Scratching My Vespa Itch
Bajaj Scooter Models Some people buy yachts and go space traveling. I have more modest dreams and prefer simpler adventures. Owning a "Vespa" was my unrequited dream. I grew up riding borrowed "Vespas". Actually, the brand in India is called Bajaj. The history is that Bajaj started off as a builder of scooters based on licensed Vespa/Piaggio designs. Specifically, the Bajaj Chetak was very similar to the Vespa Sprint. Sort of like a white labeled Vespa. Once the license from Vespa/Piaggio expired, Bajaj started rolling out their own models including Priya and Super, which were still fairly similar to their 150cc 2-stroke Vespa-like predecessor. My dad had a sky blue (if I remember correctly) Bajaj for a short period of time. Not sure why he got rid of it but he never let me ride it, perhaps rightly so since I didn't have a license. So, I grew up facing a combination of envy for classmates and friends who rode scooters. I occasionally got my fix by borrowing thei...