Month: March 2008

Leggo my eGo

Off-topic a bit: just saw a blurb about the “new” eGo electric bicycle, we’ve had an older model sitting in our office for a few years. It’s pretty neat, and well-made, but the caliper brakes were a bit dodgy, it’s ridiculously heavy, and it has no suspension (our neighborhood is an industrial pothole warzone). I see the newer version has a small disk brake, so if you live somewhere with little traffic, no stairs, and nice roads (summer house, retirement castle) it’d be a pretty good choice for short trips. Then again, a regular bicycle is probably faster and definitely cheaper, and you’d get some exercise.

Vespa S, new MP3s in shops

Heads up! Piaggio dealers are starting to get the new Vespa S as well as the MP3 400 and MP3 500 (the rebadged Gilera Fuoco.) The Vespa S is hott, the only current model that really evokes the old days, and it’s amazingly priced below the equivalent LX models, which seems to be rare smart move for Piaggio. With the S and the exciting (but expensive) MP3 500 on the floor, Vespa dealers can expect some foot traffic this weekend.

210cc Buddy!?

After naysaying rumors of a 210cc upgrade for the Genuine Buddy on ModernBuddy, I found Nitro’s photos of a prototype of the 210cc kit (presumably) taken at Scooterworks, from six months ago. So the rumor is this upgrade will be available soon, I still say it’ll be prohibitively expensive and require upgrades to the frame, carb, supsension, exhaust, etc, but we’ll see. The thought of a Buddy with a 210cc engine is alternately thrilling and terrifying.

German Custom Scooter Shows (March ’08)

This past weekend Scooter-Attack hosted a custom scooter show in Saarbruecken, Germany. If you missed out on seeing the show you can catch up with a few Youtube videos. Some wild stuff was shown off and even if bling isn’t your bag, you’ve got to be impressed with the level of professionalism in the event. Another custom show is in a few weeks and hosted by Scooter-Center in Cologne.

Archive: Alf and Kim, 1996

6656This was the first year that Second to Last SC participated in The Chicago Columbus Day Parade. We even had a “practice day” to go over a few maneuvers in the Lane Tech parking lot. Our staging area was in River North and over the course of the two hours we had to wait for the parade to start, some of us got drunk, some of us met Elvis, and some of us hit on high school band girls. Alfredo and Kim, as I’ve said, were the first scooterists I met in Chicago, but they broke up a few years later. We covered Alfredo’s story a couple weeks ago. Kim, after spells as a pastry chef at Charlie Trotters and a few other top Chicago restaurants, is out in California now. Hopefully they don’t mind this photo, I just always loved it. The parade was about to start and we had the bikes warmed up and ready to go. Somehow, after the debacle that followed, we got invited back, and the parade became a scooterist institution for the next several years.

Josh Rogers Silent Auction

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Modern Vespa (just after I make fun of them) have had the great idea to hold a Silent Auction to benefit Scoot! Magazine publisher Josh Rogers. I’ve thrown in the very last 2strokebuzz/Merciless Tigers jersey (they’re no longer available after this one!), and other items include books, clothing, scooter parts, and my favorite; “Vintage Street Cred”. Get well soon, Josh!

New LMLs: The Scootering story

Most of this thread is proof that Modern Vespa has eclipsed the stupidity of the BBS, but it includes scans of Scootering’s story about LML’s 4-stroke geared scooters, presumably someday to be known as the “Stella 250.” Great info there, and nice to see Scootering’stypesetting hasn’t improved in the several years since I’ve bought an issue. Peignot? Come on! England’s hatred of the French apparently doesn’t extend to shitty French typefaces.

Dealer Expo 2008: Andretti/Power Sports Factory

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Power Sports Factory, who recently announced a collaboration with motorsports legend Mario Andretti and Benelli, wasn’t taking any chances on getting exposure at DealerExpo. Every attendee’s badge had a PSF logo sticking out of the top and PSF ads were prominently placed in every official publication. They had an expensive-looking aluminum-and-glass booth in a great location right near the RCA dome entrance. And, of course they had Mario Andretti, in the flesh.
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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.