Pretty sure those are Women on Vespas, but that's just my brain talkin'. posted by explosion at 5:55 PM on March 12 [1 favorite]
I had a Vespa in the '60's and that is EXACTLY what it is like... this skinny kid from the midwest could pick up any chick he wanted with that vespa...! posted by HuronBob at 5:55 PM on March 12
The funny thing about this is, here I am a xx old guy (you thought I would admit my age????!), and just yesterday a friend from High School I found on facebook told me that she now (40 years later) has a vespa 'cuz of all the rides I gave her back in the day... Vespas were the hottest things around....
I'm riding a Harley and envy her the Vespa... I may just trade in the sportster! posted by HuronBob at 6:15 PM on March 12
Pretty sure those are Women on Vespas...
With a capital "W", no less!
...but that's just my brain talkin'.
Well, as Bernie Bernbaum said in Miller's Crossing... "listen to your heart... listen to your heart!" posted by flapjax at midnite at 6:17 PM on March 12
Actually, Bernie said "look in your heart, look in your heart"... and here in this hotbed of Coen brothers fans, I can't believe no one called me on it.
Remember the visual and aural contrast in the movie Quadrophenia, where the Mods are riding Vespas toward Brighton while the Rockers are riding motorcycles? If memory serves, one group is turning left, while the other is turning right. Mods wear overcoats, Rockers wear leather. Vespas sound like leaf-blowers, motorcycles sound like heavy metal thunder.
I was, and still am, a huge Who fan, so I think I was supposed to root for the Mods. But frankly I thought the Vespa-driving Mods looked like total wussies, whereas the "leather clad Rockers" on real motorcycles looked totally bad-ass. posted by Tube at 6:44 PM on March 12
I hope this isn't going to degenerate into yet another useless Mods vs Rockers thread. The arguing never changes anyone's mind. posted by Joe Beese at 6:54 PM on March 12 [2 favorites]
I hope this isn't going to degenerate into yet another useless Mods vs Rockers thread. The arguing never changes anyone's mind.
This post was deleted for the following reason: Rockers suck -- mod posted by defenestration at 7:04 PM on March 12
I started riding and building Harleys right at the tail end of their "old schoolness" just a few years before they became "mainstream".
So I'm building stuff for people and invariably (because it's gonna be their first bike/harley) they ask; "So what was your first bike?"
I wish I had taken pictures when I answered; "A '75 Vespa 125 bored to 190!"
Some laughed, some choked, but dammit, there's nothing like an old 2 stroke vespa! posted by snsranch at 7:48 PM on March 12
Pretty sure those are Women on Vespas, but that's just my brain talkin'.
posted by explosion at 7:55 PM on March 12
Really? That's gonna be your contribution? That's what you're gonna go with?
Really?
Also, scooter haters are a joke. My recently totaled bike was 1400cc and I envied a good friend's hot red (!) touring edition Vespa 250. I would have totally ridden that with a giant grin on my face.
The whole "motorcycle vs scooter" thing is mostly manufactured by people who ride neither. Different machines. Different purposes. All good. posted by Ynoxas at 8:41 PM on March 12
ahhh, I've been meaning to find an old Vespa 50 now that I moved to the country (in Italy you can't drive 2-stroke in most cities for pollution regulations, sheesh), and sadly all I managed to find till now are either complete wrecks or maniacally restored pieces on sale for an arm and a leg :( posted by _dario at 9:40 PM on March 12
OMG the male gaze, reducing women and scooters to parts. posted by raysmj at 9:41 PM on March 12
Someone incorporate that second link into a song and post it on MeFiMusic, please kthx bai posted by not_on_display at 9:51 PM on March 12
Someone incorporate that second link into a song and post it on MeFiMusic, please
Hooray! I need to get back to work on rebuilding my frankensmallframe (part 100 Sport, part Primi)... and get new photos on my Evil Sprint. Love, love, love Vespas - and count me as a two-stroke, metal-bike snob. I hate the new scooters, which take away the beautiful, spare-plane parts simplicity of the classic bikes.
Except for Honda Elites. They're like KITT. posted by sadiehawkinstein at 7:01 AM on March 13
Can we talk about Whizzers now...that was my very.first.two wheeler.with.a.motor posted by HuronBob at 7:19 AM on March 13
HuronBob: I think motorized bicycles are poised for giant growth. I saw a "motorized wheel" that was easily installed on standard bicycles and got 250 mpg. No reason you couldn't do a very good electric version either.
In very dense urban areas, a motorized bicycle would be even more convenient than a small scooter.
And, if you do run out of electricity and/or gasoline, you can still ride it home. posted by Ynoxas at 9:52 AM on March 13
When I was about 14 I bought a 1970 Vespa 150C. In 1970 Vespa was owned by Fiat who also had just aquired Ferrari so the 1970 model Vespas had a new electric starter motor that was manufactured in a Ferrari factory. As the starter was made for Ferrari cars and they had just started using them for Vespas they hadn't yet bothered to change the keys. That meant that I, as a 14 year old boy, had a working Ferrari key on my key ring. (I thought) I was so cool.
God do I wish I still had that damn Vespa though! It was so much fun. Nobody in Alabama knew what the heck it was (me included) and I was just a dumb kid loving life on the back roads with it. Thankfully my parents didn't know that the little putt-putt motor on that thing was geared so well that I could easily get up to 50, way faster than I should have on the 9" wheels. posted by Pollomacho at 10:47 AM on March 13
Sure Vespa and Honda had some good ads, but nothing can beat The Lambrettwist for musical advertising goodness.
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You know, it was just a few days ago I learned that "vespa" means "wasp" in Italian.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 4:47 PM on March 12