Modern Vespa

Ive been riding a Vespa for just over a year now and still giggle everytime I see another person on a bike, car or walking look at me as if to say its a black guy riding a Vespa....Surely they dont think we are allergic to two wheels do they? Is there anyone else that gets that look or am I just paranoid? My nest yet is a group of black guys staring at me from the rear window as if i wwere an added attraction.

i don't know, people look at me like that all the time, and i'm not black. i think it's just a WTF is that guy riding type of thing. plus, i think people are amazed when they see little scooters go really fast.

Funny - from the topic, I thought you were asking about riding a black Vespa rather than what you were asking in the body of the message.

Gotta tell ya, around where I live people give that sort of look to all scooter riders! Actually, with my gear on, they'd be hard pressed to see my skin color at all.

it's true ... and i don't know why that is. my partner is one of only a handful of black guys i've seen riding vespas in london. scooters are a dime a dozen, and used vespas are as cheap as chips, but for some reason most male vespa riders seem to be caucasian.

I thought it was about black scooters too

No idea...without referring to stereotypes, it reminds me of that old Simpsons sketch, about white guys driving like this, and black guys driving like that

scooters are so common here that you never get the wtf look for any of those reasons. but there is definitely some odd relationship between vespa scooters and race, and i've no idea why that should be the case.

The Harley riders snub me. Chicks think I'm cute (but, then I'm old). Little kids grin and wave. I don't know why I waited so long.

(In my very mixed neighborhood) I can tell that Vespa culture is lost on the African Americans that live near me.
That being said, I have seen how big motorcycle culture (mostly Harley) has gotten in the past 10 years with black men of all ages.

For the title of the discussion....It does seem to be a quirky thing in London. Three of my cousins ride power bikes and that seems to be ok with them, they never get the same looks as what i do on a Vespa. Maybe some marketing needs to be done by Vespa...." its not just a white thing" catchy enough?

I hate to admit this... I haven't seen anyone of color riding a Vespa. Now that has to be taken in context, I live in a pretty "vanilla" part of the world. Come to think of it, I don't see very many Vespa's at all, at least not near home. But as far as people giving strange\curious\astonished\WTF looks... happens to me every time I ride. I think it's kind of fun, part of the attraction for me.

the modern scooter scene seems a *little* more diverse to me, though not proportional to population percentages. I see much more diversity in sport bike circles.

On the classic side, it has always amazed me that there is a crowd of (mostly white) people who are obsessed with listening to music (soul, R&B, ska, reggae) that was made by black folks, and yet there is little reciprocity in that scene

Ha ha ha Vanilla....i like it.....

Well I have to admit there does not seem to be many and the WTF look does make me laugh. Maybe its too cool or uncool for some. Vespa's are everywhere in London and i'm yet to see another black guy riding one so if you are out there and you see a navy blue GTV 125 rider say hi and lets go do a double act on some people.....

hang on a sec.... do you wear an open face helmet and ride in the Camden area?

if you see a bloke on a green ET4 with dreads hanging out of his helmet - that's my man (Muad 'Dib on this forum)

In my area, Ive seen two black riders, one on an MP3 and last night on a GTS. But I have a couple of black friends who both have a few shifty scoots. But I never notice a riders color, normally I notice the color of their scoot for the most part.

Ride Safe

Manny

I guess I've always like the idea of marching to my own drummer. I crack up at some of the looks. The other day this middle aged lady with a lap-dog was pointing me out, to the dog, who was really excited. We were driving about 30 mph and I damned near rear ended the car in front at the next light. I'm going on a mission to find a black rider!

Granted I'm living in a relatively "white" area of the country right now, but I've lived a lot in Arizona and California where the spectrum is broader.

From my experience, I do think I see disproportionatly (to the general population) less African-Amercans riding motorcycles and scooters--and certainly even less in Kansas. I do notice when I see a black biker or scooterist -- but I don't gawk. I don't think I've seen a more than a handful of African-Americans ever on a Vespa, even in California. Maybe I'd gawk a little, but I'd also give the thumbs-up.

