:strip_icc():format(jpeg)/kly-media-production/medias/1708492/original/065914700_1505277511-Vespa_2.jpg)
By Joshua Parsons
Barangkali Anda bisa melihatnya di komunitas penggemar Vespa gembel (Brekele) atau istilah kerennya Rat Scooter.Kalau kebanyakan orang suka pamer kemewahan, mereka justru pamer kegembelan. "Pokoknya makin gembel makin keren. "Kami ingin buktikan bahwa orang yang berpenampilan gembel hatinya belum tentu jahat," tutur Yoyok, anggota BITS.Yoyok tahu persis bagaimana sakitnya disepelekan hanya karena penampilannya. Kalau enggak pake Vespa gembel, mana ada yang mau memerhatikan kita," ujar Ableh.Kebanyakan penggemar Vespa gembel memang berasal dari kelompok menengah ke bawah. Mereka kerap diabaikan dan dipinggirkan.Nah, lewat Vespa gembel mereka menciptakan ruang ekspresi sendiri lantas merebut perhatian orang lain.Lewat kegembelannya, mereka menyelipkan semacam semangat demokrasi di jalanan.
But few take their obsessions to the level of the country’s Vespa gembel—or Vespa drifters. For the punks, Rastafarians, and metalheads gathered at the small village of Desa Tukadaya, in eastern Bali, the original stock Vespa is a jumping-off point for wild creativity. Their Piaggio Vespas are Frankenstein monster machines: shining testaments to kampung ingenuity and DIY customization. As long as your creation has a stock, horizontally mounted 98cc two-stroke Piaggio motor you can be part of the Vespa community. Frames are built from steel and bamboo, stock scooters are chopped to the barest of vehicles, and the entire thing is adorned with animal bones, garbage, and cannibalized motor scooter parts.
Then there are the ‘Vespa Ekstrimists’ – a renegade faction of clubs that champion mutant forms. Members of Indonesia’s Vespa Ekstrim community bend, saw and weld old Vespas into unique forms never dreamt of by Piaggio. Indonesia’s more strait-laced Vespa societies call these bikes Vespa Gembel (‘Junk Vespas’), but the builders prefer to simply call their creations ‘extreme’. The Vespa Ekstrim culture bears the hallmarks of punk, sharing its commitment to freedom – both of thought and self-expression – as well as a sense of solidarity among outsiders. He rode from his home in Bogor (about sixty kilometres from Jakarta) to hang out with his Vespa Ekstrim buddies.
Otosia, Jakarta Banyak anak muda yang sering mengendarai Vespa gembel. Apalagi jika sampai Vespa gembel memiliki bodi sepanjang truk. Nah, berikut ini sederet potret Vespa gembel dengan ukuran sepanjang truk yang berhasil dihimpun dari berbagai sumber pada Rabu (23/8/2023). Gak terlalu panjang sih, tapi warna-warni yaVespa gembel (Instagram/@vespaextremeindonesia)2. Vespa gembel (Instagram/@vespaextremeindonesia)3.
