Reminded of the Good Things in Life
I fell in love with a Vespa scooter the first time I rode one. And now, after some neglect and a wandering eye, I’m falling in love all over again.
It continues to amaze me how my mind and body are transported into a different state of being by this silver scooter. Standing along the road, breathing the moist fragrant spring air, and feeling startingly present in the moment, I know what a gift it is to be able to ride.
Feeling Almost Normal Again
After two years the Boalsburg Fireman’s Carnival is again taking place. Slowly the community is moving toward a feeling or normalcy after suffering from the altered reality of a global pandemic. Riding the Vespa through the world provides something akin to taking an inventory of the landscape on which my life unfolds. I feel strangely “safe” while riding despite a keen acceptance of the attendant risk related to riding.
I’ve been reading “Toward Manhood: Into the Wilderness of the Soul” by Larry Pasavento and I have to say that it strikes uncomfortable chord after chord as I consider my own life. A section of the book dealing with the higher rate of suicide among men versus women suggests that men, as they age, experience more burnout and less and less capacity for joy and spontaneity. Riding has been a potent antidote to burnout and has continually opened a door to joy. Spontaneity — that’s another matter.
And the Vespa is so simple to ride, so accommodating and responsive that it’s almost invisible.
Fuel Consumption, An Added Bonus
Regardless the price of a gallon of premium fuel, I always smile when I fill the Vespa. I don’t keep track of fuel consumption or mileage but I know it does use much gasoline. And it can handle far more chores and errands than I actually use it for.
The exceptional quality of the Vespa though is its ease of operation. It’s especially welcome as my body ages and is far less limber than it once was. The step through frame makes it so damn easy to get on and off the scooter as compared to my motorcycle. After a recent flare of arthritis pain and joint stiffness, I’m falling in love all over again with the Vespa.
Without a doubt, a scooter will be the last two-wheeled motorized machine I’ll ever ride.
Daydreams and Reality Checks
Since buying the Himalayan my eye has wandered to other Royal Enfield models. I’ve thought it makes perfect sense to buy a second machine, perhaps the Interceptor, or the Meteor, a road worthy companion to the Himalayan. I even started doing the purchase math in my head of the difference between a new Vespa and a new Himalayan. And because I’ve been riding the Himalayan more and more into the mountains, the Vespa has been mute in offering alternative arguments.
It didn’t take long though for a quiet ride through the hills and dales of central Pennsylvania on the Vespa to realize it is a perfect companion for those rides. Simple, elegant, quiet, utilitarian, and reliable. Flying smoothly through the world I was falling in love all over again.
There Will Always be a Vespa in My Life
I’ve decided. I don’t need another motorcycle for riding the roads of central Pennsylvania and beyond. The Vespa GTS scooter I have now is more than adequate for any kind of ride I might undertake on pavement. And when this current scooter finally surrenders to old age I’ll buy another.
Now, when I go for a ride, when I walk out into the garage the choice of machine is simple. If my goal is to ride into the dirt and gravel of the mountains I choose the Himalayan. For everything else, the Vespa stand ready.
It’s nice to end the mental shopping and dreaming regarding motorcycles…
Hello Steve
I can so identify with your “last motorcycle” comments -I had already come to that conclusion for many of the same reasons. I must admit what does pain me is the haughty disdain given to us scooterists by the big bike lads. But as a pre-cardiac BigBike lad I am no longer awfully bothered. Two wheels rules.
I must confess I did wonder if the Himalayan was a sell out on your part – perish the thought – but am now fully reconciled to your continued membership of the community (oops nearly said brotherhood there Tsk)…
Best wishes
Chris (Lincoln UK)
I wondered if anyone would think I was selling out the Vespa in favor of the Himalayan. I did some mental gymnastics until I finally arrived at the conclusion that they can comfortably coexist, each having their own unique capabilities and me being able to choose one or the other for whatever I might be doing.
I went to our local MotoHang event last night and I have to say that at least for our group, there was little evidence of any disdain for the Vespa, even with big bikes aplenty. There was even a new Bimota TESI H2 there. Machinist and welder porn!
You should find me comfortable living in the scooter community for as long as I can ride. After that, well fantasy and memory will intervene!
