Today’s story from Gizmag teased us once again with Yamaha’s ultra-cool-looking Maxam3000 scooter, before going on to say that the popular Japan-market-only Maxam 250 will make an international debut soon at an Australian motor show, with the rest of the world to follow. Not so exciting as the futuristic “3000” (that’s 3000mm — almost ten feet — long) version, but new scooters are always good news, right? Unfortunately, Gizmag (who knew they were Australian?) is apparently unaware we’ve had the Morphous250 (the same scooter) here in America since early this year.
Month: October 2006
“Wheely-Man”
Bad techno music, shirtless rider, shaky camera work… all the hallmarks of the Gilera Runner wheelie video genre. It’s sort of like porn: no plot, but plenty of hot wheelie action. (Via Moto-Blog.)
Peg Perego Vespa: as overpriced as the original
We reported on the Peg Perego Vespa GT for kids a while ago, but Nitro has finally spotted it for sale at Hammacher Schlemmer. $329.95? Suck it Milena, I’ll be able to buy you a real one for $329.95 by the time you get your license.
Update: Vespaway reports Sears and Walmart are selling it for less than $250. Still not cheap, but somewhat more reasonable.
Sunday: Fox River Ride (redux)
Patrick has organized a ride along the Fox River for this Sunday (10/29/06). Meet at 9:00am at 3120 N Elston (Elston/California/Belmont) with a full tank of gas. The ride will be about 100 miles round-trip with a top speed of about 50mph. (if this post looks familiar, it’s because the weather was cruddy last Sunday, so Patrick’s trying it again this week. The current forecast promises clear skies and highs in the 50s.)
2sb Photo Gallery
I finally figured out how to prevent personal photos from appearing in the menu bar, so now you’ll see only randomly chosen marginally-scooter-related photos there. If you actually enjoy perusing pictures of my relatives and vacations, you can always visit the Gallery directly, they’re still there (in fact, I just uploaded many new family photos and sorted everything a little better). (Above: Indianapolis Motor Speedway, photo by Vina Vroom)
News briefs
- Yamaha will present the FC-Aqel hydrogen fuel-cell scooter at the International Electric Automobile show in Yokohama.
- The 22-year old daughter of the Coldstone Creamery founders has been indicted for manslaughter after killing a scooterist in a Mesa, AZ drunk-driving accident this spring. Savannah Sutherland’s blood-alcohol content was .19% when tested by police. She faces up to 21 years in prison.
- This editorial from the Lawrence (KS) Journal-World just might be the most pointless and unresearched scooter story ever. The headline (“Born to be Mild,” yet again!) is just the tip of the iceberg.
- PiaggioUSA has landed the same rehashed press release in at least six newspapers this week, hitting all the “Vespanomics” talking points. Funny that the story was originally appeared in Philadelphia, where the Vespa dealer is closed and allegedly under investigation for fraud. If only the rest of PiaggioUSA was as efficient as their PR team.
- An Australian industry group reports Australian scooter sales are up 54.3% in the first 9 months of 2006 (vs. 2005).
- The University of Iowa joined the list of schools where a “park a scooter anywhere” mentality has become a problem. The Iowa City Council is considering adding more spaces for scooters and mopeds with designated parking permits, which cost $46 for nine months.
Two new Asian bike blogs
Two great new-ish blogs about Asian motorcycles and scooters, for those of you that can’t get enough Hyosang, Hero Honda, and SYM news: The Bike Chornicles [sic] of India has been doing a great job documenting the Indian motorcycle industry for the past three months, and Two-Wheeled Asian Invasion offers a “view of the motorcycle industry in China, India, Taiwan and elsewhere,” mostly from a U.S. powersports-dealer perspective.
Check your paperwork!
Title fraud, or at least title negligence, seems to be growing as a problem in the scooter world. We’ve recently seen comments from a couple Xkeleton owners that they had serious issues getting paperwork for Xkeleton Tricksters bought on eBay. It appears likely that both bought from the same seller, so it’s probably not a widespread Trickster-specific problem, but be sure any scooter you buy is DOT/EPA/CARB certified and has proper paperwork, title, and documentation, and don’t take delivery without it. The problem isn’t limited to fly-by night eBay sellers, Vespa Philadelphia, which recently closed, allegedly lost their Piaggio/Vespa dealership rights and owner Vincenzo Mercuri is rumored to be under investigation for embezzling deposits, tax and title fees, and charging for service not performed. While there may be more to that story (and we’d appreciate any info), it’s proof that you should be extra-careful regarding paperwork.
P2Motors interview: Kinetic’s plans for America
Two weeks ago, Armando Gonzalez of Phase2 Motors contacted 2sb to let us know he was working on bringing the Kinetic “Italiano” line of scooters to America. To make a long story short, Kinetic is an Indian manufacturer that, in 2003, acquired the rights to manufacture and distribute seven Italjet models worldwide. Italjet became more-or-less defunct around the same time, and Kinetic has been working towards bringing these models to market ever since, under the “Italiano” name. Early this year, Kinetic released their version of the Italjet Millenium (as the Kinetic Blaze) with positive results, and promised bring the Velocifero to America. Recently, Kinetic issued another press release promising the Blaze, and quietly removed the Dragster from the list of Italjets it planned to release. (Massimo Tartarini, son of Italjet head Leopoldo Tartarini and owner of the “Italjet” name has several times announced plans for the Dragster, but hasn’t followed through, to our knowledge.) Back to Kinetic, here is our interview with Armando Gonzales:
Continue reading “P2Motors interview: Kinetic’s plans for America”
No respect for ‘peds
A good Seattle Weekly story about the Moped Army and Craig Doty’s July hit-and-run accident. It’s hard enough commanding respect from cars on a scooter, so it must be a nightmare getting around Seattle on a moped. We’ll be on the lookout for that red Volvo at Amerivespa.
“She wanted a scooter so I had a Vespa sent from Italy”
Cameron Frye‘s dad is alive and well in Delaware. Must be nice, Mr. Heated Garage.
VCOA announces Seattle Amerivespa date
The date has been set for Amerivespa 2007. The VCOA’s annual national rally will be held in Seattle, Washington on July 12–15, 2007.
Want to Ride J-Lo’s Vespa?
The Maltese Vespa
Piaggio’s importer and distributor for Malta, M. Demajo & Co. Ltd, announced a special financial assistance program for students. Demajo is also lobbying the government to cut registration tax on scooters, and working with transportation and police authorities. Worldwide, Piaggio is seeking new ways to promote the many benefits of scootering, though in Malta they seem to have bypassed PiaggioUSA’s vague pseudo-political ‘petition’ and are instead taking direct politico-socio-economic action. To be fair, that’s probably a lot easier in a nation of less than a half-million where scooters are already popular.
Taiwan: Taiwan kicks ass
The Taiwanese scooter industry is totally freaking awesome, according to a statement issued by the Taiwanese scooter industry. The report namechecked SYM, Kymco, and Maxxis, ignoring PGO, who was presumably too busy making scooters to attend the conference. Joking aside, Taiwan *is* a scooter success story, with US$500 million in exports and a good reputation worldwide. The industryis focusing on further distinguishing their products from those of mainland China and positioning Taiwanese scooters as being competive with Japanese scooters. Kymco, at least, is well on their way in the U.S.