Modern Vespa

I was looking at Scooterdoodles collection of bikes over the years and I began to think.

I never "loved" a vehicle before my scooter.

Now I know that young men usually have some sort of "Love Affair" with their first cars...even tho they may be old beaters...but I, as a woman, have never felt anything for a vehicle. It is just a way to get around. All cars look the same to me.

When I got my scooter... it changed. I don't know if it is the fact that I really have to become "one" with the machine to ride it properly, or some new part of my brain just opened up... But I LOVE my Scooter! I mean, it is like it has a personality all its own. It is not just a vehicle.

So I am wondering... Do you all LOVE your scooter or is it just a vehicle to you? Do you remember your first ride, two wheel or four with a wee tear in your eye? Do you wish you still had it? Because I am NEVER giving up my scooter!!!

Yup
I started loving mine right after a spill on sharp gravel,
when his cowl took all the punishment, instead of my leg

while i am very pleased with my scooter and enjoy looking after it, i think probably no, i don't LOVE my scooter in an emotional or physical sense. it is the only vehicle i own and i ask a lot of it. it lives and works in a high-risk environment, and it wouldn't do to get too attached to it.

it was love at first site the day i laid my eyes on my white 300... LOVE IT!

It sounds more of an obsession, not love.


I was disappointed with mine when I bought it after coming from riding motorcycles I felt it was too small, too slow, and ugly. But after a while I learned to like it for it is. Nimble, good gas mileage, can park anywhere (a big plus for me) so now I like it. And the girls think it's cute, so who cares what I think.

Love it? Never, it's just a mode of transportation, a toy, a hobby. Make me a decent offer and I'd sell it today.
Of course I'd probably turn around and buy another scooter with the money.

But everyone is entitled to his/her opinion, so this is just mine. Go ahead and keep luving your scooter.

I was asking myself this question the other day. While it's definitely more of an obsession than love, I am very attached to my Vespa.

I have never had a vehicle, before this one, that I really gave much of a second thought to. They've all been ways to get from A to B. The Vespa however is that and so much more.

I've been sick and it's stormed here every day for the last week. I am having withdrawals. Evey day, when I walk past the Vespa and get into my truck, I just don't quite feel right. When I ride the scooter, I don't even look at my truck.

I prefer Vespas.

I know that this is the right & sensible attitude,
but my heart doesn't care

I've gone through several mattresses because laying my scooters down in bed next to me every night pretty much does them in. I wake up in a pool of gas and 2-stroke each morning *giggety?*

But seriously, I am QUITE attached to my scooters. I've had a solid passion for all the vehicles I have owned so far, and the scoots take the cake. I'm really not sure I would say I "love" them... I mean, I often DO say that I love them, but I think I always use it more in the "I love my friends" kind of way than the "I love my girlfriend and my mother" kind of way... my scooters are very trusty companions on the road... working on them is an absolute pleasure and they never cease to please or surprise me when I rip through a hard turn or dodge an obstacle I would have had to hit on a larger vehicle.

VERY fond

I love Liz my ET4.

I've been thinking about this for some time but more in the way of a relationship with a horse. A slightly bizarre way of looking at it. She's not a show horse, but certainly a work horse that doesn't mind getting a bit dirty, taking a few bumps and scratches, and enjoys long journeys. I've also gotten in to the habit of just taking her for a quick sprints up dual-carriageways .

Since doing some body work on her and some maintenance on her insides, I feel as though I've kinda of bonded with her. She also seems to have developed a bit of a personality. As a result I've become a bit more watchful of her in terms of keeping her in good running condition.

To me she's not just a method of transport, she's my traveling companion. Riding her I sometimes feel that we somehow merge to create a two wheeled cyborg.

Maybe I've thought too much on this , but I love my scooter and I love riding. I'll be really sad when I eventually move up to a bigger machine.

Yes, I hug it some times Need to think about getting some help.

Wayne B

My motorcycle and scooter are just a hobby, I like each one for its perpose and style, but every day, I seem to hop into my yaris. well at least for the summer months.

