Comments on: Ducati vs. Vespa

By: Steve Williams

Steve Williams — Thu, 15 Feb 2018 15:57:45 +0000

In reply to Desmo.

Desmo — how cool can they be if they won’t ride with a Vespa? Hah. I’ve heard riders describe the appropriate riding partners by brand, age, sex, skill and endless other sorting filters. To each their own. Any challenge to those groupings does tend to intrude on the fantasy or bromance. You get karma points for accepting their loss…

By: Steve Williams

Steve Williams — Thu, 15 Feb 2018 15:54:55 +0000

In reply to Frank.

Gee, could I take any longer to respond to your comment??? Somehow I miss one now and then.

If there is a lot of freeway time on a tour I can definitely see the advantage of a bigger machine over the Vespa in terms of comfort. At 70mph the Vespa takes more out of you than a heavy motorcycle. But if the touring is on secondary roads with reasonable speeds the Vespa is a pretty luxurious ride. Unless the tires and balance are a mess.

The front brake on the GTS is strong. Takes some time to not be overwhelmed by it. A heavy motorcycle doesn’t have that feel.

Anyway, sorry again for the delay in responding. Hope you’ve had many miles of fine riding since you visited here.

By: Desmo

Desmo — Wed, 07 Feb 2018 15:06:32 +0000

I ride a vespa but my cool friends on “real motorcycle “ dont see it that way that is why they plan rides without me so i wont “ruin” the bromance.

By: Frank

Frank — Sat, 27 Sep 2014 08:41:27 +0000

I own both a Vespa GTS Super 300ie and a Yamaha Fazer. Both have their strengths. I choose for the Vespa for the smaller trips, and the Yamaha for tours. The lack of ABS on the Vespa in combination with rather forceful front brakes makes it for me not ideal for tours. Also stability on highway speeds are not ideal with the Vespa. On top stability gets greatly influenced by factors like wheel balancing and bearing quality; something which is less on motorcycles.
But Vespa is great, compact and more fuel efficient in and around cities. And one way or the other it embodies a certain character that appeals me. So I agree with your ranking.

By: Steve Williams

Steve Williams — Sat, 27 Sep 2014 00:54:10 +0000

In reply to VStarLady. "Thanks Paul!" it is. He gets some unusual images of me when we ride.

By: VStarLady

VStarLady — Sat, 27 Sep 2014 00:07:13 +0000

In reply to Steve Williams.

You Americans might all look the same … but I have to agree with David, you and the Vespa look awesome in action – just say, “Thanks Paul!” As for chasing shiny things – there’s nothing wrong with that either. Enjoy the fall.

By: Steve Williams

Steve Williams — Fri, 26 Sep 2014 00:58:51 +0000

In reply to Laurent. Thanks for the kind words Laurent! Merci beaucoup!!!

By: Steve Williams

Steve Williams — Fri, 26 Sep 2014 00:56:21 +0000

In reply to Michael B.. The thing I miss on the iPhone is the ability to compress a scene with a telephoto lens and a big aperture to minimize the depth of field. For images when that's not important the phone camera is fine. Add to that all the cool photo processing apps and the iPhone really is a winner.

By: Laurent

Laurent — Wed, 24 Sep 2014 15:16:26 +0000

Steve Williams in action on the vespa !! very,very good !!!
My english is very little; sorry, i’m french !!!

By: Michael B.

Michael B. — Tue, 23 Sep 2014 18:25:07 +0000

Steve, while Paul was eating his breakfast you could have borrowed his wheels and put your 12-inchers on his bike. Then you’d have Vescati and Dupa. Quite often I don’t bother with my dSLR and take the iPhone5 along. Under normal daylight conditions I don’t see any difference in pic quality and the iPhone fits in a pocket.