I’m glad you like your Vespa, and yes, as old age approaches it’s nice to have options. I have four choices in my garage as I enter the seventy year bracket. As I have repeated ad nauseum my preference is to have a vehicle I’m involved with. Shifting, listening to the engine and adjusting gears for varying conditions makes me smile. In 2016 I had to buy a car to replace my aging five speed manual Scion and replaced it with a six speed manual Scion. To me the four cylinder engine sounds much happier in my car than it does in my Wife’s automatic Honda.
I like visibility in a machine.
I understand completely Jim. At least in the two-wheeled realm. I’ve come to embrace both the silent, invisible experience with the Vespa and the more involved experience on the Himalayan. Both yield their own rewards.
As far as the cars go, it’s been a long, long time since I was driving a manual shift vehicle. My Chevy S10 truck being the last and every vehicle before that being a manual shift going back to my 1970 VW Beetle. There was something seductive about being “part of the machine.”
Thanks Steve for sharing with us your love relationship with your Vespa. I too have a 300 GTS
Vespa that I just love to ride in our community of New Bern, NC whenever I have the time and the desire. It helps to relax my mind and spirit!
Exactly Karl — a ride on the Vespa does help relax mind and spirit.
Steve I’ve always enjoyed your photos and I think this time…the Vespa at the carnival….hey, that’s your Forever Kiddie Ride. And that is in no way a disparaging comment. All of us among your “elderly” followers sort of innately know that’s what our two wheel toys are. And it’s wonderful.
My forever Kiddie Ride. That’s a great way to think about it. It keeps me from turning into an angry old codger or coot.
My toys are wonderful!
I too have a smalller, 150cc scooter. Practical, somewhat covered, great mpg, and never fails to make me smile! As I age, I’m 67, I apreciate the step through, flat floorboard design and, due to the light weight, the ease of which it can be pushed about the barn as need. When I vacate this world, there will be a scooter in the barn, anyone will be welcome to it. It will have served me well. First come, first served. The keys will be in one of the wood toolbox drawers, on the right hand side. Help yourself.
I had to laugh at your description of the scooter you’ll leave behind. It’s a fine way to look at life and riding. An easy acceptance of the realities of both.
Last night at the local MotoHang my friend Paul declared to the group that a 150cc scooter is a perfect machine for exactly the reasons you’ve described. A 250 is too much and a 50 is too little. But a 150 is just right.
I’ll be adding a 150 to my fleet soon so I’ll have to see which I prefer.
I agree with the 150cc comment. I had a 150cc Honda PCX that, after a lifetime of riding motorcycles, was the perfect ride for my later years.
I’m already thinking beyond the 150 to a future that stars a battery-powered mobility scooter with a 20-mile range!
I had a 150cc scooter for ten years before I sold it. Before long I missed it and purchased another Chinese scooter with 170cc for a little more pep. I recently mounted the trunk that came with it and have done several milk runs. I’m thinking it or one of the 250s will be my even older age machine
A 150cc scooter can do a lot in terms of riding. Everywhere really other than high-speed freeways. Especially if the mind and ego allow a rider to pull over to let faster-moving traffic go by. I mastered that trick early and it let to much more relaxed riding on my LX150. I even pulled aside on my K75 rather than speed up. I like meandering and seeing the countryside. Rocketing down the highway not so much.
A 250 would be a fine old age machine!
I keep wandering back and forth between the motorcycle and scooter worlds. The scooters keep drawing me back. The casualness. The different state of mind they take you to. The feeling of freedom and lack of mental baggage. Thinking I’ve had my last motorcycle. I’m good with my BV 250….
Good to hear from you Bill. It’s been a long time!
While I can find the feeling of freedom and lack of mental baggage on a motorcycle, the unique simplicity of the scooter along with it’s embrace of my aging body raises it to a place the motorcycle can’t go. I’ve made peace with the path I’m on in regard to riding. When the time comes and I can’t manage the motorcycle, I’ll be happy to spend my days on a scooter. It’s a far better fate that giving up riding!
Swim with the tide, only faster. – Quentin Crisp
You and I are probably ahead of the curve on this: choosing a bike that suits us for as long as we’re still able to safely pilot it. I chose my ride (Melody, GTS #1) at age 60, after a 40-year absence from engine-powered two-wheelers, and at the request of my wife who strongly recommended I not get a full-on moto. But, guess what: instead of getting a consolation-prize on wheels, I ended up with Willy Wonka’s Golden Ticket of a bike: it was so damned much fun (while being ridiculously useful, who knew?), that when that bike met its sudden and violent end last December, after six years and over 22k miles, I went out and got a new one. The delight is tangible, and even on days I can’t hop on and ride, the fact that it’s there,, just outside, can pull pull me out of all but the deepest funks. And, at age 66, it’s a hell of an incentive to take care of myself as much as possible (within reason), so I can ride for that much longer. Long may we run.
