Vespas Around The World

When I bought my Vespa in Iowa a couple of years ago I planned to have it mechanically refreshed if not restored not least because I wanted a reliable commuter but also because I grew up in the belief that an old style two stroke Vespa is one of the most sensible and reliable touring bikes available. I love my Bonneville, 84,000 miles in 7 years attests to that and it runs fine, but in the Keys 65hp is a steam hammer to crack a nut. The motorcycle I love to ride encourages me to ride like a hooligan in a society where 55 whole miles an hour is going real fast, and with modern acceleration and brakes anyone can dice and slice city traffic like its not there on even a relatively slow motorcycle like mine. Its just not a good way to ride at my venerable age, I should know better and my wife's 2004 automatic Vespa showed me the way to keep civilized. I thus figured that taking a 35 year old nostalgia scooter and making it "as new" could work and I am starting to think my plan is paying off. I'm not sure my middle aged responsibilities will allow me to repeat my 1981 trip coast-to coast, but who knows? It would be easy in retirement, a period to close the life I chose that began with that six month ride...

So it occurred to me that because I ride an "antique moped" in a world dedicated to traction control, ride by wire, electronic suspension, swiveling headlights, automatic braking systems and total environment control my pleasure in riding a biplane daily may seem willfully stupid or eccentric at best. I find it liberating and sensible and I am not alone.


Then there is my hero, the amazing Roberto Patrignani who raced motorcycles, wrote about them and traveled all over the world on unsuitable machines. For some reason Italians are particularly good at riding Vespas in improbable places and I grew up on a diet of such adventures, so to me the idea of an elderly two stroke scooter as a travel adventure machine makes perfect sense. Low maintenance, low cost, easy to ride and easy to lift up when it falls over, equipped with a spare wheel and a fan to keep the engine cool these simple rugged machines epitomize freedom to me. And I'm not alone. check the modest partial list below:

General Lee, 50cc Around the World 

Giorgio and Giuliana Serafino scraped some money together and bought an old farmhouse and use it as their base of operations to see the world continent by continent. They've crossed the US, Africa and parts of Asia after figuring their stuff out touring Europe. All on a scrapped 50cc Vespa Giorgio restored in his shed.

 

This intrepid couple are tougher than I could ever be, touring with 50ccs but they have done it and they have the pictures to prove it on their Italian language website with the photos HERE.

Elefantentreffen By  Vespa

I have been trolling the web looking for stories of  intrepid  derring-do on old Vespas. Here, underneath the mound of clothes we have Missmoletta Marineo of Milan on a 125cc small bodied Vespa Primavera. She took not one but two trips to winter rallies, the larger one is famous in Germany as the Elephant Trek attracting up to 5,000 riders. To her credit  she reports in the Italian motorcycle magazine Motociclismo  that she took a tent, as you do, despite hating the cold, and she looked with barely veiled contempt on people who trucked their motorbikes to within twenty miles of the rally to complete the journey in style.

Stergios  Gogos -Around the World  in Greek

On his  blog page partly in English (LINK) you can read how Stergios left  Greece  disillusioned by the appalling economic situation and spent a year and eight thousand bucks traveling across Africa very slowly to save fuel on his Vespa P200. The scooter has about 120,000 miles on it and Stergios, who bought it lightly used at 45,000 miles (!) says he has never had any mechanical problems. He's now in South America starting to make his way north.

La Vida Vespa  by Markus
This German's exploits are particularly close to my heart as he rides the exact same type and year Vespa that I am riding, a 1979 P200...

On his English language website (link) Markus also known as Don Calvo (which means bald in Italian, the language of Vespas), says he traveled  13,000 miles across 31 European countries.

Vesparicana Atze Through The Americas

A young German lad took off for the Americas and rode Alaska to Patagonia on what I consider to be a grossly overloaded Vespa 125 ex-Postal Service. He had a few mechanical issues, notably the suspension which is hardly surprising when you look at his load...His blog is very efficiently translated into decent English.

