Modern Vespa

A friend at work asked if he could borrow my car to go to the Doctors this afternoon and I told him I drove my Vespa to work, he then asked if he could borrow the Vespa. I paused and thought ... sure, he's a good friend and has had a motorbike in the past. I went through the basics of the bike and off he went. I'm now sitting at my desk with sweaty palms and a worried look on my face!

Do you - have you lent your Vespa to friends? All positive stories welcome...

-Kav.

I let my husband ride mine ONCE and we're insured to ride each other's bikes and I was nervous!!



-Mel

I'll let them drive my truck.
Not my scooter
Stan

To borrow a phrase from the gun lobby-"When they pry my cold dead hands off it!"

The only one that rides my scooter other then me are they guys at the shop when it needs to go in for service, not even my partner has ridden the GTS alone.

I have had friends with experience drive it on occasion. I recently swapped rides with a colleague as we rode to lunch: he took my Vespa, and I took his Kawasaki 250 dirt bike. We both had fun, but I also would trust him with my own kid, so I didn't worry with him on my Vespa.

Only people with experience AND that I would consider responsible.

I certainly let my partner ride my GTS and I have ridden his many times. I have let my motorcycle experienced friends ride my Vino when I had it after some training as to the operation of it.

Everyone has their own level of comfort on loaning (or not) their vehicles. Beyond that, it is important to know that motorcycle and scooter insurance does not work the way auto insurance does. Auto insurance has borrowed vehicle coverage, so there is coverage by your insurance when you loan to a friend, and probably by his insurance when he borrows your car.

Motorcycle/scooter policies do not generally have this. The are usually "named operator" policies. That means that only the person(s) named on the poliy are covered. Even family members do not have coverage unless they are on the policy. This can be really bad news if there is an accident. Not only are you not covered for the damage to your scooter, but you are on the hook for any damage or injury to other involved parties.

Check your policy or ask your agent BEFORE you loan your scoot.

I occasionally let people with either lots of motorcycle or scooter experience ride her on very short jaunts.

I find that I am only comfortable lending it out when I offer it to them, though. When people ask me if they can ride, I usually politely say NO!

I actually really enjoy letting open minded motorcycle types go for a short boo because they usually come back with a huge smile on their face and a new appreciation for scooters. That alone is worth the small risk for me!

My standard response to, "Hey Paul, can I ride/drive your Vespa/Mini/whatever?" is, "Can I sleep with your wife?"

Once, my oldest buddy asked me that when he and his wife came over and my Mini was sitting out front. Gave him my standard answer and he torted back, "The question is, who would have more fun?"

He didn't get laid for two months.

Same for me, my wife and I are insured on both scoots, and she use to drive an LX50 before going vintage, but I was still nervous while she was driving.

In addition to my above post, my brother in law who keeps referring to my LX as a "moped" asks to ride it every now and then.

Jess, this is the real charmer who asked you and Val why don't we ride motorbikes (ahem, he meant "real" bikes) at my Christmas party.

Of course he hears "HELL NO!" from me on this issue . . . the brother in law, not Jess.

Grrr.

-Mel

It's back safe and sound! Phew!

He loved it! "What a great little thing that is!"

Now will I lend it out again..... Hmmmm... maybe.

-Kav

Uhum>clearing throat<

HELL

-To

The-

NO!

What friends?

What VP said! Progressive and Geico folks-this espcially concerns you (but everyone should check with their agent as mentioned above). It's good to have insurance. One must also posess common sense. Unles you have Bill Gates' $.

My Harley friends wouldn't be seem on a scooter.
Something about penis extention and stuff.
I wouuldn't let them ride it anyway
Jasho love the hat I've got one just about like it.
Looks like a palm leaf.
Stan

those be palm fronds in the backround, it's from a fiend (no I didn't miss spell!) in Nord Dacoda.

Use to know the Mayor of Towner Nord Dacoda
He rode saddle bronc and made chaps.
Stan

Y'know, every time I lend it out, it takes me an hour to get the seat back the way I like it, retune the radio, pick up the candy wrappers, etc...

We have an unregistered, uninsured '89 Yamaha Razz that we use for letting people with no experience try out a scooter. On our insured scooters, the insurance company will cover us ONLY if the person riding is me or my husband or someone with an M endorsement on their license.

