Modern Vespa

Words to live by.

My Ped broke down 20 miles from home.....
There was no way I was peddling for 20 miles at that gear ratio....
That was a very long walk.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFk7O0PPYe8

Not at all I'm still like a mushroom !! all I wanna know is whats vintage and whats modern.


Should I start another thread??

$20,000 dollar question.

It would be interesting to start a "What is a vintage" thread.

I have several P series. IMO They are NOT vintage. The last vintage scooter was a Rally....But that's me.

What say you?

Cheers

If SF Classic drew the line at the Rally, ten bikes would show up. Ps run like water in these parts, and many, many so called "vintage" riders show up on Ps or bikes powered by P engines. Not that I've got anything against Ps, or vintage bikes in general. I think it's a bit silly to preach vintage and ride a P, though.

That's my opinion...

Bleh. Thread going from 'should jess run a banner for a vintage only ride' to 'vintage argument 18 billion'.

Do we really need to retread this? We get it, no one agrees, everyone thinks everyone sucks.

I'm right, you're wrong.

My bike is teh rul3rz, j0or bike is teh sux.

My name is oz, and I ride and try to wrench as best I can. Eh. We can argue all we want about this and that, and ain't no ones mind ever been changed.

yeah i luv it! plus got the disc brake

you have to ride that modern bike because it's the only thing that you can escape from me on whilst i chase you to kick your effin ass cuz i don't like you all sullying my vintage cachet after you bought that bike from my clubmate's piaggio boutique. tongue --> cheek.

I'm no vintage guru, as you guys know, but if a '78 P200 isn't vintage, what is it? That's over 30 years old, for starters. The scooter bears almost NO resemblance to the modern auto line of Vespas. The engine is a clear evolution of the Rally 200 engine, but nothing like the GT200 engine. Split rims, pulley-system handlebar shifting manual, 2-stroke, the list goes on and on. YES, you could buy PX series Vespas over seas until very recently, but it strikes me that they are more of a hold-out of the classic Vespa, than a modern Vespa.

Another way of looking at it is this - there is actually a lot of variability in the P-line. P-series vespas aren't "a model" but rather a lineage. You wouldn't lump a modern Mustang with a classic one as the same car would you? You certainly wouldn't consider the classic Mustang "not a classic" because you can buy new ones with that name!

In my view, the classic line of P's proved reliable enough and popular enough that they continued to make them as sort of a novelty... almost BECAUSE they were classic... just like the continued manufacture of a Mustang. Maybe a 2005 PX150 isn't a "vintage" age vehicle, but it's not the same vehicle as a 1978 P200E either.

Take an objective look at the mechanics of a 30 year old P-series, and you will see a lot more similarities to the even older Vespas than you will the modern run of Vespas! A plastic horncast and split headset? Really? Is that what makes a P-not a classic? DAMN that plastic! Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy?!?!?

You can laugh at me now if you like, but PLEASE don't send me away, because I think the thing which most defines my P as a classic Vespa is... well... if you send me to the "Modern" section almost nobody is going to know what the hell I'm talking about Don't damn me thus I beg ye

the new mini the new beetle the new fiat 500 all ..........ahh fuck it can't be arsed. Dont bother me I'm off to rub me face on a brick wall

I agree with you Jess. There would indeed be a lot less scooters at the two "Major" SF rallies.

I am guilty of throwing a P motor in the majority of my "Vintage" scooters because there are few good large frame motors to speak off and parts are generally too expensive and hard to find. GS mk2, SS180, Rally.

I am to old to give a shit what you ride but if you are attending a Vintage only rally, then ride vintage.

This definition of vintage will be debated and flogged to death. It's pointless really because we end up alienating new blood to the scene. This would only hurt shiftys and twistys alike. Bickering about gears, plastic, date your scooter was built etc. Just stupid, though my views years ago were very different.

There was a wee debate on MV about attending the Lambretta rally in CA last year on modern scooters/Vespas. I met several MV members, two had never seen "lambrettas in the flesh" and a good time was had by all.