I live on an island which is predominantly (98%) black. I could sell my scooters time and time again. The men here LOVE them and I get grins, wolf whistles, waves and smiles from almost everyone!

I don't think riding a Vespa is a colour thing ... I think it is a cultural thing. If Vespas are deemed uncool where you are from ... then so be it! Here, Vespas are HOT!

I know in the Sacramento area, I have seen one black couple riding a scoot and coming to our met-ups.

Then again, with an armored jacket, jeans, boots, gloves and a full face modular with sunshield down, you'd need to be pretty good to know what color I am. I guess you can see my lower chin but that about it. The jacket presses up and seal against the back of my helmet.

For me, the "looks" are more so for "what the hell is that 3-wheeled" thing and "how does it stand by itself at the stop light when his feet are up." I've had every type of cager, crotch-rocket, cruiser, pedestrian do a double take when I drive by (or stop next to them) and it's not because of my skin color, rather the uniqueness of my bike (MP3 250).

I get the WTF stare because me and my scooter are so HOT!

Actually my BF says that people stare because you don't see many ladies on scooters wearing pink on the toll ways.

But I prefer to think it is because I am so frickin' HOT!

I regularily see black guys on sportbikes and two on scooters on my commute. Doesn't seem out of place or stare worthy here.

I have to agree that in all the years I've been riding I donm't think I've ever seen a black person riding a scooter, although when you are riding in the oppostie direction i just nod and don't make a point of checking out their colour.

Well as a black Vespa rider the thought has never occured to me nor have I received stares from others. if I have I've never noticed. I do get plenty of compliments though. Maybe the compliments are because I black or am I being paranoid!?

With all due respect to you, I think they're complimenting your fine fine taste in vehicles.

I ride with an open face but only been in Camden couple times on Bike, if I'm in the are I'll look out for mr dreads!

I think I'll have to disrespectfully disagree with you. Maybe it's not my fine taste but just because I'm FINE!! Is it the Vespa that make's the man or the man that makes the vespa? 'talk amongst yourselves' lol

LoL, I concede you are probably correct.

The looks I get on how beautiful the scoot is far outweighs the looks I get for being a black rider, I gotta admit there are not even that many Vespa's in the area where I live, there are though younger kids of all races on those general scoots. Maybe it's cos I'm a cool Vespa rider in an area full of uncool scooters.....and not a black thing but then again I might be paranoid!

My girlfriend is a black American (i am not) and her scooters have been Scarabeo 50-> Stella -> P200E.
My friend (and fellow scooter gang member) Julian is a black American, and he's owned a Bajaj Chetak, Yamaha Zuma, and currently owns a Scarabeo 500 and a Stella.

That said, I agree w/ the comment that scooter culture seems to be lost on most black Americans. I'm sure this has something to do with their history of being an oppresed minority, and not being so keen on wanting to join another oppressed minority(scootering). The whole Mod/Punk/Skin thing doesn't help much either as there's not much there for the black American to culturally connect to, even though the Mod/Punk/Skin movements in Britain were multi-racial working-class movements. I'd also posit that the notion of romantic (white) Europe is not as strong in the black American culture as it is in the white American culture, thus lessening the appeal of paying the extra for a Vespa or other European scoot. Most of the other black American scooter riders that I see and speak with (i commute through and work in the "black" part of town) are riding for the economy of the vehicle, and not for the culture or the cool-factor. Speaking of which, the cool-factor in a culture that is historically oppressed and poor has a tendency to express itself as showing off and "bigger is better" (bling, rims, expensive clothes, etc.) When everyone's been poor for so long, it's not "cool" to show off how poor you are by riding a scooter instead of the largest streetbike or cruiser you can ride.

