Modern Vespa

Has anybody done this ride? I'm thinking about doing it this Saturday - any advice on route? Might stop by Vespa TO on the way back to see if I can get a service fitted in.

Done the ride on a bicycle only. Your route depends on where you are going in L.A. Four basic routes; PCH, 101, 118, and 126. One road from S.B. to Vta, then you have to make your choice.

Be sure to call TOV first to set up a service appointment. You can do that on their web site.

Wow. Which route did you go va Bicycle? Are you Lance Armstrong? How long did it take you? I wouldn't ever do that on a bike...I would perish for sure.

Thanks for the heasd up about setting up service - will do that now.

No big deal on a bike. I'm a lifelong cyclist. Back in '95, I rode (half) cross-country (from D.C. to central Kansas) in three weeks.

Again, where in L.A. are you going? The northern valleys (San Fernando, San Gabriel, Inland Empire, etc.) go 118 through Moorpark/Simi Valley into the San Fernando Valley. If Santa Clarita, Antelope Valley, or the northern San Fernando Valley, 126 is a really nice, four-lane senic route. If to Orange County or anywhere south of the transverse range (Santa Monica Mountains), you probably want to take PCH. VTO is off the 101, (TO Blvd. north side of the street, just west of the 23 freeway).

Santa Barbara ---> Thousand Oaks ---> Manhattan Beach

there's a road right runs pretty much parallel to the PCH where a lot of campers and RVs are parked (you can see it on PCH). Bobby of Vespa Santa Barbara told me that road is probably the best to go to LA - you will need to be on the highway 101 for only 3-4 minutes but the rest is PCH (non highway).

also why don't you just get the service done in Santa Barbara?

I heard they suck and Vespa TO is the place to go.

I bought my vespa with bobby in SB and drove it to L.A. Since at the time I did not have the endorsment I drove through SB. took the 150 then 33 than stop at Oxnard for lunch. Drove through Oxnard and Ventura till the PCH. All the PCH till Santa Monica because I live around that area. I'd say you go straight on the PCH till Manhattan.

Was a beaultiful ride. No freeways and the 150 is a nice ride through the mountains and there is a lake. Pretty cool.

Hmm, maybe I'll do that.

Questin for you - what did you put on your scooter while you had no plate and were waiting for registration? I'm guessing you didn't have insurance either??

Vespa Santa Barbara Rocks, as does Vespa of Thousand Oaks. Both are at the top of my list.

It is easy as can be....


You can do the 150 through Ojai as suggested then bomb through Ventura to PCH. (I can walk out of my shop & see the 150 / Rincon right now).


Or you can do bits of freeway after Carpinteria to the short stretch of PCH...
Then hit the freeway briefly to Seaward..Then Harbor to PCH


When you are on PCH you have the option of hitting just about any canyon you want.
I am always partial to Mullholland/Stunt/Topanga




Very fun ride....& if you want you can stop in Oxnard & get into a gang fight.
Do it....

WOW! you heard absolutely WRONG!


Bobby is one of the best out there as a former Ducati/team Honda race mechanic.
He is the only person I trust besides myself to even think about touching my bikes.
(And he was/is one of the FIRST & ONLY California Vespa Dealers who is extremely well versed in modern & vintage....Besides Mark Wilson & Josh Snow at Vespa Santa Maria)

He has probably done more Full/Concourse Restorations & Custom/Stock MV's than the other dealer has done oil changes.

You might want to get some more opinions.

I trust Bob implicitly with my safety & bikes.


If you don't believe me talk to real deal Piaggio peeps like Rolf S., Bosco & Eric Larsen


Sorry but I had to pipe up on that statement.....
Vespa S.B. is as legit as it gets.

Heh - seems I am getting conflicting stories. I'm from the east coast, so I don' t know crap about the Vespa network out here. Sure seems like a love/hate relationship depending on who you talk to.

So seriously - what is the protocol for buying a used bike and not having plates? Is it ok to ride? Should I swing by a Vespa store and see if I can get a "REGISTRATION PENDING" plate? I notice half the cars here don't drive with plates either. Strange.

I can tell you that if you talk to the folks that know their shit?
That Bobby Weindorf is extremely well respected when it comes to quality & mechanical ability.

He has been doing it for a Looooong time....
Like I said...I trust him implicitly with any of my bikes.....He has done right by me & my friends so many times that it isn't even funny.




Plus to top it off he can out ride just about anyone I have met.....On just about any bike....
I go 20 mph faster whenever I follow his lines...Unbelievably fast & clean.


And you know what?...He will probably be here long after others have given up.
He is in it for the long haul.






You can ride with paper plates or no plates if you have just purchased a bike.
as long as there is paperwork pending & you are licensed.

You can even call your insurance & have a new bike insured almost immediately so there is a record of it & you are covered.


