Vespa, East of Java

August 30, 2018 5:32 AM

Extreme Vespas in Indonesia. Hundreds of Indonesians gather in Java each year to celebrate their love of the world-renowned Italian scooter – and many customise their rides to resemble punk mutants straight out of Mad Max.
posted by hawthorne (6 comments total)

Bad ass! Seems like there's a ton of influence from western motorcycle gangs in the clothing and attitude.
posted by photoslob at 5:59 AM on August 30, 2018

These are awesome!
posted by Secretariat at 7:26 AM on August 30, 2018

My Vespa!
posted by evilDoug at 7:37 AM on August 30, 2018 [1 favorite]

Holy hell, these rides are awesome. Great photos too. I don't think people would clown on Vespas nearly as much if they all made their rigs custom like these. The tank one is my favourite of the bunch, but seems like even just removing the paint and having rusty primer makes a Vespa go from looking like an overgrown PowerWheels to respectable post-apoc whips.
posted by GoblinHoney at 8:22 AM on August 30, 2018 [1 favorite]

To enter into competitions at the festival, every customised vehicle must have a Vespa engine and most contestants try to retain the brand’s iconic fairing - the curved front of the scooter.

Ah, that explains how many of them look nothing like Vespas.

There is also the Indonesian Scooter Gathering (public Facebook group) and Indonesian Scooter Festival (Instagram account), but both appear to feature Vespa imagery pretty prominently, so apparently Vespas are the most iconic scooter around the world, which is a compliment to Vespas.
posted by filthy light thief at 8:49 AM on August 30, 2018 [1 favorite]

These are great.
posted by Dip Flash at 6:50 PM on August 30, 2018