Episode 33 - East Coast Modern Vespa Workshop (voicemail 206-888-6174)

SHOWNOTES: This weekend I have spent most of my time at the East Coast Modern Vespa Workshop here in Richmond. I have made a few new scooter friends and developed a whole new perspective on the modern Vespa scooters. Have you ever heard of Curt, Lucky, Greasy or Vickie? Maybe not, but you probably have heard about the Modern Vespa Website, especially if you own one of the new Vespasian. I have been an occasional lurker on the site for the past few months, but have to admit that being a classic Vespa owner; I had a hard time finding many posts that I was interested in. I have to admit, that I was probably a bit of a classic Vespa snob, thinking that the fondness for these new bikes must be a reflection on the neophytes who rode these scoots. Before all you Modern Vespa Riders send me emails and leave me x-rated phone messages let me say that I am here to ask you for forgiveness. I am even willing to share a little secret, that I have been bitten by the Modern Vespa bug. Just to illustrate, I even started wondering what I could get for one of my classics, as a way to jump start my way towards a Modern Vespa, OH MY GOD! That is blasphemy! The East Coast version of the San Francisco Modern Vespa Workshop was held at Scoot Richmond this weekend and I decided a few weeks ago, that maybe I needed to get a little more education. Like any group meeting, it started off awkwardly enough with hand shakes and name tags, but then I heard something that always takes me by surprise, hey are you Dave from the SCTRCST Podcast? I don't know why, but despite all the emails, voice mails, website stats and download reports, I have a hard time anyone is really out there listening to me prattle on about my musings. But I have learned over many years to override saying what I first think, which in this case was "you listen, why?" and instead I said "thank you" and come to find out it was Shawn, the fellow who's voice mail I played last week in anticipation of workshop. It just got better from there as I watched a group of scooter enthusiast from all over the east coast and the south reveled in their common love for their bikes and the excitement that they had been sharing on the Modern Vespa website forum. Modern Vespa owners from all over the east and south came to Richmond. This included members from Pennsylvania, New York, Washington DC, North and South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee and even New Orleans. So what am I saying about all this? First, a big thanks to all the Modern Vespa members. They even let me ride by P200 on the Saturday city ride. But really, thank you for including an outsider like myself and be proud that you really have a great Vespa community going there. As frequent listeners know, I am always amazed by how scooters bring all kinds of people together and even in my case, you may have gained another believer, especially now that I understand that I don't have to give up my old ways to be a part of the new scooter scene.