Simple Vespa Riding
The hot weather has vanished and I’ve been on the scooter more. Riding nowhere in particular. Just enjoying the passing landscapes. A stop along a rural road to admire the field corn, tall and lush from an abundance of sunshine and moisture.
I ride a Vespa scooter because it’s easy. And it can do practically anything. Anywhere. With few exceptions (water crossings and deep mud), most of the scooter’s limitations exist between my ears.
A recent email I received from a rider in Nova Scotia has been rattling in my head. Specifically, a short passage regarding a cross continent trip from Washington state to Nova Scotia:
“Most of that 14-day adventure (almost exclusively across America) is a blur to me. Like so much of my riding up to that point, my focus was 150 feet off of the front wheel and hitting every apex with surgical precision. In the process, I missed a great deal of beauty.”
I read about people making grand adventures; on two-wheels, on cruise ships, in cars. And I marvel at the distances traveled and the experiences consumed. But it all seems rushed.
Vespa Through the Forest
As much as anything, this is why I love the Vespa. It’s nature invites me to slow down, to stop, to look and explore. To not rush. In doing so, and finding the magic and mystery of an ordinary place, the need to seek out distant and exotic locations loses some of its seductiveness. The Vespa GTS scooter grounds me in the place I’m rolling through at any given moment.
At least if feels that way.
I’ve learned to experience the journey regardless the destination.
By no means is this an indictment of other forms of travel or experience. I spent the early part of my life traveling Europe with my mother consuming churches and graveyards, mountain peaks and castles, withering daily agenda’s to squeeze the most of every moment. These journeys are not without excitement and a rich, rush of experience.
But they’re different. And hardly relaxing. Riding a motorcycle often calls me to go faster. In part, because there’s so much weight and power at my fingertips that the machine feels odd not moving along faster. And with that speed comes a heigthened need to monitor. Riding north on US 15 out of Williamsport, Pennsylvania on a BMW R1200 RT found me traveling along at 80mph as I plotted lunch at the Wellsboro Diner. The return trip by winding country roads was slower and navigating the motorcycle on and off the road to set up photographs was work.
Urban Commuter
The Vespa is easy to start, stop, pull on the centerstand and put pretty much anywhere you want it. As I ride along through central Pennsylvania’s ribbons of asphalt, dirt and gravel, I have found the scooter universally simple to deal with. If it’s simple riding you’re after the Vespa fills the bill.
Many consider the Vespa suited mainly for a life in and around town. The perfect vehicle to run errands and do its duty as an urban commuter. I won’t try and dissuade anyone from these observations. It does them well. But it does other things too.
Vespa as Rural Transport
The Vespa is an ideal candidate for two-wheeled travel through the rural and forested landscapes of Pennsylvania. It performs in these rides reliably and with more than adequate power to exceed any posted speed limit in the state.
Vespa on the Freeway
An for those times you’re in a hurry and have to jump on the freeway, the Vespa can handle that task as well.
It’s all part of simple Vespa riding.
That sums up the Vespa experience nicely. They are fine machines.
Like many small motorcycles and scooters — they are vastly underestimated. And with the Vespa — it’s more fun than a barrel of monkeys!
This is a good, interesting and honest post on the versityle capabilities of the 250 /300 Vespa. It may well have value to Vespa marketing. Thank you for posting.
Thank you Bill. In terms of Vespa’s marketing — I get the feeling they try and position the scooter as an urban lifestyle accessory. The fact that it’s a riding machine capable of extensive riding challenges never seems to rise to the surface. I could be wrong but I’ve not been in touch with anyone from Piaggio in almost 10 years now.
I have owned a 300 GTS since 2012, buying the bike to remember my wife of 28 years who passed on from Parkinson’s, who had always wanted to own a red Vespa when she retired from teaching. Susie taught physical education for 36 years, retired and then tragically passed on 8 months later without living her dream of riding her red Vespa. I had never ridden a scooter or motorcycle in my 54 years, but I took a motorcycle course offered at my local Harley Davidson dealership, got my license and have never looked back. I love my 300 GTS, it’s performance and power, and that I never feel that I can’t commute anywhere. Riding my Vespa reminds me always of my missing love, but I am sure she is smiling in Heaven as she witnesses my rides. Steve keep your observations coming as I look forward to your stories with a knowing smile on my face for the wonders of a Vespa ☺️
I’m sorry to hear of your loss Phil. Riding in her honor and memory, conducting your life on the road in a manner that would make her smile, none of us could ask for more as a living memorial.
The path from non-rider to rider can be exciting. You’ve obviously taken an informed and thoughtful path to make sure you’re prepared and safe. Best wishes on your Vespa adventures. Check in from time to time and let me know how things are going.
You are now in the point of life you can travel how you feel. People often for get the 2 bikes in “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance” were a Honda 305 and a BMW R60. A recently retired couple that I know just got back from a 4 month trip in their giant motorhome and are talking about the plans for the next. Not my style of travel but to each their own. Ian Coats spent several yeas when he retired riding an African Twin around the world. When he found a place that he wanted to spend time in he would barter his skills for food and lodging. There is no wrong way to spend your retirement, or for that matter how you ride, as long as it is the way you like to do it.
Exactly right Mike. There are a multitude of paths to the same destination. The challenge for each of us is to find what’s right for us. The Vespa continues to be the right choice for me at this moment in time.
Your post today reinforces the comment I often read on various two-wheeled adventure forums and websites: “Ride what you have; just be sure you ride”.
Absolutely — riding is the goal!
