Jay's Vespa

With gas prices here in WA hitting the roof I decided to pick up something I could commute with that would be fun and save some money at the same time.  I looked at a bunch of different brand scooters but kept coming back to the Vespa because they were the best looking and overall best performers.  I ended up with a 2009 Vespa GTS250ie in Dragon Red.  I've added a few things to it so far and picked up some safety gear as well.  Keep watch here for pictures of accessories and some of the short trips I take it on with friends.  Maybe someday Lisa will get her very own and can join us! 

The light was weird so the red doesn't look quite as deep as it is in person but you get the idea, it's very bright!

This stock image gives you an idea what things I have done differently with it since I picked it up.

I added the chrome wings to the sides of the Piaggio emblem, the story is that originally they built aircraft so back in the day people added wing symbols to their scooters.

The short windscreen mostly just keeps the rain and wind off of my body, most of it just hits me in the helmet now, I like the way it looks so it's worth it.

These chrome bars are half for looks and half for function, they keep the random shopping cart from leaving a mark and hopefully would protect the paint if it ever fell over.

The chrome bars fill in the area nicely and match the rest of the chrome on the scooter well.

The floor mat protects the area you put your feet from scratches and makes it much easier to clean.

I found this topcase online, I'll only use it for day trips and errands.

It fits perfectly on the rear rack even though it's made for the back of a motorcycle.

It has plastic buckles underneath the leather straps so make it easy to open and close.

I made up these straps to attach to the mounting loops on the bottom, they work great to keep it solid.

You can fit quite a bit of stuff inside, it looks like a twelve pack of bottles might even fit.

The stock grips are rubber and quite small in diameter, tough to hold on to with my big hands and a pair of gloves on.

These are leather and aluminum and are a bit thicker so easier to hold on to, they are also discontinued so they were a little tough to track down, they came from Germany.