Thursday, August 27, 2009

It Is Not Possible to Ride A Vespa Reasonably

Hey there, been a while. Sorry for the huge gap in posts but I've been in a bit of a creative slump. On to today's moto-ponderment.

The speed limit in downtown Phoenix is 25 miles per hour. Everyone drives at least 35 mph, but that's another issue.

Yesterday I took the Vespa GTS to work, partly to give it a bit of exercise, and partly because that thing is just so much darned fun. I could take the Vespa on the freeway if I wanted, but I usually don't. Scooters were meant for surface streets.

Anyway, on my way home last night, I stopped to wait for a red light fairly close to my office. An officer of the law stopped immediately behind me. This was a bad spot for me to be in.

You see, the Vespa is crazy fast off the line. It does 0 - 30 in no time flat. I can, and frequently do, find myself going 50 mph without realizing it.

I did my level best to roll easily away from the stop light, I really did. I still wound up going 35 in a 25. I assume the police weren't interested in me, but just in case I backed it down to 25.

25 is an impossible speed to maintain on the Vespa. Seriously.

Eventually, the officers took pity on me and passed so I could resume puttering along at 35. Then I noticed the second police car behind the first. Argh.

Anyway, no ticket, but a whole lot of struggling to control a high-strung scooter around the police. That bike was made for hooliganism. It's fast, it's has incredible handling, and I can't really feel the speed the way I can on the Speed Four.

I strongly recommend you get one, if you're able.

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