Modern Vespa

So, I am pulling up to Home Depot in my car...left the Vespa at home today...and there is this guy pulling up on a GTS250 in silver with topcase and floormat. As I'm walking up to the store, I stop to talk with him. He's got about 3,000 miles on the bike but I notice a huge dent in his rear left cowl....asked him what happened...if he had dropped it or what. He further explained to me that he was at a local shopping center herein Weston,FL recently and some asshole saw he was parked in a regular space for cars (which is where I and anyone else SHOULD park)...and this ASSHOLE came up to him and told him how dare he take up a whole parking space with his piece of shit bike....and then proceded to knock his bike over. Asked him if he called the police or got a tag number for the ASSHOLE and his response was NO....he didn't want to fight the guy or anything like that. He also told me that one time he parked up on a sidewalk area in front of a store and the police issued him a ticket for that. I don't know about him but if somebody knocked my bike over like that, we'd be fighting or at least I would have called the police (or followed the guy and found out where he lived). Can't believe the ignorance of some people in this world. Anyway, the guy with the GTS never heard of MV so at least I told him about this site.

Oh! Great, so you invite a "kitty" (pussy) to the forum, good one! I think the story is a crock of shit! He probably crashed it himself!

Bad story, and unfortunately just another example of the attitude many people have these days. They are only concerned with themselves and anything that annoys them deserves to be treated with insults, threats or actual violence. I'm no sociologist so I have no idea what causes it or why people react in such a violent or ugly fashion, only that it is more and more common.

At the very least I would have called the cops and told them what had happened and that he threatened to physically assault me in the hope that would get them on the scene faster. Not worth offering to fight people like that, but definitely worth the trouble to get them locked up and dealt with by the system.

About time you guys contacted all your stores and malls and asked them to put aside some m/c parking space close to the entrance. Two car spaces carefully chosen will accommodate ten bikes. Oh, and make sure there are no parking charges!

We need more motorcycle parking spots! I hate taking up a whole space with my scoot.

Bully the bullies!

Society and good people are a bunch of pussies, that's why stuff like this persists!

Most people would have either got into a physical or verbal fight with the guy......OR, whipped out their cell phone and called the cops. Personally, I would have called the cops immediately from my cell phone and if he left the scene, I would have followed him to his car and wrote down his tag number. That is malicious and wanton destruction of personal property and he could actually serve some jail time and have to pay restitution for his actions.

Stay calm and call a cop.

Cellphone...huh....isn't this a perfect case for carrying and using a handgun? (just kidding).

Actually yes. not a prob with someone who is trained and confident. Personally the guy wouldn't have made it up to the scoot to start with ... He might be eating pavement about the time he started blabbing and trying to force his way to you. Remember YOU DO HAVE a right to reasonably protect you, your property, life.
Not saying gun him down but hey call the Po-Po! let them handle it. Plus the grocery store should have parking lot cameras.

Entitled violent assholes are by no means unique to these days.

+1 to calling a cop and, assuming you can do so without getting shot yourself, getting the license plate of the attacker.  (If nothing else, the existence of a police report could help with claim on comprehensive insurance.)

This is about the only situation where I would like to have a camera in my mobile phone.

'Click' (licence plate)
'Click' 999 or 911 or 112 or whatever in your area.
And square up to the guy - you have armoured gloves and a helmet, right?

+1

how could the person let the guy go without reporting it?

Sounds like he was intimidated and afraid.

No support from a group - either virtual (like here) or real (ACE cafe or whatever). Sad. Actually it's sad he wasn't brought up to stand up for himself, politely of course.

Carry pepper spray at a minimum.

I don't know...Perhaps I'm just not a turn the other cheek guy, but if someone did that to me I would put a dent in THEIR "rear left cowl"

You guys are all big talkers, from your keyboards... I can't imagine someone coming up that agro, it would be traumatizing. It is easy to think we would react differently, simple to think straight, see the alternatives, call the police, threaten to fight the bastard, call the victim a pussy, as we type angrily on our keyboards. wave our mouses about, from the comforts of our safe places. I would prefer to never know how I would react if put in that situation, ...................................but I would likely have stepped up to him reached down grabbed a handful of his nuts pulled them free, stuffed down his throat, ripped both his arms off stuck them in his ears and wheeled him around like a wheel barrow into the centre of the roundabout. pushing him forward in the path of each car that came by flatening his skull before slipping it into the grills of a water drain, rip his right leg off and stick it up his ass and spin him in the grill till he was jammed tight, finally I would hang a flag from his remaining foot that said " Don't mess with my VESPA"!!! While picking up my scoot I would turn to his six children that witnessed this from the car that is still sitting in middle of the parking lot, slip on my full face helmet and tell them that he should learn to control his anger and ride off.

^^ Thanks, Snakebike
...I hate cleaning my 12:40 coffee break off my screen

For the record, I'd have toe-punted the bastard sqwah in the testicles, hopefully that would surprise him into a bent-over ooof manoevre, then uppercutted the bastard's teeth out with a handful of helmet. Or just proudly display my British heritage and head-butt the f****r

I'm not a violent person by any means but I don't pay good money for my stuff so other, ignorant, mindless, selfish a-holes can damage it.

Even if the guy was twice my size with the skills of Chuck Norris, I'd still have whacked him. I'm skinny and weak, but if I got beaten to death, at least I wouldn't have died a pussy

And at a maximum?

How about your titanium lock and chain??

best thing to do

Snakebite has a point...however bluntly put. And what I mean by bluntly is that it's sort of hard cheese to swallow, but he has a point.