I always find your prose on MV quite compelling. As a former Brooklyn resident it amazes me when I read your incite of the City. I never got to ride on a powered two wheeled conveyance when I lived there but did plenty of miles by pedal power. How goes the fuel pump adventure? Any news on that front.
James, thanks! I spent most of my adult years in Gotham (first in Manhattan, then Brooklyn) as a cyclist, only getting on two wheels and an engine once I crossed the Hudson for the relative wilds of New Jersey. Of course, it was a few short years later that my newfound motorvation found me rolling in and out of town with a new sense of exploration, which has been (mostly) fun.
Oh, the fuel pump? Indeed, it was defective, and was replaced within a week(!), all on Piaggio’s dime. After the non-riding misery of much of last year, this was quite the relief.
I’ve not considered the idea that the scooter could incentivize better behavior. A heart attack did but the scooter has sort of invisibly worked its magic.
Despite the terrible fate of your first Vespa, it was good to hear you acquired another. And like you, my two-wheeled therapists can pull me from a funk. That’s a great added benefit.
Have fun with the new one and be safe!
I have hardly ridden my Vespa in the last 2 years.
In the past few weeks I basically had no choice because our car was spoken for. There was a Board of Directors meeting to attend. I wore my best black suit, with a very nice tie. I gently folded my suit jacket into the top box and headed out on the 401 expressway. I arrived at the meeting, stowed my armoured jacket under the seat, and stored my helmet in the top box. Absolutely no one was the wiser that I arrived via Vespa. A couple of days later, another Board meeting, hopped on the 401, to the 403, all the way out to Oakville.
I know that many of you would be horrified at the thought of riding a Vespa on a huge 16 lane expressway. And yet, it was pure joy, with my favourite jazz station, Jazz FM 91, streaming in my helmet via my Sena helmet headphones all the way down the highway.
A different tac, different vibe, but just as therapeutic.
I’ve noticed your sharing on your blog about riding diminished. The move and your studies and the addition of the Bromptons changing the flow of life. But as you say, even with a long absence, getting back on the Vespa is a joy. Even on those monster freeways sometimes!
Good to hear from you David!
David: Wow, this is great, and (of course) totally in my wheelhouse: Now, every time I cross the Driscoll Bridge here in NJ, I’ll think of your description of your ride.
Hmmmm…. you are so kind to say ‘diminished”… more like completely dried up in the last year.
I would say, however, that there is hope. I have been collecting video, and topics for videos for about 2 years now, from Vancouver to Toronto, to Montreal. Admittedly, those dormant projects are Brompton-centric.
But my reality is two-fold: 1) lots of work that takes the sustained focus required for video editing off the table; and 2) two wheels are two wheels. The Brompton does not move at crazy Vespa GTS speeds, but it goes to so many interesting places where the Vespa is not welcome, and exploration is exploration.
So I am happy. And thanks to my body supplying the energy needed to propel my two wheeled adventures, healthier too.
Win-win.
After getting my full motorcycle license a few months ago I recently gave in and traded both my 125cc Vespa Sprint and my 125cc motorcycle for the new Aprilia Tuareg. I’d welcome a 300 GTS at a later point in life but at this moment I can really only justify and ride one motorcycle so it had to be a do-it-all that also allows me to travel further without feeling too small on bigger and faster roads. What a pleasure and ease to ride so far it has been though, and it feels so much lighter than it actually looks. Also absolutely loving the sitting position which always felt too cramped on the Vespa for a taller person like me.
I saw an Aprilia Tuareg last week at the local dealer. A gentleman had just purchased it and was ready to ride off. Seems like a great choice for adventure and fine on bigger, faster roads.
You’ll have great fun with it I’m sure!
I have sampled the way of the scooter and shall return. Such a modest yet capable platform and so easy to use. Seems you have an ideal mix there Steve given your tastes in adventure. Carry on eh!
I do have the right mix of rides though I have to confess I still think of other machines from time to time. Hopefully, later today, I’ll wander out into the world on the Vespa!