2006 Big Ruckus and 1966 Vespa 125GT

My Bookends

Above is a photo taken the day before the skies started to unload torrents of rain for the past fourteen days. Today being the worst in my opinion during this period of time.

In the foreground is my cherry little 1966 Vespa. My wife turned me on to it, and encouraged me to buy it. Had I not done so, I don't think I ever would have pursued scootering as an alternative to riding a motorcycle. I was looking for something different, but a scooter? Now I'm hooked. I've ridden more and more consistently since buying the Vespa.

I knew that the Vespa wasn't going to be a daily rider. Not for my needs. I needed a utility scooter that would stand up to the daily grind and take me up to highway speeds when needed. And a scoot that I wouldn't feel bad about leaving in the weather all the time. I wanted a workhorse. In time I'd find the Big Ruckus. But I'll start at the beginning.

The seed was planted about a year ago when I started researching scooters, and the scoot lifestyle. I wanted to learn as much as I could about them. I had been on the Ride to Work website in the past, but not to the commuter blogs link. This is where I found the Baron in Winter site that I followed to present. This site put the thought into my head that a scooter can be used as a full time vehicle no matter what the conditions. So I studied about and looked at every scooter that I could find, almost settling on the Honda Helix.

I remembered this tube framed beast with a fold-up seat that I had seen in the warehouse at P.A. Power Equipment and looked it up on their website. This was what I was looking for. A 250cc scooter that would get me a ticket if I wanted it to. And it had ME written all over it. A true odd-ball two wheeled truck. I went to P.A. Power and confirmed that this was indeed what I "needed".

My wife being an "understanding" wife allowed me to follow through with the purchase of my Big Ruckus, "Mule". I'm sure it probably hurt when she bit her tongue, but I told her that I was going to "ride it everyday, I promise". And so far I've held up my end of the deal.

I titled this post "My Bookends", because it represents the oldest and newest scooters that I own. A forty year span of time between them. And what I really love about them is the different feelings of joy that each one brings when we ride. The nostalgic feel on the old two-stroke memory maker, and the "It'll get me where I need to go" attitude of the Big Ruckus.

I've got both ends covered. I'll go thank my wife.

Have fun,
Bill