oh noooo!! that means I'm a quad minority I'm black, I ride a Vespa, I,m an american living in London and I'm gay! Well I guess there's solace in the fact that I can change two out of the four traits. That should move me up in the ranks. What do you think? oh I forgot I'm left handed too. I can't win for losing LOL

I have to say that I haven't met too many black scooterists in my days, but I do know a few. It does seem a little odd to me, especially with how the old school scooter scene (i.e., pre-MV) was always very anti-racist from what I saw, and I haven't noticed any change in recent years either. Maybe it's just been some kind of a cultural exclusivity thing? I dunno... but I'd certainly like to see more black people riding scooters.

What really baffles me though is with the high population of Indian people where I live, why have I never seen a single one riding a scooter? I mean, they grow up riding on scooters back on the subcontinent, but no one rides a scooter here, at least that I know of. I've seen plenty of Indian people get excited when they see me riding a scooter (especially the Bajaj, of course) and they tell me about how they grew up with one, but they don't seem to have any interest in getting on one themselves... what gives?

FWIW, I do see more women riding these days, and more Asians than in the past... plus a Sasquatch, but he's been riding for a long time...

PMSL - well if u were also a woman with a disability u would top the lop. Oooops are the politically correct in da house?

I just had a thought since the cash for clunkers initiative went down so well perhaps we could get a new government sponsored programme......... Scooters for brothers

Yeah, rickeydean, you're pretty much screwed as far as "normal" goes. But that's ok, I think things are more fun that way. Yeah, it's called fly-by-night Chinese scooter "dealerships" selling to hard-on-thier-luck folk in the ghetto with promises of "no insurance! no liscence! cheap to run!, just like Honda!" Not government sponsored, but not my favorite "scooters for brothers" program either. It's sad too, cuz the Vespa dealer in St. Louis is right on the edge of the "bad part of town", and we get people all the time wanting us to repair their broken Chinese bikes.

I think there is also a culture that in the uk we associate vespas and lambrettas to mods, can't tell u how many times I get asked where my mod jacket and 100 extra mirrors are. As well as going on "scoot" rides. I'd love to go on a couple although I get fear of an only black guy syndrome.....I can hear u all saying if u were of colour that wouldn't bother u, although that's easy to say and Will never get the opportunity to put it to test.

It has to do with some of the very same reasons I mentioned. Even if you haven't been oppressed (tho India's poorest always have been, thanks to thier old caste system) when your family has always been poor, you don't want to go around reminding yourself of that, and it's much more "cool" to have "more". In India, the Vespa/Bajaj was a symbol of poverty; they rode b/c that's what they could afford. Now that they might be able to afford better, who wants to go back to the way things were?


In my big post, I think I should also have said something like how finding minorities of any persuasion(color, gender, age, sexual orientation) doing non-mainstream things(like scootering, when they could be motorcycling) or being part of non-mainstream sub-cultures besides their own (like scooter or Mod/Punk culture) is just rare. It takes some real self-confidence to buck the trends and societal pressures and just do what you like, unconcerned with what others think is cool. That applies to the black American in London as much as it applies to the white Swede in Malaysia or the Latina in uber-white American suburbia.

Dang! You're gay? Wahhhh!

So what's a Sasquatch ride? A Vespa, an MP3 or a something else? Somehow I always figured ol' Squatch was a Harley dude (y'know, leather and fur?) lol.

Well if there 2 things for certain that will come out from this discussion is 1. When we all go on our next scoot we will be looking for the black riders and 2. There's gonna be a hell of alot of black riders that are gonna wonder if they got on thier scoot naked cos everyone keeps giving them the nod!

Good point... I was wondering if there was some kind of stigma associated with scooters, but the vast majority of Indians I've spoke with seem to be very fond of scooters. Maybe they like them for their nostalgia factor, but they're not interested enough to actually ride them? True, true... something I think most scooterists are probably familiar with, and which makes those bonds between us that much stronger.