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Roaming Holiday: Touring Tuscany on a 2006 Vespa GTS250ie

19K views 39 replies 28 participants last post by  elranchero 
#1 ·
Way cool! Well done and thanks for the write up.
 
#27 ·
Absolutely great to see something about "scooters" on MO.



The popularity of scooters and maxi-scooters is growing along with the price of gasoline.



MO should do more stuff on scoots, and maybe some tests on machines like the Burgman 650, Honda Silverwing, Yamaha Majesty and others



Great article!
 
#28 ·
Beats Haulin' Arse through Hollister on a Harley..........
 
#31 ·
I actually bought two Yamaha Zumas after a trip to Key West. Then my girlfriend and I went back there four more times in a year, just to ride them around with our snorkling gear under the seats.



Savannah GA is another good place to tool around on a scooter.



-Sean
 
#32 ·
Your Aprilia Scarabeo 150 is nice looking.. Looks like the type of scooter I could see myself having.. What is the tope speed on it? Could you ride it on the freeway?
 
#33 ·
Ah, damn, a scooter review in a motorcycle `zeen. Weeel, it's about time. These things are popping up on the roads here in Sonoma County, the riders actually wave back to those of us on larger motorcyckles, and unlike the grim looking riders of some make of bike I could mention, they're smiling. Great writing, nice photos. Not that I'm actually interested, but, ahem, do they come in green and are stripes available? Just curious...

 
#36 ·
Re the question about why scooters are fun: I've got a Multistrada 620, which is a great bike for city riding, but if I'm riding around in Boston city proper I almost always prefer my Yamaha Zuma 50cc scooter. Why?

  1. It's extremely nimble and easy to ride at slow speeds compared to even small motorcycles -- must be something to do with the low center of gravity and small wheels. This makes it feel safer to me for weaving through traffic.
  2. No shifting; I like shifting, but in the city where 1/2 the time is spent waiting at lights or going less than 10 mph, I'd just as soon not have to use the clutch all the time.
  3. Park anywhere; for whatever reason, I'm liable to get a ticket if I park my motorcycle on the sidewalk, but never have with my scooter. It makes sense since the scooter is smaller and doesn't block as much of the sidewalk.
  4. Similarly, no one seems to care if I lanesplit on my scooter, whereas people will sometimes honk at me if I do so on my motorcycle. Lanesplitting is illegal here in Boston, but I guess people don't quite think of a scooter as a serious vehicle and so don't mind.
  5. Gets 85 mpg
  6. Cheap so I don't worry about what happens to it.
  7. It's quite fun to ride in the snow. Due to its low CoG and light weight, it's very easy not to fall even with the front wheel sliding around compared to a motorcycle.

Having said all that, outside of the city I'd almost always prefer a proper motorcycle. To me scooters are ideal city vehicles.
 
#37 ·
Re: Celine Dione

A small nit to pick. Celine Dione is Canadian Eh! America does not have the market on bad music to itself. That being said please renew her Vegas contract eh. I like the Vespa though. It was my very first two wheeled ride when I was about six.
 
#38 ·
Dashing

The em dash is needed for good communication. I teach college English, so I get a chubby at the proper appearance of an em dash. I am forced to take sedatives when it is used improperly. On a proper computer, designed to handle text, like a Mac, the em dash is formed with shift-option-hyphen. Don't use spaces around the em dash. If you do it will get depressed and haunt your sleep. For reference, see The Elements of Style or the Chicago Manual of Style.

Good fences may or may not make good neighbors, but correct punctuation makes for an easier read.

Your antediluvial reader,

Francis
 
#40 ·
Re: Vespa rental places in Italy?

I think if you look at the main vespa u.s.a. website you'll see a link about how to tour Italy on a Vespa. Or if you futz around with Google, I'll bet you'll find a tour operator that does that. I know I have seen a website like that somewhere.

I think they go in big groups, all together. Safety in numbers. And you wouldn't be getting lost as much, because you'd be following people who know where they're going. I think it'd be a blast.
 
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