Euromopeds on MV

Another company selling the “Lambretta” Pato/Lance Milan/ZNen ZN151T-F, is Euromopeds. Euromopeds’ Massimiliano Versace pulled the old multiple-usernames-with-one-IP shill over at Modern Vespa, and MV moderator Jess ripped him a new one, with a little help from SR of ScooterBBS fame. It’s a fun read, and by linking it here, with my additional “Googly goodness.” perhaps it’ll help push that MV thread above Euromopeds’ own site and their Craigslist spams in search engines.

Scooterfix, née Girlbike

Crystal and the Girlbikers (I saw them at the Apollo once) have rechristened their blog. Welcome to Scooterfix. I thought “Girlbike” was a great name for a blog written by four women posting about pink helmets, but “Scooterfix” is good too. “Fix” is pretty similar to “Buzz” in its thinly-veiled drug reference-ness and multiple entendres, but our team of attorneys is on vacation so I’ll let it slide. Looking good, ladies.

Farewell, Scooter in the Sticks

Steve Williams closed up shop on his Scooter in the Sticks blog yesterday. I loved “Sticks” (as it’s called in my bookmark) for Steve’s great photography and writing, which was always sweet, personal, and meditative without ever getting sappy or melodramatic (so, basically, the exact opposite of 2SB). I’m sure whatever Steve decides to do next will be just as great, and hopefully he’ll leave it up for posterity (and so I can catch up on reading it, I’m a few posts behind).

“Have it your way” with Honda?

Honda’s site welcomes you to “Have it Your Way” and customize your scooter to your exact specification. Fun, right? Except the SilverWing only comes in one color and offers no options or accessories, and the Ruckus is only available in black or silver this year, with no further options. The Metropolitan offers many accessories, but its rainbow of colors and patterns in recent years has been stripped back to red only. There’s something to be said for keeping a product line simple (Brooke’s working on a story about that), but a huge worldwide player like Honda, with such a wide variety of models overseas, should be offering more than three scooters in the U.S., or at least the one that’s topping all the best-seller charts in Europe.

MSNBC nails it

Just as I start mocking the rehashed press releases that pop up every spring, MSBNBC posts what just might be the most honest and realistic mass-media scooter story ever written, or at least one of the few to feature real-world advice along with real experience and research, some culled from the ScooterBBS. Bravo! This is the one to send to your scooter-curious friends.

2008 Riders Choice Awards Winners

Motorcycle Bloggers International has announced the 2008 Riders Choice Awards winners. Entries were nominated by motorcycle and scooter bloggers, then chosen by the public. We scooter bloggers (well, 2sb anyway) kind of dropped the ball during nominations this year and some of the scooter categories got cut, but the results are still interesting. I love that the KTM toaster won both first place for “Wish we’d thought of that” and third place for “What were they thinking?”. (Of course there was no way it was going to beat the BabeCage.)

The Scooter Scoop’s Dream Scooter Survey

Steve’s survey is complete. No big surprises, the results pretty much match my votes. One point of contention, though: “Classic Italian” was the overall favorite “style,” (and the one I chose,) but Steve says:

Strange as it may seem, this design style is not nearly as popular in Europe. Nope, most other nations consider this look to be tired.

I voted for “Classic Italian” because nothing’s better-looking than a vintage scooter, but “Classic” and “Retro” are two very different beasts, I strongly dislike most “retro”-looking modern scooters. Perhaps “Retro” should have been a separate choice. I’d also argue that there’s no such thing as the perfect scooter for everyone, and that a 300cc vintage-looking scooter on 15″ wheels doesn’t sound particularly appealing. The most promising result was the “Price” question, informed scooterists (or at least those that read The Scooter Scoop, ha!) are willing to pay a reasonable amount for quality, if only there was a way to pass that wisdom along to first-time buyers.

MBI award voting open, and a survey

Voting is open for the 2008 Motorcycle Bloggers International Awards. Vote for your favorite bikes and people of 2007. The scooter bloggers (self included) sorta dropped the ball on nominating this year, but there are still some there.

If that’s not enough clicking for you, Steve over at The Scooter Scoop has put together a “Market Survey”. I don’t know what it’s for, but Herb Powell and Homer Simpson have proved that people aren’t willing to pay for the motor vehicle they’ve always dreamed of.

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.

Moped menorah and more

Well, that’s technically a scooter, not a moped, but happy hanukkah anyway. If that and Hallmark’s electronic scooter Santa ornament aren’t proof that it was a big year for scooters, I don’t know what is. If you need scooter-related gift ideas for the holidays, Scooter Swag is the place to look. (For your-non-scootering friends, check out “Gifted” at the Coudal Partners Swap Meat.)