It's been a couple of days now and I am still vibrating with Vespa excitement.

Here's what's been happening.

Thursday:

At Vespa Metro on Thursday

Yesterday, I went to Vespa Metro and sorted out all of the paperwork and insurance. The experience, as I’ve come to expect, was smooth, very courteous, helpful and kind. I was met warmly again by owner, Ali Pirbhai and the service manager, Lorenzo. They led me into the shop to see the scoot and it looked(s) beautiful. The chrome was on the back and the smoked windscreen was attached. With attention detail Lorenzo had spotted a very tiny crack in the windscreen so they were going to remove that and order me a new one to be installed when it arrives in the next week or so. They were supposed to install a charging plug that would/will enable me to plug my GPS or my phone into it but the one they have is specific for the 250’s and it will be a while before a unit that works with the 300’s will be ready. Also there is a chrome guard for the front bumper that needed to be installed.

I sat down with the insurer and sorted out the details in a not too lengthy process. Then, with the paperwork done, I headed out wishing I was leaving on the scoot but knowing it was only one more sleep. I wanted to find an appropriate jacket to wear too and so went off on a little excursion that led me to the Honda dealer under the Granville Street bridge where I found a real deal on a scooter jacket with armour and a zip out lining made my Technik called their Metro Jacket. It’s sweet, it fits and the price was excellent. Ok, I was ready for pick up day!

The truth is I could hardly sleep Thursday night knowing that I was going to pick up the Vespa GTSS today. I tossed and turned, dreaming of riding and, weirdly enough, blogging. Strange...

Friday - Pick up Day!

Here in British Columbia, if you already have your driver’s license for a car - called a Class 5 – you have a couple of hoops to jump through to get your Class 6 motorcycle license. Scooters 50cc and under don’t need a special license but something of the caliber of the GTSS does. I wrote for my Motorcycle Learners License on Monday and passed quite easily with 97%. This let’s me ride the scoot (or any motorcycle actually) between dawn and dusk up to 60kph but only under the supervision of someone who already has their Class 6. On the 19th I can take a skill test that will let me ride on my own at any speed (within the limit of course) but still only from dawn to dusk. But until then I need a supervisor. My brother that lives here has had motorcycle license for years and agreed to pick my up and accompany me to Vespa Metro to pick up the GTSS.

I waited patiently all morning, excited and actually slightly nervous as it has been awhile since I have ridden and I have been reading all over the net about how great the GTSS is but also how powerful. So it had me a little freaked out.

Yesterday, Lorenzo felt that since I was relatively new to two-wheels - even though I’ve had a fair bit of experience over the years – that it might be a good idea to re-familiarize myself with scooters by taking out a 50cc bike for a bit and working my way up to the big 300. I thought this was a good idea and so when we arrived on Friday morning the ever helpful Joe hooked us up with a 50cc Vespa LX50 and a 200cc Aprilia Scarabeo 200

I hopped on the 50 and my bro on the 200 and we easily tooled out of the rear garage door and out into the adjacent east Vancouver neighborhood and were soon very comfortably zooming around. The 50cc is so easy to ride and buzzes along nicely but casually. We swapped after about 15mins and I found the 200 to have very nice get-up-and-go. I felt very comfortable and we started flying around the area. Another 15minutes and I was ready for my GTSS. I really wanted to check out the difference and I felt more than ready to ride it. Also, the bucket helmet I had borrowed at Vespa Metro – my new helmet is on order - didn’t have any eye protection and I found that, even with my glasses on, my eyes were watering at speed and I wanted to see if I could trade it for something else. We headed back to the store and Joe found a more suitable helmet for me.

Vespa GTS 300 Super!

Finally riding the GTSS behind Vespa Metro with my bro and the Scarabeo in the background

Even graduating up the cc’s like we had didn’t prepare me for the power, comfort and handling of the GTSS. There aren’t enough superlatives (though here come some) to describe how fun, easy, exciting, comfortable, and fantastic this scooter is. It handles easily and subtly at low speeds, it flies at high speeds. It has considerable, even, power throughout the acceleration curve and it’s simply a real joy to ride. We bombed along the main roads in heavy traffic smoothly managing our way and easily managing the various traffic conditions then we cruised comfortable through the neighborhood streets and ended up meeting a friend of mine on his vintage Yamaha RD 400. I’s a beautiful older bike and in fantastic mint condition - and my “little” scooter blows the doors off it. Grin!

The Wasp at home

After about 3 hours of riding, and much to my disappointment, my supervisors had to go home and I was accompanied back to my place where I reluctantly parked the GTSS in it’s new home spot. I am going to be bugging everyone I know over the next week to “supervise” me cause I cannot wait to get on my baby again!

Stay to tuned for the continuing adventures!