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Bikini Buddies
March 15, 2012
You can’t buy publicity like this, but if you could, you’d be sure they cited the right brand of scooter in the caption. Between this photo, gas price paranoia, and the weather, I bet it’s been a busy coupl’a days at Genuine dealers nationwide.
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Scooter Examiner at Dealer Expo
February 18, 2012
Despite Dealer Expo’s best efforts to actually invite 2strokebuzz (after years of sneaking in as “POC employee” “Michelle Rodriguez”) we couldn’t make it this year. If they’re courting us, you know attendance is down, but there are still things to see, and Ron “Detroit Scooter Examiner” Arnold is at the show posting daily roundups. He’s a little disappointed that the indoor electric motorcycle demo area was cancelled, but he did get to see the Genuine Psycho and the new 2-tone Stellas.
Modern PK Automatic at EICMA
November 8, 2011
This is just a short post to beat Bryan and the new cub report, Matt, to the punch.
It appears that rumors are true (but are secrets really lies?). LML has shoehorned an automatic into a PK body. They are showing it off at the big bike show EICMA, in Italy. I noticed the photo posted in Scooter Mercato‘s facebook feed. Thanks, Dave.
Discuss. (Likely more analysis to follow.)
More Four Stroke Vespa PX Rumblings
July 29, 2011
SIP Scooter Shop reports that they have a reliable source confirming that Vespa will be showing off their new 4-stroke powered PX series scooter at the upcoming EICMA show in Milan this Fall. The Genuine Scooter Company LML-made Stella 4-Stroke has recently made it to dealers around the country. But will the new PX come back to America? Would current Vespa dealers want it? One thing that many will be interested in is the design of the engine. Will it be unlike the LML and fit into the classic Vespa frame?
File it all under RUMOR until we see it rolling around Rome.
LML Star 200 4T for (Gasp!) Indian Market
July 12, 2011
Speaking of the Stella/LML Star, at least one Indian blog is suggesting that the LML Star 200 4T (allegedly available in Europe this month) might be a hit in India. Despite scooters’ raving popularity in India just a decade ago, India has become more affluent and motorcycles dominate the current scene. Bajaj discontinued their Vespa-like Chetak in 2005, and abandoned scooters entirely in 2009. LML currently manufactures the Star only for the export market. But that’s due to change by the end of the year, when they’ll re-introduce it in its homeland.
And if you’re excited about the 200cc Stella (which isn’t due in the U.S. anytime soon, we hear) check this out: PJ found a video of a top-secret new LML model.
Vivo Stella-to-”GS” Conversion Kit
July 12, 2011
Vivo Scooters in Edinburgh, Scotland is selling parts and kits to convert P-series Vespas and the LML Star (Genuine Stella, 4T or 2T) to a vintage-looking style. A chintzy-looking fiberglass kit was available from another manufacturer a few years ago, but this one features (mostly) metal parts and seems to be better-designed. Vespa purists may scoff that these kits could be used to fool inexperienced consumers, but considering the cost of a Stella plus $1500 for a painted kit, it doesn’t seem cost-effective as a ‘scam.’ I like the Stella the way it is, and I certainly don’t get the point of disguising a vehicle as something it’s not (especially when the real thing is readily available at a lower price) but I can accept Stella owners wanting prettier cowls and maybe ditching the ugly P-series-type horncast, and it’s always nice to see options like this available.
Check out Eric’s Modern Buddy thread for all the pros and cons arguments you’d expect.
Larry Crowne Opens Today
July 1, 2011
Larry Crowne opens today nationwide. Read our review here and enter our Larry Crowne t-shirt, $25 gas card, and notebook giveaway, which ends tomorrow (Saturday).
If those stakes aren’t high enough for you, Fandango’s Larry Crowne Sweepstakes offers a 150cc Genuine Buddy St. Tropez as the grand prize.
Genuine Scooter Co. has a marketing relationship with the studio, but PiaggioUSA’s marketing department couldn’t resist getting in on the action. Piaggio’s marketing department emailed a letter to dealers bragging about the appearance of Piaggio and Vespa scooters in the film, and praising Vespa Dallas’s group ride to a screening, with a link to a local news video.
Get To Know “Larry Crowne”
June 17, 2011
If you haven’t heard the name “Larry Crowne” thrown around yet, you will soon. The Tom Hanks film comes out released July 1 (how many times will we see “…scoots into theaters?”) and features motorscooters more prominently than just about any film since Quadrophenia. I know 2strokebuzz readers consider themselves pretty “avant garde” and this is a big-budget mainstream film, but I’m willing to bet a good number of hipster scoooterists will make an exception to their “Julia Roberts rule” for this one.
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POC Stella 4T pipe
June 11, 2011
Speaking of the 4-stroke Stella, POC is developing a pipe. I’m not a fan of the loud, but I know i’m in the minority there.
200cc LML Star at Italian dealers in July
June 8, 2011
Motoblog reports Italian dealers will get the 4-stroke 200cc LML Star in July. Three versions and 20 colors are in the works. Anyone disappointed, as we were, by the discontinuation of the 2-stroke Genuine Stella 150 model will surely concede that it was the right decision if it means a 200cc manual-transmission metal-bodied classic scooter is on the way.
Genuine Scooters’ Financial Boost
May 10, 2011
Investment firm Chicago Associates and financial advisors Livingstone Partners announced a Scooterworks/Genuine Scooters recapitalization deal today, the press release is typical self-congratulatory business blather with not much real information, but after two very difficult years for the scooter industry in general, Genuine apparently has some investment cash, the 4T Stella and Buddy 170i (shipping now), and a promising summer ahead of them.
Buddy 170i Update
May 2, 2011
Eric’s got photos of the Genuine Buddy 170i coming off the assembly line, and he also reports they’ve been approved for California. Fuel injection makes me happy, and a stock 170cc engine in such a small, light scooter should be nothing short of a thrillride.
Genuine Stella 4T 3,000-Mile Review
March 9, 2011
Eric (and probably Eric alone) has been riding a 4-stroke Stella for a few months now, and has racked up 3,000 miles, here’s his review.. You’ll likely find it more insightful and more up-to-date than our review of the prototype from two years ago.
My take remains the same: It’s good for the environment, and good for gas savings, and to the untrained eye, it looks just right, the only downside (compared to the 2-stroke) is reduced parts and accessory interchangeability with the Vespa P-Series.
Vintage Vespa fans may find one other complaint, which Eric summarizes nicely:
All those vintage faithful prematurely complaining about the Stella 4T’s performance may have some newfound respect for them once they ride next to one. Or they’ll just hate it because it doesn’t sound and smell like a 2T.
Don’t Ask, Don’t Stell…
March 4, 2011
Don’t wanna jinx anything, or poke any hornet nests with a stick, but various sources suggest that a certain Indian-manufactured metal-bodied 4-stroke manual-transmission scooter named after a Tennessee Williams character will be hitting dealers in the next week or two.
LML, Cairo, February 11, 2011
February 13, 2011
If you’re truly obsessed with scooters, you’ll spot the unmistakeable corner of a legshield from a mile away. I was scanning through thumbnails of photos of the Egyptian celebrations on Flickr and this great photo by Joel Carillet jumped right out at me. It was taken on the 6th of October Bridge on Friday night, after Hosni Mubarak stepped down. This photo of an Egyptian family waving the peace sign as they cross the bridge four-up on an LML scooter is suddenly and permanently locked in place as my mental picture of the celebrations.
February 11, 2011 — Cairo, Egypt, originally uploaded by Joel Carillet.
UPDATE: Another great one!
