Falling in love again... What am I to do?
Saturday, August 19, 2006 at 1:01PM 
Every now and then it just happens... You're living your life and out of nowhere it just hits you... You see her and you just can't help it. It's love at first sight!
What am I talking about? Well, here's a picture of my latest love! Yesterday I took delivery of a 1968 Vespa VLB 150cc Sprint. They are extremely rare! This is the one with the square headlight (whereas all the other Vespa's have a round headlight).
This baby is in need of a little 'tender loving care'. As you can see her bodywork is a little worse for ware. But hey what can you expect after 38 years of hard labour!? The great news is that after 37000km's she starts on the first kick, idles like a dream, no gearing problems, and even makes it up to about 60 miles an hour! (yup, the speedometer is in Miles, not Kilometres. Also, you'll notice that it does not have any mirrors or indicators - that's how they were in 68! Also, it doesn't have a key! You simply kick it and it goes... So, I have cary a bicycle chain with me to chain it up every time I park it at the mall or on campus! Ha ha! It is hilarious! But boy, do I get some stares of amazement when I drive it. Evertime I park some 'old timer' comes up to check out the bike and tell me about his experiences on a Vespa in the Jurasic age).
Pictured above are my 1980 Vespa P200E (Orange - original colour, but restored), and my NEW Vespa VLB 150 Sprint (grey, rust and a few bumps - original paint - still to be restored). If you click on the image it will enlarge.
So, if you see my nipping around Pretoria between the seminary and the University of South Africa, or the University of Pretoria on this beauty, simply smile, wave, and don't covet! It's a sin!
So there you go Pete and Pete (good friends! How about you guys ride your bikes to PTA, and then drive down to Grahamstown for our retreat with me? It will be an ascetic experience! What do you think!?)
PS. You can check out a few more pictures of my Vespas (and some old one's I no longer own) in my Flickr Vespa set here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/35258595@N00/sets/1730648/
Reader Comments (2)
WOW!!! I just love vespas, went to test drive some the other day in Bryanston. What with the constant petrol price hikes, getting 37km/l is not bad at all. The only down side is the cost.... So where on earth did youmanage to find this vintage? Enjoy riding her.
all I can say is:
ciao!