Around Acri Italy. She took that thing EVERYWHERE.

Acri is one big Mountain - it's good if you are just in 'town' - saves on gas big time. A few times I had to get to the side in the middle of town to let people pass . . . but that's it.

a week for my veterinarian 3 miles away in town. I can get by without a car, but bus schedules are sketchy, and I thought a Vespa would be fun.

You might get opinions on various brands of scooter.

We try to live as green as we can. My Trek cycle is hanging in the garage, and when I asked Mr. pig to check the tires he said "You could coast down the hill to work, but you'd never make it back up."

Twue wuv!

when he was in Italy, in college, in 1964!

This from high school graduating class of 1969.

The one with the knee shield. It was street legal, but not freeway legal.

In CA you couldn't get a license to drive a car until you were 16, but you could get a motor scooter license at 15-1/2.

The Genuine Stella model is close to a Vespa in quality and looks. Word of warning purchasing a Vespa; you need to make sure you're not purchasing a commercial model made primary for and in Vietnam. The engines and some of the structural parts are not to US/EU standards and you can't get equivalent repair parts from Vespa Dealers, the parts can only be ordered from the Vietnam facility. There's a lot of them around being sold as used Italian/Indian made Vespas, and on a couple scooter forums, they've information on how to determine which type Vespa you're being sold.
Also, older Vespas tend to be manual, which can be a bit tricky when dealing with other traffic.

But they are fun and efficient for commuting purposes.

Good luck with your scooter.

Haele

We try to make informed decisions (hey - we're Democrats!) and we know we can reach out to the DU community for recommendations.

Will check out Genuine.

For 8 yrs, drove it to work in the summer loved it. Easy to find parking and fun.

If I need to drive to Tahoe I can take our Mini Cooper. But I just want to zip around town and not have to pedal (two bad knees/one bad hip).

With the Honda and its 100 mpg.

I sold when I moved to CA because they require motercycle license and insurance which in WA under 50cc didn't. I didn't want to spend extra money here and living in cooler climate wouldn't use as much. I am near ocean now, summer is 65.

I was living in a very small rural town with not much traffic why I wasn't worried about insurance.

He's really excited about getting a new toy (ostensibly for me, but you know how that goes).

Thanks everybody, and keep the tips coming.

My Burgman is 400 cc and gets around 75 mpg. I've driven it on interstate at 75 mph. No clutch, no gears. Easy to drive. I love, love, love it.

Check them out. Suzuki Burgman.

I'm in CA, and sometimes the only way to get anywhere is on an interstate.

but I've been thinking about it lately too. I just love the idea of Vespas. Although I'm not a big fan of the other models of scooters that look all modern and have 7000 cubic feet of storage containers hanging all over them.

We are thinking of going to Key West for our anniversary this summer and I think I can rent a scooter there. I'd like to try it to see if it's as fun in real life as it is in my head.

I don't think it would work for me for work right now - too far and I need my pick-up truck to carry my tools and whatnot. But we intend to be moving in the near future and I could use it to get around the new neighborhood and do light grocery shopping and maybe other errands. Times when I don't want to fire up the truck..

But if I were to ever get one, it'd be a 1965 Vespa Super Sport 180. Complete with "P!" sticker.