Modern Vespa

I've driven stop-start cars in the UK. They are so quiet when they're idling (at first start, as above) that you hardly notice them re-starting after a stop. They don't introduce any noticeable delay in moving off.

Americans seem to love letting their cars idle - adding to pollution and using fuel. Some even leave them running while they pop into the grocery store. Eejits.

I fully welcome the feature - just get used to it!

Our Toyota is rather good with it. It's a very smooth start. I was in a friend's Honda and it felt very clunky. There are times I don't care for it, but it's mostly when other systems override it like battery charging or climate control.

The damage to engines at startup is a real thing, but only after the oil has had time to settle off all of the metally bits. Which it won't with intermittent stops.

And don't get me going on people who sit and idle. I hate it when one family member sits in an idling car with the air running while their significant other goes inside to shop.

AWESOME , thank you for providing the link. I hate this feature on my wife's 24 outback.
will be ordering it today.

I can live with the shame. But I don't have any friends as cool as these guys.

Then there is also the cost of the second battery most of them use. And it's pricey!!!

I'm moving very nearby, probably no more than 15-20 minutes from the gate.

Yes because many places here it gets hot enough you need the AC running. If the engine stops, guess what else stops?

Head to Tucson in August and get back to us 😂😂

It's always people in the UK who think the entire world has the same climate as they do.... 🙄🙄

This really comes down to implementation. Yes, some cars get it right, especially the hybrids (which are purpose-built to start the engine seamlessly).

But not all cars implement it in an unobtrusive manner. If they did, I hold it as self evident that nobody would be annoyed, which is very clearly not the case.

How about Maryland then? A fairly similar climate to the UK - and yet you prefer to stuff exhaust gases into the air while stopped in city traffic?

Maryland was 97* today with about 90% humidity.

Best to quit now while you're behind

Or maybe head to india and reiterate that my GTI is killing the planet

And London was 91F, albeit with only 65% humidity. Not that far behind.

But what about at other times of the year? I pity anyone living in a basement apartment in Annapolis while you and your comrades spew out all those exhaust gases for minutes at a time while static.

That's why London (at last!) introduced an Ultra-Low Emission Zone right across the capital.

I'm guessing you think that Global Warming is a load of junk science as well, as you don't mind burning extra fuel that's not doing anything useful.

1. Nobody lives in basement apartments in annapolis, and even if they did we have a thing here called "air filtration" before it's brought into your HVAC system.

2. London's ULEZ is nothing more than a cash grab targeting the poor, but go on and tell us how superior it makes you feel to know the people who can't afford a new car now have to pay THOUSANDS a year to the government to drive to work. Tell us again how that fixes the weather?

As to global warming, no....that's a very real natural occurrence..it just also happens to be politicized by people who have stock portfolios in "renewable energy" companies so they can funnel tax money to those companies to boost their portfolios.

It was a "concern" since at least the 1980s when we were told the polar ice caps could melt in as little as 20 years.

Here we are 40+ years later and the Antarctic ice sheet has been increasing in mass since 2021. India is covered in trash and china has zero pollution standards they actually enforce and sends armadas of ships to strip the oceans bare but tell us again how it's the fault of 1/4 the population of those two countries and their idling at a stoplight for 20 seconds.

Okay, everyone -- let's take a step back and chill. This is, after all, the "cheering up" thread.

replacement midpipe for my cracked one has arrived in aus. been three weeks.
not sure if I'll decat when installing it. not looking forward to the pain of removing the existing (the slip join is seized)

1. It must be laboratory grade air filtration to filter out excess CO and NOx. Your Home Depot filters won't help one bit!

2. You forget London has extremely good public transport links. Not many people rely on cars for commuting - the parking charges alone make it far cheaper to go by train, tram or bus. About 30 million trips a day.

You should start a thread on the pros and cons.

So then why are so many people cutting the cameras down like the bladerunners?

Where does the ulez money go exactly? How does it improve the climate? Cite examples.

Seriously, guys, knock it off already.

I'm cheered up by the continual presence of pollinators, including bees (both of the honey and the bumble variety) in and around the sprawling garden outside my house here in Oregon. The fact that some of them can pollinate equally well upside-down as rightside-up is even better.

if you loan us that big hammer of yours ...

This whinging might take the "cheering up thread" to page 100.

Fooled me.

OFG

Oh, the irony...

Lawnmower used as a coat hanger.

I'm calling Greta.

It seems that Greta has moved on to other projects.

When she realises it's a Vespa and not some oversize vehicle with an oversize engine, she'll probably realise there's better ways to spend her time

I drove up to Bello Moto in San Francisco today to fetch Scarlett, my new-to-me '81 ET3, down to San Jose. Had a quick scoot round the neighborhood and realized just how much I'd missed riding these past few weeks.

Scooter content and physics content, all in one classic video!

Does the Vespa warranty period pertain to the Scooters frame of reference?

I'm a big boy now. I just signed up for riding in the toll roads (and tunnels )

So people have to pay for the pleasure of trying to kill you now?

I don't know whether it is just nostalgy or what, but I've always really liked the somewhat 'clumsy' looks of a P200...that is a really fine sample you have there, a nice colour too!

Yeah , that P200 has the famous self-shedding silver paint. I had one and a bit would fall off every time I took it for a ride thus moving it towards the coveted look so cherished among the patina crowd.

If they produced a Vespa that travelled at nearly the speed of light, I reckon someone would still want to kit it

I do miss the dulcet tones of Carl Sagan

Wow, you actually got them to respond to you? I sent probably 30 inquiries and tried calling dozens of times when they had a rally on the site for months. Zero response.

Congrats on the new scoot!!

Thanks! Yeah, it's a weird setup there. I'm not really sure whether its a museum or a dealer - they seem to price bikes as if they don't want to sell them! I've mostly dealt with Scott, the sales guy, and he's pretty easy to work with.

When I bought the blue ET3 (still on their site) at the beginning of this year, I used the "contact us now" form at the bottom of the page, and he got straight back to me by SMS and email asking which bike I was interested in, because their system doesn't include that useful information in the message. He's been pretty responsive since then, and always fun to chat with. He used to sell Ferraris in Los Gatos, CA, and has a ton of stories to share

Not to mention the "quantum" green wire that crumbles further into dust every time it is observed

Whilst riding down to Cornwall today I had my first swim in the sea for 25 years.

F**k me it was cold!

Found myself a nice micro pub with chatty people to spend the evening with which was nice.