I love it, but I'm not "in love" with it.

Love is not a word I would use, more like fond. Riding her brings me a smile, whether its to get from point A to point B or its a recreational ride. She has brought me to places i would normally not go in my car - side streets, back roads, road off the beaten path ..... and these moments will always be special

This reminded me of what I was considering the other day: the similarities & linkages between Euro-American scooter/cycle culture and what might be called "horse culture", especially contrasting with cars or carts.

First, think about the language. You ride a horse or a scooter; you drive a cart or a car. The word gymkhana comes from equestrian competition.

Then consider social and economic class. Owning a horse meant for riding and bred for speed was (and is) a status symbol and a measure of wealth - they were luxury items. Draft horses were for bred for power & pulling and were decidedly "down-market", meant and used to earn a living mostly by pulling things. Similarly, a lot of people consider motorcycles and scooters (especially Vespas) as luxury consumer items, ridden purely for pleasure - cars and trucks are the daily vehicle of the vast majority of Americans. It's a rare American adult who has the means for car ownership and abandons it for two (or three) wheels like I have: for most, lack of car ownership is an indicator of poverty, not wealth.

Class also comes out in attitudes of scooter/cycle owners towards their fellow riders and towards car owners. A lot of riders consider themselves elite in some fashion and look down on "cagers" as a group - a very similar attitude that horse riders probably had towards the demonstrably-poorer group of cart drivers. I understand that there are many car & truck drivers who are negligent and/or malicious and fully deserve the scorn of anyone travelling nearby - but condemnations of them as a group is more about class & clique than anything else.

On the upside, the language that riders use about their motorized partners and the experience of riding is very similar to that of horseriders. In the best of senses, it becomes moving meditation - flying on earth, a vehicle of traveling and transformation. The sense of wind in your face, the engagement with your environment and attention required by the speed of travel, the thrill of speed... all aspects that riders of whatever sort seem to share. The smell of the horse has been replaced by that of petroleum products in the modern world, but the experience remains immersive.

So yeah - scooters & cycles are mechanical horses in a very real sense, much more than the railroad ever was. I don't find those who bond with their scooters strange at all - they're just carrying on several millennia of human psychological bonding with that which carries us over hill and dale. [/url]

Ah... I think I love my scooter. Take her everywhere. The thing is, she is hitting 25,000 miles on the clock soon. =( I recently received a Honda Pantheon in non-working condition but aesthetically sound! So all I need to do is do her up mechanically then I'll have a scooter to do my work horse stuff on. I want to keep Esme for as long as I can, as I have spent SO much money on her. I think Modern Vespa has to blame for showing me the world of scootering in a whole different perspective. But I can truely say that I love my scooter.

I'm in a philosophical mood today, hence:
I like my GT200 and sometimes lightly and jokingly refer to 'luving' it. But when it comes right down to the wire, the Vespa really is an "it", a thing, an inanimate object. -And so sometimes I think using the word 'love' regarding 'things' diminishes it's meaning...

I mean, can a transportation (or a sporting) machine cherish you, talk with you, respect you, desire your company, know and accept and forgive your flaws, laugh and cry with you, and support you in times of personal crisis? (All this, and have enjoyable sex with you too?)

All of these things constitute to me the intricate and complicated meanings of the word "love". I think it's a lot more then the simple attraction to, enjoyment of, (and sometimes obsession with) a scooter that one can have..!

Maybe this is why when talking about liking my scooter in a non-serious vein I use the spelling "luv" instead of "love"? 8)

I really liked my LXV, but I love my GTS 300!

Yes, I love my LX. I take better care of her than I do my car. I even look out the window before I go to bed just to make sure all is ok.

I love my ET4. Organic curves, nimble... She's about to lose the boring silver colour to something more unique.

I respect my SH. It is the best of its kind period, but anodyne like most of its Honda brethren.

