Modern Vespa

My s/o is INSANELY supportive of me and pretty much anything I choose to do. He rode a Honda CB 750 back in late 70s, so he was already two-wheel friendly. When we met, I was riding an '05 Kawi Vulcan 2000, a bike that's not for the faint of heart! Sold the Kawi 4 years ago; I always knew I'd get another Vespa someday. Well, that day was this past January, and Jim was damn near as excited as I was! Here we are, a couple of months later, and just today I took delivery of a "project" scoot -- an '01 ET2 50cc that I used to own! Jim seemed less than thrilled -- 1 scoot was enough; was a "project" gonna be a deal breaker?

Nope. He can't wait to watch me tear up my hands while wrenching, and he's already planning to expand his vocabulary with a few of the longshoremen words I'm BOUND to utter!

Jim no longer rides -- he's several years older than me -- but so long as I "promise to be careful" (with a nod to bug. up in Portland!) he's happy that I'm tearing around the desert! It puts a smile on my face, and that, in turn, puts a smile on his.

It doesn't get much better than that!

Victor

As seems to be the case with everyone so far, I've got a good thing going on over here. She's not too involved one way or the other with the scootering and motorcycling, but she knows that riding is just a part of who I am and leaves me to it. I once overheard her talking to a friend who was freaked out by her boyfriend's intention to get a motorcycle and what she said was perfect.

"If he wants to ride, you have to let him ride. If you stop him, you won't even like him anymore."

"Let Him Ride" went directly into the notebook under "Potential Song Titles". I'll post it when it gets made.

Married 44 years. I've been riding since before we got married, but I took a hiatus of about 10 years.
My wife doesn't pillion either. She did once, but anything over 80km/h (50mph) earned me a punch in the kidneys. So I ride solo.

She once asked me:
"What would you say if I asked you / told you that you had to choose between me and motorcycling?"
I replied that it was a question to which neither of us would like to know the answer, so it were better left unasked. She never did ask.

I did however tell her:
"Motorcycling is my passion and it will inevitably take me away from home now and again. But there is only one reason why I come back... and that reason is you."

Whenever I get more grumpy than usual, she tells me to get out of her hair and go for a ride to coffee with a biker / Vespa friend.
I seldom refuse her request / instruction in this matter.

At the time I met my wife, some 34 years ago, I was driving the BMW R75.
She then considered and still considers all motorcycles in general to be very dangerous.

I made some attempts to persuade her to join for a ride, but even with the BMW on the center stand and the engine off she still did not dare to sit on it. I had to give up on that.

And then we bought the house, and then the children came. As a result of all that: no motoring between 1992 and 2019.

By that time I was thinking of something a bit better built and allowing further range than a regular bicycle, maybe an electric one. But these things are quite expensive and for the same money I could buy a second hand motorcycle. And it was tempting to go for a motorcycle.

But I would very much like my wife to regularly join for a ride, and then a big motorcycle was not an option. So I decided to look for a motorcycle that does look more innocent, less dangerous then a full motorcycle. That is why I came to a scooter and so how the BV 300ie got here.

And it worked, but not too good.
We did several trips together with her as a passenger. But I can feel she is afraid and only joins to please me but she does not enjoy it.

I know what the best remedy is against that fear: it is driving yourself. The scooter is super easy to ride and my wife is very handy on a bicycle. I am sure within short time she would get the hang of it. And with a bit of luck maybe would find it not that bad.

In the back of my head there is this idea to one day buy a 125 model for her and then we could make joined trips. But so far no success.

Back a decade ago, about 10 years into the marriage, I got a bug to get a scooter for commuting. Mrs. f had lost an uncle in a MC accident and was at first dead set against the idea. My counter was, of course, "it's not a motorcycle!" she probably didn't entirely buy that, but understood my passion and relented...as long as I used a helmet and gear, which was a given anyway.

About two years in, I had a small crash at the end of our driveway (setting sun blocked view of an oncoming MC (which saw it coming). Not all that bad, except my ankle was under the floorboard and I couldn't move. Wife witnessed it, came running out thinking I was unconscious. I'd popped up, relieved I could stand on my ankle, but now fearful she'd confiscate the keys. But no....and not a lot was said about my continued riding. Around that time we'd gone on a group ride with her renting a 5occ 2-stroke, and before loading up my 150, she announced she wanted to try it, and took off up the dead end street we were on. Came back grinning, which led to her getting her license. I had recently bought a GTS, so we now had our own scooters. She turned out to be a pretty respectable rider. Thought we were set, but she was always a bit too nervous about crashing, and refused to go faster than 40 mph, even on straightaways. She did go on some group rides with me (urban or 50cc friendly), but generally lost interest. I'd get on a roll about her not riding and thinking I should sell the 150, but she'd give me puppy eyes before telling me I could if I really wanted to..so it still hers.

