Can You Ride a Scooter and Still Be a Man?

I picked up a blue GTS 300 from Vespa of Sherman Oaks in Los Angeles. Vespa technical service representative Sean Needham gave me the lowdown on the bike. The GTS 300 is a bigger, faster scooter than most. Its single cylinder (278 CCs) four-stroke valve engine can get over 80 mph – a number I would later confirm. It gets 65-70 miles per gallon, weighs 326 pounds dry and costs $6,000. As scooters go, it’s a bad-ass.

To drive a scooter in California, you need a motorcycle license. I have mine.

Needham showed me how to start, ride and park the bike. Minutes later I was on my own, driving through Studio City to the Cahuenga Pass, then on through Hollywood to the Miracle Mile, where the Made Man office is located. As I would later tell someone, “It’s easy to ride. Once you’re moving, the bike WANTS to stay upright.”

I spent a week on that Vespa. I commuted to work. I rode it to the store on an adult beverage run. (Sober.) I showed my fiancee how to drive it. (Sorry, Vespa. I’m guessing that was against the rules. But you probably just added a customer. She loved it.) I took it on the freeway.

Over the course of one week I learned several things I think will interest any man who has ever thought about purchasing a scooter. For instance, at no point did a hot woman in a Jeep roll her eyes at me.