Journey done the intrepid scooterist (this one too is bald!) and his machine are home in Cologne in Germany, so I guess he wasn't overloaded after all! (This picture is from when he took off):

Two Crazy Germans In The Middle East

These two guys had altogether too much  fun being youthful and silly riding around the Mediterranean in their BLOG. They like their Vespas which gave them some trouble but nothing they couldn't handle. Lots of good pictures, not so much great commentary but think of them as frat boys on the loose. 

The Americas By Vespa 150 by Illario Lavarra

Its a Vespa 150 built in 1970 that Illario had previously ridden all over Europe and Turkey. Then he decided to ride from New York to Alaska to Patagonia over the course of two years. His blog is down but his travel photos are HERE. 

Not surprisingly he  says his inspiration for his 45mph journeys (! a bit slow for me...) is the late Giorgio Bettinelli, a well known world traveler by Vespa in his native Italy.

Its worth noting that he had no mechanical aptitude whatsoever and he went riding for tens of thousands of miles at a time. He married a Chinese woman and settled in China where he got ill and died suddenly while touring with a modern Vespa donated by the factory after decades of free publicity. There is a fantastic tribute to Bettinelli HERE and The Scooterist website has lots of pictures of scooters, riding in Vietnam and historical pictures of  Vespas in that country.

Dr Frazier Rides A Vespa

I came across one American willing to step up to a Vespa after a life time girdling the globe on "proper motorcycles.

He's been around the world half a dozen times but he also decided to take on the dirt roads of Thailand on a very elderly three speed Vespa. A great adventure honestly chronicled here: Motorcycle USA. 

On this Facebook page you can read about a group of Modern Vespa riders crossing the USA and ending up in Key West. I had hoped to meet them but I had no luck and am limited to their Facebook Page.

Anything is possible with the Italian scooter that could. I prefer the older models for their simplicity and proven reliability. My old 200 model gets  a solid sixty miles an hour without modifications which is enough to keep up with traffic and enjoy scenery on the back roads. Freeways for this kind of travel are unnecessary. So next time you see pictures of my elderly ride on the road remember I'm not alone and there may well be method to my madness.

This Canadian couple has no visible website, but here's what I found in the press:  LINK and more recently: LINK 

Of course if you want to find stories of people riding modern four stroke Vespas, Google Search is your friend, especially:

Adventure Rider

Modern Vespa

Personally I find the prospect of riding a complex computer driven modern scooter long distances rather more daunting, but I am a creature of my generation. I hope this is all food for thought if you thought you knew all there is to know about idiots riding "mopeds."

Orin at Scootin Old Skool also ran my story on his well known blog:  Scootin' Old Skool about the whys and wherefores of my choice in three parts. 

Farmers Market, a Vespa Ride

I stick my neck out from time to time and when the sticking involves two wheels and an engine - I'm always in. When I was a kid in a group of youngsters and we were all bored one would say to the other "I'm bored. What should we do?" I was the douche who always chose the furthest possible destination just as a place to go, something to do, the joy of the journey. I'm not in this picture below but those were the kids of the village in Italy where I used to live and we looked like this when we were free to do whatever we wanted:

"No, no!" they'd shout in unison when I suggested a distant destination and unless I filled the tank on my bike and took off by myself, I ended up sitting around getting bored. So here I am forty years later and my wife says, hey on Friday they have this fabulous little Farmer's Market in Tavernier, wanna take a ride? Sure I say. I'm taking the old Vespa, time to make sure I've got the fuel mixture filled in properly. It's been 2500 miles since the first piston seized and the bike has been running nicely since I installed the new piston and fiddled with the carburetor mixture. A little rich perhaps but I like to push the motor so extra fuel and oil in the air mixture suits my style of riding.

On the back I have replaced the crate with a reputedly waterproof tail bag called an Xelement XS689 which my wife got me for free using some weird airline mileage wizardry combined with Amazon Prime. I'm buggered if I know how she does it but she knows all the angles.

