Modern Vespa

It's too bad nobody ever made a stage musical or motion picture based on that album. What would they have called it if they did?

One reason BMW started out with a 650 when they took another look at making scooters is so people wouldn't feel like they were giving up a lot if they switched to a scooter. After that was a success, they made a smaller scooter.

Just to be a total arse Tommy isn't related to Quadrophenia.

Written by the same guy yes, but not staring in.

Tommy is a work of genius and Quadrophenia is a highly over rated, noisy, badly edited piece of trash with a great sound track.

And yet it's a much loved film that is still often talked about more than 40 years later.

I think you missed out the word Iconic in your description

I didn't use it because it's not.

Quadrophenia was the soundtrack to my life in the 70s, but I first saw the film last month.
Meh.

And Rocky Horror was mine but that doesn't make it iconic.

Quadrophenia is a noisy mess with a lot of very average acting and is very over rated.

Duel, Vanishing Point and the first Mad Max, now we're talking.

I'll give Vanishing Point one vote.

I've once started to watch quatrophenia, just out of interest. Obviously both myself and the movie were too old at the time - I didn't even finish it.

Exhibit A.

Exhibit B

Whether you like it or not, and you obviously don't, it's difficult to deny its influence on British youth culture both at the time and far into the years following. How many films have documentaries made about them 40 years later for example? For that reason alone it could be regarded as iconic (in the modern usage of the word).

Personally, it's very much of its time, has dated badly and is famously littered with mistakes. I have seen many, many better films, but I have also seen plenty worse.

2001

The Shining

Jaws

12 Angry Men

Taxi Driver

One flew over the Cuckoos Nest

The Godfather

Le Dolce Vita

Seven Samurai

Citizen Kane

I don't dislike Quadrophenia, I just think that it's very over rated. Just like Paul Weller.

What is the significance of your list of films? What has Paul Weller got to do with this?

Whether you like it or not, and you obviously don't, it's difficult to deny its influence on British youth culture both at the time and far into the years following. How many films have documentaries made about them 40 years later for example? For that reason alone it could be regarded as iconic (in the modern usage of the word).

This. They have all had documentaries made about them and they are all 40 years plus old.

Read the last line again.

Where did I say it was the only film to have had documentaries made about it?

Maybe I should have added 'compared to the number of films that are released', but I thought that much was obvious.

This bit right here - How many films have documentaries made about them 40 years later for example?

Well, the answer was the one's above. That many.

Let's just call Bill Dog a motorcycle guy and move on, shall we?

I've been a motorcycle boy then a scooter boy and a motorcycle boy again.

I've seen both sides.

So you've interpreted me saying "How many films have documentaries made about them 40 years later for example?" as "It is the only film to have had a documentary made about it 40 years later"

OK.

As you can see by my signature. I have two of each.

What each is good for

The 750 Kawasaki.--Getting there quickly, loading up with saddlebags and taking a trip.

The 250 Nighthawk--Pretending I'm still good, blitzing local state roads and listening to its slightly modified mufflers pretend it's a 60s Britbike.

The 250 Helix clone--It's good for everything but speed. It carries large loads, is a good local shopping cart and is very easy to use. It's done 300 mile trips just not as easily as the Kawasaki.

The 169cc Dongfang---I haven't figured out why I bought it yet. Mostly to see if Chinese scooters have gotten better or worse in the last thirteen years. It works, is also a good shopping bike and has a terrible gas gauge. Time will tell if it's a good boy.

I've been around long enough to know none of these things is perfect for everything. I'm not only a scooterist or a motorcyclist. I'm a rider.

Exactly how I feel. Good man.

This is exactly how I feel about "Easy Rider". Great soundtrack and a few cool scenes riding choppers across the USA, but garbage otherwise.

All this talk about Quadrophenia Vs Tommy brought to mind a band that was truely awful.
Never went beyond the album 'Play both Sides'.

I remember that tape!

It must have had a very long leader, because I always gave up listening to it before the music started.

The Hi-Fi gurus at the time told me, that even having a small bottle of Isopropanol and some cotton swaps beats listening to that band...

I used to get paid to listen to that tape!

The year is 2007. I am a teenage, impressionable new scooterist. The older gents in the scooter club keep mentioning Quadrophenia with tremendous nostalgia. I am informed by these veteran riders that I must watch it.

