Modern Vespa

Newbie here with a question, please: When you're out riding and stop for fuel or something, do folks often come over and ask about your scooter?

I started noticing this seven or eight years ago when my wife started riding her Vespa instead of us going two-up on my motorcycle. They'd ask what type it was, what it was like to ride, that sort of thing.

It made me wonder if people see scooters as more approachable, or if they find them more interesting. Or less intimidating, or something.

What's your experience?

I do get asked about the scooter, in the company parking lot…oh, and in plant after the last accident fracturing my fibula, I was asked if I had sold my scooter and if not, what was I asking for it….. NO, it was not for sale, no, I am not selling any of them and yes, I did keep 3 and add a 4th….
But, ya, I get asked nice questions and it shocks people to learn that they do go highway speeds and yes, I do ride them down to St. Louis, over 100 miles each direction, I get asked about the mpg, insurance costs, and why I don't want something like a Harley, been there, done that and NO bikes I cannot pick up alone. I ride alone a lot and need to know I can get that scooter back up if it falls over cuz the place I parked was not solid enough, I need to know I can move them around under just my power if needed.

That's just one of the bonus features of scooter ownership!

People ask me about my 'moped' all the time. I smile and toot my yellow horn at them.

The photo says it all.

Vespa allows old fat guy to start a brief conversation with pretty woman.

Bill

When you say "people", you mean like the Village People?

Yes, this.

Chris from CLE

^^^ This!
It tends to be men older than me (retired boomer) who reminisce about riding a Lambretta or Vespa, when they were young; or, questions similar to what maggiegirl mentioned.

Nope.
O.S.

That's because you ride when everyone else is still asleep

Yes, I am occasionally approached when parked; people are curious. The questions are usually…

Is that a real VESPA?
How fast will it go?
How much do they cost?
What does it get for mileage?

I guess an old guy on a Vespa isn't intimidating. Rarely happens with my wife's Xmax. It happened even more often when we had a pair of Honda PCX 150 scooters… usually people saying, "You look like you are having fun." Only approached by other riders when we had Harleys or Goldwings.

I get compliments on the Liberty at least once a week. No questions about it, like top speed or cost, just compliments. Happens at gas stations, grocery store parking lots mostly. Men and women equally. I keep it spotless and polished as best as possible but it is a good looking scooter. Clean and classy lines, hence the reason I bought it. And its my main transportation so its always out and about.

For the brief time I had the Big Ruckus I was approached all the time. It was weird, yellow unlike anything they had seen before.

My original crate scooter looked Italian so I was asked, "Is that a Vespa?" all the time. Even the brief ownership of the Like 50 raised that question.

My Helix clone seems to scare people off although a coworker told me he saw two older women ogling it. It is the only thing my late wife would ride passenger with me instead of her bike.

The new one has only drawn stares and hoots of scorn from a Harley rider. Him I looked in the eye and said, "My other scooter is a 750 Kawasaki"

I have certainly had people approach me and ask about the scooter I am riding. People seem interested and some are genuinely considering owning one. I found, though, that I have been much more often approached when riding a sidecar scooter or motorcycle. They are fairly rare in the US and seem to generate a lot of interest. When I owned a Ural, I needed to allow extra time for local errands because someone always wanted to talk. Ural owners call it UDF (Ural Delay Factor).

The Vespa does draw a lot of questions but I think that happens whenever you have something different. I got more questions back when I rode more oddball stuff: ie. Russian Dnepr, Canadian Army Triumph, Royal Enfield, 60s BMW single.

The question I got frequently that bugged me the most was "is it electric?"... this was always aimed at the 500cc MP3 which had a muffler the size of a garbage can sticking out the side. Whats worse is that it was usually asked when the bike was idling at a light, merrily thumping away not all that quietly.

Not in NYC, don't get asked by people about a Vespa. Cuz one we have many and two it is nYC, not many folks ask about what you are riding/driving.
I have had a few truckers ask about it while standing at the light, they tend to be out of state folks generally.

All. The. Frigging. Time. And that's cool, most of the time.

Older folks ask. (And, more than often, reminisce about a Vespa they owned/borrowed/rode pillion on.) Kids drag their parents up to gaze at it. (Blame it on Disney/Pixar, among other vectors.) Harley riders come up to chat. (Definitely some mutual respect there…I'll take it.) As my limbs heal and temperatures eventually rise, I'm looking forward to all this once again.

Happened Friday more than once. Happened today. Happens every time we ride.

Na, I shut the conversation down really quickly.

Happens all the time. Almost every time I'm at a gas station filling up. My favorite is when my friends and I are out together as a group on our Vespas, we stop for a break at a gas station or whatever, and groups of also-stopped Harley riders wander over to ogle our scoots.

Very occasionally. And since last year, a couple of "Silenzio Bruno!!"s.

It happens. This morning at 4:30am at a traffic light in Brooklyn. A guy in a cage had several questions.

