Author: illnoise

Garelli’s new site

Garelli’s website is working, if you have time to wait for the Flash to load. As is the trend, they’ve enlisted a member of the Italian national soccer team. At first, we thought “Wow, they got Totti?” but it took us a half hour to figure out that it’s Alberto Gilardino, who we imagine cost them a good deal less than Suzuki paid Alessandro Del Piero. The site features “their” new models (ooh, another Chinese Vino clone!) and a history of the company, which is interesting even for those unable to read the text. “Facile essere liberi,” by the way, means “It’s easy to be free,” though we suggest the slogan “Facile essere cinese.”

Mod Chicago reunites ACSC, adds scooter rally
to June 1-3 Mod Weekender

allez cats sc (photo: mike park)

MODchicago‘s annual “Our Way Of Thinking” festival of Modness is coming up next weekend. OWOT is always a good time, but this year they’ve stepped it up a few notches with more scooter-related events and a special scooter section on their website. Best of all, the event has spawned the new Mayday Scooter Club and the reunion (Thursday, June 1 at Delilahs) of the Allez Cats Scooter Club, one of Chicago’s big clubs of the 80s and early 90s. The site also features an archive of ACSC memorabilia including Mike Park’s photo (above) of the club in front of the old Vespa of Chicago on Clark Street (which closed just a month or two before I got my first scooter). OWOT also features a party at Design Within Reach’s Evanston store and a tour of the Chess Records studio. Whether you love or hate Mods (no comment!), next weekend should be a blast for everyone.

“The perfect scooter for a mandolin player,
or a coroner for small children”

mandolincase.jpg

(Photos showing the under-seat storage better explain the Ryan’s description.)

As we suspected the other day, the Yamaha VOX scooter is actually on the market in Japan, with a fun flash site to promote it (if you read Japanese). Now Japanese mods (don’t laugh, you wouldn’t believe how many Japanese mods there are) are surely torn between vintage scooters and a spiffy retro scooter bearing a brand name synonymous with the British Invasion. (I suspect they’ll stick with vintage).

The story of Japanese musical instruments roughly follows the development of their motorcycles: Japanese products that started life as cheap knockoffs (are you listening, China?) eventually surpassed many Western instruments in quality and features, at a much lower price, and eventually dominated the market and put the original makers out of business (are you listening, corporations?). So it’s a bit funny to learn Vox’s parent company, Korg, is owned in part by Yamaha, and they’re leveraging the brand name to sell scooters.

Galewood 2K6 Update

We’ve updated the Saturday Galewood schedule. In short, meet at Rutherford-Sayre Park (Oak Park Ave @ Shakespeare Ave) for Kickball at 1pm Saturday, and Moe is having a scooter garage sale/impromptu swap meet at 1848 N. Nordica at 4:00, then the BBQ starts at 5:00 with judging at 6:00. Complete details can be found here. (Update to update: there will also be Chicco Scooter races at the BBQ, so if you have a toddler and a Chicco scooter, bring ’em.)

LML lockout continues, future uncertain

Indian scooter manufacturer Lohia Machines Ltd (LML) continues to fight financial and labor woes, as a lockout starting May 7–following strikes and protests–continues amid complaints from the workers’ union that interim payments are not being distributed properly. (It also appears they’ve blown off their web hosting bill). It’s unclear if LML has produced any scooters at all since the beginning of the year. While the Indian business press has frequently reported on potential investors and buyers, nothing has come of these rumors to date.

With demand for small motorcycles and modern automatic scooters on the rise (in India and worldwide), the Honda Eterno, Bajaj Chetak, and LML Star together accounted for only 16% of Indian scooter production in 2006, including 95,000 Eternos, and a combined 70,000 Stars and Chetaks. The Chetak presumably outsold the Star in the Indian market, so LML could certainly benefit from the Chetak’s recent demise (not to mention the demise of the Vespa PX150). Another sales boost comes from the hot, but relatively small, market for the Stella and Belladonna (both LML-manufactured variations of the Star) in the USA and New Zealand, respectively.

As it stands, most US Stella dealers are running very low on stock, and Genuine’s large backorder is–at best–months away (LML surely has domestic obligations, and Belgian, British, and other international dealers are promising a 2006 model). Sadly, it may never come, unfortunate considering US demand has never been higher. Genuine’s deal with PGO (manufacturers of their Buddy 50, 125, and Black Kat, along with other models likely to be announced soon) should reduce the shock on Genuine, their dealers, and scooterists, and Belladonna has introduced a Vino knockoff to their lineup. But those with their hearts set on a Stella would be wise to act fast and settle for whatever color they can get (some colors appear to be sold out nationwide), or place an order for what, if it comes, will likely be the last batch of metal-bodied 2-stroke geared scooters to ever see American soil.