Modern Vespa

Well, today was supposed to be the Blessed Day Thelonica rolled up the driveway, my Cheshire Cat grin obscured behind a faceshield, but Nica's onstage roll is pushed until tomorrow morning. However, the brown-truck people came through this afternoon with my new HJC RPHA 70ST. (My third.) Funny thing was the question of whether or not I'd pick a different brand/model of helmet (asked by the third-party insurance agent tasked with replacing the trashed one). I said "this one did a good job…twice." of course, finding one in stock, in my size, was a bit of a challenge, given our continued Shared Viral Calamity (along with a little "something" in Eastern Europe at the moment…). But "find one" I did, in a somewhat more noticeable (read: safer) color scheme. Once I opened the box, I had to put the new lid next to the previous two RPHAs, and I couldn't help but notice the progression from subdued to semi-flamboyant. Also all semi-matte, like the new bike.

More on-the-morrow.

And, the following day...

Looks like a nice helmet, and with a proven (sadly!) track record.

I, too, like HJCs as they are one of the few manufacturers with sizes up to Alien Big Head (me). I see the RPHA 70 is a fixed helmet.

Curious if you looked at or considered convertibles from HJC? I have a CL-Max I'm getting ready to replace.

Congratulations on your recovery.

Thanks.

Looking good!

Woo-hoo!

Congratulations!!

Sergeant Nica is awesome. Don't you love women in uniform..(and check her oil just to be sure).

Wow fabulous enjoy !!! keep the rubber side down.

Thank you.

I briefly considered going with a modular this time 'round, but I feel pretty damn good about the 70, between comfort, weight, ventilation and BT comm-friendliness. And, obviously, crashworthiness, now confirmed. 😀 Indeed: pretty, but no-nonsense.

You do NOT want to cross the Carabinieri...

Hopefully the new bike and helmet serve you well, with no impacts

Glad to see you're getting back to good health!

The Story So Far

Since picking Thelonica up Saturday morning, I've had relatively little seat-time (Le Wife whisked me off to Gotham not ten minutes after parking in the driveway–barely enough time to get a cover over the thing–and my schedule's been higgledy-piggledy ever since). My initial take on the ride:

- Performance: Tight, swift & lean. Nica is seriously light on her feet, torque band nice and fat, pleasantly robust exhaust rumble.

- Instrumentation: The TFT display is…actually quite nice. Exceedingly legible while at the same time easy on the eyes. Nice to have the extra running stats on the bike's vitals, rather than just relying on idiot lights. However…

- Connectivity: The Bluetooth thing is going to take some time to sort out: my Cardo Packtalk Slim and the bike are't quite talking to each other yet, and I think the problem is a tug-of-war between Android Auto and Vespa's MIA app (and possibly Cardo's app as well). I know I'll get it sorted eventually.

- The Sidestand: Guess what? I like it. It'll get used somewhat sparingly, of course, but the redesign likely makes some of the fabled mishaps of the past at least a bit less likely. (Pro Tip: don't wear baggy pants. Even my tapered Levi's 502s got caught on the curved tip a few times.)

- The Remote Fob: When I first heard about this, I said "really?" Then, I found myself with a bagful of groceries yesterday, felt around for the fob, and pressed the button for the Pet Carrier. I nodded and said, "yeah, really."

- Riding "Screenless": At 50mph, I'm reminded of why I had a Flyscreen on Melody. Will have one on order from SIP soon, along with crash bars and sight-glass-equipped oil pan.

- The Lights: Definitely better than Mel's, obvious even in early-evening light.

- Heated Grips: They work. Recommended.

- The Speed Ring: Too early to tell, but it looks like a cigar is a cigar on the speedo.

More observations as I merrily roll along.

something to play with (not sure if will help or not):

open the Vespa MIA app.
click the connect button (that round thingy in the lower right) and cross your fingers.
click menu.
click devices.
then open a paired device and you can then change it's pairing type and click edit to apply changes.

note: I'm not really clear on the point of this setting ...

I personally don't have my helmet paired with the bike and I have my phone set as 'app only' in the above settings. I also never answer calls or anything like that, my helmet is only used for gps nav instructions and notification sounds etc.


PS I will probably one day add this editing of pair type to my app as this is about the only thing I need from theirs.

I think I tried a version of that method, but it was late, and I was freezing in my "business casual" sweats while futzing with this in the driveway.

