well, a Vespa - if the Guzzi was a yacht the scooter was its tender

This may also confuse a bit, my driving instructor once told me that the smaller the vehicle, the faster the rider feels he's driving.

Maybe it's also that I rely less on the engine brake on the Vespa than on any motorcycle, I rely mostly on brakes, so braking is more aggressive and this causes quicker weight transfer from back to front and vice versa...

Know what, next time I go I'll take my crappy camera with me and I'll try to show you what I mean...

Thanks for your time and advices

Do you wear boat shoes when riding?

Here is the Sled I like.

Lol no but I wear this when I ride to pool parties

I don't know about the seasickness but I do agree with your driving instructor about small vehicles and the feeling of riding faster!

If I want to get somewhere in a hurry on my 400, it almost does the work for me so I don't really get the perception of rapid movement, whereas on my 125's (especially the NSM) every inch of my body and train of thought goes into getting that little thing hauling ass!

Arrival on the 400 sees me calm and collected.

Arrival on the 125 leaves me grinning with bristling energy!

Sorry, I sort of went off on one there..

Time for a ride

Differences in suspension together with your different riding style may make a real-life impact too.

I was reminded of this when I test rode a cruiser, a brand new Triumph Speedmaster just a few weeks back. Very nice bike, but it felt odd to have such a soft suspension in the twisties. I handled well as such, but I can imagine I would have felt a bit sea sick if I'd held my normal riding pace all the time. The bike motivated me to 'cruise' - not a bad thing as such.

Contrary to you, I especially liked leaning a lot in the curves with my Vespa
It was so light to literally 'throw' into corners that it was almost impossible to resist doing so. I admit I many times wondered whether I should do that with a such small wheeled vehicle, will it have enough traction, but it never failed. Speeds were very low though, not any Moto GP stuff.

With frequent break-accelerate cycles, like in city traffic, I did find my Vespa to swing quite a lot compared to sport/touring type motorcycles. Especially the rear end felt very soft - so this for sure increases the feeling of sea sickness if you'll break and accelerate hard all the time in corners.

As most have said yes there is a big difference to riding a Vespa or smaller bike. For one leg position which effects riding stance. I find that not having a tank between my legs has me changing position often on aggressive ride and my legs move around a lot. On a bike I just hug the tank and use it to assist in push steering.

Now as far as feeling faster on a small bike. I actually find myself having to check my speed on the Vespa way more often than my BMW even tough there is about 140 hp difference. It's just fun on a Vespa as the scoot is so responsive.

One thing I will say though is you can mess yourself up real good even at 90-100 kph.

It definitely is a thing.