Some more details

I bought the Vespa 18 months ago on Ebay from a real enthusiast.  I've always had bikes, the last 8 years a Harley D that I love greatly.  I've been touring with this each year mostly through France, Once down into Italy, and last year through Scandinavia.   The Vespa purchase was a mindset that thought could I get the same sort of enjoyment whilst never going over the speed limit.  Big bikes make small boys ride faster than they should nearly all the time.  

Could a small bike give the same pleasure.  My cousin Simon talked long about biking being about something you could almost lay down outside the sweet shop like you used to do with a pedal cycle.  

That was the idea with the Vespa.  Slow, really simple technology (skip that), there is really no technology with the Vespa.  There is some engineering, but that's about all.   And although I spent too much on it to actually lay it down outside the sweet shop, you get my drift.  Open faced helmet, lightweight gloves, a pair of jeans and sneakers, a comfortable light leather jacket.   No lights to speak of, so no night riding, in essence no sophistication, but like the "slow food idea" you ride slow enough to stop, turn round and look at whatever you are passing.  

Riding big bikes, no stopping, because by the time you react to what you've seen, you're half a mile down the road.  Open face, so you can smell what you're passing.

Who knows, the whole idea may collapse, when I am heading into a headwind that reduces my speed to 20mph.  How will I really cope through the Alps, where I have always enjoyed those long sweeping bends at speed, with only 125cc to get me up 1 in 10 inclines that go on for miles.

God the whole idea is petrifying.