vespa

attitude

don't talk to me like you know anything about scooters. you don't.

i promise.

"so you ride a vespa knockoff?"

wipe that smug look off your face. prick. what do you ride?

that's right. you don't.

i could tell you about the joint venture between vespa and lml that resulted in the original p-series. but you wouldn't listen.

i could tell you about how lml continued manufacturing those same p-series vespas long after vespa pulled out. but you wouldn't listen.

i could tell you how that same plant still turns out those same scooters, but now you can get one badged as a "stella". but you wouldn't listen.

i could tell you about how my manual transmission, metal bodied stella is more vespa than vespa is. but you wouldn't listen.

i could tell you how my buddy's 2005 px150 'serie america' is almost 100 percent parts interchangeable with my 2005 genuine stella... an amazing feat for any two vehicles. but you wouldn't listen.

no, i don't ride a vespa knockoff. i ride a stella.

"yeah. i lived in italy, and that doesn't look like a real vespa."

that's right. if i had swapped out the badges, you would have asked me what year my vespa was.

don't talk to me like you know anything about scooters. because you don't.

legshield mirror: friend or foe?

the stock mirrors on a stella (or just about any other p series, for that matter) are worthless. they give me a nice clear view of my shoulders. definitely less effective.

so i got a legshield mirror. you know, those little mirrors that clamp on down by the floorboard?

legshield mirror - photo from scooterworks.com

yeah. one of those.

after a couple of months of riding with it, i feel like i can give it a solid review.

free vespas: the new happy meal toy...

apparently barber brothers, our local mitsubishi dealer cum "vespa boutique" is giving away free 50cc vespas with the purchase of a new mitsubishi...

just what we need. a bunch of idiots riding around who didn't really want a scooter but took one anyway because "hey, free vespa!"

at least it means the scooter lounge will get more business changing oil for a lot of clueless vespa owners.

how to pull a vespa cable housing

i really like the lines of the vespa/stella/bajaj scooters. they're clean and uninterrupted by cables. unfortunately these cables have to go somewhere to get from the handlebars to the engine where they'll actually do some good. that means they've gotta go through the frame. this can make replacing the cables a bit of a pain...

when i was in seattle last summer i had to do an emergency cable housing repair. luckily, my amazing scooter mechanic Dave had some great advice on how to pull the new housing through the frame. it's actually quite slick: