After a recall of all Segways sold to date, the BBC wonders why they never “caught on”. Their conclusion: the government banned them on sidewalks. 2sb’s conclusion: they’re pretentious, ridiculously expensive, comically slow, overengineered, and amazingly overhyped. Other than that, they’re great. I love the punters arguing in the comments that Segway was the answer to congestion problems, as if everybody driving overpriced wobbly giant chariots on the sidewalk wouldn’t be twice the nightmare of current city traffic.
Author: illnoise
Porta Scooter
Another idea we all probably have had at one point, then thought “no, that would never work…” A bike-rack-like contraption that tows your scooter behind a car on its rear wheel. Probably not great for long trips or for a Suzuki Burgman, but it’d be nice for emergencies if you had a light 50cc scooter. (Via Motoblog.)
“Two Wheel Appeal”
The Kansas City Star profiles a couple local scooterists and offers tips to the scooter-curious. Thank you, KC Star, for the subhead: “The love affair with motor scooters runs beyond gas mileage.” Damn right!
Spring is here?
Dentsu’s new psychedelic butterfly Vespa ad for the Canadian market, with five accompanying posters: “Kustaa,” “Words,” “Rainbow,” “Metal,” “Iconic,” and “Black and White.” Beautiful, and totally in the spirit of the history of Vespa advertising, but, um, it’s not quite Spring yet, is it? (More info about the campaign.) Thanks to Vespinoy for the tipoff, they have some cool Vespinoy stickers for sale, for all you Filipino-American scooterists (and there are many of you).
Lessons Learn-able
What Chandler learned after a minor Stella collision at Slaughterhouse. Thanks for sharing!
News Briefs
- A one-cm-long Vespa will be certified as Vietnam’s smallest scooter in Ho Chi Minh City today. Presumably, it has yellow kickstand boots.
- Reese Witherspoon’s film Penelope, featuring Christina Ricci with a pig snout and Witherspoon as a scooter messenger, debuted in Toronto this weekend.
- Arkansas pastor Bryan Fink, sick of $85 fill-ups for his minivan, switches to a scooter, racking up 1200 miles since May.
- Another boilerplate “scooters are great” story from Windham, Maine.
- Another Providence Journal Javaspeed story. (Doesn’t it seem like there have been several others this year?)
- Hindustan Times reports LML workers have started a sit-in at a Labour commisioner’s office. (Story was later removed)
LML “sick”
More gloom: LML declares itself “sick.”
Indian Autorickshaw Challenge
If Ants’ and Jo’s three-month Tuk-Tuk adventure wasn’t enough for you, or you thought they needed more competition over a shorter distance, you might want to schedule time off work next August for the 2007 Indian Autorickshaw Challenge. Sounds a bit better organized and a bit more fun, though I think Ants and Jo could have blown away the competition.
Tukkers update: they’re home!
After three grueling months driving a Thai tuk-tuk from Bangkok to England, Jo and Ants (and Ting Tong) are safely home in Norfolk, UK. They’ve raised £25,000 for Mind, a mental health charity, and are hoping to double that amount through local appearances and donations. With the giant potholes, civil unrest, mysterious food, border crossings, amazing scenery, and even an earthquake behind them, their blog is great reading, and now there’s the luxury of reading it all at once, rather than waiting for the next installment.
University of Wisconsin parking crackdown
The downside of scooter popularity: The University of Wisconsin in Madison is charging $55 for an annual parking pass and limiting parking to designated spaces. It makes you long for the days when you were the only outcast weirdo in town with a Vespa. Still, at least there is a clearly-defined, legal place to park, unlike, say, in Chicago.
Kymco gears up for export market
The Taiwan Economic News reports that Kymco plans to export 10% more scooters and ATVs worldwide next year, about 290,000 units, including the world’s first 700cc scooter. Upscale products for more affluent markets will continue to be manufactured in Taiwan, while secondary markets will be served with products made in mainland China. 2sb prediction: by this time next year, KymcoUSA will be fighting a PR battle against cheaper illegally-imported Chinese-made Kymcos. Safety recall: 2006 Kymco Agility 50cc scooters were accidentally shipped without an engine kill switch. A voluntary recall is in effect, Kymco dealers can inspect and fix the scooters at no cost.
Aussie motor group speaks up for scooters
As Spring arrives in Australia, bringing along a U.S.-like scooter boom, The Age quotes the Victorian Automobile Chamber of Commerce:
Scooter riders need safer travel routes, better sharing initiatives, better education for riders and drivers, better traffic management, better licensing and training laws as well as better infrastructure. Government policymakers and road planners are failing powered two-wheeled transport users. We need a system of designated `safe routes’ and better traffic management features to make road-sharing safer for scooter and motorcycle riders. It is time the growing army of scooter riders was heard and their concerns addressed.
Hear hear! We feel the same way in the U.S. (and we want parking!). Some Chicago scooterists are looking to join forces with ABATE, the next meeting is Wednesday, September 20. We’ll post more details soon.
Tower Scooters’ advice
Tower Scooters (London) claim that 40% of secondhand scooters shouldn’t be bought. I’d say in the U.S., that’s a conservative estimate. They offer this advice to anyone looking for a used scooter.
“I must mount you now”
A funny Vespa commercial. They’re running commercials? Someone sent me this, and I thank them, but I can’t remember for the life of me who it was. Chad? Nitro? Jordan? Durso? No idea. I don’t remember last week.
Catching up
A few good news stories that got lost in the fog of the last week:
- The Salt Lake Tribune on Vespas at the Italian Festival.
- BusinessWeek on the Suzuki Burgman craze
- FloridaToday on the Bajaj Rickshaw in the U.S.
- SmartMoney on the scooter boom.
- The U.S. scooter boom is also news in the Philippines and the United Arab Emirates, via a French press agency.
- Forbes on vintage motorcycles as an investment.