CWC extension: ends midnight SUNDAY

Today’s the last day of the Cold Weather Challenge, and it’s getting pretty damn cold in some parts. Tell you what, you’ve got an extension, until midnight Sunday, to beat Scootervillan and his Vectrix. Also, ALL state-by-state leaders get a consolation prize, so if you’re in a state with no entries, a 10-mile ride this weekend nets you a sticker. Do it!

Chuck Mead’s scooterrific new video (is back!)

This might be the most scooterific video ever, and would you believe it’s a country song? Check out the new video from BR-549 frontman Chuck Mead: “I Wish It Was Friday,” featuring a Honda Cub, Vespas new and old, Genuine Buddys*, and more, plus lots of footage from East Side Scooters in Nashville.

As far as country songs about weekends, It’s hard to beat Robbie Fulks,’ but Robbie, sadly, doesn’t have a video full of scooters. I wandered into a BR-549 show at Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge several years ago, and that alone made Nashville my favorite city south of the Ohio and east of the Mississipi. (Thanks to Louie from Modern Vespa for the link!)

UPDATE: It’s back on YouTube!, thanks to KymCoJones for his behind the scenes videos and keeping us up to date on the progress).

* “Buddies” just never looks right in print.

Originally posted 2/15/09, updated on 2/25/09 when video was re-posted on YouTube

Corazzo Coffee Jacket

Bradford has unveiled Corazzo’s “Explosion of Pleasure” exclusively to 2strokebuzz readers, aka “Corazzo’s demographic.” We’ll give him the honors:

Every morning when I ride my scooter to work, I look over at the fellow trapped in his car and am admittedly jealous that they can have their coffee at the stoplight, all the while I cannot. Like most problems we come up against here at Corazzo we had to find a better solution than coffee-envy and patience.

Corazzo Design is pleased to introduce the revolutionary Corazzo Coffee Jacket, the perfect solution for the Scooter Commuter that wants to have their coffee on the way to work.
Using an original design (patent pending) born from necessity, the self leveling, automatically gimbaled Corazzo Coffee Jacket is constructed of the highest quality insulated softshell, keeping your coffee even warmer than it would be otherwise.

In the days before the Corazzo Coffee Jacket, a scooter commuter might put their coffee in their glovebox, a viable solution sure, but will it cause a mess, absolutely. Our solution gets around many problems with one well thought out solution. Our insulated softshell stretches, making it perfect to fit a variety of coffee cup shapes and sizes. As well, the fabric is teflon coated, so it should stay stain free for a long time. The strap will fit on the bag hook of nearly every single scooter out there, and allows you to drink your coffee without removing the jacket.

Another real bonus comes when you have a full armload of stuff, that once unstrapped from your rear rack, will prevent you from carrying anything else…BUT WAIT…STOP THE PRESSES…with the Corazzo Coffee jacket, all you need is a pinky, and you can carry your coffee too. This is one handy accessory!

The Corazzo Coffee Jacket will be available around March 1st 2009 priced at a very reasonable $14.99, call or email Corazzo to pre-order

(More photos here, YouTube demo video to come later today!) Thanks for the scoop, Bradford. We’re not coffee drinkers here at 2SB but Bradford assures us it will also competently hold a 20oz RC Cola, so we’re on the waiting list.

How to destroy a scooter?

Oh, the fun we’ll have: A Discovery Science game show is looking for suggestions to destroy a scooter for a gameshow. Flyscooter clearly subscribes to the theory that there’s no such thing as bad publicity, ha.

(If you’re not a Modern Buddy member, post your suggestions here, I’ll repost them over there and credit you with the idea.)

Dealer Expo 2009, Part II: The Bikes

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In Part I of our Dealer Expo coverage, we mentioned there really wasn’t much new to see at DealerExpo, and fewer importers and distributors than usual. In Part II (you are here), we’ll look at a few of the more popular distributors, and a few newer importers looking to make a a bigger impact.
Continue reading “Dealer Expo 2009, Part II: The Bikes”

Berryoke benefit tonight

Chicago’s best Karaoke, Berryoke, is doing a benefit tonight at Frank and Mary’s for Patrick O’Dea’s nephew who was seriously injured in a auto/bicycle incident. If you’ve always loved karaoke but hated the music selection, check it out, the Berrys have everything good. Sorry for the late notice, I always put off posting local events until they get closer, then forget about it until the last minute.

Big Corazzo news?

Bradford Duval tells us Corazzo has something big coming in a few days. In his words:

  • It is revolutionary
  • It will change the way people will look at their scooter.
  • It will turn commuting in to an explosion of pleasure.
  • It is not limited to scooterdom, but had applications across most human conditions.

We’re guessing it’s “drugs.”

UPDATE: Lots of funny conjecture in the comments, and on Modern Buddy. We’ll find out tonight! It’s bound to be anticlimactic!

Dealer Expo 2009, Part I: Overview

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Every February, powersports dealers from around the nation descend on grey, shivery, boring Indianapolis to see what’s new in the industry. It’s a chance for manufacturers, importers, and distributors to wine and dine their dealers and hopefully round up some orders for the upcoming riding season. This was our third year at DealerExpo, though it was our first with actual 2strokebuzz press passes. Continue reading “Dealer Expo 2009, Part I: Overview”

Chuck Mead: behind the scenes

We posted Chuck Mead’s great new video a few days ago, but it’s since been pulled from YouTube, The same YouTube link appears on Chuck’s MySpace page, so that’s strange, but being a big-shot music video director myself, I’m aware things don’t always happen the way you’d like, ha.

So we’ll get that re-linked ASAP, BUT! There’s good news! There are two other videos on YouTube with outtakes and behind-the-scenes footage from the video shoot, both of which are nearly as entertaining as the real video, especially because Chuck gets hassled by the Man in one of ’em. Check it:

Goodbye, dick jokes; goodbye, Morphous

Ryan of Cold Weather Challenge fame just pointed out to us that Yamaha has dropped the Morphous from their U.S. lineup, and it looks like it’s off the menu elsewhere, too. I can’t picture anyone standing around a Yamaha dealership with a big wad of cash and not buying a T-Max, but even the Barcalounger fans weren’t getting excited about the gargantuan penis-shaped 250 when the 400cc Majesty was about the same price. If Ryan will miss it, few others will, Guzman’s review for Motorcycle.com last fall notes that even after three years on the market, no one outside of hardcore scooterists and Jay Leno had heard of it.

Blur Burnout

Alas, no there were no jaw-dropping surprises at Indianapolis, and I’m sure I’m the only person who even asked Dean about the Blur at the Genuine booth, but just for old times’ sake, here’s a video of our beloved ’06 Blur 150, hopped up and Nicky Hayden’ed, in burnout action, courtesy of Mike at ScootOver in Tuscon. He sent it, what, two months ago, and I just re-found it, hopefully our Indy coverage will come together faster than that.

Life imitates 2sb t-shirts

When we made our “DOT Flip-Flop” t-shirts, we never thought anyone would be dumb enough to sell riding sandals, let alone buy them. Save yourself the experience of having your toes grinded off and stick to the t-shirt instead, we still have some L, XL, and 3XL “Chocolate Brown” shirts and a few “‘Safety Orange” smalls and mediums. We’ve got a few new items over at Scootmoto, too. (Thanks for the tip on the real sandals, Professor.)