You will love the ride to LA no matter what route you take....
Good luck & have fun.....

No need for plates/temporary plates but you should at least have a temporary registration with you and insurance card (or copy of).

Good luck and more East Coast in the house

+1 on Mark Wilson. I bought my LX from Mark, and he is the bomb.

Not too impressed with Vespa Santa Barbara thus far - 1) they don' t answer the phone, and 2) still waiting for them to return a voicemail and email!

i was thinking about this trip too... from Long Beach to Santa Barbara....

me and my girlfriend were going to take my LX150 up PCH to Ventura, then take the 101 to Santa Barbara....

here is the question::::::

is it safe to take the little streach of the 101 fwy between ventura and santa barbara instead of doing the 33 to the 150?

i've never been on the 33 to 150.... is it a nice ride?

thanks!!!



-cheers


-my 2 cents : so yeah. get insurence and a copy of registration if you plan on driving that far.....

What do you guys mean by copy of registration? I'm buying a used scooter, so its technically registered to another person until I send everything into the DMV to get title transferred, etc, right?

Probably because they are quite busy - I don't know what you've heard, but Bobby and Moto Paradiso are the best in the country. Period.

We are in Vegas until tomorrow morning however we surely we set you up with a service and pit stop along the way. Great ride, enjoy !!

Call the shop tomorrow,

Best
SDG
VTO

sorry mate,

here's what you do. call up an insurence company and get the bike insured. they will email you a form you print out and keep until the real one shows up. GEIKO does that. you need the VIN# make and model and license plate #...

print that out before you take off

once you get the pink slip signed and mailed, have the seller go to

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/online/nrl/welcome.htm

this will give the DMV that its in your name and the pink slip is in the mail.

just to be on the safe side, make sure you have the old regestration card on you (even though its in someone else's name). have maybe a release of ownership form signed from the original owner on you as well... you can find that form on the DMV website too i think.... that should be good enough....


-cheers

Lets not go here.......both our shops are extremely competent to do what you need, just enjoy the ride. There are too many "my dealer is better" threads standing by. This guy just want's to go on a ride, this is not a dealer praise or bashing thread, period.

Either way, stop by and say hey !!

SDG in Vegas

Ok, getting insurance - I don't think you need the license plate number. I wouldn't have a plate (I assume the owner is keeping it). I think I only need the VIN?

Yeah, I'm not sure who to believe, but the fact they are so busy they can't answer the phone probably doesn't bode well for my chances of getting an appointment eh???

yeah, i think the VIN would be good enough... call ahead to make sure.


-cheers

Try the Ca DMV website for your questions on registration. The last bike I sold I transferred the liability for the bike on the DMV website and signed over the "pink slip" to the new owner. He went to AAA and registered the bike in his name. He needed to pay sales tax and a transfer fee. The transaction took a whole 10 minutes.
As far as SB Vespa is concerned- they have lunch from 1. 12-1:30
2. you probably won't get a call back as they are too busy, 3. You're appointment wouldn't' be until 2 weeks from now if even then. 4. People that purchased bikes from SB Vespa come first for appointments 5. Fiesta started today and runs until Sunday. 6. Bob will be in Italy for 2 weeks soon. The reason Bob is so busy is because he knows his shit and he's worth the wait. Sure it's a pain in the ass to have a 2 week window to have work done, but there's only one shop in town and we're lucky that we have such a great owner.
If you want to completely avoid freeway driving from SB down to Ventura then the 192 to the 150 to the 33 is an incredible ride. It will take about 70-80 minutes going that way from SB to Ventura. If you want to do a small amount of freeway driving then you can drive surface streets to the freeway, 192, to 150 to Rincon Hill Road to the 101 for about 2 miles of freeway then back on the road that goes along the ocean then another little bit of freeway driving. I wouldn't be too happy driving a 150 on the freeway as that little stretch is only 2 lanes.

Questin for you - what did you put on your scooter while you had no plate and were waiting for registration? I'm guessing you didn't have insurance either??[/quote]

That's a general question. I bought my scooter in Calif last month. The dealers used to tape the temporary hand-written registration on the plate holder, but they don't do that anymore. My dealer just told me to carry the registration with me at all times until the permanent one comes from DMV. As for insurance, if you are getting insurance from a company that already insures you, they normally give you 48 hours or some other period of retroactive coverage from the date you report the VIN to them. So you are covered when you drive it out of the showroom.
I can't say if a company you haven't used before will do that for you,

I am not going to twist your arm....But I would leave a message.
The reason you cant get through immediately is because they are not jibber jabbing on the interwebs. (Like me! HA!)
Bobby is working on bikes & his assistant Amanda is helping customers.
There is NO better service in the area.

Regardless of what anyone tells you.

They are always busy & have been since 2000.....it speaks volumes about the shop.

