Modern Vespa

Beautiful day for a ride with a friend who I discovered had never seen these, so of course I added to our itinerary. We hit Hamlin Park in Shoreline where you can find two huge cannons which saw service on the USS Boston in the Battle of Manila Bay on 1 May 1898.

Love 'em or hate 'em, the extra lights make you visible.

There's a "that's what your mother said" joke in there somewhere in one of those captions. Nice pics V oodoo.

I like 'em a lot!

Of course, I had my own version going for night riding back when I had to do a lot of that. I eventually wired it so the light bar came on any time I hit the hi-beams.

That's some LED goodness there!

It got the job done!

(That alley was pretty much pitch black at night normally)

Those would definitely get me more comfortable on the road after dark. It gets REALLY dark out here on these country roads.

Always thought these looked interesting, I don't do my h night riding on scooter so never pursued it.

https://www.claussstudios.com/store/p550/Lambretta_Vespa_Lucas_Leg_Shield_Spot_Light_Mount_.html

When I used to ride in the snow and ice, it made a huge difference being able to spot the ice patches. I always wore full armor and laid that Stella down more times than I can count, but most of those times were the buildup to the lighting upgrades.

Rode to work.

Rode to the gym. I joined one that was about 15 mins away on purpose!

I like your thinking.

How I imagine myself on a twisty canyon road

Those are super old- school. But you have to drill for them. They do look ace though.

I used those clauss studio rubber mounting bits on an allstate that had holes in the legsheild already and they are great! Fit the pathfinder lights very well

7/27 evening run after rotating tires. Yea, the rear is now on the front, and actually looks better IRL than in this pic.

I rode my PX to the gym today too!...but I have no pics to prove it.

And that's the exact same reason I too installed the Clauss legshield rubber mount on my Allstate. I have found that the contour of the Clauss rubber mount fits perfectly on both of my Series 3 legshields, but the mount doesn't work on any Vespa legshield worth a darn...unless you shave/sand/grind/carve the rubber mount to match the Vespa legshield first. And a pro tip for cutting the mount, put it in the freezer so that it gets frozen hard. It makes it easier to cut and form with a bandsaw and a grinder wheel.

From June 8th 2018, must have been Amerivespa in Richmond.

Entertaining thread with lots of great rides and adventures!

Here's my original paint 1964 VBB 177, running some errands for me downtown: cash at the bank, pastries & bread, and -- oh no -- no time for vinyl this a.m.

^^^^ Lovely.

I didn't take any snaps while out, but I ran both scoots for a good 20 miles… after getting home the doggos came out to keep me company while wrenching… buncha Knuckleheads!

Man, you have that right. Risk aversion is everything now.

Yeah, it was hairy. Once is enough.

I'm thinking of starting a 60 on tens club for us real old guys, maybe even 55 in honor of old memories...

Its been a long time, but I once hit just over 100 kmph on my Cosa

My VBA cruises pretty nicely at 50-52 mph and feels like she has a lot more in her, but man. I just dread that pot hole or blowout. Low tolerance for risk. Oh. And my Simonini's silencer fell off this evening. See what I mean?

Either I'm broken or something because the 80 that the white smallie quite easily pulls does not even feel hairy

80kph sure.. 80mph different story.

I push my white smallframe to 70-80 MPH with no drama. My Rally will top 70mph as well.

If anything the bikes get more stable at speed, even if the mind may not.

Probably true, so long as the rear end of your bike isn't twisted…

wait.....smallies are faster than large frames? whaaaaaa?

It's all about the wheels & suspension. If they're up to the task, it's a blast. If they're not, it's terrifying. Speed-rated, balanced tubeless tires, plus good shocks & mounts make an immense difference.

My GL at 70 feels more stable than any of my stock bikes at 55. My Stella was terrifying at 60 until I upgraded it.

I always thought P's felt strangely unstable at max speed. Longer fork? IDK... But... I'd rather do 60 on my VNB than 70 on P200 from a stability perspective.

I'd agreed that my smallie is generally better suited for speed than the Super ... better balanced, better front end suspension and better stock brakes. Also Supers, VBBs etc don't have a spare on the left side to counter the weight of the engine, which makes them slightly more side heavy than Rallys and P's.

That said - for me at least - it isn't necessarily the scoot or the size of the wheels that makes 70mph+ a little sketchy on the Super, but the unpredictable quality of our roads. I like fast as much as the next guy, but my reactions aren't what they used to be. I'm in no hurry to hit some pothole or random piece of debris and become a statistic.

It's not really the weight or the size of the scooter that makes it unstable at speed; in calm, still air, no head, tail, or cross wind, all of them feel relatively stable. But even a 5 mph breeze blowing, or tire pressure a couple of pounds higher, and you can count on being terrified at 50 mph +.

How about tire balancing, and even truing or shaving? As light as these things are, I would think that at these kinds of speeds it could make a significant difference. I know that BOTH of these are important in race car technology so maybe here too?

I love when these popular threads get sidetracked on interesting stuff that comes up, however...

To help keep thread on track, here is my neighbor Ella, who was really excited to sit on my scoot at our neighborhood potluck last week. She didn't want to come down!

82mph on J rated zippy with tubes on stock split rims is just fine, but I do have good shocks.

Because of this fckn war started by fckn Russia I ride very little on my Vespas.
But I need to go to my hometown and I decided do it on my P.
Here is few photos of my 480 km(300 miles) trip.

Great pics! Thanks for sharing.

Stay safe!

I knew that your country was beautiful, but I am in awe seeing your pictures. It really seems so tranquil and the countryside is so inviting. Glad your trip was safe and you got a chance to relax a bit back home. Thank you for taking the time to share!

Your various adventures always vicariously make my day and make me feel 30 years younger, ha ha. I stay under 50mph mostly now on the road and only ride goat trails & dirt roads most carefully in 1st or 2nd (smallframe) instead of 3rd gear standing on the floorboards bouncing over the TOPS of the rocks.