Modern Vespa

I have owned vespas for 25 years. I have never been a fan of highway/parkway riding. I always hop on/off and can do a 5-10 mile stint if I have to......but tonight as the sun was setting I hopped on a local parkway (I usually take a road that runs parallel to this road that is a simple two land road, not a parkway) and for some reason I found it absolutely dreamy. I wanted to get home quicker so I gave it a shot. It's a 30 mile ride and I just flew at 70-75mph the entire time. Strange to me how after 25 years of not liking it - I can't wait to do it again tomorrow.

Anyway.....silly vespa story, but thought I would share.

I am not a fan of them either and mostly avoid if possible. The thought of droning for an hour or more on them with any motorcycle I have had including the Vespa is unpleasant and doesn't work for me. That said, for short distances and "high" speed thrill, I will use them.

Yeah they're mind numbingly boring but also extremely useful if you need to get somewhere quickly.

Riding at 70mph on the Taconic or Bronx River Parkway is very nice.

Thanks for the tip!!! I usually take 9W which runs parallel to the Palisades but I decided to take Palisades entire time. I will look into Taconic etc for a ride soon. Where do you live?

I ride the Long Island Expressway for about 15 mile stretches on my Liberty 150 at about 63mph. At that speed, I'm usually not getting in anyone's way. The catch is, I only do it on the weekends early morning when I'm heading out for a hike or something, and there's barely anyone on the road (I know that's the hours when most of the crazies/drunks are out).

When the pandemic was winding down, I used the Liberty for the 35 mi. (each way) commute to work on I-495, but I don't feel comfortable doing that anymore.

I've ridden the 495 beltway around dc several times on my gts. /Shrug

I normally avoid the superslabs, but they do serve a purpose if you're in a hurry. The biggest downsides are buffeting from large trucks/crosswinds and road hazards. On 12" wheels, even a minor pothole or tire tread can be a significant danger. You also have cars and trucks merging on/off and changing lanes jockeying for position like it's a NASCAR race.

The Bluegrass Parkway (and western Ky Parkway) in Kentucky is actually a pretty pleasant drive, running from Lexington to Paducah. US 35 in Ohio from Dayton to near Charleston WV is another fairly pleasant ride on a 4 lane divided highway.

My overwhelming preference is to avoid these roads if possible, but I can take them if really needed.

I'm not a fan, either. 60 to 67 mph for some reason I'll do all day, but when I go any above that I just want to slow down a bit. That said, my local dealer is a 50 minute ride on a 70 mph highway, so I go WOT most of the time to avoid being run over.

Someone needs to open a good scooter shop in my home town!

Eric

I live in NYC. There are many Parkways around NYC, and trucks are not allowed on Parkways.

Bronx River Pkway is wonderful. Sprain River Pkway is pretty good. Southern State Pkway. Taconic is beautiful. Jackie Robinson Pkwy is fun for the curves. FDR from the East side.as it winds around northern tip of Manhattan is nice. Cross Island Pkwy.
There are many, and all are decent to excellent.

When out for my sunrise coffee ride, sometimes I'm blocked off my normal rural route. Then I have to ride a 55MPH stretch for 6 or 7 miles. WOT for me is @60. I do not enjoy riding at that speed - seems "what's the point?, I might as well be in my truck!" sure as heck can't enjoy the smells and scenery.
(I sold my nearly new 90MPH Burgman to buy the Liberty - go figure that one out! )
O.S.

As a Brit and 21+ year resident of San Jose, CA, I have to ask: "What's a parkway"?

There appears to be a little confusion here about the meaning of "parkway". Here in Minneapolis a parkway is a city street, usually two lanes, with a low 20 or 25 mph speed limit, and mostly bordered by parks. See "Minneapolis Grand Rounds".

Seems the Eastern definition is more like what Midwesterners would call a freeway, expressway, or interstate.

A Parkway is a limited access road which is lowish-speed (45-55mph), no trucks or trailers permitted, and set with nicely constructed overpasses and rest stops. It's sort of like an expressway, but more picturesque. Look up the Taconic Parkway for more info.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkways_in_New_York

Sounds to me like that would be ideal for riding.

I avoid highways and such nowadays. I'm happy under 60mph. Even when I had bigger scoots (Honda Silverwing) I avoided faster roads. Maybe it's my age (54) or the fact that people drive worse and worse everyday? But I still wear all the safety gear though. Armored jacket, full face helmet, leather gloves and boots even at the slow speeds I'm riding. Anything "highway speeds" I'm in my car. So I'm just a boring rider now I guess.

