Modern Vespa

Carpenter Dumonde and I live within 10 miles of each other near Plymouth, MA.. He's been out of commission for a while due to an injury.. so we hadn't met. I called him yesterday to see if he was OK to go for a ride and oddly.. he called me at almost the same time to suggest a ride.
I took him up on his idea. Go to an open house at a Harley Dealer down on Cape Cod.. so we met this morning, had breakfast and crashed the open house with our MP3's.. He on his 250, me on my 500.. On the way back, we exchanged bikes to compare the ride of the two..
We stopped at a nice little park to get back to our own bike and I took a few pictures.. of course, in the middle of that, what shows up? A Harley on a trailer.. de=trailering so they could take a local ride.. Why do Harley's always travel with a car? Weird.. so here are a few of the pictures..

So how many thousands of questions did you guys have to field about your scoots? Well, more like how many thousand times did you get asked the same 5 questions...

As for the piggy on the trailer, I think it's because most people own their Harley as a fashion statement, not as something to be, you know, used.

Mark

Trailers are for suckies!

Harley riders could only dream of the MP3's marshmallow ride, its high mileage+fun factor, and the MP3 rider's level of comfort in the summer heat of stop-n-go traffic without ever singeing his inner thighs (or nuts).
You will end up riding more than those average Harley riders, that I can guarantee!

I've never understood those bumper stickers that say something like "I'd rather be out on my Harley." If you'd really rather be out on your Hog, then why aren't you?

And why would you need to trailer your bike somewhere to ride? If you're going somewhere scenic to ride it, then why not ride it there, too? And if you can't ride it that far or that long because it's too uncomfortable, well, then I think you have bigger issues...

That whole bidness about trailering somewhere, unload it, then ride just reeks of bogusness.
Unfortunately, even scooterists do that. If it's too far to ride, then just drive! 8)

Kind of like driving to the gym to ride a stationary bike.

I do have a friend in Toronto who takes multi-thousand-mile trips each summer on his Harley "Geezer Glide" (his term). So not every hog is a garage queen.

There definitely are some. I do business with an equipment salesman who travels the country on his Harley. He has visited my mill in Georgia on it. I talked to him last week and he was in Maine at the Canadian border having traveled there from Ohio a couple days prior. He lives in the Florida panhandle.

But these are not the average Harley owners.

Let me take a guess, one out of a hundred is a true Harley "rider". Close-enough? 8)

Exactly! I mean, I've never really understood a stationary bike, anyway. Same with a treadmill. I mean, the only possible reason I can think of is so that you can watch TV while you bike/run.

In the interest of full disclosure, I will admit to sometimes choosing to run on my treadmill instead of going outside so I can watch TV or avoid some of the heat. But that's for the treadmill in my basement, not something I have to drive to do...

Mark

I know some that really do ride, too. But I see an awful lot more "I'd rather be riding my Harley" stickers on the back of gas guzzlers.

The only good reason I've heard for trailering a bike came from my pastor. He was going to visit his daughter down in Texas, I believe not long after she got married. He would have been perfectly happy to ride it down there, but he had to take his mom with him and she refused to ride. So he dropped her off and spent the next 4 days riding pretty much all day long.

Mark

I once asked why a four year old Harley on Craig's list only had 1,000 miles and the same age Honda had 50,000. He said, "People buy Harleys because they are having a mid-life crisis. People buy Hondas to ride to work."

I think people buy MP3s because they are the nearest thing there is to a safe sportsbike.

"I think people buy MP3s because they are the nearest thing there is to a safe sportsbike."

I think people buy MP3's because they can tell themselves, and, perhaps, their SO, that they (the MP3's) are safe and that they (the rider/owner) are sensible. I'm not sure that either of these ideas is true.

I bought the MP3 because I was looking for a scooter, and just fell in love with the MP3 500 when I saw it. So, I comprised and got a 500cc instead of the 150 cc I was looking for

Jeeze Jerry,

I don't think an MP3 is any safer than a sports bike but I supposed we'd have to start listing all the "sports bikes" to establish that. Any bike ridden properly is safe, perhaps some more than others. Given the reported number of new riders who've dropped their MPs I'd question how safe they are in that regard.

Before I'm buried under the predictable avalanche of protesting comments consider what I've said first. The MP3 series is indeed a stable bike if ridden as its design intended. On the other side of the coin there are riders galore who have misinterpreted the function of the two-wheel front design as being a fail-safe ride and dropped them. Surprise, surprise...

LL75

I'm with you on that one man. In addition the MP3 can lull you into complacency and make you think it can do anything a "regular" bike can. It can't. Simple as that. That itty bitty suspension can't soak up potholes and bumps like a bike with 17" wheels and a suspension to match. I tell you that when you are hauling down the road at 75+ on the MP3 turbulence and road irregularities are much more of a factor than with a regular bike. The MP3 is honestly a little scary over those speeds. I feel perfectly comfortable 75 and under - over that I honestly am not enjoying myself because I know if I hit a seam the wrong way I could lose it.
Just my take...

Not challenging you, but surprised to hear you say that. I have no expirience to draw from when talking about other bikes and I get great insight from those that post about their expiriences. However, when I am in construction zones on freeways and am splitting the lanes and the road height difference from the two lanes is 2-2 1/2 inches, it just handles these situations flawlessly. I find it amazing how well it handle the transitions and grooved freeways as long as the differences are inline with your direction of travel. That being said, when the differences are perpendicular to the direction of travel, that is were the limitations of the MP3 are exposed.

Hey, has anyone noticed since last night, Modern Vespa has taken on a decidedly "generic" look.

--No MV logo
--No member profile pics
--No attached pics
--No ads.

What the world is going on???
(Did I do anything wrong?)

Hey, has anyone noticed since last night, Modern Vespa has taken on a decidedly "generic" look?

--No MV logo
--No member profile pics
--No attached pics
--No ads.
--No edit
--No flag

What the world is going on???
(Did I do anything wrong?)

my pages look normal and have been good all day.

Mine too.. all OK.

Oh nooooo.....you've contracted the anti-scooter virus! It's caused from making too many anti-HD remarks. It's even been known to cause multiple postings! Woo hoo!

LL75

Is it contagious?

Is it contagious?

Ha-ha-ha! Very funny, guys! Y'all sure know how to make fun of a man who slipped and fell...

It was caused by an old MV bookmark; deleted it, set a new one and all was fine!

H-D's are summer nut-roasters -- who needs them?!
My boys gotta stay cool, so MP3 is my ride, huh!

Come to Maggie Valley next month and I'll buy you a beer as an apology.

Yo, Fuzzy

No apologies necessary!
Maggie Valley -- that's about an hour twenty minutes from The Dragon, 66.7 miles, huh?
I will bet that beer tastes pretty good, when and if I make it.

Now, back to MP3's vs. Harley's...

I buy you one also, and throw in some good Tn sippin whisky to sample.

Beer and whiskey, that's my kinda hospitality!

I get the tax free stuff.