Love affair lingers with Italian classic

Michael Becker

News Editor michacl@nsnews.com

THERE’S something undeniably stylish about the Piaggio Vespa motor scooter.

Before the end of the Second World War, Piaggio churned out aircraft engines as a specialty. To 1943, 16 models were designed and built. Piaggio’s aircraft engines and prototypes set 21 world records berween 1937 and 1939,

But Piaggio infrastructure at Pisa and Pontedera took a pounding from Allied bombs and German mines during the war. When the dust settled, Enrico Piaggio began to think about 4 new produce to help get post-war Italy rolling again.

In April of 1945, Corradino D'Ascanio, an aircraft and heli- copter engineer, designed a pressed steel scooter body which provided a frame for the bike, a container for the engine and a spare wheel, and a protected compartment for the rider.

Tested on the roads of Tuscany, the scooter proved casy on the eves, simple to maintain and dead cheap on gas.

The Vespa was launched in Rome in 1946. Since then, more than 15 million scooters have been produced and sold through- out the world.

A couple of decades later in England, during the early to mid-1960s, young scooter-propelled Mods made self-doubt and alienation an attractive peer-group option. Snazzy suits and mil- itary surplus parkas defined the uniform.

The Mod subculture has proven itself a remarkably durable one, resurfacing every 15 years or so (1964, 1979, 1995).

Music — from the Who and Small Faces in the 1960s to Oasis and Elastica in the 1990s — has provid- ed some of the fuel. A work-hard, party-hard ethos and an enduring love affair with Italian motor scooters fills in the picture.

If you happened to be at the Tomahawk Barbeque Restaurant in North Vancouver last Sunday morning you may have wit- nessed some scooter folks assembled for an annual Labour Day weekend Vespa love- fest.

A planned ride to Porteau Cove was washed out by weather. Vespa Club of Canada (VCC) riders and guests rolled on to Park Royal mall for an afternoon of bowling instead.

The ending to the day called for a “Nude Porn Ride to Benny’s Bagels” after a party at UBC. A prize was there for che taking for the farthest distance travelled naked.

On the Saturday before, Vespa enthusiasts filled a small gym and parking lot at the Boys’ & Girls’ Club in Burnaby to show off their machines, swap parts, take in tech sessions and compere in some skill-testing shenanigans.

The day wrappet with a ride to the Barnet Motor Inn to watch the dancing gals and then a cocktail party hosted by VCC presideat Mark Sexsmith and his wife Elyssa at their North Vancouver home.

Sexsmith, 30, has been involved with Vespas since the mid- °80s when he was a student at Hillside.

His first scooter was a silver-grey, 1979 Vespa 100 with turn signals at the end of the handle bars. Sexsmith split the cost of the scooter with a friend. Back then a Vespa 100 could be had fora few hundred dollars. Today it would take several thousand

dollars to purchase one.

NEWS photo Paul weGret MR. Mark travelled from Seattle

to show a 1952 scooter he bought in Italy earlier this year.

north shore news

SUNDAY FOCUS

VESPA Club of Canada president Mike Sexsmith l2ads a pack of about 450 scooter enthusiasts.

NEWS photo Cindy Goodman

VESPA riders Jeff Lilie (left to right}, Eric Johnson, Lisa Libbie-Johnson and Sean Stewart fuelled up at The Tomahawk in North Vancouver.

The scooter brought Sexsmith a sense of freedom. He now owns about 13 of them in various states of roadworthiness, “Some guys fall into hot rods, some into new cars, and some guys into big stereos. Everybody falis into something sooner or later,” said Sexsmith.

He’s been president of the club for about four years. The Canadian club is affiliated with an international federation of Vespa clubs, It started with a core group of about 20 people. The club now represents about 150 members country wide.

Other than a shared passion for for the Vespa scooter, Sexsmith is hard-pressed to put his finger on the defining shared characteristics of “scooter folks.”

Said Sexsmith, “You find all sorts of folks. You find guys entering mid-life crisis getting into bikes for the first time. Or you find guys that rode when they were 16 and are 60 now and still love the machines. You get teenage kids, who don’t neces- sarily fit in with whatever fashion fad is going on at the time and they find their own way through the scooters.”