Before I get sweated & called out for "dealer bashing" I just felt like doing a little cheerleading for a real deal scooter shop that I am proud to have watched grow.
No dealer bashing here just simple facts....as I am certain I am allowed to say that


But hey it is your bike & you can take it wherever you like.

Regardless, stop in & definitely check out the shop as he is highly respected amongst the scooter community.
I have been friends with him for a long time & I am a picky bastard when it comes to my bikes.

He has some SICK personal racebikes/streetbikes, his personal collection of Vintage bikes is pretty damn extensive , great low mileage Vintage Vespas & his shop is a great little relax zone after lunch downtown.

(Plus he usually gets things first other dealers dont get because he is the "Luckiest boy in the world" as we have called him for awhile.)

I am tempted to roll with you through Ojai if you do the 150....I do that road all the time & love it! I usually hit the 33 itowards Ojai rather than heading in Ventura & bomb that for as many miles as I can stand & then work my way back. That is not true sbrider.
All customers are on pretty equal footing & it also
depends on the circumstances.....


He would usually end up doing last minute repairs on bikes during our old rally weekends pretty much for free & on the fly........as I have dealt enough with him over the years to know that sometimes he will just totally pull the most generous moves.....& bend like a reed in the wind.



I am done .....Bob is king.......


How is that for some fricken cheerleading???

Hey - I respect that. But other people obviously may feel the opposite. From my perspective, seems like both shops would do a great job - I am only going in for an oil change, etc! Doesn't takea rocket scientist! Let me know if you are up for it - PM me and I'll give you my contact info so we can meet up. Would be great to get shown the way by a local! I'm impressed. You're better than my highschool gf - and she was captain of the cheerleading team (yes, I was a stud in high school). Hah!

Question for you guys - where the hell can I go to get a vehicle history report? I'm trying to lookup this VIN# ZAPM448F675006550

I can't seem to find a site that can "find" this vehicle. What gives?

If you are a competent rider it is zero problems.

I take my vintage bikes on that stretch all the time.
& hug the right lane at about 55 mph 60 mph

I jump off immediately onto the little stretch of PCH...

Then jump back on the freeway & get off on BATES road (right by Rincon.)
You can come through downtown Carpinteria & not touch freeway again.

Padaro lane & Summerland is next.





Staying on the 150 all the way & hitting Santa Paula is a way more fun ride if you dont plan on going inland on the 33 toward Maricopa. (which is super fun,twisty & very pretty in spots.)
You can get into Ventuna that way as well.

I love my neck of the woods!

I recommend this route, too. It's a tad bit longer than just taking the freeway the whole way, but it's a hell of a lot more fun. Did it on my 70cc all the time and loved it.

From another East Coaster who's been out west enough to know:

+1 on all the good stuff Thom said about Bobby at SB.

And hats off to David at VTO for growing so fast into a top dealer. He is keeping lots of my friends out there happy.

Dude, in this busy time of huge interest in scooters, which all need service, you are really lucky to have 2 great choices!

BTW, a month ago I rode Hwy 23 (Decker Canyon Road and Westlake Blvd) up from the PCH to the 101 to stop at VTO on the way to the SB Wednesday night ride, and it was a stupendous road! Highly recommended as a cut-through.

Thom-Just going by what Amanda wrote...
Service Appointments: FYI to all our peeps - We are booking into the last week of August for service! And the service department will be closed for part of September due to the allure of the Italian races. So, if you know you're due for a service/tire/fix call us now cause we're booking up fast!! VIP customers (those people who kept their business local and purchased their scooter from Vespa SB) get preferential treatment
Petal
USA - 7/24/2008 7:35:14 PM

This is the correct information and fact. Forget all the other opinions that differ from this.

As for the distance, you'll wonder what you were worrying about. I walked the darned stretch (Sta. Barbara to Malibu) in three comfortable days.

WANG i got my scooter from bobby at vespa santa barbra. He's an awesome dealer. Number 1 in my book. Oh and you won't see him on here saying come to my store etc .He's busy running his store. One of the original MV crew Sounds like a fun trip and be safe.

Hmmm, that was on the Vesparados message board.
I think it may have been more tongue in cheek than anything.

I would bet dollars to doughnuts I could get an appointment as quickly as anyone else.


I bet Bobo could drop his moped off & be treated like a king as well.

even that jerk Ray from SLC could get some love....

(As the first Twist & Farter ever documented in SB.....)


And yes Bob is the OG....




Still trying too see what Saturday is looking like for a ride out....

When I got the vespa at SB they do license paperwork so I kept a copy of this paper that the vehicle is being registered and that works as a license. I just need to have this paper with me. As insurance I did this trip without insurance. But I soon as possible I got a Insurance. they insure yoyr vespa by the VIN so there was no problem. I got my plate like 3 or 4 weeks later. I commuted every day with the vespa.