The P series clone. It's growing on me. A character all of its own.

love ........ no way ..... love our lass not me scoot.......... kick it now n then n when it runs well it gets a pat

Some would say yes to all that!

We are very happy together.

YES, can you not tell how much I love my GTS?

I'd say I RESPECT it. It does so much with me and you need to be able to trust it do what you need it to do. Practical personal transport with flair. I admire the looks too. Some say cute but I'd say SMOOTH. But I like the look of the older Vespas the most, their 60's COOL. 8)
So if you have a love affair with your scoot I can see where your coming from and respect to ya.

Good post.

+ 1 with Mr. Dib and Ebongreen, and mostly everyone else. I guess I am good company!

I usually like my motorcycles, I usually appreciate them and the people who designed and built such fun and pleasure-giving objects.

I don't love any of them. Not a-one.

They often, in the case of the photos of the bikes I posted in the collage, represent more than just a particular machine, but a point in time that also was shared with the people I knew then, and the places we went to and experienced.

The motorcycles, in that way, can be viewed as more of a medium than a vehicle....but that medium doesn't have to be motorcycles or scooters, it could just as well have been a canoe or a pair of bowling shoes.

I've never given my bikes pet names of endearment, nor referred to them as 'she'. They've always been 'its'.

The scooter or motorcycle you may 'love' is the result of the efforts of many talented and passionate people who created it and take pride in their work. That is the area where there is really more than meets the eye, and there may even be some 'love' found there.

Ah, yes. I love my scooter. And I agree with the posts regarding horses and scooters. I have ridden and owned horses all my life, and while my relationship with my scooter, as much as I love her, pales in comparison to what I have with my horse, I have a similar feeling when I ride her.

LOL! Mental masturbation can be enjoyable too, right..?

is that mental as in crazy mental, or imaginary in the head mental?

I understand what you saying here, but I suspect you're missing one important point... And that is that both humans and (other) animals are animate beings. All can think and have emotions to a certain level, and this means that a relationship between a human and a horse (or a dog, say..) can consist of mutual thinking, affectionate (or angry) feelings, respect, obedience (sometimes?), bonding, love, and loyality...

OTOH a relationship between a human and a scooter can ONLY consist of UNREQUITED love. To believe otherwise is a nice fantasy, but is really just temporary (and pleasant?) mental masturbation, IMO...

Interesting... even if it is unrequited. I think the OP is mainly going on about the individuals feelings towards their scooter. Is it any different from the love a child has towards their favorite stuffed toy?

I love my wife and I love my son, I don't love my scooter. I would give my life for both of them, but if hard times fell upon our family I would sell both scooters. I enjoy riding them, but no, I don't love them.

No, you're right, it's probably not... Small children can have little differentiation
between inanimate objects and living beings.
But as a child grows it's expected that he or she will grow away from loving things
and using people, and begin practicing the opposite...

i love my bike. i go to extreme lengths to make sure it will be on the road until i am old. i am looking to stock an extra motor just in case they stop making them. so i guess i am a little obsessed.

Yes. I love my scoot. And I do mean LOVE. I ride him every day.

I love all Vespa's, the 5 we have at home are not quite like kids but certainly well loved pet's. Being relatively new to this (4th year) it amazes me how these little guys steal your heart. I can't imagine a career without them now. Nice job Piaggio, I drank the kool-aid, haha.

I know many peep's that indeed love their scoot/scoots.

Best,
SDG

PS Great thread.

'O' YES!!!! loved my gts
and love my super even more

Saw the tittle to this thread and thought it was UFO's. Where is he?

In the MP3 forum he told us how much he loves his MP3.
And told us, And told us, And told us, And told us, And told us,......................

I fell in love with riding my Vespa and not in love with my Vespa from day one. I also have a lovely convertible that i still enjoy driving although have only driven it twice in 3 months, bearing in mind we have had some fantastic days where a convertible is a must. I still prefer the ease of the Vespa.

I could never go back to just a car the Vespa and me are one.....

I just tell them I love them to get what I want from them.....