I've wondered about cellphone pictures. What you really end up with is a picture of a vehicle, a person, or a license plate. If you took that pic while the person was driving away or parked and it did not show specifically any crime being committed, how much would it help?. I mean, the claim could be made that "hey, the dude dropped his own scooter and just took a picture of any convenient nearby car so he could blame the poor innocent driver and get him to pay for the repairs." Without witnesses, how would that stand up? Anyone?
Certainly, I'd take pictures anyway, but I'm curious.

I've always told my students "You are not fighting the bad guy, you're fighting the bad guy's lawyer" and except where witnesses are present (and you can't rely that they will see things the way you saw them...that's another story), you can end up in deep poodoo no matter how right you were. It's hard, when the adrenaline is rushing, but you just gotta think.

So I'm reluctant to say exactly how I would react. Oh, I know what I'd like to do and I truly believe I don't think that I would be as passive as the person mentioned in the OP. But I wasn't there and I don't know what he was dealing with.

I still can't get behind the mindset of a person who wouldn't even call the police, though.

Pepperspray in the glovebox, maglite under the seat, steeltoe oxbloods on my feet. 911 for cleanup

No. Just minimum!
You should have a knife, a garret, a dirk, a taser, a Kimber Lifeact Guardian Angel, and another knife. In you other pocket you should have a firearm!

Desert Eagle .50

Always carry a bear in the pet carrier.

Does not the American constitution say.

"we have a right to arm bears"

You really misunderstood the question.

I carry a trident on my GTS. It's a bit heavy, but there's nothing like it for skewering belligerent asshats.

I Apologize, That happens some times.
I see my error.

There was a post the other day (from Paris I think), car kept moving at the light and crumpled back end of his new scooter. Driver was on cell phone. He did not push the issue late at night in bad neighborhood and let the driver go.
My point is that there are bullies everywhere. Not all of us are up to the fight (or perhaps not big enough to win) Anyone crazy enough to attack any vehicle in a normal parking lot on an average day is crazy enough that I would let him walk away.

But I would not have let it go. I would have called the police and spoken to Home Depot staff. (it is IMPOSSIBLE to get a Home Depot manager to come to the front of the store) Seems like this was a push and run.

Sucks that the guys bike got messed up.

My hubby used to ride a Honda Elite 80 in Thornburg, Virginia. He would park in a normal car parking spot. Most of the time he would come back to his bike and find it sitting on the side walk. At least the local rednecks were kind enough to pick up the scoot and sit it on the sidewalk. I think my husband ended up getting 1 or 2 tickets for illegal parking, but didn't have to pay the fines in the long run.

Eventually he dumped that bike and the local cops asked him to take the tags off so they could classify it as a moped, which would allow him to park on the sidewalk and keep him from riding on the expressway. I-95 is no place for a 80cc scooter.

I would, at a minimum, have called the police. Assuming I didn't lose my temper and take this guy for some "heavy rolls" right there on the spot. The odds are extremely high that this guy would have experienced a good bit of pain.

But, another truth is that in a world that is getting increasingly crowded, local governments and businesses should be doing all they can to support people who are trying to reduce their footprint.

There have been too many similar events not to believe a story like this. I have been a victim of a hit and run in a parking lot. Hit and runs suck ass. If the man in the car was that confrontational, I would probably back down too. There are plenty of us out there who avoid confrontation like the plague. It doesn't make us pussies.

[/quote]If the man in the car was that confrontational, I would probably back down too. There are plenty of us out there who avoid confrontation like the plague. It doesn't make us pussies.[/quote]

All, we have to use common sense. If he was that confrontational, who knows what he had in his car, plus he was most likely trolling for a willing participant so he could "Release his Frustration". I personally don't want to be on the receiving end of a wet T-Shirt contest...and I'm not talking about jumping in a pool! Get his license plate, witness info and let him go! Plus, I'm sure you all , just as I do, have toooooo much to give up by going to jail or spending who knows how much time in a hospital.

Live to fight another day!

You haven't seen me get bullied have you ? I DO NOT BACK DOWN. You push me I push back 100 fold. I would have nailed the guy in the head with my helmet, put my foot on his back to keep him on the ground as soon as the bike hit the ground. Then called the cops.

We were in an Irish Pub a few years ago, someone bumps my seat from the back. I turn around and there is a fight going on, everyone is backing off but me. I reach in grab the guy on top and put him in a choke hold. He starts saying it's not him, he was trying to pull his buddy out of the fight. I push him off to the side and tell him he needs to stay out of it then. I pull the next guy off and he start trying to swing behind and hit me. I grabbed him around the neck and pick him off the ground, he calmed down real fast. About that time the bouncers are there and thanking me for jumping in and breaking it up. I didn't even think about what I was doing. Saw there was a fight where there shouldn't be and broke it up. My wife was freaking out, I have never done that before, but I had never had a fight break out right behind me before either. I have to admit, it felt good pulling that guy off and putting him in a choke hold, people chill out real quick when you pick them up off the ground by there neck, they just kind of go rag doll on you.
I was told you cam choke till you smell shit, then you better let go or they may die But all I had to do both times was pick them up and that let them know I was in control.

Wayne B

Has anyone else noticed that this thread is getting kinda strange?

It's the excessive levels of testosterone.  At a certain level of temperature and concentration, it vaporizes and becomes inhalable, which in turn stimulates compensatory production by affected males, producing a feedback loop.

That's a fine description

I'm familiar with the process,
but it hadn't registered before
that the vapor could spread via the Intertubes

hi, and welcome to club testosterone!

can we take the macho posturing out into the alley please? nobody's interested in hearing how bad you would have fecked up any so and so who dared to lay hands on your scooter.

if it carries on we'll have to lock the thread and send everybody out into the yard for a few quick laps.