Ryetronics Ryan stopped by yesterday to show me his copy of Moto Champ Magazine, which he picked up at Mitsuwa. (They never have it when I go there, dangit). The “Mini Bike in America” section features a story about ScooterBBS admin “SE” and his shop Big Ass Motors. (click on picture for larger image), and the cover features a Japanese hoochie girl posing with the Yamaha VOX. Being completely unable to read Japanese, I can’t tell you anything about Big Ass Motors, or if the VOX pictured was the prototype or if it’s actually in production, but I can tell you they have a lot of cool bikes in Japan we’ll never see here.
Month: May 2006
Riders vs. Cagers: Is this the real battle?
Another insightful and eloquent essay from Scooter in the Sticks about the nature of traffic angst.
Galewood 2K6:
Swine o’ the Times
“I give you Chicago. It is not London and Harvard. It is not Paris and buttermilk. It is American in every chitling and sparerib. It is alive from snout to tail.�
– H. L. Mencken.
I shouldn’t even have to post this, if you read 2strokebuzz, you know about Galewood. It’s all about scooters and bacon. It’s our neighborhood. It’s our rally. It’s our birthdays. It’s this weekend. Same deal as usual (though this year we’re adding a Bouncy Castle and a three-wheel ATV.) You know the drill. This will be the last Galewood Rally, so don’t miss it. Read on if you need more info. All are welcome.
Continue reading “Galewood 2K6:
Swine o’ the Times”
Vespa PR
Ever wonder why just about every news story about scooters follows the same formula and focuses on the Vespa rather than other scooters? CooperKatz is doing their job well. (Is that the Adobe Acrobat guy moonlighting in the background of that page?) They’re the people that coordinate Vespa’s events, shop openings, and media relations, including the official blog.
Los Gatos, CA motorcyclist nearly killed by booby-trap
Further proof that you can never be too careful on a motorcycle or scooter. Horrible. (Thanks for the warning, Max)
Houston Scooter Battalion postcards
ADR of the Houston Scooter Battalion is targeting all the new scooters on the streets of Houston with his HSB postcards. A great idea, we used to do that back in the day, and met a few good friends that way, but back then it was rare to see an unfamiliar scooter on the streets of Chicago. Maybe it’s time to print up some new 2sb cards and spread the gospel.
Garelli is back, if only in name
Motoblog.it reports that Garelli, thought to be lost forever in the never-ending shuffle of Italian motorcycle brand names, has three new scooters on the market, but as one reader comments, “Oltre al marchio cosa ha di Garelli questo pezzo di plastica?”. It’s another case of a once-great manufacturer that exists now only as a trademark, slapping their esteemed name on Chinese scooters.
Amerivespa opens pre-registration
Pre-registration is open for Amerivespa 2006, July 27-30 in Denver. 2sb will be there, will you? (UPDATE 4pm: We just booked our room, they only have single (king) smoking rooms left, even if you don’t register now, book your room ASAP)
And… wheeeeee!
I was almost killed today by a billboard truck advertising a gentlemen’s club. Is this a kindler, gentler solution?
Tuk to the Road
Jo Huxster and Antonia “Ants” Bolingbroke-Kent wil start their 10,000-mile tuk-tuk adventure Saturday, starting a three-month drive from Bangkok to Brighton to raise awareness and money for mental health charity Mind (I’m sure we’re not the first to question their own sanity). Their Tuk-Tuk, named “Ting Tong,” was custom-built in Thailand by Anuwat Yuteeraprapa at Expertise. You can follow their adventures in their blog. (thanks Becky for the info)
Giro d’Italia visits Pontedera
Workers at the Vespa factory will be sticking their heads out the window to watch the Vespa’s human-powered cousin as the eleventh stage of the Giro d’Italia bicycle race starts and ends in Pontedera. Thanks Lu$ (In other Pontedera news, local chocolatier Amedi was featured in this month’s Food and Wine magazine.)
Audio Forza
From the Melbourne Autosalon, via Gizmag: A custom Honda Forza “2-wheeled sound system” by Fusion Audio. Hmmm, I’m DJ’ing a wedding next month…
“Scooterists seem to make horrible business people”
This is the most perfect BBS thread of all time, featuring rants, groundless accusations, real-world experience, hilarious jokes, Stafford-baiting, personal attacks, and best of all, good insight from various perspectives– you can live the entire ScooterBBS experience in one thread.
Scooter “Scrubs” on YouTube
Here’s the “scooter rally” bit from “Scrubs”, posted last night on YouTube by “bazookamsb,” I assume there’s more, I’ll keep an eye out for it. (forgot to watch/Tivo last night). (Becky points out in comments that that was all of it. Short and sweet.)
My Burgman
Juventus and Italy football star Alessandro del Piero stars as “Mr. Burgman” in Suzuki’s rather nifty “My Burgman” site for the Italian market. We marvel at the lengths Suzuki will take (del Piero is arguably Italy’s biggest sports star) to make a dent in the Italian scooter market, compared to the complete lack of a US marketing campaign for the Burgman. (From Motoblog)