You Go Girl
Girl, you go! We may be permitted the old Oprah Winfreyism here as we refer in jubilation to a blog by scootering women. In case you haven't been following already, our "sister site" has been up and running for a month already. Vespaquest is a lively dialogue between one Justene Adams, who wants to find the right ride, and one Crystal Waters, who's ridden enough to offer some sound advice. The blog also definitely has the feel of an open conversation with the readers all around, as a good blog should. Justene is a lawyer and a mom (hooray for moms!) and you may already know Crystal from girlbike.com (not to be confused with girlsbike.com).
As the only female vespa owner on the island of key west (and the only vespa on the island that i know of) i seem to be getting a lot of attention. i love my gt 200L. any tips for a new owner would be welcome.
Posted by: di de rubba | September 01, 2005 at 10:09 AM
Congrats on your new GT! There is a Yahoo Group for GT owners, http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/vespagt200
Posted by: Lisa | September 01, 2005 at 12:57 PM
I collect vintage motor scooters and my collection includes two Vespas. This is the best Vespa site that I have found.
Check out my site which includes more than motor scooters.
www.scooterplace.blogspot.com
You will see my tractor and my Cushmans and my Vespas. The orange one is a '72 Rally and the green one is a 74 Vespa 90.
I am a 72-year-old retired teacher. A Vespa will keep you young.
Howard
Posted by: Howard | September 01, 2005 at 05:12 PM
I have a hard time believing that there is only one Vespa in Key West. Maybe you just have the first new Vespa or something. I go to Key West from time to time and it seems like Motor Scooter City. Most of them are Japanese, but some of the locals must have found out about what a great scooter a Vespa is by now. I don't know about the modern Vespa, but my '72 and '74 models have very little plastic on them. That is enough to set them apart from the Japanese scooters.
Howard
Posted by: Howard | September 01, 2005 at 05:19 PM
I live in Washington, DC and have been thinking about buying an ET4 for a while. I have been unsuccessful in finding a Washington Vespa club. The closest I found was something called the Saints Scooter club of Washington. However, their website looks like it hasn't been updated in over a year. Do you know of any clubs in my area?
Also, I have a few questions about Vespas:
1) Will leaving them outside hurt them (I don't have a garage)?
2) The ET4 is capable of going in excess of 60mph I believe. Does it feel pretty stable at that kind of speed?
Thank you.
Posted by: J Norton | September 05, 2005 at 05:39 PM
Big up, Key West!
Many thanks, Howard, for your appreciation of Vespas (and tractors and Cushmans), and of us!
J Norton -- The Saints are still active. The scooter is more than OK outside. Many people like to cover theirs every night (and there are a variety of covers available, from a re-purposed gas bbq cover to the Vespa brand accessory, to a new thing called a 'Scooter Glove') but I leave mine out and it is fine. Now, by "stable," do you mean parts don't start rattling at high speeds the way they do on vintage Vespas? The answer to that is, yes, the ET4 is a solid ride. If you're looking for a brand new 150, though, I recommend the LX.
==J.O.
Posted by: Jonathan, Vespaway | September 08, 2005 at 12:27 PM