I received an inquiry from a woman seeking ideas for a Christmas gift for her father. Here’s that note:
My dad is an avid rider in New England (Vespa and a “project” Lambretta). I’m at a loss for a Christmas gift this year. Do you have a favorite piece of gear, book about riding, or other misc thing that you would love to give to a Scooter pal?
Gift giving is an art. For many a nightmare. I’ve been fortunate to enjoy the hunt and remain unconcerned with the reception. Putting myself in “dad’s place”, I tried to imagine what a New England rider might want. In the end it really was about what I would want. Result — gifts for scooter riders is a tricky business. And a little working through what I think I want but not really. Like the bomber hat with the rabbit fur. I’ve thought about owning one of those since I was a kid.
But I digress…
With as much Christmas spirit as I could muster I sent the following message about gift ideas for a fellow scooter rider. Perhaps readers can add others.
Dad’s and Christmas are always a problem, even the Vespa riding ones!
A lot of the Vespa experience is personal so it will be difficult for me to make recommendations but I’ll give it a whirl. I’m assuming you don’t want to buy him a brand new, shiny Vespa….*grin*
I would visit scooterwest.com — it’s a big Vespa scooter parts and gear enterprise. Once there search for “signs”. You’ll see a number of metal Vespa signs that a lot of us who have scooters like to display in our garages. Don’t ask me why. I have one.
If you know the exact model scooter your dad has, you could give scooterwest.com a call and tell them you want to buy some maintenance items — oil, filters, sparkplugs, etc. Even if your dad already has some of this he’ll need it eventually and he’ll be impressed that you picked this stuff up.
On the left hand navigation of the scooterwest.com site you’ll see their holiday gift giving guide. That area will have Vespa hats and shirts and such. Always a safe bet for Vespa riders.
Thinking about books — there are many. Take a look at Ghost Rider. While not about scooters it does look at the riding experience. A lot depends on your dad and what his riding is like. Aerostich has lots of books.
Or this — gloves. I love getting riding gloves. Aerostich makes some fantastic Elkskin ones.
And the last thing, the one I like most is the gift of riding time. You might have to coordinate this with your mom or dad’s significant other. Give him a Christmas card with a written note that basically says you want him to take a riding trip. Maybe it’s a little homemade gift card entitling the bearer to depart for a couple days — a guilt free, don’t worry about mowing the lawn, fixing anything or washing the car. The only requirement is to take some pictures, eat some good food and have a good time. I would love getting that gift.
So if you’ve found the perfect gift for a scooter or motorcycle rider leave a comment. You may ease the stress of a gift giver and make a rider happy.
Quick update on my Vespa:
It’s still in the garage dismantled, heated grips connected but still have to secure the wires, put the pieces back together, and basically spend an hour or so to get it back on the road. Or to the point where I can put the winter tires on. Things have been busy at work and I’ve had little energy left for my poor Vespa…
A few things come to mind. First off check out the Scooter Swag site at http://www.scooterswag.com/. Lots of odd little scooter collectibles and such. An older gentleman might appreciate the “Scooter Diary’s”: http://thescooterdiaries.com/ (I know I would).
On the topic of books how about Ari and Spirits “Freedom at both ends of the leash.” http://theoasisofmysoul.com/
Cafe Press offers a variety of t-shirts.
You can never go wrong with gear either. 🙂
Some good ideas Robert. I had forgotten about Ara and Spirit. Good call!
Some great ideas there for any rider – scooterer (Is that a word?) or not.
Merry Christmas.
Scooterer — sounds good to me.
Two good scooter books:
Vroom with a View by Peter Moore
I See by My Outfit by Peter S. Beagle
Thanks for the ideas Ed. I’m going to check out “I See by My Outfit” by Peter Beagle. Sounds like a great story about an epic scooter ride.
I was going to write: “Hey , about a list for Uralisti”? but realized the gift there is snow, plenty of it and time to ride one’s rig in it! 🙂
And don’t forget duct tape, Super Glue, and a credit card!
Busy at work; sound normal. Trying to get the next year’s first quarteri ssue ready, and ensuring everything from this year is completed as much as possible. Yep, been there, done that.
And in the middle of it all, you have to try and do Christmas shopping and related preparations for you and your family. And the preparation for the new family arrival on your daughter’s side.
Gifts for scooter riders..I’d suggest something with a reflector be it a jacket, outerwear of some sort, heated gloves, a certificate for a service for the machine at the local dealer…
tools as noted…
Merry Christmas Steve to you and your family for 2014….
Heated gloves are always nice for the cold weather rider. And I didn’t think about a certificate for service from a local dealer. Good idea.
Just a few more days til Christmas!
A couple of different things come to mind. Check out the various swag at http://www.scooterswag.com Cafe press offers a variety of shirts and other other goods, just do a search.
If your looking for books there is Ari and Spirit’s “Freedom at both ends of the leash.” = http://theoasisofmysoul.com/
Of course, how can we forgot the Scooter Diaries: http://thescooterdiaries.com/ which was a true love and travel story from her father’s generation?
Great bunch of comments posted! I just downloaded Freedom on Both Ends of the Leash onto my kindle and am looking forward to reading this. Had not heard of it and it sounds great. Thanks Robert. Yes, the Peter Beagle Book is very good. I read it in high school back in the sixties a couple of times. I should re harvest it and see if it has stood the test of time for me. Wonderful ideas for gifts. My poor daughter finds me hard to buy for but knows I aways appreciate a book voucher/gift certificate or a decent bottle of single malt.
Did anyone mention Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I reread it just a few years ago and was once more enthralled.
This year for Christmas I have bought myself an Akrapovic exhaust for the the Vespa Sprint 150 and as a stocking filler a pair of chrome master cylinder covers for the GTV 300 as the polished aluminium is corroding and looks skanky.
I plan to read Ara’s book at some point. My booklist grows longer and longer while my opportunities to read seem to be vaporizing. Same with the Beagle book.
Book vouchers, gift cards to Starbucks, and for drinkers there are a wide range of options. Reminds me of all the cigarettes I bought my dad as a kid — cartoons decorated for Christmas by Big Tobacco.
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is a great book though it took many readings for me to get through the whole thing. I reread it ever few years. My personal favorite book has nothing to do with riding — The Fool’s Progress: an honest novel by Edward Abbey. Rough and romantic.
Hope Christmas arrives well for you and your family!