Someone warned me that when I got the Vespa -- especially with a sidecar -- people would stop me all the time to comment. Yep. That's the case. I got stopped several times by people I didn't know. One guy commented to me how his father owned a Cushman when he was a child and he used to ride it when he was 7 or so. Based on the age of the guy, he was probably 7 in the early seventies.

At first, I was kind of hesitant because I work on a college campus and you're not exactly sure what response you are going to get. I needn't have worried. I overheard several young students say, "Cool." I had a girl come up and ask if she could take a picture of the bike with a soccer ball on top (don't ask... I didn't).

The older people got into it as well. Most commented on how much they liked it. More than one asked where I got it from and a couple commented on how they had thought of getting a Vespa or scooter themselves.

Only one may a negative comment about safety. However, this guy is always saying something negative, so I discount that one.

The only problem is the fact that I can't get the gears to work correctly. A friend is coming by tomorrow evening to help me get that straightened out. I'm also afraid that I'm going to need to have the timing set on the thing. Tonight I also learned that the bulbs keep getting blown.

I did get a chance to take my children for a ride in the sidecar. That was lots of fun. I wanted Child Two to be the first person to ride in the sidecar, so I was glad to give him that opportunity...even if it was a pretty rough ride.

I won't be able to take the bike into work tomorrow. Hopefully the work we do on it tomorrow will make a difference and I'll have some fun this weekend.