We had a bad experience a few years back letting someone ride one of our Vespas after she rode the Razz. I said something like, "It costs $500 to fix if you drop it," with a chuckle, and sure enough she dropped it turning a corner. She didn't get hurt but the scooter did and she paid us the $500 to get it fixed (which we kept and sold the scooter as-is). So my advice would be to only let "rich" friends try your scooter. I have heard other stories of people who lent their scooters to first-timer friends, only to have them collide with an object that leaves a scuff or dent, and the friends don't offer to help pay for the damage.

There are good points made in this thread. I voted "no way" in the poll, especially on our GT which is the most expensive scooter in our stable. The Razz never comes out of the shed anymore because we have no first-timer friends anymore. My hubby's grandkid will be old enough for it in a few years and then it may come out of retirement.

I checked NO WAY.

No one seems to be willing to give me the $5000.00 cash deposit I require to take Buzzy (my ET4) for a spin

Janine

A scooter shop-owner I know let someone ride a brand new $5000 scoot. The cusrtomer insisted their insurance would cover them on the test-ride. Guess what-they crashed and it DIDN'T cover! Still in the "you broke it you bought it" phase.

Don't assume-always call your agent first!

If it is someone that I know and am familiar with their riding...sure....If they are rich and know that they have the money to replace the scooter....sure. I made the mistake of letting someone ride my P200 and watched them crash it into a pole less than a week after I had painted and replaced the fender. I was super P.O.'d since I had a hell of a time dropping the fork and replacing it myself....grrr....the lady then had the nerve to only offer me $100 for the damage. The brand new fender was all bent and scraped, the legshield and glovebox were dented to hell and the RH turn signal was gone.

We get sooo many calls from folx with busted up scooters that were wrecked when they let their friend ride it. I think most people assume it's a toy. Would you let someone who had never driven a car before borrow your car? I lend out my motorcycles and scooters to friends with experience. I've never had a bad experience doing so. Most of my bikes aren't as valuable as a Modern Vespa, so I suppose it's a different scenario.

By having a 'named rider' insurance policy I achieve a major saving on my premiums. Nobody rides my Scoot because they are not insured - end of story.

If you ever train w/ a large group of beginners, you will see some "normal" looking people with zero ability to balance. I can not believe these nerds ever learned to ride bikes as kids! The people most anxious to ride your bike are DEFINATELY most likely to drop it. You don't owe strangers a ride, and why risk a good friendship with it. Just say; NO RIDE FOR YOU!

This I had mentioned before, but take note; If you lend the scoot to someone, and they don't come back with it, you will have a very hard time reporting a theft. The law considers this a "civil matter"

You gotta be kidding!!!
You should be seeing the doctor (head maybe??)(just kidding).

That is a sure way of ending a friendship. What if he toilets your rig, or just a few abrasions on it.
Is he a good enough friend to pick up the tab????

noooo wayyyy. i let my girlfriend move it up the drive once. she was surprised how much power it had compared to her 50.

No way, no how!

Sure how much money do you got?

No F'ing Way

My friend seth is the only person. He rides 190 on his motorcycle and lives to tell the stories. He damaged a plant once and wanted to pay for it. I let my friend use my 50cc. He did ok on the driveway. making the left turn onto the road he gassed it. Went straight across the road onto the bike path. I'm yelling my scooter then i say are you all right. He just put a few more scratches on it. Nope nobody rides the vespa. I'm the only that can hurt him

I can think of only one person I'd lend a bike to. So I agree with the majority, no freakin' way!

hell no

My first reaction was "No way!"

But then I thought about it. And after considerable reflection and soul-searching about the perceived value of material possessions and the true value of a good friend...

It's still "No way!"


I guess the only thing left is to find a good way to break it to them.

I get nervous when my partner pushes my scoot out of the garage! not that I don't trust him, it's just MY scoot...sort of like your own child...
I would never let an inexperienced rider near it...but it is fun to see someone who rides a BIG motorcycle take it out...and like someone said...whoa, this is fun!

Maybe encourage them to cross into the next state just in case they don't come back. Nothing like upping the charges with interstate trasnportation of a stolen veh AND grand theft: auto!

I'm obviously in the very small minority here, but I've let numerous people go for spins on my ET4 over the years, although not in crowded city conditions. Never worried about it and never had a problem.

Brendan