Modern Vespa

Twenty long years ago, on this day (October 11th, 2025), I launched Modern Vespa. I was sitting in bed, late in the evening, in Oakland, California. I certainly had no idea what I was doing, or what I was in for, or the many ways it would change my life.

And I certainly didn't get here on my own, either. I've had the selfless support of countless moderators over the years, some of whom are still active and others who have moved on to other interests. I want to thank all of them for their help in shaping the tone and style and community vibe of this forum. Sincerely, genuinely, thank you.

We've also been blessed with some really great artwork contributions from Ironfoot -- the latest of which you can see in the 20th anniversary logo at the top of the page. Thank you so much, ironfoot, for making this place more visually interesting. I sincerely appreciate it.

And of course, we would be nothing without all of our members, who are the ones actually posting, generating the content that future members will read and respond to, who will attract more members, and so on and so on. I have said many times that posts are the literal life-blood of any forum. No forum can survive without a steady supply of new posts, and we are certainly no different.

And finally, I want to give thanks to the many members who have made financial contributions to the forum. This has in recent times allowed Modern Vespa to become financially self-sufficient (meaning I am no longer paying the bills out of my own pocket) and also allows us to remain virtually free of advertising, trackers, and popups. Modern Vespa remains a free and tranquil place on the internet precisely because these members have decided that the common good is worth contributing to. If you'd like to join them, you may do so here.

I honestly have no idea how many more years Modern Vespa will go on. I certainly never would have guessed, 20 years ago, that I would still be doing this today. So I'll refrain from making any wild predictions. But a sincere thanks to everyone for coming along for the ride.

Long live to the tyrant? ha ha ha

A wholehearted thanks to you, Jess.

This site guided me to my first Vespa, and (two-wheel) purchase while I was also living in Oakland back in 2012.

Vespa ownership has been a defining part of my life since then.

The technical info, social connections, and overall happiness MV brings me daily is a much bigger part of my day then I should probably admit, but I'm proud to do so.

Cheers to twenty years!

does writing "2005-2025" suggested it's died? maybe "est. 2005"

This is so awesome. And it happens to be on MY birthday also. Wooohooo.

I heard about MV from a friend (GoGoGordy) but didn't sign up immediately because I was riding a Bajaj 4t.

I'm sure glad I did

Thanks to you Jess and to everyone that has kept this forum going. I'm very thankful for the community, and the info of course.

BTW, I rarely venture over here from NSM, but just had to after seeing the cool speedo on the main page

Thanks Jess! It's amazing you've had this going for 20 years. Thanks to MV, my Vespa will finally be finished very soon.You started on Scott's birthday and my wedding anniversary. I've been married two years longer than MV. 🤪

*raises a glass*

Especially since the needle is at "0" and not at full throttle... 🙈

jess: Thank you for your efforts and those of all the admins!

And now I can use that scooter cake you found back in June! 😁

Thanks for all the fun and memories.
Steve

Well done Jess and everyone else that posts, admins that admin and those who support Modern Vespa. Huzza!

Thanks as well to Jess and the moderators for establishing and maintaining the site. Also thanks to contributers and supporters.

Like others, I found this site during my search for a Vespa. Amazing how fast time slips by…

Happy Birthday to MV.

I joined just about at the birth and was on the ScooterBBS forum before that. Were you involved with ScooterBBS too?

Thank you so much, Jess!

I bought Rocket, my first Vespa, two months after you started MV.

I joined the forum a year later.

I may have found out about the Scooter Cannonball Run without MV, but I doubt it.

I may have heard about the Vespa Club del Mediterraneo without it, but I doubt it.

Nor Fledermaus and his Wisconscoots and Yooper Loops.

Same with meeting my late friend, Lostboater.

Finding these people and events changed my life significantly.

All for the better.

Thank you, Jess.

Bill

Just wanted to jump back in and say how much I like the logo. Well done Ironfoot.

"Involved" is too strong a word. I was briefly a member there, yes. I quickly realized that it was not what I was looking for, and went hunting for an appropriate domain name. "How hard could it be to run a forum?" I said, stupidly.

(In many ways, Modern Vespa exists because ScooterBBS was such a toxic hell-hole. And also because I didn't know any better about running a forum).

I owned a GT200 at the time, and I was looking for a domain name that was specific to that model. As it turns out, cfargo had already registered several likely domain candidates (though I didn't know him yet) and I couldn't find anything suitable. Broadening my search a bit, I found both "modvespa.com" and "modernvespa.com" were available -- obviously you know which one I registered.

Along the way, I did some google searches. The term "modern Vespa" was not actually yet a term of art. The scooter world was referring to these models as "new Vespas". Hence why the name "modernvespa.com" was available.

This is exactly the kind of thing that makes this job worthwhile. You're very welcome, but also: thank you!

Maybe you just like the classic clamshell shape?

This is a great forum. Thanks Jesse!

Accurate.

Thanks for diving into the forum world and creating a virtual hangout for us scooter enthusiasts! It's like Cheers, where everybody knows your username.

Over the years I've interacted with others from around the world (Treppenwitz, SDG, VintageRedMatthew, Yanobobano, dear, sweet Judy, and many others). I've gotten great advice, tips, humor and camaraderie.

I really appreciate Jess and ModernVespa for making my scootin' life richer for all these years! Here's to many more miles and forum visits.

Happy Bday to MV! Let's raise our glasses to 20 more!

I appreciate this forum.for what it is and has been to me over the years.

Long may it continue

Wow congrats on the 20 years! It's really a great community. Thanks for creating the forum and thanks to everyone who helps out ! Ironfoot great logo! And love your illustrations! https://www.doublegood.co.uk/

Thank you Jess for your work. Absolutely the best place with lot very nice guys!

Damn...20 years...that's impressive.

Thanks, Jess, for doing all the hard work of keeping the site up and running, maintained, and well-run.

Thanks to the moderators, who fortunately rarely make themselves known, at least down in Not-So-Modern where I pretty much exclusively hang out.

I've been on your side of running several Web sites over the years, some fairly small and some rather large and I know how much work this is, even when it's not being a lot of work.

And, yeah, I love the anniversary logo.

P.S. Happy Birthday, Scott!

20 years is an impressive time period for a privately hosted forum of any kind.

If I'm not wrong, Youtube was established 2005 - gives some perspective how the digital world around has changed...and yet, MV is still here and going strong!

Are you implying that jess should have invented YouTube instead?

He didn't?

Believe me, I wish I had that much foresight.

I would have been happy for you!

Thank you brother Jess, i always felt like home everytime i am coming back here.. I love you all and cheer

Ebeth!!!!

Every time I see you post it makes me smile. 😃

This. The design is lovely, but my first thought upon seeing the updated logo was that the forum is done, dead in 2025.

Here here!!!

poured a very special amburana cask finish tonight (think cinnamon toast crunch in a glass) and delighted to raise it to this lil group of muppets.

Like you weren't going to do that anyway.

Jess, In all seriousness thank you for everything that you've built and maintained here.

Your hard work doesn't go unnoticed.

Great new logo by the way.

^^ that