Thanks for the kind words Bill. I would like to ride more and make more photographs but circumstances continue to limit time on the road.

I did make the repair to the exhaust gasket. I’ve done it a couple times before so I was familiar with the process. Sounds great again.

I agree about how people think about and make decisions regarding scooters. Not going to change though. We’ll remain odd, not real riders in many minds. Even if Piaggio packs up in North America the opportunities to get parts online will allow enterprising riders to keep riding for years to come.

Piaggio has probably recognized the very narrow niche for their product. It’s expensive and they seem to want to focus now on large urban markets. Too expensive to service little dealers in rural or smaller markets I guess. And my kind of riding is decidedly NOT their marketing goal.

I don’t have a crystal ball about the future of a Vespa in my garage. But I’m fairly confident I can keep one going.

I remember Justin. He used to work on my Vespa. Regarding Chinese scooters — there definitely are some reliable brands. Unfortunately, the Vespa ride feel and style are unique to it’s steel mono frame. No other scooter I’ve ridden is like it. So I’ll hold on to the Vespa brand for awhile despite the dealer void.

People who are enthusiasts will agree with you Bill. People who want a small scooter to travel five miles to the train station or work won’t. A 50cc Vespa costs as much as a Yamaha SMax and you know how well the Yamaha works. Piaggio actually controls the larger scooter category but have to get new scooter riders there. A 50cc Typhoon is in the same range of cost as a good Chinese scooter. They should be doing more to point that out to prospective owners.

As for the loud scooter. I was riding with Lostboater recently. His Vespa GTS 300 developed the same noise, the telltale sign of a bad exhaust gasket. Ken replaced it in the street within minutes. I don’t know if you do this yourself, but if not, please know that it is a very easy repair.

The lost Piaggio dealer is a shame, but common in the US.

Most American scooter riders are more interested in getting a cheap scooter than a wonderful scooter. It might be the Walmartization of the citizenry.

Vespas have it all for me, speed, quality and charm. Americans don’t get it and choose a scooter with none of these characteristics to save a few bucks. They don’t know what they are missing.

Kissells confirmed the Piaggio change with me when I rode down last week to see their new shop. I get it, but am still disappointed.

The ease and joy I’ve experienced in darting around campus and town on the Vespa has made me wonder many times why there don’t seem to be more scooter riders within our university community. I began to hope that an uptick would occur in the near future, but perhaps the Kissell change signifies that was just wishful thinking.

Ha—got it. I may have a used factory exhaust off my older 250 available if you get stuck. Same weather challenges here in the nw.