Opinions expressed not force fed

Right, that's my two pence.

Cheers

Went to Scoot Invasion in LA (great time) and it was a "vintage" or "classic" whatever ride. There were lammy's, P's, a Chetak, Stella, and random 60's 70's Vespas..and nobody gave a fuck. Now if someone were to roll up on a Vino...then yeah...what the hell is that doing here? Why is this so fucking hard to understand?

If the bike is older than you are then it's classic.

Thyat works for me cheers..... so all mine have been and are modern

I like your new sig under your avatar Oops

Guess I need a SS180, then.

Crap...ypou mean I have to go handlebar?

Don't you mean if the bike is older than you it's a miracle....

i have to disagree only in the idea that if you own both and you show up at a vintage only ride on a twisty then you should have known better

i've said before and i'll say it till i'm blue in the face

there are bricks and there are smoothys

YOU FIGURE IT OUT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Grippit's "green goblin" brick was my fav yesterday!

I like bricks.

Hahahah holllly shit that was great.
I sincerely hope guy who looks to have been hit didn't suffer any injuries, and I feel terrible that that bike got hit by the out of control LX.
The look on the riders face was priceless though. He froze for about 5 seconds- probably just saying fuckkkkkkkk. That sure didn't help the vintage vs. Modern thing

here is me in 1980 on a 1980 BRICK

i never get tired of this picture

Jimh...you are a good guy on here and always willing to help out..I got nothing but respect for you. Thanks for your 2 pence though..it makes sense.

Who could get tired of this picture...I mean... come on!

You should have been in some of those cheezy 80's movies Jimmy!

If the bike is older then I am, it's not classic; it's an antique!

Main Entry: 1vin·tage
Pronunciation: \ˈvin-tij\
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, probably alteration of vendage, from Anglo-French vendage, vendenge, from Latin vindemia grape-gathering, vintage, from vinum wine, grapes + demere to take off, from de- + emere to take - more at wine, redeem
Date: 15th century
1 a (1): a season's yield of grapes or wine from a vineyard (2): wine ; especially : a usually superior wine all or most of which comes from a single year b: a collection of contemporaneous and similar persons or things : crop
2: the act or time of harvesting grapes or making wine
3 a: a period of origin or manufacture <a> b: length of existence : age

Vintage to me is 1985 and older. Fools on Stellas should stay away from vintage rallies.

yes agree! although my English is inadequate, IMO, i think you guys use the wrong term, the term "vintage" is too relative,

vintage |ˈvintij|
noun
the year or place in which wine, esp. wine of high quality, was produced.
a wine of high quality made from the crop of a single identified district in a good year.

therefor each wine has a different time to reach its highest quality. I think the term classic are more appropriate

like Manny signed...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
---->No Modern, No Vintage, Just VESPA<----
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Overheard at Amerivespa last weekend, MV rider to 2T rider, "May I ride in front of you, your exhaust is making me ill". The times they are a'changing.

I love 'em all. Have a bike for all occasions and love the people I meet at every rally, classic or otherwise. And I do appreciate the history and the effort that goes into keeping a classic running (damn that was a pretty '56 Lammy at the Scoot Invasion ride on Sat). Love riding and shifting my P. And love the ease of daily commuting on an MV.

Piaggio is doing some ground breaking design work with the MP3 and the Mano 800. While recognizing that and other firms' past history, let's see to it that we support it's future as well.

Classic rides I will take my P and stay out of the classics only discussions. All other rides, I have a choice.

Just keep scootin'.

Just Vespa, every other make is excluded.

if i never see another vintage v modern thread again, it will be too soon.

+1

"May I ride in front of you, your exhaust is making me ill"
Sounds like a close relative of the secondhand smoke whiners. We seem to be afflicted with more and more of these delicate blossoms lately.

Aw bless their delicate little bunny noses If ya don't like the smell of 2-stroke then you are wrong, end of story...back of the line, smoke moaners!

Classic...

Appropriated. 8)

You're very welcome 8) ahhh, I'm going to sniff my scooter