Gerber had a passion for European motorscooters, such as Vespas, Lambretta, and Heinkels, owning dozens of various scooters, putting over 412,000 miles riding his bikes on 5 continents,[2] and according to the Boston Globe was "the world's foremost historian on the development, manufacture and spread of motor scooters as a practical means of everyday and leisure transportation."[3]
Gerber rode his first bike at age 14 and by 21 he had ridden almost 40,000 miles traveling around the US and Canada. In 1966 he embarked on the first of his epic rides going 11,000 mi (18,000 km) from Minnesota to Panama and back on a Vespa GS 160.[4] In 1971, he completed a 25,000 mi (40,000 km) solo trip on his Vespa motor scooter from Wisconsin down the east coast of South America to the Tierra del Fuego. He returned up the west coast and was on his way to Alaska when the trip was cut short by a car totaling his scooter in Hayward, California.[1] In the late 1970s Gerber shipped a Vespa Rally from London to Singapore so he could ride the bike back the 20,000 mi (32,000 km) to London.[5][6][7][8]
^Doten, Patti (11 September 1999), "The Gentle Cycle; With their quirkey charm, scooters prove that bigger isn't always better [sic]", Boston Globe, p. F.1