Piaggio itself is cashing in on the fashion front with Vespa Litestyle clothing, sunglasses and bags.

Sexsmith sees scooters and style as synonymous. “There has always been a fashion connection. In the last few vears you've seen the major designers in the world use Vespas in their shows and ads. It’s easy to make somebody took good and sell clothes when they’re sitting on a Vespa. The clothes can be bloody ugly.”

Horsepower-hungry North Americans have not adopted scooters as a mainstream item.

Said Sexsmith, “The Vespa is on its disappearing track in Europe and North America, but because of its good engincer- ing and simplicity it still becomes a very viable vehicle in most of the Second and Third World countries. You'll sce a huge industry producing scooters in South America and Asia with this basic technology.”

He says new Vespas haven’t been sold in Canada:since 1986 but has heard rumours that they may become available again in

Sunday, September 12, 1999 — North Shore News - 3

North America next year. Ifpoints were viven tor the grungiest scocier showing at the club’s event in Burnaby recently, 33-year- old Mark Mihok of Scale would have scooped the prize.

Mihok, or Afr. Mark as he wails himself, rides with the Vespa Club of Seattle. He travels to Canada every year for the Vieroria sevot- er rally in] Mav and then again for the one here in September.

He bought the scooter he brought along co the Sept. 4 show earlier this year ata motorevcle swap meer in fraly. The rare 1952 125ce Vespa was sold by its origi- nal owner, Piccinini Guilio of Bergamo, for about $3,000 US. The scooter was one of 36 the American purchased for resale in Seattle.

Mr. Mark has been a col- lector for 10 years. “Ever since Twas a kid Iw really into going reall; They just have a wonder- fully unique style to them. They’re really fun to ride and my ncightour had one when Twas young. He ket me ride it and I got hooked when Iwas a 12

NEWS photo Paul McGrath

year old kid,” he said.

Darren Wise, 34, found himself scooter-smitten while at high school during the carly 1980s.

“There was a bit cia Mod revival. Me and my friends wore our arnw jackets and suits and were a fice bik different than everyone else.

“When we all had bikes when we were kids, we could get everywhere, When you were out of gas you asked mom for three bucks. If she didn’t want to give you gas, you just took pop bot- des back. There’s a freedom on the bike when you're a kid — the wind blowing....”

Wise was tiving in North Vancouver nwo years ago when the Vespa he was riding crashed into a bus at Keith Road — and Grand Boulevard. He spent six weeks in hospital. Two years later he is still unable to. drive a Vespa, although he’s been en the back of one.

“They're hard to get out of your sys- tem. It’s hard to lose 150 of your friends. We still have some- thing in common,” he said.

Wise has a 1968 SS, bought while he was recuperating. “I wanted a goal of doing — something. There was a very iffy chance of keeping the leg, of how useful the left arm would be.” He still has the 1972 Rally Vespa on which he collided with the bus. “We’re fixing that up now. Since the arm doesn’t work too good, the projects aren’t getting done.”

Ron Bain, 59, has owned his 1975 150 Sprint Vespa since 1976. It’s a sports model with a bit of a bigger bore in the cylin- der to give it a lirtle extra zip. With a good tail wind the Richmond man can wind the scooter up to 60 miles per hour.

Bain and his wife Lucy, both retired school principals, enjoy zipping about on the Sprint.

He has been riding Vespas tor 35 years. “When [ was wark- ing as a school teacher and a principal (in Richmond), I'd wear a suit to work, EF thought it would be fun to have one of these and I could wear a suit and not worry about a splash of water. I’ve got protection there. Teachers do it with class, and this is class.”

He says he gets the odd snicker from bemused bikers how- ever. “You drive up to the ferry and you pull up with all these Harley Davidsons and such and they kind of fook and laugh, but I'm thinking: ‘I’m going by more gas stations and having just as much fun.’”

NEWS photo Pau! McGrath RETIRED school principals

Lucy and Ren Bain beat ferry fines on this 150 Sprint.

a ER RE PERS FU