Modern Vespa

I found this article about adventure motorcycling interesting and some of you may too. I also found the reference to "scooters" (see quote from linked article below) to be funny and strange. What do the quotation marks around the word "scooters" signify?

From the linked article:

Adventure Motorcycling does not, however, require an adventure motorcycle. Many riders have tackled extreme long-distance journeys-even going around the world-using a surprisingly wide range of machines, from Vespa "scooters" ("Vespa360") to small-capacity commuter bikes such as the Yamaha XT225 Serow.

Just guessing but, when I read it I thought the "scooter" thing was because the author didn't consider a Vespa360 to be a scooter.

Too big perhaps to be considered a scooter?

This is based on my assumption that a Vespa 360 has a 360cc engine. I've never heard of that model before so perhaps the 360 is a model designation rather than an indication of cc size.

my .02

I believe the author is referring to a project / adventure called Vespa360. There is no Vespa model called Vespa360.

Maybe because 'scooter' is so hard to define; there isn't a rigid set of critera that nails it. There are arguments on this very forum about is this or that a scooter.

In other news, my new life's ambition is to think up a scholarly topic and have an article accepted by that journal. Awesome stuff.

http://www.vespa360.com/

EJ

As in around the World on a Scooter.

Best regards,

Mike Lynch