BTW: Your app connected with little issue, but I haven't had time to put it through its paces yet. Love the look of it.

Don't forget to check the oil.

You betcha…new oil pan gets put on at the first service, too.

That is one fine looking machine.....

And one proud and happy owner.....

With a name.

Bill

Today: Nica Starts Earning Her Stripes.

Two gigs in Gotham today, and Thelonica gets tapped for the task, though for the moment, she'll be restricted to park-n-ride duty until (1) her engine is properly broken-in, and (2) she gets her Flyscreen. She also doesn't have her official reg plate yet, so while I do have the temporary "plate" in the Pet Carrier, I'm not taking her too far afield even on the Jersey side of the Hudson.

Meanwhile, I've progressed on a few fronts with the bike:

- Bluetooth: Turns out I was the dummy on this one, as I failed to do the one critical thing that was in the bike's manual: make sure the BT helmet comm was not paired to the phone while attempting to pair it to the bike. I thusly unpaired comm from helmet; the rest was easy.

- Parking At Home: I think I've hit on the final design for an apron to use in conjunction with the awning I built on the side of the house where the bike is normally parked. The biggest deal will be getting the heavy-duty nylon I want to use sewn to size and properly grommeted, but once done, it'll be quick and easy to set up and break down, and should be the next-best thing to a garage for Nica.

- More About the Ride: Really, really digging the feel of this machine, even though I've only had it up to about 55mph. Throttle response is smooth and strong, handling nimble. Seat feels a tad more comfy overall than Melody's was, but I won't have a proper take on that until I'm doing long-ish highway runs again.

All-in-all, it's great to be back in the saddle again.

Congrats Amateriat!! It sure has been a long time coming. Glad you're back in the saddle.

Regarding babying the bike during break-in: ten years ago, the general consensus was to "ride it like you stole it". Did something change over the last ten years that made the bikes more susceptible to damage from riding it as you normally would during break-in?

Slight change in topic...
Regarding riding the bus, I commuted to Silicon Valley (38 miles one way) via the bus and train for decades. I always referred to my bus drivers as "my chauffeur."🙂 Fortunately, I had the type of job that could be done almost anywhere (mostly researching, solving technical problems, and writing) and I charged my time while commuting/working. Driving (took me 50 minutes one way) always seemed like time that could be better spent doing doing other things; and biking over always seemed too dangerous, both from other drivers and my thoughts drifting to tasks I needed to accomplish that day and not paying attention to the ride. Maybe a hybrid commute would work for you too.

Cheers! And welcome back. Miguel

Actually Miguel, I don't think there ever was a "general consensus" on this. I'd say there have always been 2 schools of thought. One is certainly the "ride it like you stole it" school. The other is some kind of "break in" procedure - be it fairly simplistic or more complicated. I suspect individuals are in one school or the other more based on their more general approach to life and to mechanical devices than to whatever side others on MV advocate.

Critical thinking defined by me, is when faced with two choices on a particular subject which choice would be the least bad mistake?

If you do not do a very careful break in period it is possible that you might shorten the longevity of the scooter. I know there are no guarantees and it might not hurt longevity at all but it is possible that the scooter might not last as long without being careful during break in.

If you do a very careful break in you have the inconvenience of a very careful break in. It is a pain in the patooty to do this especially if you are very careful with the procedure.

I always with every new engine/vehicle carefully for the first 1000 miles try to drive in such a way as to put as gentle a load on the engine as possible, both accelerating and decelerating. You feather the throttle to accelerate and decelerate and you constantly vary the engine speed. You speed up slowly and then speed down slowly compensating for grade (hill/slope)

This goes against every instinct and you have to overcome muscle memory, you have to concentrate on doing this consciously and it is difficult for me and a real pain. Just about the time you are getting the hang of it you can quit dong it. Also for the first few times of riding I like to let the engine completely cool before restarting. Let it rest a good 3-4 hours before riding again.

So for me despite the fact that it is very inconvenient I always do this because what can it hurt? I would much rather have the peace of mind that I did everything I could to ease the new engine in at first for as long a life as possible. All of this goes back to the high performance old air cooled VW days and relatively short lived engines, when the lifespan of an engine is short anyway lengthening it makes a big difference. As John Muir said "come to kindly terms with your ass for it bears you"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Muir_(engineer)

My approach is simple: I do as the manufacturer says in the manual. Especially when a warranty's involved.

Pragmatic and practical, following the manufacturers instruction.