Why would two guys ride large-frame modern Vespas through Mexico? To surf, obviously.

It was Thanksgiving week 2008, and Vespas were the hottest thing on two wheels that season. The shop had been swamped all summer, and so my best pal from high school and Motoworks Field Tester, Josh Saxe, had come to Chicago over the summer to help us in the shop.

While working with us, Josh had picked up a Vespa GT200L, which he then built a surf board rack for, and headed back to San Diego via Acapulco. He had a blast bombing around on his surf scooter later convinced me to take our annual Thanksgiving motorcycle trip on a pair of Vespas. I’ll never pass up on a motorcycle adventure.

Motoworks Sponsored Surf Vespa

As you can see in the video, we had a blast. We rolled down the peninsula, stopping to surf along the way and taking in a full gringo thanksgiving dinner in San Felipe. Everywhere we went, people freaked out at the sight of two scoots with surfboards attached. Like most scooters, they just made people smile. We had a blast, ran out of gas, drank a lot of beer and came home in one piece. That’s success on a trip of any size, be it on Ducati Multistradas or Vespas.

Over the course of our trip, my respect for the large-frame Vespa deepened big time. That GTS300 Super I rode is a bike we still carry in the shop today. The highways in Mexico are generally very good, but when those roads get rough they’re not for the faint of heart. My GT, loaded with 50+ pounds of gear and a 7′ surfboard, took two big pothole hits in stride. I didn’t know what to expect over the course of our journey, but one thing proved out, we had a lot of fun.