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"FacebookPinterest\n\nThere's this breathy echo when you laugh out loud inside a motorcycle helmet. I couldn't help it\u2014I had woken up late, split through Manhattan gridlock on my Vespa, and arrived at work with time to spare. While millions of commuters sweated through traffic and subway delays, I grabbed a coffee and strolled into the office.\n\nIf I lived in Rome, this would be un giorno normale. But when it comes to taking cues from Italy, we're late to the party and loud as hell when we show up. For eons Italian men have gone sockless in the summer, sipped espresso, and eaten fresh local produce without making a big deal about it. Here's the next thing we'll eventually realize that they already know: When a man needs to get from A to B, two wheels are often better than four.\n\nWhile there's nothing like an honest-to-God motorcycle, the thrills of a Ducati are wasted on a deli run. And no matter what your cycle-gang friends tell you, a scooter doesn't have to be some underpowered pastel-color toy. The fuel-injected 150cc engine on the Vespa S 150 is punchy enough to shoot gaps in moving traffic and tops out at a comfortable fiftynine miles per hour, which means you're not relegated to the shoulder if you have to hit the highway for an exit or two. With sharp lines borrowed from those iconic 1970s Vespas you still see on the road, you should think of your new Vespa as an aesthetic investment; it will still look cool\u2014and probably still run\u2014in 2040.\n\nBut what the S 150 does best is turn mindless errands into a chance to get some fresh air and clear your head. Suddenly you're jumping at the chance to buy ice, Advil\u2014anything you can stash in the under-seat compartment, which is big enough to accommodate an extra helmet for your buddy or for an attractive woman who can't find a cab. (Yes, this happens.) It's also liberating in the literal sense; in case you've never heard of it, \"lane splitting\" (while not always legal) means gridlock doesn't apply to you, and you can strike the phrase \"look for parking\" from your personal lexicon.\n\nAll that said, the most thrilling part of owning a Vespa is not arriving at work early but getting the hell out of the office on a Friday night. Waiting for a train or staring at a yellow-cab partition is no way to embrace your weekend, but as I wove through southbound traffic for the first time, it was green lights asfar as I could see.\n\n\n\nFacebookPinterest\n\nBare-Bones and Badass: The Honda Ruckus\n\nIf the Ruckus looks lawless, that's because it is: The 49cc engine doesn't require a motorcycle license in most states, and for those times when a man has to cut across someone's lawn to get where he's going, these beefy stamped-steel wheels are just the ticket. You won't win any drag races or beauty contests, but at 100 mpg, losing will cost you almost nothing.\n\n$2,150 | www.powersports.honda.com"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.gq.com/story/best-new-vespas>