Good point. The larger, more powerful moto almost demands that you go faster, missing what surrounds you. To a further extreme, I know several people who would never consider long distance travel by any means except bicycle. I’ve done a bit of that, but . . . it’s just too much work and, though I’ve done it, my body has never responded well to hard physical training. “A man’s got to know his limitations.”
Hmmmm! The Vespa parked on that lonely lovely forest byway and just in front of the no parking sign … the gall ?
I’ve never understood the crossing of vast distances by the iron-butt guys, but like you, there’s no judgement….it’s their ride after all.
All that distance covered, but no real recollection of what was there…..
“I read about people making grand adventures; on two-wheels, on cruise ships, in cars. And I marvel at the distances traveled and the experiences consumed. But it all seems rushed.”
The trips you read about right? Every once in a while, when a person sets off across the country looking for the answers, a transforming experience, or to let go of something, I happens. But the rider has to be open to it and want it (even if they don’t know they want it). So that’s what you are seeing – they weren’t quite ready. Or they didn’t really want to go without rushing. In a young person’s life an experience like riding across the country can me more about a rite of passage, building up the (internal) house or moving from child to man/woman. Paul “Boom” Ruby
“By no means is this an indictment of other forms of travel or experience.”
I do not care how you travel I just encourage everyone to travel. However, though I loved my time traveling by my home that was a boat, there is nothing for me that compares to traveling by Vespa. The lonely roads become people reunions when I stop on the Vespa in the wilds of Montana or the rice fields of Mississippi or Pennsylvania Ave in Washington.
The slower the better.
Years ago I took a long ride with a friend around the Great Lakes. The scenery was top notch to see but we didn’t stop to soak it in, just observed it on the move. What I did though was contemplate my recent divorce and where I fit in the universe. The time in the saddle gave me a great deal of time and put things in perspective. In the isolation of riding I’ve done a lot of problem solving on two wheels. Up to and including how to repair those cranky scooters.
There’s nothing like a scooter or motorcycle ride to find time to think and contemplate things. There are many reasons to ride and different benefits. Like you, I’ve taken advantage of the isolation more than once.
First there is a mountain
Then there is no mountain
Then there is
There was a time, when I lived on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, when I’d spend my Saturdays and/or Sundays taking my road bicycle on an early-morning, 60-mile round trip upstate to Nyack, NY. In the beginning, it was about exploring new territory and the out-of-city experience, which was itself exhilarating. After a while, after geeing a handful of rides under my belt, the ride became about speed: I’d gotten my riding legs (and, apparently, lungs as well), and since I was actually able to go faster at this point, well, that became the point. The road, the countryside, the towns I passed through – those became the big, multicolor blur between Point A and Point B. And, for a while, this was fun – I don’t berate the occasional jones for the visceral thrill of moving swiftly along, then or now. But after a while, I felt the need to slow things up just a tad, here and there. Feeling the velocity of the air was nice, but I needed the texture as well, the scents, the subtle changes from cool to warm, the breeze, not just the blast. The bike rides vary a lot more now, although the distances are a bit shorter…and, now that I’m on the Jersey shore, a good deal flatter.
As I’ve written here before, the Vespa wasn’t my first choice for something with an engine in it – it was going to be something along the lines of a Suzuki SV650. My Sig. Other (now wife) gently nudged me away from going the MC route and toward a scooter, which I first balked at, but then discovered (rediscovered, actually) the Vespa, and then discovered the GTS. I don’t feel like I’m missing out on anything at all now. Within reason, I can do whatever comes to mind on it. It’s really All That. What you’ve written here puts it quite beautifully.
The lesson for me in all of this stuff is that riding, the ride, and all the choices we make on machines, routes, style, gear and whatever else — it’s supremely personal and unique to each of us. What works for one rider may be a complete failure for another. The challenge for each of us it to figure out what we really need and want. I know if I can be open and honest, I can discover things — like how much fun the Vespa is. Or that I don’t really like really heavy machines. Or that I don’t care what my friends are riding.
We’re created as unique individuals. It’s fun to embrace that right?
I think that a Vespa 300 (GTS or GTV) is the most balanced scooter in terms of power/size/weight/friendliness. I enjoyed my time with my GTS and would buy it again (especially now that it has ABS).
The Adventure Rider forum is full of reports of long rides. Riders that devour hundreds of miles each day and cross the whole continent in no-time,, whether it’s on big bikes or 50cc scooters. While I admire their ability to sit on the bike for hours upon hours and see so many places, the question comes (as you indicate) what do they really see while they travel?
Don’t they have to sacrifice the details in order to reach their destination?
It seems to me they can appreciate the shape of the landscape, the terrain, but they don’t have the time to pay attention to much more.
Perhaps that’s the price we have to pay if we want to see more of this continent – the distances are so huge.
When I ride and see a nice creek (for example) and can stop and explore the area, and see/smell the flowers, it brings a great joy. If I have to ride at 50 mph, or even faster, I can’t notice many things like that
Of course, a shortish ride and smelling flowers don’t make an impressive post on advrider.
I agree with your comments about the 300 GTS. It’s a fine bit of engineering. I’m still enthralled with my 250.
It does seem perplexing to me when I think about the speed and distances covered by some. Doesn’t matter if it’s a motorcycle or a car — when you’re going fast you just can’t absorb or see as much. But it’s entirely possible that there are other things driving those decisions. To each their own.
I’m with you though — I love to be able to slow down, stop and just look around. And you’re right — those rides don’t usually qualify as high art on the ADV forum!