own a Vespa

After I’ve had the scooter for a while, I will decide if I want to pay the bucks for a real Vespa.

I bought a scooter today but it’s not a Vespa. I decided to go with the Buddy 125 for now since it is new and has a 2 year warranty plus 1 year roadside assistance. I’m marking this goal complete because while I love the looks of the Vespa, it’s too expensive for my blood right now.

Maybe once I decide that I love scooters I’ll want to get a Vespa to ride (and fix). Then I’ll have the Buddy to ride if the Vespa doesn’t run. A Vespa will still turn my head. :)

Oh, and the scooter is green. I think that’s fitting since it’s St. Patrick’s Day.

It’s a silly name for a scooter, IMO, but the reviews on it have been good. The main selling point is that the scooter comes with a 2 year warranty and 1 year roadside assistance. Awesome for a scooter. The price is around 3K OTD. A bit more than I wanted to spend but for a brand new scooter that I wouldn’t have to worry about (I hope), I think it may be just the ticket.

My biggest challenge is that I don’t really know how much I will ride the scooter – any scooter for that matter. So I don’t want to invest a lot of money into something that may just sit in the garage a lot. Decisions, decisions.

This weekend I was searching the ads for a Vespa to buy. I keep thinking that I should save money and buy a Bajaj instead of a Vespa, but I REALLY like the looks of the older Vespas. Decisions, decisions. If I buy the Bajaj, I probably wouldn’t sell it to buy a Vespa later. At least not for a year or two since I don’t like selling things…

Do I just buy the Vespa I like, or do I buy a less expensive scooter?

Comments?

I love how Vespas look and I enjoy riding scooters and motorcycles, but I wonder how much I would ride it in the summer? It’s hot and I don’t even enjoy riding my bicycle so I don’t know if I would be willing to put on a heavy helmet and jacket and gloves to ride somewhere. (Dress for the crash.)
It’s just too hot to put all that gear on. And I wouldn’t want to ride in the rain. So that leaves a few months out of the year? Is that a good deal?

I named my new kitten Vespa. :) She’s really cute but she’s not a scooter. I am still thinking about buying a vespa though.

I looked at the Bajaj Chetak and while it is what it is advertised to be, it just didn’t grab me. It’s alright, looks good, has reasonable specs, etc., I didn’t particularly like the colors (silver was silver and the green was very pale) and it just seemed kind of uninspiring. Plus the dealer was asking too much for it, and they wouldn’t give me any break on accessories. Come on guys, toss out a 10% discount…

There weren’t any new Vespas at the dealer, lots of old ones but they were in really poor condition. I have a lead on a 2003 ET4 that sounds fine, but the price is a bit high. I hope to look at it tomorrow. For the amount of money I am thinking of spending, I want the scooter to talk to me, not just be a piece of metal.

Vespas are great but they are also expensive. I am also thinking about getting a Bajaj or Stella since they have the Vespa style without the Vespa price.

Would this count? What if I made it look like a Vespa? Is that better or worse?

What I really want is a scooter that gets excellent gas mileage and can carry enough groceries so that I can run errands. All three fit that bill. We’ll see what happens.