Month: February 2008

Construction continues…

Just about everyone I’ve asked, including myself, said they’d prefer to see the center column as an all-inclusive chronological listing rather than separate categories, so I’ll be changing that back soon, as soon as I figure out how. In the meantime, have you checked out 2strokebuzz Radio?

Dealer Expo 2008

Close your eyes. Take a deep breath. Picture a midwestern pro football stadium. Got it? Now picture it totally full of Chinese motorscooters. Hold on, we’ll save you the trouble, here’s what it looks like:

The RCA Dome, Dealer Expo 2008

We have a lot to say about Dealer Expo, and a lot of photos, so instead of one really long writeup, we’ll split it up into smaller posts all week. Stay tuned.

New Name For TGB US Importer With New Models

The Taiwanese scooter manufacturer TGB (Taiwan Golden Bee) has had a company called Cobra Sales as their importer for the last several years.  The TGB product has been fairly good, if on the budget side of quality ROC scooters.  The company is now appearing as Peirspeed and their website shows off thier expanded powersports line.  The line-up includes uninspiring formulaic choppers as headliners but has a few new surprises.  The Sachs MadAss has gotten a long-awaited displacement upgrade to 125cc.  This change makes a lot more sense than powering the heavy and overly tall-in-the-saddle motorcycle with the anaemic 50cc 4 stroke Honda Cub clone motor.  While the poor ergonomics have remained, as well as the 50cc option, new MadAss owners will now surely have a higher level of enjoyment with the extra power at the throttle of the nicely spartan and original machine.  Another pleasant surprise from Sachs, noted on the Peirspeed website, is a trellis-framed supermoto called the X-Road.  It’s a simple but good looking small displacement option that appears very nice as-is but really will scream for engine modifications or outright motor transplants (something two-stroke I’d like the think).  Hopefully the new incarnation of Cobra Sales will be able to maintain their adequate level of dealer and parts support with their rapidly expanding line.  I can not think of many examples of success following rapid expansion of a powersports line, but maybe they can be the first.  Personally I’d like to see new importers stick to keeping it simple until they’ve established a relatively impeccable reputation. 

Death of a Dream: R.I.P. Amarcord Concept

The critical words used when Italjet products are discussed have their origin in the frustration felt when their excellent concepts often fail in the execution of delivering the legendary products we hope for.  The Velocifero, Dragster and Formula models made it far when reaching for iconic status but fell short in the end due to poor product support and the ultimate demise of the company’s incarnation at the time.  Some exciting designs have yet to make it from prototype to production.  Examples include the Scooop, Rollercraft and Amarcord.  While the Scooop may have been outdone by the Piaggio MP3 in arriving first and the Rollercraft may yet arrive, the motorcycle-with-a-scooter-engine work of art known as the Amarcord seems to have died and it’s name lifted onto a Chinese scooter.  Reported by Cyberscooter.it from the EICMA in 2007, the scooter with the Amarcord name appeared as one of Italjet’s new offerings.  The scooter doesn’t look all that horrible it is slightly reminiscent of the Velocifero’s retro design with some tell-tale accents of mainland-China construction.  Also note the yellow Rollercraft model in the background.  What moves me to feel sad and mourn the loss of the of a great design is that the name transfer of the Amarcord label from an incredibly eye-catching and novel design to an homogenized standard scooter signals the death of an idea that’s time is ripe and appears to be lost on most (but not all) manufacturers.  R.I.P. Amarcord concept.

Denver hit-and-run rider identified

Colin from Sportique has identified the Buddy 125 rider that was injured in a hit-and-run accident in Denver this weekend:

The girl who was a victim of the hit-and-run in Denver on her Buddy 125 was Paula Barlow. She is a sweetheart and rides every day in all weather. She is banged up bad and the dude that hit her is still on the loose.

Paula has been a Sportique regular for many many years. She is a trip. Her first scooter was one of those Puegeot big-wheel scoots from the late nineties. She has had several others of the past ten or so years including a Kymco Cobra, a Kymco People and a Buddy 50. Her Buddy 125 was the bike she finally settled on and she loved the thing to pieces. Her scooter had virtually become her identity. Every time Paula came into the Scooter shop she flirted with all the guys there up one side and down the other. She’s hilarious.

Please her send well-wishes from ALL OVER THE PLACE! Paula will really appreciate it. She has not got many friends or family to show her support right now….let’s be her scooter family. In fact, when I called her house her neighbor was tending to her affairs. Send postcards or whatever to:

Paula Barlow
c/o Denver Health
777 Bannock St
Pavilion A, room 202
Denver, Co 80204

Thanks, Colin. It looks like Modern Buddy is collecting donations to buy her some scooter magazines and flowers. Get well soon, Paula.

Archive: Amy Hong, 1996

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Amy Hong, Niagara Rally, 1996

Another Niagara ’96 photo, this is Amy Hong, another scooter friend from the old days who’s fallen off the face of the earth. At the time, she was a student at Loyola and owned a beautiful metallic-green Vespa Rally 180, which we picked up from the painters (after a three-hour wait) on our way to our first out-of-town rally. After that episode, trailer rental problems, a flat tire, car trouble, getting lost, etc., it only took us about 22 hours each way. It was worth it.

Blog Review: The New Cafe Racer Society

Back when people rode new bikes that looked like what people today call a cafe-racer, did they refer to themselves as cafe-racers with pride and machismo? Or was that a jibe that would come from others poking fun at groups of wannabe Grand Prix heroes? I don’t know. But I came across a blog called The New Cafe Racer Society that has some great material. It has many stories about vintage and modern motorcycles and culture as well as an ample amount of digital ink devoted to scooters. It’s good to be reminded that there are people out there with great passion for motorbikes for the sake of art, technology, performance, style and down right sensibility. I have yet to see a comment listed in the posts so I fear it may not be getting the exposure it deserves. Take a spin on over and check it out. It’s now on my daily list of sites to check with new content nearly every day. Alternatively, you could just keep tabs on it over here at 2SB for when I re-post some of the more sweet morsels I find there.