I am starting to trust my 1979 Vespa and I am secretly hoping for a long future together quite possibly with some long distance riding involved as well. I know it's weird, not only do I have a perfectly serviceable Triumph Bonneville with 84,000 trouble-free miles but I also have access to my wife's 2004 Vespa 150, just as fast as my old Vespa but smoother, quieter and with no gears to muddle the modern mind.

I like my old girl and I'm having fun confusing car drivers who can't shake me off their tails, who drop their guards and find me passing them because I know all the passing spaces on the Overseas Highway and I am relentless, my Italian upbringing requires me to make the most of every twist of the gas. It really is more fun to make a slow bike go faster than to make a fast bike go slowly. The Vespa encourages stopping to peak at the ocean and check out my favorite surviving trailer park in the Upper Keys where money blusters and everyone else cowes. So far they haven't developed it away. Three cheers.

I also enjoy the 30 mph speed limit on County Road 905 which parallels the Overseas Highway in Plantation Key and Makes for a nice slow winding ride in a county where alternative routes are pretty unusual. Some of it is  shaded and tree lined and some of it is right next to the main highway.

And this is one of the myriad gates that line CR905 and keep,curious eyes from peeking at waterfront mansions. The house number reveals the mile marker: 89225 translates to Mile Marker 89 and almost-a-quarter of a mile. If you need to know where you are check a mailbox. I live at 22932, which means my street is almost 23 miles from Mile Zero in Key West. Now you know, and you never need to be lost in the Florida Keys. Good to know if you have to dial 911!

And then I find scooter parking off County Road 905 and I'm at my destination, around Mile Marker 92.

The Farmer's Market is about where the top "1" is on the map below, just before Tavernier Creek in the top right corner but after San Pedro Lake:

Now I'm sure you have tons of Farmaer's Markets where you live, doubtless in the midst of agricultural abundance. They are a popular way to shop. They have sprouted in Key West too and now this one way up the Keys...

...it adds to the general quality of life in a far off community in the middle of the ocean.

The fact is South Florida is a huge breadbasket on a par with California's Central Valley and there is no drought here (but there is salt water intrusion as the sea level rises even though Republicans can't utter the words 'climate change') and these fruits and vegetables were delicious. I bought a giant cauliflower and a soursop because I like tropical fruit. Oh and a couple of loaves of bread at five bucks apiece.

But this was the real reason for my wife's joy at this market: Indian food. I loaded up with $32 worth of sauces spices breads and samosas, and yes I am now getting used to being presented with a telephone to sign when I use my credit card at portable stands like this. I also had cash thank you because I am old fashioned.

The Vespa is not the ideal flower carrier, at least not over 70 miles in 90 degree heat and strong winds...

Back on county road 905 stuffed with strawberry shortcake and a date with my wife and her work fridge in Marathon where she would preserve the food until she came home in the evening.

Tea Table Key was where I took a break and a couple of pictures of the Vespa by the water, and though I wanted to stop for more I had a nagging desire to get home and rest before the evening's planned activities of dinner and a movie.

For me, a busy day especially as I got up before dawn and took Cheyenne for a long walk along the waterfront in Key West. These days "long" is about an hour and she thoroughly enjoyed it. My plan was that she wouldn't miss me while I was gone and as you can see she didn't:

She didn't even wake up when I came into the house and made myself some tea. My sweet dear old girl. Every day is a gift, even extra busy today.

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Boating Test Drive

Robert came by which is always a pleasure and brought his super duper fuel filter to check my boat's fuel tank after a winter of idleness and I was delighted to see clean fuel. I had run the boat a couple of times during the cold months and I was equally happy to get a nice crisp start from the battery and even though the idle was a little low the boat ran perfectly on our test run across Cudjoe Bay.

To me the essence of life in the Keys is represented by these kinds of summer afternoons. I don't care to fish but I do enjoy swimming and the clear waters make that a delight. A lot of times visitors enamored of Old Town Key West wonder at the desire to live in the suburbs, but having a canal behind your house and a boat sitting there ready to take off on the water...why, to me that's living.