Despite her all but giving up riding, she supports my obsession in principle, and lets me disappear for long weekends during the summer for longer rides, so overall, I have it good.

It is nice that spouses will try to or do ride despite their fears because they want to be with and/or support their significant other. I really think you have to be all in and enjoy the exhilaration and thrill of two wheeling. I do not encourage some one to ride if they fear it. It is to dangerious. I have experienced bad outcomes for ladies with basic fear trying to ride with their guys.

But good on everyone for their choices. I expect with practice, fear can be overcome. The ladies that ride in my group love riding. They, like all of us, have a healthy respect for safety - but no fear. My blushing bride wants absolutely nothing to do with two wheeling - fears it.

Bob Copeland

I wish I had adequate words to describe how lucky I am when it comes to my wife.
She does not ride (every once in awhile she'll hint at wanting to try a 50cc), but she's more supportive of my adventures than I could ever ask for.

Last week she got on the back of my Bonneville for the first time. It was my first time with a passenger. We went about the neighborhood for a bit, and it turns out it wasn't really for her. At least not at this time. And to be honest, I didn't love it either.
But.
I think she genuinely gets excited to see me excited to ride. She never ever tries to stop me, only encourage me. And oddly enough, she's my BIGGEST fan by far of my YouTube channel. She'll watch each video before I post it to check titles and such, and there's no sweeter sound than hearing her laugh at my stupid jokes. Sometimes I'll hear her laughing in the other room and come to find her watching one of my videos again. And she reads EVERY comment, looks at views/subscriber numbers, and, honestly, it thrills the hell out of me. It's just fantastic. I end up making my videos with the mindset that she's my primary audience.

Scootering (and motorcycling), I can honestly say, has improved my marriage because it's improved my general attitude on life. It's a win/win, for real.

Agree completely. I'm often asked how I convinced my wife to ride. The answer is simply "I didn't, she wanted to do it." I think that's the only acceptable answer. Riding on two wheels is dangerous, and you need to be both calm and competent to do it with a degree of safety. If you're afraid of the machine, you won't be calm. Nobody belongs on a bike if they don't want to be there, bad things can happen if you push them into it.

The question came up for us after Darling Bride crashed her motorcycle and separated her right shoulder in the process. While she recovered there was intense pressure from her parents and a lot of her friends to sell the bike. When she asked me what she should do I told her "It would be a mistake to sell your motorcycle because your mother wants you to. It would also be a mistake to keep it because you think your husband wants you to. You have to decide what you want, and know that I'll support your decision." It took her a year to make that decision, then the instruction came; "sell it, and get me something less powerful to start over on." She's still riding, because and only because she wants to.

My wife isn't interested in learning how to ride (some fear, I gather). She rides 2 up with me on the BV and has reported getting more comfortable with it. I do think if she tried driving a smaller scoot, she would love it, but I also know my anxiety would go up. Her recent interest, and even suggestion at taking "a scooty ride" makes me lean towards replacing the bike with a Burgy in a few years, when I'm ready to trade. By the by, she calls this forum, "scooty chat" and lovingly teases me about being so into these things.

Mostly she wants me to be safe, happy. It improves my QOL so thus far no issues. I'm very lucky; she's the best person I know and dating and subsequently marrying her is the wisest and healthiest thing I've ever done for my own happiness and sanity.

My GF has to listen to things like, " Znomit said such and such, and Bill Dog got grumpy and Jess was all cool it boys, and Mr Copeland picked up chicks in Italy in the 70's."

She's like, "Who ARE all these people?"

Me: Oldscoot gets his Kona blend before DAWN in the rain. In OHIO.

GF: I'm seeing someone

Your GF is running around with Oldscoot? And her name is Dawn?

I mean, I get it. Dude's got good taste in coffee. He's all early to bed, early to rise. I myself am not very healthy, wealthy OR wise.

Mrs Jess is actually the one that instigated the scooter thing in the first place. She had been agitating about getting a scooter for the first couple years we were married, and I told her she would get herself killed.

Eventually, she signed up for an MSF course, and I ended up taking it with her. A close friend of ours (who already knew how to ride a motorcycle) came along with us. We all passed.

As soon as she got her MSF completion slip in the mail, she went down to the DMV and got her M1 endorsement. I was at work, and we talked on the phone. I asked her if she was going to buy a scooter, and she said she was still looking at her options.

Of course, when I came home, the scooter (a Honda Metro) was in the driveway.

@#$%

So not to be outdone, that weekend we went to San Francisco and I bought a mint-green GT200.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is what started a very complicated series of events that included registering modernvespa.com.

Dang. I smoked out the origin story from The Originator.