If I take surface roads to work it takes me 35 to 45 minutes but I enjoy the ride. If I hop on the interstate it takes 15 minutes BUT I feel like I've ridden 50 miles and I feel stressed out.

In NYC, the safest road are the Parkways and Expressways. The most dangerous roads are the surface streets. So many people running reds, running stop signs, turning left when not allowed, double parked cars, etc etc.

I'm my case my fear is not the parkways or highways, I live in central Pennsylvania Deers country! I'm second shift guy it's so nice to come to work on this roads my usual speed it's from 50 to 75 mph for some stretches at night it's an other story Dudde I see deers every single night that makes me paranoid I'm constantly looking for shiny eyes ,my speed goes down to 35 to max 50 mph ! Also I don't mention big ass possums raccoons etc…..

Most parkways are pre-WW2 creations, and they are much nicer to ride when they aren't busy. Busy, they are worse than Interstates because the lanes are narrower.

In California there are mostly interstates and some state roads that are very similar. I use them quite a bit to get around the Bay Area because, for the most part, I use the scooter as my primary form of transportation. Personally, I feel safer on a highway than on a city street, for the same reason commenters from New York City listed. There's just less random events on a highway. No parking along the sides, no driveways, no pedestrians, no dogs, no bicycles, no traffic lights and stop signs and much less completely erratic driving, both from young drivers and from my fellow old farts. You have no idea how difficult it can be to ride near a university of 40,000 students, right in the middle of a city.

This is true most of the time. However, each of these parkways can become treacherous at night, especially the Bronx River Parkway, which is tortuously twisty, poorly lit, and was designed long before cars could even go the 40mph that is the posted speed limit. Their bucolic nature inspires, or attracts, sheer recklessness in some drivers. The scope of the injuries and deaths that occur on these roads is appalling, and occur so frequently that they barely even make the news. New drivers are not even allowed on the BRP until they have full licenses. Cars race and chase each other at 90+mph All. The. Time. Inexperienced Uber drivers careen erratically all over the place being surprised by stoplights that appear around curves, and looking for exits and places to turn around. Drunk, impaired, or stupid drivers enter the parkways through confusing onroad patterns and end up driving on the wrong side of the road regularly.

My primary residence is about 30 seconds off the BRP in one of the most residential areas in the county, and I worry about a random a-hole tearing down the parkway and clipping or overrunning me every single time I ride on it.

Same with the CIP here in Queens. Too many people on two wheels have been killed on the Cross Island in the past few years.

I am good with riding any paved roads, narrow mountain roads to interstate highways.

Usually it is simply to get somewhere faster or to cover a lot of distance

I have ridden Vespa GT200s on two Saddle Sore 1000s with less than 200 of those miles off of the highways.

Other long highway rides were to my home in Jacksonville, FL from Wisconsin in two days on my Xmax, one day rides 800 miles from West Virginia on the Xmax and 700 miles from the Mississippi Delta on a Vespa GT200.

I am less likely to do the extra long rides these days, usually opting for smaller roads now on rides to North Carolina, but occasionally I find the fast, highway rides to be fun.

My favorites are rides home after the Tuesday club dinner rides.

Sometimes the wind is calm, the air soft, the traffic light and the stars shining.

It can be magical.

Bill

I live in Dutchess County and use the Taconic all the time. The only stretch of the road that's challenging is between I-84 and Rt. 6 in Yorktown. I personally like the twist and turns there but some might not. It's called the "Most Dangerous Road in NYS". It is...for people who think life begins at 65 mph. It hasn't been for me.

My 300 has only logged 800 miles under my possession. I have tried interstate riding but I find it unpleasant. The trucks make massive
Vortexes and the small wheels are just not conducive to higher speed. Not to mention the step ladders, mattresses, and lumber that pop up behind tractor trailers.At speed there is little time to react. Atlanta is not a place for the meek. I abandoned my Blackbird due to my age and reflexes but superbikes are purpose built for that kind of work.
My BSA lightening would shake and wheeze trying to get into triple digits. The Blackbird was just getting started.
If you want to lose your driving privileges, def the way to go😎

I did the parkway AGAIN today on my way home from work. I'm hooked at WOT for 40 minutes it feels pretty fun.

You got me thinking about the parkways we used when I was a kid, standing in the back seat looking out the windshield. No seatbelts in a 51 Dodge! The worst was the Cross County Parkway that runs from the Hutchison River Parkway to the Saw Mill Parkway. It's been rebuilt now but was laid out in 1929 as a 4 lane limited access road with stop signs on the entrances, very winding and only a white line to divide the eastbound and west bound traffic. Imagine running along at 45 or 50 in a 50's era sedan about 5 feet away from oncoming cars, on a rainy night. What a nightmare.