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21st century scooters

Modern Day Scooters

Interestingly the Vespa 46 has also created a new angle to the ‘auto versus geared scooter’ debate, with some of those loyal to gears appreciating the design and evolution of the Vespa, albeit desperately wishing that Piaggio woud produce one with real gears and a larger than 150cc engine.

The greatest shock for most seems to be its departure from what some people think a Vespa should be, or what a ‘true Vespa’ is. But what exactly is a ‘true Vespa’? Is it a low-light model of the 50s? A GS160? a sporting SS90 with its dummy centre tank? A reliable PX200? I personally think the 46 is stunning and not just because there have been hardly any draw-dropping new scooter designs on the market since the Italjet Dragster – and that was in the late 20th century!

To begin with, consider what those who fell in love with the first Vespas of the 1940s and early 50s would think of (the then) comparatively modern Rally, Primavera and PX models of the 1970s? It was over 30 years between the Vespa 98 and the launch of the P-range in 1977 with its square mudguard, fat panels (with no louvres), bigger wheels, modern rear light and enclosed headset. Negative comments was made about the T5 when that was launched too, but how much we all liked the power of that little 125cc. The thing is, progress happens and a manufacturer has to evolve to survive.

Some have asked why Piaggio doesn’t simply recreate the GS or SS180 for example, but in the 21st century you could never do that exactly as it once was, so any reproduction would always be compared with the original, probably unfavourably. Just think about it for a minute; a modern day scooter has to achieve certain fuel consumption and meet noise regulations, as well as those for emissions and other eco friendly targets too. Add to that modern day lighting regulations (including indicators) and the fact that we’d all like to have brakes that work, and you can see the conundrum.

With the Vespa 46 you can’t compare like with like because it is brand new. You can simply accept it as progression and a potential future classic, or dislike it.

What you can’t do, however, is ignore it. For me it’s a perfect example of modern styling with inspiration from the past and I think Piaggio should have done something like this sooner. A lot sooner. The current scooter market is looking rather stagnant at the moment and it needs scooters like this to wake a few people up and start raising the bar again.

My only concern is that apparently the prototype we saw will be produced, but as a limited edition model... which means ‘expensive’. We understand that a slightly tamer version will be produced at a more affordable price, but I don’t see why a scooter like this cannot be for the masses rather than the rich. Oh, and pleae Piaggio, can you please give us a geared version too? Preferably with a 2-stroke engine - thanks!

(Turn to page 26 to read some of your opinions of the Vespa 46)

Happy New Year

Anyway, welcome to the January 2012 edition of Scootering, arriving to you as the British winter finally gets here.

Out on my old Vespa Rally 200 the other day I really noticed the icy winds cutting through me for the first time this year so it looks like I’ll finally be fitting handlebar muffs and lap cover, as I noticed Gary has already done to his Burger in the Scootering car park the other day.

Anyway, weather aside, can I first thank everyone for the increased amount of letters we’ve received over the last few months. At one stage it looked like our Feedback pages were going like a supermodel and dwindling away, but I’m glad to see that we’ve got a regular amount of extra correspondence arriving each month.

Don’t forget, Scootering’s feedback pages are the place to share your views, comments and other opinions with the wider scooter world all in one go. The same goes for those using our Tech Torque pages. I’d like to remind readers too that if you have a technical question you can email it direct to us at: torque@scootering.com and we’ll endeavour to get back to you as soon as possible; in theory you won’t have to wait four weeks for the next magazine to be published for an answer. We’ll just reprint your letters each month so that we care share any useful information, tips and advice with the rest of our readers.

Elsewhere this month we bring you more news from the Milan Motorcycle Show where we discovered many new products and scooters for your pleasure, especially good to see in the current climate. From yesteryear we’ve an interesting interview from Spain offering a different angle to the old British and Italian Lambretta racers we’ve spoken to before, while Vespa riders can drool over a couple of lovely tweaked machines from the UK and Italy. It seems the tuning of Pontedera’s finest is still on an upward spiral, which can only be good. Oh, and Richie went down to west London before Christmas to see Pete Townshend and returned with some interesting tales about Quadrophenia. And don’t forget there’s your free 2012 wall-planner inside these pages somewhere, so pull it out and stick it up!

So all that remains for me to say is Happy New Year and enjoy the mag.

Andy