Scooter Examiner at Dealer Expo

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.

Ahhwwwwoooooooo?

Well, so much for any chance of the SYM Wolf being marketed properly. Ugh. UUUGH. Never thought I’d say this, but Carter Brothers coulda done better. (via Eric, who’s now writing for our new competitor but I’m going to steal his tweets anyway.)

MP3, Piaggio Lineup, and Vespa Colors Slashed

A Piaggio/Vespa dealer has told 2strokebuzz that a new 2Q 2012 dealer order form from PiaggioUSA has eliminated a large share of the Piaggio product line from the U.S. market, most notably the full range of MP3s.

According to our source, The Piaggio MP3 250, 400, and 500cc three-wheelers are no longer available to dealers, and the promised MP3 Yourban 300 will not replace them, let alone the endlessly-hyped hybrid that Jay Leno promised dealers in 2008. It appears Piaggio is totally abandoning the MP3 in the United States.

(UPDATE: Other evidence suggests the MP3 Yourban will be available in the U.S. later this year, probably with 350cc displacement. see comments.)

The BV lineup, previously available in 250, 300, and 500cc displacements, is now limited to the new 350 model in black or silver only.

The Vespa line is being desaturated in a more literal way, with a far smaller color palette. The Vespa GTS/Super 300i is no longer available in red, and the Vespa 150 LX S loses its red, orange, and two-tone versions, it will now be available only in Black or Titanium.
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Not So Innocenti…

Our first Britney Spears-inspired headline heralds the (maybe? sorta?) return of famed Lambretta maker Innocenti in a story that hasn’t garnered any media coverage, but once we blow it out of proportion here, it may send a few Austrian IP attorneys into a tizzy.
Jeb (of FIDO fame) spotted an interesting badge on the electric car shown at 4:28 in this video collage of electric vehicle photos from EICMA:
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Kaitong Busted at EICMA

Italian police confiscated Kaitong’s knockoff of the Piaggio MP3 at the EICMA show in Milan.

If that’s a thing… that… can be done, it’s surprising it doesn’t happen more at motorcycle trade shows. Surely it wasn’t a good idea to show up on Italian soil during the financial crisis on the week the Prime Minister resigns (incidentally, Berlusconi was slated to speak at EICMA but cancelled), and display a knockoff of one of Italy’s proudest exports. But one would hope authorities would afford the same attention to other imitators, too.

In other MP3-ish news, Vectrix is promising their 3-wheeler for 2012.

Via Scooterism.

Modern PK Automatic at EICMA

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.)

Malaguti: Little Hope for a Future

Charles-Emmanuel at Scooter-Infos puts it best:

Maigre consolation : le célèbre logo éviterait ainsi d’être apposé à la va-vite sur d’obscures productions extrême-orientales.

(Google translation)

Red Eye “Scooter Power”

As usual, a high-profile scooter story appears in the local media the day AFTER our rally. This year it was Katrine speaking for us and the Tribune‘s Red Eye managed to avoid the usual scooter cliches and misinformation for a pretty solid general-scootering story.

Alliance’s SYM Lineup Grows,
Wolf Coming Soon

Mike Hickman from Alliance Powersports let us know that new SYM HD200s, Symba, and Fiddle IIs have arrived in the U.S, and the promising Wolf motorcycle is on the way. This is great news, SYM is a great manufacturer and we’re happy to see them making a comeback. SYM’s distributor network and web presence definitely needs some clarification, but we’ll take any baby steps we can get.

Here’s Hickman’s comment:

So the 2012 HD 200 EVO with the disc brake, powder coated black forks and rims along with stitching in the seat to match the color of the bike, Awesome!!! The 2012 Symba and Fiddle 11 have also arrived, and the much anticipated Wolf Classic 150cc is on the water with an arrival date of just after Labor Day! Let’s get this party started! Ride Safe!

“The Bad Boy Returns”

Did anyone notice the Piaggio Typhoon was gone? Was anyone clamoring for it to come back? Again, nothing wrong with the bike, but Piaggio USA’s “Bad Boy” marketing is just weird.Perhaps they’re trying to position it as a Zuma 125 alternative: the 80s ‘clawmark’ stickers and yellow paint are definitely from the Yamaha playbook. (You never thought you’d long for spirals, didya?) The Typhoon isn’t quite so, um, “distinctive” as the Zuma (which may be a good thing) and it is $500 cheaper, so maybe there’s hope.

Add a Wheel, Subtract $2000

Piaggio’s selling 2008 model year MP3s at discounts exceeding $2000. While its pretty discouraging that 2008 MP3s are still on dealers’ floors in 2011 (wasn’t 2008 the year dealers couldn’t stock scooters fast enough?), if you’ve ever dreamed of riding on three wheels, now is the time, it is a quite great scooter after all. Unspecified discounts are available on more recent models as well.

More Four Stroke Vespa PX Rumblings

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.

Oh, for Fuck’s Sake

Holy Hell, will this never end?

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Lambretta LN Video

PR agency Life Longari & Loman’s nicely done glamour reel of the new Lambretta LN, with narration in Italian (and confirmation that Alessandro Tartarini designed it).
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Lambretta LN 125 “Il Arrive”

Scooter Infos (Pictures) and Scooter Station report the new Lambretta LN 125 was unveiled in Paris this morning, and will be on sale in France in August. They confirm it’s built by SYM (with a SYM Fiddle engine and some Italian parts) which is good news, quality-wise, but probably bad news, U.S.-distribution-wise. The European distributor is Mooof in Belgium.

The design is as good as could be hoped for, it’s pretty swoonworthy, to be honest. Let’s hope the quality and service are there to back up the looks, especially for a 125cc bike priced at US$5345. (Note: that’s the EU price converted to dollars, there always seems to be a substantial markup for the U.S. market.)

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