On The Streets With Jakarta's Vespa Enthusiasts
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On The Streets With Jakarta's Vespa Enthusiasts

I bought a classic Vespa scooter and found a whole subculture in the Indonesian capital.

Vespas are a whole new world for me. I only got into this whole Vespa thing in April after I decided to break the bank and buy a classic 1972 Vespa Sprint. An Italian guy sold it to me, and he asked me to join Mods Mayday, explaining that you can't officially be a Vespa kid until you participate in an annual mods run. But I was like, what the hell is Mods Mayday? Is it some sort of labor thing?

"Mods Mayday is one of the biggest Vespa events in the world," explained Farid Rahman, a local vintage scooter enthusiast. "The event is big in Indonesia, since it's always consistently held in May, unlike other events that are often held at different times, and therefore lessen its impact to the public."

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The event started in Indonesia in 2008. This year, the Mods Mayday Vespa run began at the National Monument (Monas) and continued down to Senayan, Central Jakarta, where everyone parked at the eastern parking lot. I immediately felt like I was part of a community. Senayan was a Vespa heaven, a mob scene of Vespa, Lambretta, and Piaggio scooters.

Some people told me this year wasn't as good as year's past, but for a Vespa newbie like me, it was pretty much heaven.