Vespa GTS Windscreen Breakage

Coincidentally, I planned on writing a post this week about the large selection of different windshields available for your scooter along with my reviews of the various sizes and brands.

Here’s my review of the Faco mid-size windshield for the Vespa GTS: It’s really expensive and breaks when slammed against a rock wall.

Some very mean people (not the words I chose offline) decided it would be fun to push my scooter over on Friday night while it was parked in my driveway. Hours before, I was lying in bed thinking, “I forgot to put my scooter in the garage. I should go do that.” But I was not motivated by the thought of getting out of bed at midnight, getting dressed and trekking outside. So I didn’t.

I don’t know what ensued, but I can speculate that a bunch of drunkards were horsing around sitting on it and fell off, bringing it down with them. I’d rather imagine that, than a bunch of drunkards vile enough to maliciously push it over, freely roaming my neighborhood.

Luckily, the fallen Aphrodite was discovered by my boyfriend, who righted the scooter, sparing me the trauma of seeing my beautiful piece of machinery sprawled on the cement and giving me time to mentally prepare myself for the damage. It would have been far worse to discover it myself – and then have to wrestle the 400 lb. bike up off the ground, too.

One of the (countless) things that bugs me is that there’s this bright red Vespa ET4 parked on the street one block down that has been there for a year and has never been hit, stolen, or messed with. Meanwhile, I leave my scooter in my private driveway for one single night (the only time I’ve left it outside) and it gets vandalized.

The damage was not as bad as it could have been; the crash bars are worth their weight in gold (or cost in chrome), protecting the paint job and tender panels. The left mirror suffered quite a blow and is now dented — though no broken mirror so perhaps it will suffer no further bad luck.

On a positive note, Saturday’s 95 degree sunshine was a good excuse as any to remove the windshield and let the fresh summer air cool me down. It felt strange at first to ride without that barrier, but I got used to it quickly. I seem to ride a lot more slowly without it. The force of the wind at 45 m.p.h. is much more noticeable.

Okay, I’m done feeling sorry for myself now. Fun and exciting photos from Saturday’s Westenders SC Secret Sunset Scoot ‘n’ Skewer are forthcoming, including action shots from the scooter jousting session. Stay tuned!