We zipped across Cudjoe Bay, an unnaturally shallow body of water dotted with small clumps of Sargasso weed. My 25hp Yamaha has a tremendous affinity for the stuff, yellow cauliflower heads of beady weed dotted on the water's surface. I tried to dodge them which is much easier when the weed is massed into clusters the size of table cloths but the little lumps are just as effective at killing the propeller's ability to bite the water. Every now and again a sudden increase in rpm with a corresponding decrease in forward motion required I come off the plane and back up a second to clear the offending weeds.

We reached the creek in due course, the entrance clearly marked and rapidly opening onto a broad straight canal cutting across Sugarloaf Key.

The old Highway 939 bridge has long since disappeared but the stumps that used to hold the roadway up are still there and mark the turn into Tarpon Creek.

Robert led the way through the mangroves.

I spotted a piece of trash floating and stopped to pick it up which let the current take my boat into the mangrove roots which tangled the prop which held me up a bit as I struggled to get the prop out of the mud...I got the trash though!

This scenario at the end of the creek reminded me a bit of Bloodline the Netflix show set in Key Largo. They shot a scene in the mangroves at night in the rain and you've got to give them credit because they didn't fake any of it. I'm looking forward to season two.

I used to lead kayak tours through mangroves much like this in a former life. It looks creepier than it actually is. The mangroves are essential as fish nurseries, safe shady places for small fish to grow to maturity. The red mangroves grow in the salt water so there is no dry land among them which gives the place a rather eerie feel. However if you know the channel you are paddling down doesn't dead end there's not much to worry about.

And then out of the red mangrove claustrophobia and back into the open waters of Cudjoe Bay.

Sort of "open waters" because there is an awkward channel at low tide that caught Robert and sent him aground. Courteously he point the way to deeper water for me and you know it was shallow if our little 14 foot skiffs were in danger of running out of water.

Old mangrove branches were planted to mark the way but the last two were submerged and you could only see them when you were about ready to touch bottom.

I think the last time I was here it must have been high tide as I don't remember following any channel. I just got up on a plane and shot out like the proverbial off a stick.

And it started to look like summer as though on cue with thick black clouds building and promising rain, that never actually arrived. I like summer rain so you could call me disappointed.

However the clouds worked to Cheyenne's advantage and she was pretty perky when I offered a walk. She is not a fan of hot boat rides, she doesn't swim and prefers being home in the air conditioning.

A Labrador, grass, and shady skies. Perfect.

 

 

The podcasts are going gangbusters so if you want to hear some travel stories check out the website, iTunes or Stitcher, just hit the button in the webpage LINK.

 

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Summer Dawn

Cheyenne is getting bored with her morning walks. She waits for me impatiently at the top of the stairs and we take off in the car to find some place interesting to my increasingly picky dog. 

Early in our relationship Cheyenne used to enjoy walking the trails at the Key Deer Refuge in Big Pine Key but no longer. I like the trails which were somewhat wrecked a few years ago by a controlled blaze that turned into a hundred acre uncontrolled forest fire. The vegetation is growing back as it does and the refuge services are rebuilding the facilities. which are now more elaborate than ever. They even have a garden to attract bees, known nowadays as "pollinators" apparently.

 I love the early morning light in the pine woods of Big Pine Key. The island got  part of its name for the trees and the other part because it is the second largest  Key (after Key Largo). Granted the trees are  spindly compared to what grows in richer soil but a pine of any size is my favorite tree.

The trails are all spiffed up now with fresh gravel and rocky borders, in this case the trail designated accessible for wheel chair use -LINK .

 Cheyenne  was enjoying a rest after a quick sniff round, rubbing her itchy chin in the gravel.

The parking lot now has borders and flower beds, but the sky remains the same untamed shade of early morning blue.

I feel like time is passing and it makes me sad Cheyenne no longer has the energy or interest to wander the trail with me.