Many phone calls later, I manage to find it in the last of the video rental stores I will ever walk into for the rest of my life. Other end of town, long ride on a 50cc.

I rent it, put it in the underseat storage of my 2005 Derbi Atlantis, and puttt-putttt my ass back home.

I put on Quadrophenia. I wonder if I have the wrong movie. I think what the eff'ing waste of time that was. I return it the same day I rented it because I don't even want to see it and have it reminding me of the time wasted.

I vow that one day I will make better content for scooterists. I begin work on the batcave.

No more questions M' Lud.

I knew that I wasn't the only one.

Yeah I only recently saw it. Was never so glad to see a scooter go off a cliff.

Pete Townsend wrote the music to an animated production called the Iron Giant.

The film and the soundtrack were actually better than Quadrophenia.

And that was a cartoon.

I worked construction, and on rainy days would stay home wth Quadrophenia on some Owsley and polish my Dunstall CB750 in the living room. Good times.

Great to have a the right tool for every job.

Vespa - Quick neighbourhood runs. Picking up take out, shop supplies, etc. Also great for going downtown.

BMW 650GS - Light touring, light off road, excellent utilitarian motorcycle.

Harley-Davidson V-Rod - Basically amazing at everything the Vespa is weak at, and weak at everything the Vespa is amazing at.

I don't know why you bought the Dongfang either! lol

That's a good way to put it!

I mean, my !vespa is good at making a fun adventure out of routine transportation tasks. My Bonneville is good at making a fun adventure out of otherwise spare time. They are all fun in entirely different ways, although related. Why limit yourself?

This is the move I was referring to:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073812/

I haven't seen Quadrophenia.

Today I was at the grocery store. The bag boy asked what kind of MC I had. I said I'm riding a scooter. He said oh and the conversation was over.

New guy to MV here ..
I ride my vespa to work because I can't carry my coffee and ride my motorcycle. Lol
I'm a motorcycle guy that loves scooters

There are probably other hobbies you could take on that would provide you with more conversation material with the baggers at your grocery store, even better than motorcycles.

Sweet! Is that an original Harman girder? I'd love to find one of those for my Panhead chop.

I'm another chopper loving motorcycle guy who also loves scooters.

I've done numerous motorcycle rallies in the past five years here in the Hudson Valley. the vast percentage of bikes at these events have been Harleys. Given that they sell over 200,000 a year it's not surprising. But it's not like everyone else hasn't sold an equal amount of bikes combined so I was wondering why the discrepancy in brand representation.

I've talked to people and there is a recurring theme among non Harley owners about why they don't do these events. "The bikes at the ride are mostly Harleys. I don't need the hassles."

I'm guessing that they encountered the usual jerks, who believe their Harleys are the only bike to own, so they avoid the rides. Even if they didn't encounter a jerk the stereotype is not good. That probably explains why I'm the only scooter and one of the minority Japanese bike owners in the crowds. People think they'll be hassled if they show up.

But no one has ever hassled me. Not even when I ride the Chinese scooter. It's a sad commentary that because of a few jerks or stereotypes the sport is so segmented.

There's strength in numbers and anything that dilutes that is pretty bad.

Harley's success in marketing their brand in such a way as to inspire brand loyalty and a sense of belonging when you get the brand has a downside in that outsiders may get the perception that they are not welcome. And to probably 1% of the Harley fanboys, outsiders probably are not welcome, which reinforces this perception.

Been following this thread but did not want to comment until I got my motorcycle. So far my conclusion is that the scooter guys and motorcycle guys are the same. They are people who is willing to try something outside of the box. Someone that enjoys the experience of travel rather than simply commuting. They are also prone to brand loyalty and tries to seek out riders that ride the same brand.
My GTS300 is able to do 90% of my typical rides as well as my motorcycle given I do not typically get on the highway on 2 wheels. My motorcycle is almost as convenient as my scooter if I have both panniers and top box attached at all times.
I do miss the manual gear shifting on the Vespa Rally 200 that I used to ride in my youth. That is preferable to the automatic.
After much research I ended up with a Moto Guzzi because like the Vespa it's a machine of beauty in design with a long heritage that shows the owner is one with great taste and appreciation for the true meaning of riding 😁.