Modern Vespa

every day there is a thread over there about how "i just crashed my brand new lx150" or "i ran right in to a curb and fell over." i mean like EVERYDAY there are multiple i crashed threads.

seriously, i mean people have hit me before and stuff, but i don't ever remember driving into curbs or driving in to the house, etc.

Maybe it's because you have to be more aware of what you're doing if you have to kickstart the thing, then shift gears to get her going?

Beyond that, you're just looking at people themselves. Maybe the modern folks are prone to be a little more wild, since they're having fun on their new toy, where as we're too busy reverently polishing our restored babies to get out on the road and really tear it up.

In other words, who knows?

Newby panic grip on the throttle. They give it a bit to much then get scared and freeze with the open throttle...crash.

Another thing about a CVT is the slicker the surface the faster the rear wheel spins so if you are on some mud or wet oil, unintentional donuts. The only way to disengage the transmission is to back off on the throttle which is hard to do if you are a newb holding on for dear life. On a vintage you just have to pull the clutch.

i feel bad for them. it would really suck to go buy a 5k scooter, then crash it in to the curb and smash it up at 5 miles. i guess that's an argument for learning on some peice crap honda spree or something.

Yeah, but which is worse? Wrecking your bike, or wrecking your self image?

more members on the modern side, and more new riders (likely) there as well. Add to that a willingness amongst members to share with others that they crashed, and you end up with more reports.

You can also ask why do drivers of new cars crash more often than drivers of old cars ...

Bingo!

I think this is a lot of the rub. Jess has commented on this as well.

Ultimately, there's only so much you can do with a modern scooter..and only so many questions that can be asked. There's far more variations on vintage scooters and such...more variety of problems, etc. Vintage scooter folks tend to stick around because they HAVE to...

I think that leads to more user churn on the modern side...more NEW scooter owners showing up to ask the salvo of newbie questions, talk about when they wreck, complain that someone called them a homo for riding a scooter, bitch when someone runs them off the road, and show off their small customizations they've done so that the red GTS250 looks slightly different than the thousands of other Red GTS250's that everyone else has and posts pics of.... and ultimately aspire to sell their 150 and buy the newest and highest displacement modern vespa they can. ( )

I don't mean this to be diminutive at all...i just think that a vintage scooter DEMANDS you associate with a community that can help you keep it running and supply you with parts you need. A modern scooter you bought from a dealership ...so besides them, you really don't NEED anyone to keep it running. You're here more out of a desire to associate and communicate ...but it's not a necessity like it is for so many of us.

It's why Jess builds in site features to try to retain the modern owners who might be past the newbie phase and are starting to get bored of the same old questions. Ride reports, scooter tag, and all the other things i don't often look at because i'm too busy trying to keep my bikes on the road - they're there to aid retention of the community members longer in the tooth who are burnt out answering what the oil bubble thingy is on the air filter for the 100x time.

As I've argued (extensively) before - different type of personality has a lot to do with it (and Eric just touched on this a bit). They do share about every little thing, they are excited about every little thing, everything's just so f'ing HAPPY!

And yes, noob death grip on the throttle - you realize you are about to wreck and your instinct is to hold on (rather than let the fucker slide away from you) and since you are holding on, you are twisting the throttle, so it keeps going, you keep holding, and BAM.

Also these things are their first 2-wheeled vehicle since they left bicycles behind as kids. And most have no real experience in riding them or knowing how they react so they get in trouble, easily. MSF courses are nice but how many take them first? And they could be harder - hell you shouldn't be allowed out of a MSF course until a knee has touched the ground, but people would be scared, write legislators that it's unnecessary, and it would never happen.

But at heart I think it's the personality thing that sets people apart. Not being dismissive, people are just different. (edit: personality as to complaining or mentioning wrecks, vs. not mentioning them. Most of my vintage friends make these minor crashes and never bother mentioning them at all. They could care less about a scratch on "Blackie" or "Reddie" or whatever. They'll talk for hours about how they tea-bagged someone at a rally though).

And it's by no means limited to the new people, either.

I had a little incident with the SS last week where it was running, and i got off of it to maneuver it in a little space down my driveway,...around my big privacy gate and around the BMW ....

and i put it into gear accidentally. *smacks head*

It kinda wheelied in my hands and i went chasing after it, trying to regain control. I ended up having to sorta 'lay it down' in my treelawn..... luckily there was no damage to my bike. It could have been terrible.

I have since promised myself that i will NEVER ...EVER ...NEVER try to move a scooter that's running, when i'm not on the bike. I'll shut it off, take things slow, open my gate correctly, etc.

Goes to show that it doesn't matter how long you've been doing something ... you're still an idiot and bound to make an idiot mistake.

Absolutely. I was rambling on and on but I think I edited my post just now to get what I was getting at.

