[Uthappa]

Really enjoy reading about your Multi and now the Vespa, but your goodboi is truly the star of the show! Love Rotties.

[deepfreak15]

Originally Posted by kamilharis

Congrats on this unique scooter, the color combination is so cool and it looks 'so ITALIAN'.!

Thank you very much. Everything except my salary is going up these days

Originally Posted by nerdgalore

The light blue and red color combination looks absolutely stunning. And the gold rims are cherry on the cake.

Thank you very much for your kind words indeed

Originally Posted by Cyborg

. Love your Rottwieler more though what’s his name?

Thank you very much! His name is Bolt. when he came to us, a wee tiny pup, mid play session he would literally bolt to another room where his bed was and start snoring immediately. That always took us by surprise.

Originally Posted by Cyborg

how do you find the 11/10 front/rear combination on this one.
Cannot explain it better, it was a distinctly uncomfortable feeling.

My Dad describes it as "The scooter feels like its hovering over the road and not in direct contact unlike the RE". Maybe it needs some getting used too. Personally I have never been comfortable on a scooter. I find them too twitchy and unsafe.

Originally Posted by W.A.G.7

That scoot looks cool. Those golden wheels - look classy. Maybe if we had seen them on a website, they might not have looked so attractive. Please update the riding experience so far; in a bit more detail. And out of curiosity, since your father has size 9 footwear (which you have shown on the footboard), what's his height? Did he find the scooter low, just right or a bit high for his height?

Thank you very much for your kind words. I agree the scooter has that "Look at me" vibe and looks so chic. He is the same height as me ~175cms He felt the Aprilia SR160 to be too tall and this just right. I will get back to you on the riding experience after I have ridden it for a bit.

Originally Posted by Uthappa

Really enjoy reading about your Multi and now the Vespa, but your goodboi is truly the star of the show! Love Rotties.

Thank you very much. Sadly they are one of the most misunderstood and mistreated breeds globally.

[AtheK]

Congratulations on the new addition to the garage, that color does look great. I am sure it will keep your dad really happy, though I hope like all Italians it does not heat, Pun intended.

The price of scooters is mind numbing now, 80K is like minimum for a very basic one, and i remember getting my Apache for like 65K a decade back.

[neil.jericho]

Congratulations on the new scooter. When I first heard that you bought an exotic Italian two seater with gold wheels, I thought it was another exquisite Ducati or an Aprilia Tuono or even better, a Lamborghini! Talk about crushed expectations .....

Sigh! I guess Ill wait for No_Fear to pick up his Tuono then

The Vespa looks fantastic in that Racing Sixties livery. Im just waiting for you to take the Bullet 500 back to Bangalore and start tweaking it to your liking. Now that will be an interesting ownership thread for sure.

[no_fear]

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

I guess Ill wait for No_Fear to pick up his Tuono then

That Tuono is dream worthy. While I am tempted to add Aprilia to my stable, the only thing I have at the moment is an Aprilia hat. Really hard to find a decent Aprilia in the north.

That Vespa is lip smacking gorgeous. I can imagine riding it in the Italian riviera with Monica Belluci as my pillion and saying ciao bella to everyone. I would be so afraid to take the scooter out on our desi streets. Come to think of it, I have seen very few Vespas. I guess the price point is a factor.

[deepfreak15]

Originally Posted by AtheK

Congratulations on the new addition to the garage, that color does look great.
The price of scooters is mind numbing now, 80K is like minimum for a very basic one, and i remember getting my Apache for like 65K a decade back.

Thanks a lot and ill pass the message along. True that. I had picked up an Ntorq for 80k sometime ago

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

Congratulations on the new scooter. When I first heard that you bought an exotic Italian two seater with gold wheels, I thought it was another exquisite Ducati or an Aprilia Tuono or even better, a Lamborghini! Talk about crushed expectations .....
The Vespa looks fantastic in that Racing Sixties livery. Im just waiting for you to take the Bullet 500 back to Bangalore and start tweaking it to your liking. Now that will be an interesting ownership thread for sure.

Thank you! Well time and again you seem to be confusing me with someone else. At this moment I cant even afford a plain scooter let alone an Italian one.

Originally Posted by no_fear

That Tuono is dream worthy.

