|
 |
|
|
| |
Behind the Wheel - Vespa Culture
By Amy Maestas
DIAGNOSIS: VESPA-ITIS
If it weren't for real children, Dubiner might not have had her own set
of 10-inch wheels when she was 14 years old. When Dubiner received her
learner's driving permit, her father took her to a scooter shop to let her
ride a 50 cc Vespa.
"In the back of the shop I saw this great 125 cc Primavera. I wanted it
so bad, but my parents were opposed to me having a scooter. So I saved my
money I made from baby-sitting and eventually bought it for $150," Dubiner
explains.
It was against her parents' wishes, of course. That's why she kept it in
her boyfriend's garage for a few years.
Dubiner, who is now a 29-year-old graduate student, was the only female
in her scooter club during her teen-age years. She says she endured some
jeers by male members, but with her organizational skills that kept club
alive, they didn't dare get rid of her. Through the years Dubiner has seen
Vespas in her garage come and go. She has treated some better than others,
often getting an urge to give them her own spray-paint jobs. Which is what
she did to one 10 year ago. But now, she has taken the 1968 150 Sprint and
dumped $2,500 into restoring it. It's pink. And the seats are custom-designed
- by her, of course. Now she rides the Sprint on seats made from Samsonite
luggage.
Dubiner is guilty of turning her Vespa into a girly-looking mode of
transportation, but Pamela Anderson is guilty of hording Vespas. Anderson, a
31-year-old Denver resident who works in graphic design, has two running
Vespas. One is a 1963 Allstate, which tops out at 45 miles per hour. The
other is a Rally 200, which reaches 65 mph. The Allstate, Anderson says, is
her "baby" and she'll never get rid of it.
"Sentimental first bikes reasons," she explains. "I have a bad problem
with hording bikes. I'm lucky enough to find them really cheap, so I just buy
them."
Anderson didn't even know that the first scooter she fell in love with
eight years ago was a Vespa. Once she found out what kind of bike it was, she
sought out other Vespa owners in Denver to share stories, advice and riding
time.
"I think a lot of girls get into scooters because they dated a guy with a
scooter and eventually lost the guy, but kept the love for the bike. I feel
lucky that I didn't get into it that way," says Anderson. She admits now,
though, that her current relationship is with a guy she met at a rally two
years ago. "It's so cool to be dating someone that understands and obsesses
over the same thing."
|
|
|
|
|
|
