The PGO G-Max game. I can’t figure out the controls, and it doesn’t work in my Safari browser, but if you can figure it out, you can live the 2sb life and feel the excitement of riding the PGO G-Max aka Genuine Blur.
Month: August 2008
11 seconds to steal a scooter
A video news report from Denver showing three men with a truck stealing a scooter in seconds. The report also features some good tips to prevent theft. One thing they don’t mention: ANY scooter can be stolen, nothing beats comprehensive insurance.
Motorcycle Horn tests
WebBikeWorld.com tests some aftermarket horns. Interesting that both Stebel Nautilus horns they tested (different models from different retailers) were faulty, these are the much-hyped horns used in the Genuine Buddy “International” models.
The authors point out:
By way of disclosure I’ll admit that I have fortunately never had to use a motorcycle horn in anger. […] I consider a horn to be a safety device of last resort — if you have to use it, you’re already in a situation that probably could have and should been prevented.
Good point. a loud horn is useful as a proactive warning to make sure a driver notices you before a scary situation arises. Once you’re in a scary situation, there’s no point in honking, you should be concentrating on braking or swerving.
(Thanks for the link, Davek, here’s his thread at Modern Buddy!)
Crazy Daisy Ed steals a scooter
A long-forgotten classic from MTV’s “Liquid Television” from The new Cafe (racer) Society via Brooke.
Opening Ceremony
Congratulations on a fantastic show, Beijing. Now that we’ve seen what potential your nation holds, let’s see what you can do about your scooters.
I know you can make good scooters, I know you’re cutting corners so the importers make more money, but it’s time to go legit.
BMW scooters due in ’09 or ’10
Spanish site Solomoto30 leaks some drawings/photos of the new BMW scooters. Bombardier? This will truly be the best German-Austrian-Canadian-Chinese-Taiwanese scooter ever.
Astro Boy scooter toy
$2,650 for this Astro Boy Scooter friction toy on eBay with 2 days left. Sure, you could buy a real scooter for that, but it wouldn’t be cooler than this toy. Seller says he sold one in worse condition for $10,000… ten years ago.
UPDATE: Bidding closed at $3,600, with reserve not met. Crazy. Also, in the comments, POCphil has offered up his Fuji Rabbit to be painted with the same graphics.
Raucous
Dude is putting a 450cc Honda CRF dirtbike motor in his Ruckus 50. Oh, and he’s turbocharging it. (From AxeYrCat on this Modern Buddy Thread with some other trick Ruckii.)
Chicago Hard Mod and Milwaukee Rockerbox
Chicago’s Hard Mod Weekender kicks off tonight (well, actually last night with the Circuits reunion at the Globe, sorry for posting this so late!). Tonight’s the Stone Lightning Band and the Irving Parkas with DJs at Phyllis’, tomorrow is a Moto Show and Jumble sale at the new Bottom Lounge (can’t wait to check that place out, it sounds great), and more bands and dancing later at the Volcano Room, and Sunday morning there’s a soul breakfast at Holiday.
Tomorrow is also Rockerbox in Milwaukee, one of the best vintage motorcycle shows around. That’s a tough choice to make.
Australian Yamaha scooter TV ad
Via Steve, a nicely-done Australian Yamaha TV commercial showing the economical aspects of their scooters. Genuine and even PiaggioUSA are working on pretty limited budgets, but you have to wonder why Yamaha and Honda, who actually do run national spots on cable TV, haven’t done anything like this here in the U.S. yet. If it wasn’t for the Australian coins shown at the end (and if they added a few models to their lineup), they could even run this one.
#17: Choosing a scooter on a budget
Today’s question for Dr. Buzz and his panel of experts comes from From Erica P. from up in Wisco:
I am looking for a 150cc scooter, but have a very limited budget of 2,000.00 including T/T/L. I would be using it for small trips within 15 miles of my house. My selections are very obviously limited, and I have been looking at the Vento models, but don’t have any information on their quality. In fact, I can find no information on reviews for scooters in this size and price range. You seem to be very knowledgeable on the topic, could you suggest any models that would fit my specs?
Pininfarina CEO killed in Vespa accident
Andrea Pininfarina, the 51-year-old CEO of Italian car design company Pininfarina, died this morning when his Vespa collided with a car near Turin. Pininfarina was the grandson of legendary car designer Battista “Pinin” Farina. The company was famous for their designs for Ferrari and many other carmakers.
Thanks for the links, AxeYrCat and Ericalm
Pretty Fly for a college guy
Piaggio USA is targeting college-bound students with the Piaggio Fly, a $50 gas card and a free topbox. When I went to college, a burrito was a luxury item.
3-wheeled BMW scooters in works?
Dunno how we missed this, from Visordown:
According to reports from our foreign friends, BMW have already (with help from Rotax) developed three engines to power not only the funky tri-wheel concept to production, but a brace of large scooters, too. (…) Jean-Michel Cavret, director of the division motion of BMW France, said: “The president of the division BMW motion, Hendrik Von Kuenheim is convinced that we must make a scooter, therefore we are working on the project. We want to be open to new markets and it is for that reason that we produce the motor of the G450X for Kymco and the G650X to the Loncin Chinese factory.”
The translation appears sketchy in that last sentence, it was reported in March that Kymco would manufacture a 450cc motor for BMW, which sounds like the BMW/Rotax-engineered 450 mentioned in the story. Hopefully BMW is far too proud to rebadge any of the asian three-wheeled covered scooters already on the market.
Bulgogi and P.E.A.C.E.
Alix Bryan of P.E.A.C.E Scooter fame passed through Chicago while I was at Amerivespa. I’d hoped to meet her for dinner at a Korean restaurant Sunday night with some Modern Buddy folks, but I got back kind of late and some wires got crossed so I ended up eating with Ryan instead. Sorry Alix. We made this peace sign out of the banchan dishes, in your honor.
Alix got some news coverage in Cleveland the other day, and her months-long journey will end Friday (August 8, 2008) with a victory lap around the White House (a group ride leaves from Vespa Arlington at noon), then Scoot Richmond is hosting a party for her at 5pm on Saturday, featuring the final raffle drawing. Congratulations Alix!