That’s Ruby II. She’s the scooter I’ll be riding across the country. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let me back up and explain the whole scooter thing.

The Evolution of Scooters.

In the Spring of 2005, I got my first scooter. It was a 1975 Bajaj Chetak, a clone of a Vespa Sprint. I rode it for about a day and decided that I needed something a bit bigger. It was then that I bought a Black 2005 Stella, a clone of a Vespa PX. Great scooter. I modified it with a new head, new crank, new carb and it ran like a top.

It was around that time that I bought a 1970 VW Bus. It wasn’t a scooter, but it was great. It could even haul a scooter if you took out the sink!

Next, I did a really weird thing. I decided that I wanted a white Stella. So instead of painting my black one, I bought a white one and moved the souped up engine to the new white Stella and the stock engine to the old black Stella. And while I certainly wasn’t through with the work on the white Stella, I put it on hold so that I could trade the black Stella for a 1959 Vespa Allstate.

The Allstate had a Stella engine in it (this all gets complicated), which was great. I threw a pipe on it, got a bigger carb and new air filter. It could do 60mph. The body, however, was in desperate need of restoration.

But before that, I wanted to work on some cosmetic things with the white Stella. I removed the battery, gave it a glovebox cowl and some Star Wars decals, making it look like a Storm Trooper. I loved this scooter. With the engine, it could do 70mph. That is, until one fine spring day when I installed a bigger carb and revved it out on a straight stretch. I hit 75mph and seized the engine while on a weekend trip..

While that was in the shop, my father and I restored the ‘59 Allstate. We gave it a beautiful baby blue paint job and replaced everything rubber in it.

I got the white Stella back from the shop, nearly good as new. But I just couldn’t trust it (or rather, myself) anymore. I then got serious about Scoot 66. I need something bullet proof. Something that wouldn’t seize on me and something that would basically last forever.

It was then that I bought the 2006 Bajaj Chetak. The newer Chetaks are 4 strokes and will run forever. Great scooter. I did some cosmetic mods to it and basically fell in love with it. However, it would only do about 55mph. If I were going to take this across the country, I would need to go faster. It would be the perfect around the town scooter, but for highways, I would need something better.

But my goodness, at this point, I had four scooters. Nevertheless, that’s when I bought Ruby II.

Who is Ruby II?
Ruby II is a 2007 Vespa GTS250. She’s a fuel injected, water cooled four stroke. Powered by a 21 horsepower 250cc engine, she’ll carry 80mph all day without batting an eyelash. All this with 65 - 70mpg.

It was a little weird getting used to Ruby II. All of the other scooters are air cooled with standard transmissions. Vespa GTSs are automatics. They have radiators. It’s basically a car on two wheels. Twist the throttle and off you go! Older Vespas (and every other scooter I’ve owned) have the rear break on the floor. On the new Vespas, the rear break is on the handlebars. I’m still not used to that.

And while I sometimes still feel myself trying to shift gears, this is the beauty that will carry me across 25 states, through four time zones, from sea to sea (well almost).

Why scooters?
I’m not really sure, but maybe it’s in my blood. My grandfather used to ride a Montgomery Wards Riverside Nassau. It was made by Mitsubishi (called a Silver Pigeon C-80). He would ride all year long. In the winter, he would pile on the layers, throw on a snowmobile suit and ride, even through the snow, to the post office, where he worked. That is a hardcore scooterist.

While my grandfather rode out of both fun and necessity, I ride mostly for fun. Yeah, I thought about motorcycles for a bit. They’re great. Maybe someday I’ll have one. But for now, I’ve fallen in love with scooters. From their style to their simplicity. Specifically, Vespa and its clones (Bajaj, LML/Stella) have me hooked.

Like my grandfather, I do ride year round. Yeah, it’s a lot less in the winter, but it’s still there. Usually, it’s a quick ride to the store. But when the temps climb over 40 on a warm January day, I start getting the uncontrollable urge to head out on longer rides. It’s a compulsion that only scooterists and motorcyclists would understand. The closest thing I can compare it to is a surfer who is stuck in summer school when the waves kick up. I wouldn’t call in an addiction, not quite.

It’s only been a few short years since I got my first scooter. But since then, I’ve bought a total of seven scooters. And while I’m trying to sell most of them off, I’d be crazy to think that there won’t be more.

What’s next on the scooter front?
So far, I’ve sold the Allstate, the ‘75 Bajaj and the ‘06 Bajaj. I have only Whitey left. He’ll get a new PX200 engine later this summer. The bus has also been sold. I think I’ll keep it at two scooters for a bit. But who knows, I’ll probably pick up a mid-60’s Vespa. I just can’t stay away from them.

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Oh, and who was Ruby I? Well, here you go. It’s story time.