What we're gonna do right here is go back, way back, back into time....
My first experience riding two wheeled motorized vehicles was about 25 years ago when I was on my eight month backpacking tour of Europe. I spent three or four weeks in the Greek Islands (picture above was taken on Corfu) and part of what I did about every other day was rent a moped and, with the people I was with, explore different villages, sights and beaches. One day, the rental shop was out of mopeds and gave me this scooter called a Vespa instead. I fell in love with it at that moment....
Fast forward to last spring.
With my eldest daughter the proud owner of a learner’s license, I realized I would soon need some mode of transportation but I didn’t want yet another car. I do like riding my bike but being too busy and too sweaty make it difficult to bike ride everywhere. Additionally, a new teaching contract freed up some money for this kind of purchase. And, of course, I found myself thinking back nostalgically to those days in Greece, oh, so long ago.
I began my research. The internet is a wonderful place because there is so much good information. Some people find it daunting but I love arming myself with scads of facts and reviews. After all that research, I discovered that although I really wanted the Vespa, I thought that it was a bit pricey compared to the competition.
I went to my local motorcycle store in Maple Ridge (
CR Cycle) and asked to see what they had. After wandering through the Harleys and big Suzukis, we came to the small scooter section. I was interested, at this time, in the Honda Jazz, basically because it sort of looked like a Vespa but was cheaper. I sat on it and found that I couldn’t turn the handlebars without banging into my knees! Too small.
I then tried the
PGO T-Rex (pictured above). It was, admittedly, fun to drive and had good pickup. It was comfortable to ride but lacked something in the look - it just wasn’t a Vespa.
I got a lot of good advice from the
Vespa Club of Vancouver message board. One person offered to sell her 50cc ET2 Vespa. It was at this point that I realized that I didn’t want a 2-stroke - I was willing to take a slight hit in power for a cleaner burning 4-stroke engine.
Then, off to
Vespa Vancouver. The salesman (Bob) is a genuinely nice guy. He encouraged me to take it for a nice long ride - and I was hooked -still hooked - 25 years later. As I rode around the streets of Vancouver, people would look over at me and smile - not sure why but it made me feel good!
I returned to the store. What Bob didn’t know (and I told him later) was that I had already made plans to see a guy selling a Vespa privately. He had won it in a contest but had only put 75 kms on it in two months and was parting with it. With taxes, a new Vespa would have cost around $5700 where this one cost me $4000. I felt bad, though, and the first place I went after I bought it was back to Vespa Vancouver to tell Bob why I had bought privately. Bob was very gracious and said, “That’s fine - by the way the shop rate for you is $1000 an hour!”
The anticipation and excitement I still get from rolling out the Vespa from the garage has not faded since I bought my LX50 in August. Just imagine the fun I’ll have in the spring!
