Scooter Customization on the Cheap

Piaggio is supposedly releasing a series of various decals for the Vespa S. It seems a little odd that these stickers are being tied so closely to the S. Like they won't stick onto a GTS? The sets of stickers are fairly pedestrian, Italian flags, Union Jacks, racing stripes... yada, yada, yada... Follow this link, and it will take you to the S accessories page where you can see pictures of the sets.

I guess I can understand some of the marketing-think for this. The S is harkening back to the sport models of the 60s and 70s which scooterboys get all misty over, and scooterboys are prone to pimping their scoots in one way or another.

It takes me back to my skater days when a skateboard deck, no matter how cool the graphics, had an undeniable attraction to stickers, mostly for favorite punk bands of the week. I guess I'm showing my age, but I see a strange evolutionary connection between skateboards and scooters. Skateboards being transport for early teens and scooters being the next stage of mobile independence.

Any how, while I'd be hesitant to put many stickers on a car, (even though it might improve the appearance of Jes's beater Escort Wagon I'm driving), stickers just seem natural for scooters.

Perhaps you are following my train of thought, but are hesitant to plaster your beloved scoot with "Nuke a gay whale for Christ" or some other such slogan. Well let me tell you, the world of ready-made stick-on graphics has changed a lot since the days of Black Flag logos on Vision decks...

I've mentioned Scoot Graphics in the past, and have meant to link to Pimp My Scoota, and Scooter Art, but somehow neglected to.

Pimp My Scoota has many different sets of large vinyl graphics designed by artists. These designs are very distinctive, stamped with the various artists particular style, and crafted to fit exactly on P-series Vespas. If you've got a P and you find something you like, you are in luck.

Scooter Art has stylized 50s looking space age designs. A little more generic perhaps, but the style does work well with the Modern Vespas.

An idea that percolated through my head for a while is using wall-stickers. Blik has a variety of wall-stickers that have cool potential for customizing a scoot. They also make some of their designs as auto stickers, but I think the wall stickers are more removable. Above you see Matthew Haggett's Spheres in the Autographic version. I think those spheres could be the basis for one really sweet scooter.

All of these various decals stem from the revolution in desk-top vinyl cutting. If you want something really custom, try finding a local sign shop. Chances are they will be happy to cut adhesive vinyl into your design. Also try searching Etsy for wall stickers, you'll turn up all sorts of crazy stuff.