Modern Vespa

As above, why do you ride??

Commuting, or recreation on sunny days only? Do you ride all year round? Yadda Yadda Yadda....

Being from Australia, we have pretty mild winters so there are still lots of bikes/scooters about. The coldest we get to is about 5 degrees C to 20 in the day. A sunny winters day is actually perfect riding weather.

I ride for commuting and also on the weekends.

What about all you other scoot riders???

Pretty similar here - gets me to work every day and I like to ride about for fun too. Any excuse, really.

I think our Winters get a wee bit colder than yours (I think) but it'll have to be dangerous conditions to stop me. Teetering here on the Eastern edge of the Atlantic means I'll need to get used to riding in the rain, but thankfully we're in the middle of our best Summer for years right now.

I ride to and from work, and I ride for fun. Riding to work is the highlight of my day!

i ride to work, i take the scooter on errands, i ride it for pleasure. my scooter is my only motor vehicle

20 miles round trip to and from work each day. then usually the sunny sunday afternoon ride (my favorite).

I own a Chevy Tahoe and an S-10 Blazer. Try filling those guys up!! I only commute 4.5 miles away and my GF only goes 5. Tahoe gets 11mpg city and the Blazer 15mpg city. Gas prices on the SF peninsula are ridiculous compared to the rest of the area. I ride my scoot so much now only my steel drum lesson keeps the Blazers battery charged. My GF just learned to ride and I save gas $$ now

Same as Genie, my mp3 is my only vehicle, so I ride for everything.  Ice on the road is the only condition I won't ride in.

................ to get there fast 8)

because driving cars is BOOOORRIING.

Something very freeing about riding two wheels vrs being confined to a box on four wheels.

Winters are a bit colder and nastier here, I do return to the box to avoid rain, snow and frigid temps.

i ride to work, to the shops, for pleasure and with the dssc

I commute, but always find an excuse to ride on the week-ends to. I really enjoy riding!

to commute, for work for play , to the pub everywhere. All year round whatever the weather, unless theres a foot of snow or something.

Its cheap to. £10 a week in fuel rather than 40 or something daft. Don't get stuck in traffic. Get to leave later for work = more sleep. Less stress.

Don't own a car or possess a driving licence for a car so....

Impatience and laziness - I don't want to sit in traffic jams and don't want to park miles away from where I need to get to

Work or play, riding is the way to go

Simple, It's fun! Reliving my youth.

For pleasure!

I can't use it as a daily drive because my work entails a few hundred autobahn miles in an average week. Much as I love riding, no scooter is suitable for my work needs. Occasionally I need to be 250 km away in under 2 hours, and look fresh when I get there! I do ride to work but only when I know I'm staying close to the office or if my wifey needs the car.

Weekends and stuff, I'm more likely to take the scooter. It's only a 50 so it's a city vehicle, and a damn good one. 8)

As for winter riding, well we'll see I rode in the cold pre-springtime and it was effing cold. When next winter comes around I'll ride occasionally so it doesn't get offended and is happy ready for spring.

Riding the Vespa kicks my enjoyment of trips up a level. It's like a commute AND a sport, sort like riding a horse. Something about it just speaks to my happybones, whatever that means

I live a 10 minute walk from my job, so I don't commute to work on it. But I use it whenever possible to travel elsewhere in the city. I took my mother on it recently when she came to visit and she pretty much summed it up when she said "this is the ONLY way to see Boston. You are so much more in touch with the beautiful surroundings than you would be holed up in a car." I wouldn't have it any other way here.

Problem is, the winters. I know some riders on here ride year round even in snowy areas, but I won't do it anymore. I did the first two winters that I owned the scooter, but there is no worse feeling than riding at 35 mph when it is 0 degrees out. It just kills me when I take something fun and make it NOT fun, so that was pretty much that. And one night I hit some black ice which took me out. I was so lucky, as was the scooter, but I won't do it again. So, I miss a significant portion of the year now here, and have to take the T (the subway/trolley system).

But once spring hits, it's happy time again!

Summary of how I use it:
Take it anywhere and everywhere in the city for shopping/visiting people, unless I'm drinking
Grocery store (I think my record is 9 bags on it)
To the beach, baby
In some random circuit just for the sake of exploring and getting out on it.

How else would I get there?

Wayne B

because I love it!!


(and I'm only 16 so can't get around any other way)

50 km round trip to work and back every week day,
Love going to work, Hate driving home from work.

I travel North West to work and South East to get home,
I really feel sorry for the people going South in the morning,
Or North in the afternoons.