I mean I crash, wreck, drop my scoots/bikes all the time but I rarely mention it unless it's something major like when I dumped the Duc in the rain in December and smashed my knee and wrist.

But hell I've slid the RD across the road after hitting a wet manhole and just got up and moved on and never crossed my mind to get online and write about it - most likely because I was home trying to bend back broken parts...

I fired my P up for the first time after the rebuild without the gear selector attached. It was in neutral but as soon as it started running it caught a gear and launched. This was without the front wheel on.

Thankfully, I caught it.

I didn't have the courage to share that until now.

Thanks Modern Vespa.

If this thread was running in 1980 you would have had all these p200 being crashed and so few GS crashes...

Mostly a mater of population.

I do know of an SS180 that was sold in a shop hear and the new owner made it 50ft before crashing. But I think that bike is cursed.

True, other than the fact that Al Gore hadn't invented the internet in 1980

Not trying to be offensive but it takes more skill to drive a shifty. The newbs buy TnG scooters so obviously there will be more accidents with new riders. And if I crash I will fix it and not post it.

That must be why my SYM is so much faster in the corners than all those ducati :P

In the interest of sharing I -almost- dumped my racer at the baltimore rally over the weekend.

Make sure you are not about to hit the powerband when you're leaned in a corner because the front wheel will come off the ground

Stop trying to blame it on the Sym. We all know you're faster because you shave off all your body hair like an olympic swimmer.

And the fact he only weighs 94lbs, and that's when he's wearing leathers.

Built like a racehorse jockey

Totally agree with you and Eric's comments about the Modern side churning newbies.

Some of the comments posted in this tread would seem to deny the existence of someone who owns both a modern and a vintage scooter.

At one time, the vintage scooters were modern, were they not?

Some day all the modern scooters--will be vintage.

I own both new and old and I love them.

How so?

i believe practice and experience make people grow better even for those who are crasher.. i actually dont like people to know if i was crash or hit something, i only tell them if someone hit me or damage my vespa (i do it cause i am angry) for truth i do crash my vespa, thats why i dont like to go fast if it wasnt necesary.. but i dont like to talk about it as its seem like i dont take care my vespa well enough till i damaged it.. and yes in time vintage vespa will be more vintage and modern vespa will be vintage but still its not easy to drive a shifter vespa compare to autos especially if u just start riding autos and switch to shifter.. while when u drive with cvt u will think its more easy riding then shifter till u crash it but its all the matter of skill and experience (like a pilot that have high fly hours)
and for everyone please try not crash too much (damage vespa is suck but even more suck if u damage urself)

I can say that I've crashed more vintage bikes than modern, but then I've put more miles on vintage than modern as well.

dropped my 150 super (twice in my first year of riding, slow on wet roads)
got hit on my VBB
dropped my VBB
dropped my prima (on the track)
got hit on my p125
dropped my p125
dropped my prima
dropped my LX
dropped my prima

9 crashes in 25 years, bikes I put the most miles on are the ones that made this list.

next time i crash, i'll report it. i'll retroactively report my last crash: ran into a curb at about a 45 degree approach angle after mad dashing out from my hiding spot behind a row of cars along a narrow sidewalk after evading a cop while drunk. good lesson learned, too.

okay, now i probably jinxed myself with this thread

only crashed once in errrrmm 20 errrrm something + it was a bad day from getting outta bed though ........
just got rid of christmas and new year (this year) ready for that new year start when i got a text saying quick get to work theyve gone bust get your tools ended a hour or so later with my scoot on its side under the car infront

Me too!

Down once, vintage, the infamous Amerivespa Lookout Mountain ride

im just trying to help
Keep crashing? (Post 727068)

it sure does help

I have driven shifty Vespas continuously since 1958, and auto scooters frequently since 1995. Have never noticed a significant difference in skill required to drive shifty vs auto. And, as a trained and experienced mishap investigator, I would venture to say that there is totally insufficient data available on MV to make any inferences as to what's actually going on in terms of mishap causation and frequency.

The most legitimate conclusion we might reach is that the Modern Side folks are probably more likely to mention a mishap when they have one.

Al

And looking for sympathy..

if you come to guy's night tonight holmes, knock on wood.

It's because they all wave at each other cause they don't have to shift. One minute you're waving, next thing you know bam! 

i would care to guess since there are ALOT more modern TnG riders/bikes that there is a greater chance for accidents.

my other theory is that NSM riders are just more careful. the older bikes are just not easily replaced. and we know it. i am always much more careful when i ride my rally. the brakes are not nearly as good, its much smaller, and at night the lighting leaves much to be desired.

ive got a bad feeling i might crash and it wont be a slow one itll be when im doing 90 and pulling up for a roundabout but dont quite make it



i did ...drop mine a few weeks ago doing a U turn on soft sand it was kinda funny....... the sand put a couple of little scratches in my nice shiney black paint too bad

LMFAO

because they less good rider than the not so modern side