Motor scooters exist only in fiction for many Americans. Long distances, cheap fuel, and air pollution laws that preclude the use of two-stroke fuel mixtures have rendered them almost permanently into the history books. But now as the century begins in 2001, the scooters are back.

They never completely left. When the two-stroke ban kicked in, the cool scooters (the Vespas) went away and all that was left were the four-stroke, plastic Hondas and Yamahas. Short on style and rather un-cool, they didn’t sell in sufficient quantities to make their presence felt. The re-introduced Italian Vespa line up, however includes a 50cc two-stroke that actually passed the pollution test and is legal in California.

Thanks to Piaggio, the parent company of Vespa, Americans can again buy scooters that are cool and un-embarrassing to be seen upon. It’s a retro thing. The only stumbling block to a takeover of the streets is the difficulty of obtaining a motorcycle license. In the United Kingdom, a car license lets you ride a 50cc scooter. In the U.S. you have to go and take a test. And that’s a real hassle for Americans who are used to impulsively buying a vehicle such as a car, and legally driving it off the lot.

Regarding that two-stroke issue, Eddie explained that California Emission Laws banned the selling of new two-stroke vehicles in the early eighties, and since all the Vespas were two-strokes, Vespa withdrew from U.S. soil. Around 1997 the off-road bikes that burned two-stroke were also banned, outside of racing on a track.

In the new Vespa model line up, the ET4 has a 150cc four-stroke motor, and the ET2 has a 50cc two-stroke motor, which has been retrofitted for the American market to meet American emission standards. Today the scooter, tomorrow the leaf blower?

The two Vespa scooters look identical. Only the badges look different. They are displayed in a showroom that has some serious design behind it. Feeling more like a clothing store than a vehicle dealership, Vespa of California displays and sells Vespas in all colors, clothing, retro-helmets and bags, purses and accessories that would not look out of place on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. The showroom has green glass displays that would look respectable in a museum of art and they make espresso and cappuccino for the customers.

The owner of the Vespa boutique has a collection of bubble-cars and micro-cars and there is a service facility behind the showroom. The new Vespas sell at just under $3,000 for the ET2 and just under $4,000 for the ET4.

In the corner of the showroom is a 1961 Vespa. How do the new Vespas compare to the old? Eddie explains that the main difference is the twist-and-go automatic transmission on the new scooters. While these are easier to ride, only the old models with the clutches allow you to pop a wheelie, and some riders miss that. Wheelie poppers now have to purchase motorcycles. The disk brakes on the new scooters make stopping a much more efficient enterprise, however, so riders can pop a stoppie.

Readers hold on to your wallets however. There are a few things you need to know before you decide to be a motor scooter rider. Firstly, are you prepared to abandon the freeway system and take surface streets everywhere? The 150cc Vespa is freeway legal, but do you really want to be at full throttle with a Ford Excursion as big as an elephant five feet from the back of your head on the interstate?

If you want to be safe on the freeways, you need a real motorcycle capable of 90MPH with a twist of the wrist. It’s the speed and acceleration that can save you in an emergency. Scooters are for surface streets. Designed originally for the narrow and ancient roads in Italian towns, they are safe and comfortable on the boulevards of America, zooming from one red light or stop sign to the next and weaving through the rush hour traffic. The only other safety consideration is wheel diameter. Motorcycles have bigger wheels that can take the occasional pothole without too much trauma, but you have to aim your small-wheeled Vespa for the smoother parts of the street to avoid any explosive losses of control.

We pose retro sales associate Amy for one last shot and then leave in our car, considering if we can get away with buying some Vespas for fun. If a million Brits can do it in their lousy weather, what are we Southern Californians waiting for?

More Vespa boutiques are planned in San Francisco, Miami, Chicago and Houston.

The Vespa web site is at: http://www.piaggiousa.com/