Yes...It's true, East and West drivers are the worst drivers in the world,
Especially the ones that face the Sun to work and face the Sun home.

8)

For fun on dry days. Strictly for pleasure and gratification.

Bill X

I ride all the time. Winter, spring, summer, and fall. To work, to the store, and to no where in particular. I guess that's why my '08 S150 has 12,883 miles on the odometer right now (and I just started riding it last July).

Fun, errands, picking up groceries, visiting friends, trips to the beach, picking up my morning cappuccino, going out to dinner ... pretty much everything! Did I mention fun!

Hm.  I never said why my scoot is my only vehicle.

Honestly, I bought my scoot because I couldn't afford a decent car but could buy an mp3 that was nearly new and even still in warranty.

That's honest but not the whole story.  My dad taught me to ride dirt bikes when I was 10 or 11, and even though that only lasted a couple of years, I've wanted a two-(or as it turned out, three-)wheeler of my own ever since.  An excess of free time and access to an Army scout bike when I was in Kuwait in '93 got me hooked all the more.

Not being able to afford a decent car finally gave me the excuse I needed to overcome the objections of friends and family convinced that motorcycling is suicide and make the leap.

I loved--I mean really loved--driving cars, even the cheap used Hondas that were within my reach.  I love riding more.  And even though I still dearly miss my del Sol and lust after a new MINI, I wouldn't give up my scoot to buy either.

I ride because I got bit by the "scooter bug". It started last summer when gas prices were near $4/gallon and my boyfriend and I went to look at scooters because of their good gas mileage. After seeing the scooters at the dealer, I fell in love with them. I couldn't wait to take the MSF course and get my license. After almost a year of riding, I still make excuses to ride somewhere and just go for rides with no purpose at all. Riding my scooter gives me happiness I just can't quite describe. Now when I need to go somewhere, I don't think "Can I take the scooter?" but "Will I need the car for anything?"

I always wanted one from back in my college days and finally got one last year and now really have the bug. I commute on it almost daily (except for winter) -- about 50 miles a day not counting any side trips. Weekends are pretty much the same -- my wife an I both ride are scoots and manage to tuck away amazing amounts of purchases from various errands on the weekend.

It's the "Way to Go!"

I try to ride my scoot as often as possible, except during the winter. I did ride my scoot this past winter, once in the snow to get a new car battery. It took me an hour to thaw out. I don't think I'll do that again.

My commute to work is 62 miles each way, and nearly freeway the whole way. I only make that commute with my scoot when I know there won't be T-storms. Hail hurts when you're goin 65mph, heck big drops of rain hurt at 65mph!

I still shock my husband when I tell him I took the beltway to work.

I ride to the grocery store, the post office, the shipping store (when I have small packages), to my bank (60 miles each way), and whenever I know I won't need the car.

not enough people try and hit me when i am in my truck, and i am an adventure seeking person.

Since I retired five years ago from my first career, my commute now consists of 13 steps down to my basement shop and 13 steps up to my loft office. Therefore, I use my scooter for all the OTHER things anyone would use a car for... mostly running errands (including all the grocery shopping). I usually extend these errands into longer joy rides. I'll make any excuse to get out of the house and ride.

Now, the only other vehicle in the family is a wheelchair van for transporting my quadriplegic wife (which I hate to drive), so I use the scooter for almost everything else, all year 'round.

Same reason Billie Piper played her music loud.


Because I want to!
Because I want to!

Because it's there!

cause i get paid for it every friday !! and it keeps my GT running sweet

I literally bought my GT out of frustration as our little South Pacific city became traffic congested to a standstill. I used to sit in a 4km queue of stationary cages watching the m'bikes and scooters whizz down the priority lane My 14km commute used to take between 40 mins and 1hr 15!
I spent nearly two years convincing my wife it would be OK and hunting down a mint condition 2nd hand GT200. I did all the safety courses and bought a white helmet and high viz vest as part of the deal with my family. Four + years on I still love scooting every day, summer and winter. I even take my daughter to school most days.
The scooter has bought me time with my family. I used to leave at 0630 to beat the worst of the traffic. Now I have breakfast with my girls and leave in the middle of rush hour. My commute takes 20 - 25 minutes.

Best reason noted yet!

cause I can

Because I can't answer any phone and can't deal with any e-mail when I'm on the scooter. No better escape that I know of!

+1! It's GREAT to be completely out of reach...

I love the feeling I get when zipping along. It also makes my brief commute much more fun.