That Vespa is lip smacking gorgeous. I can imagine riding it in the Italian riviera with Monica Belluci as my pillion and saying ciao bella to everyone. I would be so afraid to take the scooter out on our desi streets. Come to think of it, I have seen very few Vespas. I guess the price point is a factor.

May you add a Tuono to your already enviable garage sooner than you expect! As alluring as that sounds my old man better not harbour such thoughts if he knows whats good for him. But I agree one look at the scooter and I can only think of a Parisian café with a double espresso and a croissant filled with butter and jam, with the scooter parked outside of course!

[deepfreak15]

I had promised to update the riding experience of the Vespa after I had taken it for a spin. Late in the evening with an overcast sky felt it was a good opportunity to take the little scooter out to a nearby hill station (Yercaud). The Mrs never one to back out of a joy ride insisted on coming too.

So set off to figure out how this thing feels to ride. The only thing that caught me out was the combi braking, I normally use the front brake but on one occasion felt the need for bit of rear brake and made the mistake of pulling the lever a little too hard, almost threw me off but after I took that into account was smooth sailing.
I really love the seat, its firm and there is no sliding around which was the complete opposite with my Ntorq, every time I applied the brakes I would have to scoot back on the seat, not so with the Vespa.
The suspension is also pretty decent though did not go through any potholes. It feels firm and not bouncy so thats a win.
Going uphill 2-Up was immense fun and reaching speeds of 60-70 kmph did not feel stressful on the little engine, key though is to maintain momentum and not expect any great bursts of acceleration. The only thing holding me back was the thought of my Dad's reaction when he realized where I had taken his scooter for a shakedown (there was a whole lot of grumbling when he found out)
Like most hill stations during the monsoons the weather changed in a couple of minutes and just when I hit the last hairpin bend a dense fog rolled in, visibility turned to 0 and the heavens opened up. Decided to throw caution to the winds and ride back down and not look for shelter.

Thought we could outrun the weather and lost but hey, we at least felt like a couple of college kids all over again.


Headlights did their bit but in that weather was asking too much of any vehicle especially for a LED set up.

I must say the little scooter proved to be very stable and reliable. No scary or poop inducing moments and we reached home safely. I am duly impressed with this scooter.
Couple of things I think they missed out on
- Surprisingly no place to mount the front number plate (you have to drill through the front apron)
- Brake lever lock omission is a huge miss and made itself felt on a hill-station.

After we reached home did we realize we have never taken the Multi to Yercaud, so heres to looking forward to the next trip

[no_fear]

Kudos to riding the Vespa wearing gloves and the Arai helmet. Safety first always plus makes for a pretty cool sight.

[deepfreak15]

With only a few days left for its third annual service I just noticed I had ridden all of 2,400kms in 2021 Im still wondering what excuses to give when dropping the bike off for service. Decided to go for a short trial run of ~200kms and see how my arm holds up and if I can resume 2-up touring again. Sadly I guess due to the stretched and splayed out position of my arms I kept feeling a bit of pressure on my left elbow and I think ill err on the side of caution and hold off riding the multistrada for a month more. Apart for that minor niggle had a blast and had some lovely company too.

Maintaining social distancing with KarthikK, ebmrajesh, shaikimran and yours truly





The Honda with the Akrapovic sounds melodious, for a while I paused my music just to listen to that exhaust note.



Thats it for now, will update once I get the third annual service done, geez only ~12000kms run

[androdev]

Not sure how I missed reading recent updates on this thread! Your Vespa might give a complexion to your Multi! That photo of bikes through the rear window of the car is super duper. You do a great job of bringing out the joy of riding a bike and make it accessible to non-bikers like me. Look forward to more updates. Ride safe!

[deepfreak15]

Originally Posted by androdev

..Your Vespa might give a complexion to your Multi! That photo of bikes through the rear window of the car is super duper. You do a great job of bringing out the joy of riding a bike and make it accessible to non-bikers like me....

Thanks for your kind words. Come to think of it that Vespa would look really cool in your garage and dare I say you could consider adding a wrap/sticker on your Porsche to match it. I will still hold on to that hope of a white Vespa and a white Panigale joining those beauties in your garage.

[Vasuki]

Just curious. Did you do a Kerala trip in the last week of December? If yes, I saw your Multi going towards Kannur route from Kozhikode