After I traded the old 1979 Vespa away a sense of relief came over me. Because with that deal I also took the time and money to get my wife's ET4 Vespa 150 fixed up.
It's 13 years old and has about 30,000 miles on it and the exhaust and suspension were worn out, the speedometer needed a new cable (hence the approximate mileage) and after all that and a tune up it is purring like an almost new Vespa again.
Unlike the 200cc 1979 Vespa the 2004 ET4 150cc Vespa runs fast and reliably. It'll do 60 miles an hour on level ground, a little more with the wind behind us a little less with a headwind.
It is unmodified except for a lower seat to make it easier for my wfe to reach the ground.
The nice thing about having a scooter agin is that I can run around town with the excuse that I am playing scooter tag on the Advenure Rider website.
I grabbed a government building with the Monroe County Courthouse and I set a tag of an ethnic grocery using the Polish Deli on White Street.
This time of year those of us in the South dominate, simply because it's not freezing and icy here.
Sometimes I check the tag game before I leave home and I'll take a picture (below "Your scooter next to a body of water") during my break or after my overtime shift ends in the middle of the night.
There is no requirement to make a tag ("Your scooter by a ball field") in daylight. The one below is at Horace O'Bryant middle school at two in the morning.
You just have to have a scooter ("Your scooter at a burger joint") or a small motorcycle. There is one guy with a Honda 125cc Grom minibike that particpates occasonally.
An excuse to ride. Much better with a reliable modern Vespa even if it is thirteen years old. And now the old P200 has given way to a rather brightly colored 2009 S150:
Traded for the 1979 with only 326 miles and it starts runs and stops very nicely- so far!
