I owned a new 1969 Sears model motor scooter.If memory serves me correctly,it was called,a Vespa.I didn't have a driver's license at the time since I was only 14 years old,and a scooter license wasn't required at the time in the great state of Tennessee.I would take off down the road on my new solid white scooter with my blue helmet on,and did I think I was the stuff!

My new scooter didn't go very fast.I think the speedometer may have registered 45 or 50 miles per hour,and as my Dad said,"That is fast enough for you around here".I believe the engine probably had a governor on it because,all of my previously owned,mini bikes certainly had one.That was to keep down the speed,and it worked very well.The engine was the type that you mixed the gas,and oil together which was different from the smaller bikes I had owned before.The front of the scooter had a large leg protector so,as not to do any damage if one was to wreck.The brake was controlled from the handle bars just like the gas feed.The back was big enough to have another passenger which made it even more fun.

On one occasion,I was going too fast up our extra driveway to the side of our house,which we affectionately called,"The Interstate",and ran head on into some cinder blocks my dad had stacked there.This caused a dent in the front of my scooter.When my Dad found out what I had done it was one of the few times in my life I remember him yelling at me.Needless,to say,I was much more careful of my speed coming up the interstate from then on.

On another unforgettable,and delightful occasion concerning the scooter,one of the most popular girls in my neighborhood had received a new scooter just like mine for Christmas,and we went riding together several times which made my days,and I think,may have resulted in the,"old boy" getting some sugar.

My Dad eventually,gave my scooter to a neighbor girl who rode it some,and she sold it to a man in our town who worked about 12 miles away.One day I heard there was a huge traffic jam in the nearby town,and come to find out,it was the man who bought the scooter I once owned driving it to work,and you guessed it,probably wasn't going over 40 m.p.h. that day!I will never forget owning my white Sears scooter,and I'm sure most of the town won't forget the new owner either!

Learn more about this author, Randal Purdy.
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