Indonesia, where more than 85% of the population own a two-wheeler, is one of the largest Vespa enthusiast communities in the world, second only to Italy.

Since the 1970s, Vespa, which was manufactured and distributed in Jakarta until 2001, has been a common sight on Indonesian streets.

The Vespa is such a massive part of the community that, according to National Geographic, it’s taken on a creative and cultural life of its own.

You really have to applaud the ingenuity on display:

Scavengers are transforming iron sheets, plastic bottles, metal drums, and fallen trees into modified Vespa extremes.

There is only one mandatory component required in the design: the Vespa engine. “A bike that we build is usually a contribution of many,” explains 18-year-old Fauzi, a new enthusiast and high school student in Bandung. “Even if we could build on our own, the essence is the togetherness, figuring things out, experimenting until it is finished,” he says. “We construct it together, and we ride it together.”

These ‘Mad Max’ Vespa hybrids, ridden proudly by the Rebel Riders, are incredible. Marc Aziz Ressang’s short doccie goes inside the Vespa-centric sub-culture:

If you want to up your transport game with a Vespa, you can peruse their range online.

Then, when you’ve found what you’re after, drop Seth a mail at editor@2oceansvibe.com, make the subject line “Hook me up with a Vespa discount”, and he’ll do what he does best.

What you do with it once it’s yours is entirely up to you.

[source:nationalgeographic]