During the Gulf Run car show at 360 Mall my friend introduced me to the owner of Bike World who had a stand at the car show. The owner told me whenever I wanted I could pass by pick up a bike and try it out for a few days and then post about my experience (positive or negative). Since my car was in the garage and I’ve always wanted to ride a Vespa, I passed by last week and picked one up for a few days. I rode it during the cold and wet weather we had last week and this is what I thought about it.
I had never ridden a scooter before this Vespa but I’ve always had a thing for them. They always looked like a lot of fun to ride but for some reason I never had a chance to ride one before. I ended up picking up a silver 250cc version of the bike and it really did turn out to be a lot of fun. I hadn’t ridden a bike since I sold my Ducati Monster a few years ago so starting with the Vespa felt like the most logical thing to do. It’s a small bike and an automatic which meant it would be easy to ride. What I wasn’t expecting was the bike to be so snappy. I rode the Vespa into work every morning taking the Gulf Road route and I never felt the bike was slow. At traffic lights I was taking off pretty fast and on one highway I managed to hit 120km/h which is practically the bikes top speed. The comfortable cruising speed on the bike is around 90km/h which is why I didn’t (and wouldn’t) take the bike out on the major freeways and instead stuck to the Gulf Road.
The only downside I faced with the bike was parking it surprisingly. First night I parked it in my buildings underground parking the janitor knocked on my door and told me people might steal the bike and that I should take the bike up in the elevator and park it outside my apartment (seriously that’s what he told me). Then when I tried parking it under my office building the security guards also got me worried because everywhere I parked the bike around the building they would tell me a car might hit it. In the end they made me park the Vespa on top of the sidewalk on the side of the building. I found all that a bit too weird honestly. Anyway I dropped the Vespa yesterday morning back to Bike World and picked up a trike which I will be riding for the next few days.
The Vespa I rode costs around KD1,700 but they have Vespas starting from KD899. If you’re interested here is the link to the Bike World website. [Link]
23 replies on “Hello Vespa, Goodbye Vespa”
Whatever you do, don’t say it tasted like raw chicken. Kidding 🙂
Hahahaha, priceless.
loool..i work in the building opposite to urs and i see this vespa every morning and think…”i wish i had a vespa!!”
Well check tomorrow cuz I’m riding something else now that looks pretty cool
Scooters are neat, you can save a lot on gas (not that it matters in Q8) For many countries in both Asia and Europe they’re more useful than cars everyone uses em, that trike looks sweet though.
That’s why I am actually considering one for Lebanon. The Vespa sadly won’t work for me there since my house is up in the mountains but the trike I am riding now could be a better option.
“The owner told me whenever I wanted I could pass by pick up a bike and try it out for a few days and then post about my experience (positive or negative).”
Haha… good he specified that 😀
Mark,do we need licence to ride the bike?
thanks Mark for the review, how is the MP3 going on.
ab7ag : why dont you come and try it out.
Kuwait : we have to be fair, and see what are the advantages and disadvantages.
Dee : if you ride 50cc and below you dont need it.
hey..I want to get a two wheeler licence..pls tell me how do I get it in Q8?
all you have to do is apply 😛 just kidding call us and we will help you out 24929303
Sure will man,,Thanz
thnx man..Will do tat ASAP
Scooters are like fat women. Both are fun to ride, just don’t let your buddies catch you doing it. lol
Well you see thats the main problem here – i.e. people giving you objects to review, even though you’ve never ridden a scooter before and wouldn’t know a Vespa from a Lambretta…First off, Vespas (and other “step-through frame mototrcycles”) are known to be pretty dangerous at speeds over 80-100.
There were meant to be ridden on short trips like going to a Sicilian market to buy some tomatoes and back just in time before the sausages were burnt… And, I’m guessing the scooter was a Auto(CVT) transmission and not the real “twist the wrist till fourth gear”, now thats a real pain to ride….
I guess that’s why Fast Bikes haven’t hired me to write for them yet 🙂
Seriously though I never said I was a pro biker or a serious audiophile or whatever, my reviews are amateur not professional, there are a ton of better reviewers out there but that doesn’t mean I can’t have fun trying to review stuff myself. This is really just a personal blog nothing more and I hope people can just let me do what I want to do (this wasn’t aimed at you).
I do agree that Vespas are meant for short trips but Kuwait is all just short trips, home to work is like a 15-20minute ride 😀
Daddy0, you are right, but i assume you never tried the newer models, the 250cc vespa is not your average size of a vespa, its bigger and larger tires to keep you stable on high speeds. and regarding the CVT yes it has CVT and they are great for everyday riding. however vespa just announced the return of the PX with a 125cc 2 stroke and 4 speed manual. pass by and try it out 🙂
Mark, 90% of our scooter customers are not die hard bikers. to be honest a lot of them never even thought of riding a bike. however they find Vespa’s appealing to them for short trips on the weekends or daily commuting to work.
So Mark when are you going to give us your review on the MP3. I just got an MP3 myself and i must admit its a fun ride. Thanks Bike World 🙂
i’m returning it tonight so will probably post it tomorrow 🙂
Amaaazing Mark im looking forward to it 🙂
DaddyO: most bikes are relatively considered dangerous when going 80 – 100 but then again most of the bikers go way above that speed limit.So with that being said you should try the vespas out you will be surprised.
Scooters are perfect for short hops, but in the rest of the world where gas is not subsidized, the scooter is the only means of affordable transport to a lot of people. I love the old twist transmission ones as those are the ones I grew up with. These new automatic ones are not really my style.
@Mark, chill Winston – just saying people shouldn’t take (most of)your reviews too seriously and c’mon, you’ve gone past the “personal blog”..waaay back!
@Bike World, I’m comin’ in.
@the rest, I have ridden Vespas (190 with four twisty gears), very unstable while cornering;
Lambrettas (its like riding a snake on wheels);
and a wierd looking scooter called “Fantabulous”. That was made by a British company – Enfield.
But all said, its not the scooters that are actually dangerous, its the people riding them that make it dangerous. Y’see, you gotta be wound different to want to ride a scooter to work – everyday – in Kuwait, unlike Mr. Jaffer Behbahani, owner of Tristar Kuwait, who rides a BMW C1 scooter to work. You gotta give it to that man, now he’s hardcore! Hats off, infact keep the hat.
Anyhoo..scooters are getting popular, infact BMW in getting into the scooter market seriously, and you know what that means **Ahem**, a scooter on steroids – anabolic I might add!
But yeah, Mark, lets keep it simple – Start of with, “I’m no scooter expert, but damn she is fun to ride!”