Meet Gordon Harkins. He owns a red Vespa GTS 300, has a folder full of action photos from Penn State football team’s losing effort against Northwestern, has his parking permit on the wrong side of the scooter, and utilizes the Vespa in much the same manner as I do — for utilitarian purposes. Like transportation to our Sunday morning get together at Saint’s Cafe.
A Vespa scooter is marketed as a chic, urban mode of transportation but for many of us it also has a different role — the utility Vespa — a functional mode of transportation capable of all sorts of duty. Thought I would share one of the more common roles mine takes as a grocery hauler. Here’s the store list this morning:
From WalMart:
Journals
Pointy Q-Tips
Dental sticks
From Wegmans
Loaf of bread
Butter
Bagels
Cream cheese
Red pepper
Potatoes
Cuke
Lettuce
Frozen fruit — blackberries and mangos and raspberries
Mango and Lemon Sorbet popscicles
Red onions
Asiago cheese
Frozen pie shells
Tomatoes
Half gallon of milk
Pine nuts
Frozen dinners
Evaporated milk
So here’s how the Vespa handles the assignment…
First stop at WalMart. The journals, pointy Q-tips and dental sticks go in the topcase. Still plenty of space for groceries.
Five bags of groceries after shopping at Wegman’s in State College, Pennsylvania. I make sure things are bagged carefully so nothing frozen goes under the seat. The Vespa has a number of carrying options:
- Topcase
- Underseat
- Pursehook
- On top of the seat using bungee cords
- Front rack
Barely scratched the surface of capacity today.
Three bags of groceries were stuffed into the topcase on top of the journals — the milk, butter, cream cheese and frozen stuff.
Everything else except the loaf of bread went under the seat. The bread hung from the purse hook where it would be away from any engine fumes. I have great respect for good bread and don’t want a Sunoco version.
So there you have it, a little sample of the utility Vespa. I could have carried six more bags of groceries without any problem. Nine if I had my backpack. Even more if I had more than my normal assortment of four bungee cords.
Ain’t life grand…
For a more romantic example of things you can haul on a Vespa check out BRINGING HOME THE CHRISTMAS TREE