More than just a lawn mower - my very first scooter

I remember driving through Mangerton, a suburb of my home town of Wollongong and seeing a white Vespa parked outside someone's house. It was a long time after my love for traditional Italian scooters began, but it was the first scooter I'd ever seen in Wollongong. I decided I'd own the second.

I turned to the good old trading post. If you are looking for something older and more stylish than the current commuter scooters that are ever so popular now in Australia you'll either be looking and never finding, having to pay way more for one of these two wheeled lawn mowers than you should or you get lucky. Combination of the last two in my case. There was a dark green 1974 Vespa PX 150 for sale 30 minutes south of where I lived in Run For Cover territory, Albion Park. Most things seemed to work, it looked good and so it was bought.

After getting it home all I wanted to do was ride it, and the fact I didn't have my licence yet wasn't going to stop me. There is no better feeling in regards to motoring than a scooter in 4th gear going at its top speed, which as my speedo doesn't work is unknown, perhaps 90 km/hr finely tuned. The amount of pollution, both air and noise is phenomenal, but for the rider it's just all part of the fun. On a sunny day, riding it around the seaside northern suburbs of Wollongong where I live provides the best location and conditions for riding. Of course the best part of scooter motoring are the looks on people's faces. The people unaccustomed to style may laugh, but most give an envious look of approval. So I'm a poser, who cares?

With the good comes the bad. My lack of knowledge and the fact that the scooter is rare and old means there have been as many or more problems than positives. Firstly a loose speedo cable, which the former user had at a too tight an angle, therefore wearing the threads out. Still not connected. Then there's the getting used to the choke and petrol tap so I dont have to clean fuel from the spark plug when restarting. There's also the lights that were connected to the wrong switches, and now the indicators aren't working. Trading it in has crossed my mind, perhaps I'll buy a car. Scooters look great and when going are awesome however, which makes up for all the problems I've had. I recommend it as a second vehicle though, a passion, not something to rely on.

Glen Smyth