Being Vespa

A tattoo must be the ultimate form of declaring allegiance to one's ride. Or is your scooter just an afterthought if your other arm gets the full sleeve worth of body paint? This Piaggio tattoo was found by the folks at motoblog.

Scooter Minimalism

Vespa
Originally uploaded by alex fonseca.

This is a terrific example of minimalist scooter aesthetics. Old and new form a convincing whole. The vintage Vespa (an eighties rally, according to matt) and goggles, and the black helmet go great together with a new Corazzo jacket. Thumbs up for savvy styling!

Vespa Wedding

Coniugi Brambilla/Conti
Originally uploaded by Lele763.

Now this must be the hottest riding outfit of the year. Though it is unlikely that the two don silky suit and evening gown when riding on an everyday basis, we still salute their fashion sense. We wish the newlyweds always a good ride and safe handling of the bumpy parts of the passage (put some safety gear on, will you?) .

Vespa Clock

For all scooter enthusiasts who simply cannot leave their favorite passion behind in the garage, this clock brings Vespa vintage feeling to desk, bedroom, or any other place where the time need to be kept. It's a reproduction of the first ever Vespa headlight from 1946, complete with green metal casing and chrome bezel. Our friends at motoblog.it found this one. It is available from Napastyle, setting you back a cool $178.

Vespa Rides The Fashion Train

It should take little wondering that a brand that has largely defined the image and meaning of scootering offers its own fashion label. However, Vespa just recently started its own line of functional clothing. The current collection was introduced last fall. It's not available in the US yet. An extensive online search shows that it is not yet on sale in Europe either. We will keep you posted if this changes. Cudos go to our friends at 2strokebuzz for translating from Italian:

Vespa’s new showpiece is a Dainese-designed Vespa Club jacket and gilet (a fancy word for “really expensive quilted polyester liner that’s sold separately”). The jacket “can be personalised with armour protection,” which apparently means it has pockets for armor (sold separately). (The use of the word “Club” is cute, since the Vespa World Club is entering its seventh month of total inactivity.) On the accessories side, Vespa is releasing a line of leather bags designed to fit inside Vespa topcases, including one designed specifically for laptop computers. if that’s not enough leather, try a leather seat, now available in tobacco for the GTS, and tobacco or red for the LX. Why not throw in some matching grips? And a new Vespa Soft-Touch half-helmet? (why no full-face, guys? It’s 2006!) Rounding out the new line is a full complement of of chrome accessories, and a must-have Vespa-branded chain lock (with matching carrying bag!).

Piaggio further dissects your helmet fraction choices, with new three-eighths (Micro), five eighths (Copter) and seven-eighths (X-Jet) models. The “Micro” features snap-on goggles to cover another small fraction of your face. Continuing Vespa’s “personalizable jacket” theme, they’ve also unleased the “Technocomfort” line, with the unisex GT4 jacket, the Executive for the boys, and for the ladies, the, erm, Lady. The jackets can also be “customized” with armor, liners. or goofy leg covers they’re calling “Flaps™,” at additional cost, though the adjectives “Revolutionary,” “Elegant,” “Dynamic,” and “Innovative” are yours at no charge.

Vespa PX Styling

With these decals, you can give your Vespa PX a personalized look. They sell for around $120 at Pimp My Scoota. Each decal is designed by a different artist. The decals need to be installed by a professional shop, but they should come off easily using heat from a hairdryer. Since the Stella is a PX knockoff (let's face the truth), the decals also should fit them, but the company does not guarantee this. It's great to see more and more offers for style-conscious scooterists like this! This one was discovered by our friends at The Scooter Scoop.

Longtime Love

039
Originally uploaded by yoann stoeckel.

This Kuala Lumpur scooterist has clearly put much love into detailing his ride (a Vespa knockoff?). Western brethren should get some inspiration from Malaysian scooter styling, but do we detect an influence of American chopper aesthetics?

The Real Vespa Styling

These very British 60s adds provide timeless inspiration for scooter rider styling and fashion. Ok, Vespas became a symbol of Italian lifestyle in the 50s. But in the 60s, other European countries saw the emergence of their own subcultures that, like the English Mods, to the very day have a big impact on what we see and aspire to when riding a scooter.

1950s Vespa Racers

1950s Italy is the cradle of modern scooter culture and styling (apologies to all Cushman fans). Get some fashion inspiration from these Italian Vespa racers. The video previews an exhibition organized by the Vespa Club of Pinerolo, Italy, opening July 2007.

Manufacturers Service Manuals

A useful collection of links to original manufacturer service manuals can be found at Bike Chat Forums. While many are for motorcycles, owners of modern scooters from Kymco, Aprilia, Suzuki, Peugeot, Malaguti and classic Vespas can get lucky (not all models are covered).

Nice Restoration and Tuning Site

Having your scooter look exactly the way you want is certainly an important part of scooter rider styling. For an overview what a full restoration project involves, and some nice technical details, check out scooterhelp.com. This site concentrates on Vespas and Lambrettas, but its insights should be universally applicable.