I fill up the gas at home so I can use treated ethanol-free gas, but yeah I get asked about the scooter all the time.

What I have found is that when I'm out and about on my scooter, kids everywhere wave at me. And when parked, like when I'm getting on or off the bike, routinely people talk to me about it, but it's more like, "that's so cute" kind of conversation. I assume they are talking about the scooter. And I get lots of very positive reactions when doing stuff like picking up curbside food etc. Seems I'm pretty approachable by people of all ages and genders when on the scooter. I think people are just surprised to see a guy like me riding around on a scooter, and in Central TX, it's extremely rare. Half the time my wife is with me on her scooter.

When riding my Triumph, I also get lots of conversation, again often at fueling stops since I actually use gas straight out of the pump for my FI motorcycle. It's 90% old guys reminiscing about the days when they had/wanted/knew-someone-with a Bonneville. And when I am riding around the neighborhood, kids wave or give me thumbs up but it's 100% boys unlike with the scooter where it's all kids. It's kind of funny, since a lot of guys around here tend to think the Bonnie is a much more "manly" bike than the scooter, but my experience is that if you want to actually talk to women, you're far better off on the scooter. Maybe I'm just too manly for women to want to wave or say "hi" when I'm on the Bonnie. That must be it!

If you want to talk to Men buy a French Bull Dog.

If you want to talk to Women take up Yoga.

Now that gas prices are going up, I'm installing this. Now people will ask me about my scoot every time I ride. Especially when they see how fast it is.

I get asked all the time about my Dragon Red Vespa. I think the black and white
checkered seat cover from Cheeky Seats draws some lookers.

Bob Copeland
Frostbite Falls MN

Thats cool, but don't be caught riding an SUV after you been riding your Vespa & someone sees and recognizes you ...

They definitely do. Most often during refueling when everyone is already outside of their rigs and have time to kill waiting for the "click". Their jaws drop when I tell them it will do 75 on the freeway and I get around 76 mpg. I enjoy sharing how much fun I have owning a scooter.

I've ridden many unusual bikes and seldom get questioned by strangers, but on the Vespa, not once.
Perhaps I'm just repellant.

It's a fair comment.

When I ride out on either bike I like to find a quiet spot to drink a coffee and contemplate important things.

Sadly that the Royal Enfield is a massive Twat Magnet and the BMW just attracts BMW owners who can be quite enthusiastic which is an emotion that I'm very uncomfortable with so I grab my brew and go looking for a place to hide.

Sorted.

I've found that people feel oddly comfortable asking how much I paid for it. I can't imagine someone asking how much I paid for a car or a guitar or for rent. Maybe people think they already know what those things cost.

Why not just get a laminated sheet of A 4 with this printed on it.

The answers are

1 300cc

2 Yes, on the Highway

3 80 mph

4 70 mpg

5 About $5000

6 Italy

7 No I won't

8 I already have a real motorcycle.

Yes, I do. The questions are pretty much what Captain Jim said. I sometimes have to tell them about the Vespa/Piaggio relationship. My favorite part is watching the raised eyebrows when I answer, "How fast will it go?"

Mr. F

I am driving the BV for 3 years now here in BE.
Nobody ever asked me anything about the scooter.

Not that the BV is superpopular over here. In these 3 years I met only 2 other BV's in the flesh.

The first was parked in front of the dealership when I brought in the BV for regular maintenance. Maybe not so unusual. Anyway for me still I found it a bit peculiar to park the BV aside exactly the same model and type, well not exactly the same. It was a BV 350, mine is a BV 300, so there are the different wheels. But it also was a Cosmo Black.

And the second I met along the road.
He probably recognized the BV and started to wave and greet from quite far away. I guess the guy was just very happy to finally encounter another BV.

9 No I'm not. But I'm flattered you asked.

and

9. No, not electric.

10. A motorcycle license.

In my case I find the reverse...

Vespa allows a pretty woman to smile sweetly at a Fat Old Fart like me and start a brief conversation. Even knockout soccer moms in their SUVs will roll down the windows at a traffic light and compliment me on my Vespa. I just thank them and say they would look much better than me riding one. It seems the appropriate response and draws broad grins as they ride off, dreaming of riding their own Vespa.

Yup. Particularly frequent on gravel roads in the middle of a National Park or State Forest

I can't go anywhere without at least one of the questions Bill Dog posted plus the others. Add:
Why two front tires?
What is that?
Looks like it would tip over easy.
Is it more stable than a regular bike?

The Triumph gets the most. You can barely make it down the driveway without someone asking about it.

The Vespa comes second with the Harley a very close third.

Nobody, I repeat, not a freakin' soul, has asked about the BMW lol.

My KYMCO Venox got a lot of questions from the Harley crowd, they called it a baby V-Rod. That BMW is probably one of the better motorcycles I've owned but the world could not care less