Throttle and Roast Hits 100 Episodes as Summer Begins

What good is the warmth of summer without the cold of winter to give it sweetness? Welcome to the Throttle and Roast Podcast. I'm your host, Niels Meersschaert. In today's episode, I'll be looking at a couple of anniversaries that are happening in 2026. Today also marks the unofficial start of summer in the Northern Hemisphere, and that means more riding.. . . Perhaps one of the most iconic brands out there, when it comes to at least scooters, is Vespa. And Vespa is celebrating their 80th anniversary this year. Now that first patent for the design of the Vespa, was issued about 80 years ago, just a couple of weeks ago. . Now, more than 20 million vehicles have been produced by the Vespa brand, and models today range from a 50, 125, and 150 cc versions of the Primavera, or the small chassis Vespa. And there's other variants, like the Sprint, but they're all fundamentally fairly similar designs. And then they also have the big-body Vespa, or the GTS, which is available with either a 125 or a 310 cc engine. I actually own one of these GTSs. I own a 2020 model. So it's actually a, I think, a 297 cc engine. Not the most powerful bike under the sun, but enough to get up to highway speeds able to be incredibly practical. If you need to go to the hardware store, if you need to run errands, you need to go to the grocery store, you can carry a surprising amount of stuff on these little bikes. And they just, they have such a classic retro, almost a timeless design to them, that's still just as iconic today as it was 80 years ago. I also want to highlight that today marks the 100th episode of the Throttle and Roast podcast. And a big thanks to you for all of your support in getting the show to be this far Now if you listen to the podcast but you haven't actually explored a little bit more of the content that we have, I encourage you to go and visit our website at throttleandroast.com. There's a ton of articles that I put up onto the website where they'll cover topics that are perhaps a little difficult to do in an audio format. I can actually have more visuals when I'm writing it. I also have a favorite product section on the website, and this will highlight some of the things that I just personally love within the motorcycling community. These are products that I use regularly on the motorcycles. And of course, a little bit of some of the coffee accessories that I do at home. And if you do use any of the links that we have there, these do help support the show. The other big thing is that in a couple of weeks, I am going to be at the BMW MOA rally up in Essex Junction, Vermont in the United States. if you are going to be there too please reach out, it would be wonderful to be able to connect with some of you and I'd really enjoy that. Now today is Memorial Day in the United States. And unofficially, this is usually thought of as the start of summer. A lot of people will be very excited to just get their summer riding going. And of course, you're going to see more and more riders out on the roads. Now that the weather is starting to warm up a little bit more, we're getting a little bit past the rainy slog that we typically have in April. It's going to be a little bit more consistent for riders to be out on the roads. I would encourage you if it is some of your first rides of the season, though, of course, to take it a little bit easy for these first ones. Sometimes you have gotten a little bit of the winter doldrums if you've not been riding for a while you may be a little out of practice. If it is a little bit easier out onto the bike this summer. Now if you have been riding for a few months already, maybe you started riding in the spring just as we got past the freezing temperatures of winter, you might be getting into the warmer temperatures where you may need to start to switch into some of your mesh gear just to make it a little bit more comfortable for while you're riding. So just be aware of that. Where I am right now, the temperatures are kind of in between. We'll sometimes go for a very cool morning and then it'll warm up as the day progresses. So I may need to have a little bit of variation into it, and so what I found works really well in those situations is I'll use a mesh suit, but then I'll have almost like a windproof shirt, like a jersey underneath it, and this will keep some of cold air from getting through the mesh in the early of your day, but then I can take that off and ride with just the mesh jacket as the day progresses. So we'll be in a little bit of transition summer is beginning. Now of course, trips are a great way to expand your horizons with the As I alluded to earlier, I'm going to be doing the BMW MOA Rally in just a couple of weeks. Now for where I am, the rally is going to be probably around 300 to 350 miles depending upon the specific route that I take. Just to get up there, I'm going to not be doing highways. I actually like to do the back roads as I'm traveling up there. It's definitely a good, solid day ride. But I think for anybody who wants to go and do a trip, this is something that's really cool. Now I will be camping when I'm on there and this is pretty common for the BMW MOA. A lot of people do camping there. There's a huge group of people who come bring tents, whatever. I'm probably going to bring a hammock this year, but it's just an incredible event. And if you are going to be getting ready for the summer months, I do encourage you to just get out there and ride. Find a destination. Do something that you can get out there. And if you happen to be in the Northeast United States, the MOA Rally is a really great option. Now, I do also want to take a little bit of a moment to remember that Memorial Day is not just about having a barbecue. It's not just about getting into the pool or opening up the pool and beginning to enjoy the summer. This is actually a day to remember those service members who have sacrificed their lives. This is different than a Veterans Day. It's not just for people who served in the military. This is for people who had perished in the Now, there are ways that if you riding that you can still honor them. And one that has been going on a bit of this past weekend and into today is the Rolling Thunder DC. This is a gathering of motorcyclists where they are coming together to honor those brave soldiers and pay respect at the various memorials all across the Washington DC area. So, if you are in DC, this is an incredible show of solidarity amongst riders. Even if you can't make it for this year's event, I would encourage you to look at it and future years. Just to be able to honor people who have had to give the ultimate sacrifice. let's wrap up. We talked a little bit about how Vespa is celebrating their 80th anniversary this year. Such an iconic design with that Vespa scooter. in my view, at least, it looks far more attractive than a lot of other scooters that are on the market. It's just such a unique and iconic design. And, of course, a big thanks to you for helping us get to our 100th episode. of Throttle and Roast. And, of course, we wrapped up with a bit of Memorial Day. It's the start of summer. We are a far enough summer. It's the perfect time to get out and ride and enjoy the warmer weather with your bike. So, my question for you this week is what are you looking forward to this summer? Share your thoughts through the text of the show link in the show notes or leave a voicemail at throttleandroast.com/voicemail. Thanks for listening. I'll talk to you next week.