Traffic in Portofino/area? Thinking of scooter rental or guided tour

Done it many times, all the way from Florence even. If you have experience at home, you can do it too. You can't get on the freeway though.

If you "own a Vespa at home in Canada" why would you be looking for "anyone done it with NO scooter experience"?

Do you own it but never ride it? Italy, especially mountain roads, is no place for a novice rider.

Nigel, I assure you I do not stare at my Vespa like a piece of furniture inside my house. :)

No, I am not a novice–I was hoping to lead the way for my fiancé on some quieter streets.

geri,

I'm not entirely clear on your plans?

Are you planning to travel to Portofino just to see the town, or do you intend to explore the area using Scooter? If renting the Vespa in Portofino, I'm not really sure what there is to see on the roads (which may be narrow and twisting) surrounding the town?

As you'll be travelling from the Cinque Terre on a day trip, there are a couple of other options you could consider.....

• Travel by train to Santa Margherita Ligure and make the hike to Portofino (about an hour, I believe - details in the Guidebook).
• Travel by train to Santa Margherita Ligure and take the short (~20 minute) trip to Portofino by boat. It's always nice to arrive in the beautiful harbour in the same fashion as the luxury yachts (there will probably be a few docked there).

Which of the five C.T. towns are you staying in?

I didn't read your post carefully. I thought you were staying in Portofino.
If you are at the Cinque Terre and you go to Portofino via Train + bus then you don't need to rent a scooter anymore. Portofino is largely pedestrianized and you can see anything you need on foot (1 hr in that town is all I can take, too many rich snobs). If you rent a scooter there, all you can do is ride it to Paraggi and SML (10 min). The rest of that area is very urbanized and not particularly enjoyable by Vespa (at least IMO).
I however used to enjoy a lot riding along the Cinque Terre, and also to Porto Venere, to Lerici, and to Monte Marcello.
If you want to do that, there is a scooter rental in Levanto called Paddock. I'm sure there are even more in La Spezia.

There's a danger to using Google Maps street view and images to hive out road conditions.

Look at the month and the time of day (shadows, number of people, folded umbrellas), and clothing to determine if what you see is reasonable to expect.

Thanks, all, for your contributions.