As I was hunting for a new battery for our motorcycle this morning (found at Illinois Battery, thanks), Matthew posted some links to upcoming hazardous household waste drop-offs in our area (Illinois EPA schedule / Northern Cook County schedule). Scooterists use all kinds of paints, cleaners, oils, and lubricants to maintain their scooters, and we go through batteries and tires much faster than the average citizen (“but they get such good mileage!”). If I was smart, I would have taken the battery to the store with me and exchanged it. Most auto parts, battery, and tire stores accept discarded hazardous materials for disposal, and most local agencies have collection days and disposal guidelines. More suggestions for recycling and disposal of household hazardous waste can be found in this EPA document.
Author: illnoise
The Denny’s dumpster is not a HazMat disposal center
Vesparados!
A Matthew Diffee cartoon from this week’s New Yorker. Available from The New Yorker Store on T-shirts, framed prints, and anything else New Yorker readers crave… tote bags? latte mugs? Thanks to DC Rob, pretending he’s literate enough to read the New Yorker. I wonder if my “Brew City Beer Run II” flyer, on which Brent misspelled the name of his own club (“Vespardos!”) is worth anything now.
First Kinetic “Italjet” released
As reported on The Scooter Scoop: Kinetic, who acquired rights to produce seven Italjet models way back in 2004, has at last released their first model: the Kinetic Italiano Blaze (thankfully renamed from the Italjet Millenium, which seems, erm, dated). Kinetic’s site features an overhead photo of all seven planned “Italiano” (apparently they’re not using the Italjet name) models in a popup window (note the Blaze is labeled as the “Blade”). Those Kinetic Dragsters may be a reality yet, not to mention the long-awaited Kinetic circa-1993 Velocifero, the first retro-RETRO scooter. Hopefully someone with Indian scooter importing experience and nothing else to do at the moment will bring them to the USA.
UPDATE: also from Scooter Scoop, here’s a test ride and review.
Schwinn vs. TNG: Pacific Cycle’s response
I emailed Pacific Cycle, parent company of Schwinn Scooters for a comment on TNG’s lawsuit against Schwinn. Here was the response from Mo Moorman, Pacific Cycle’s Director of Marketing and Public Relations:
Pacific Cycle has no comment regarding ongoing litigation, except that we are surprised and disappointed by these claims. We feel the claims have absolutely no merit and intend to defend vigorously. Pacific Cycle stands by the quality of its products and its relationships with its OEM partners.
You may find it worthwhile to review a variety of scooter OEM’s Web sites to note the similarities between their catalog’s standard, stock models and scooters distributed in the U.S. and around the world.
Fair enough, and we’ve noted that there are hundreds of US importers selling the same handful of Chinese-made scooter models (most commonly based on the Yamaha Vino design) under different brand names. Perhaps CMSI has written off smaller fly-by-night importers as being not worth worrying about, whereas a well-known name like Schwinn is a much bigger threat. And again, the lawlessness of the Chinese business frontier will certainly cloud this case– TNG probably has little recourse against their Chinese suppliers. It will be interesting to see how this plays out, the Yamaha settlement last week was an interesting precedent. Perhaps Yamaha will parlay their trademark victory into more lawsits against US distributors of Vino clones, if so, both TNG and Schwinn could be looking at even bigger problems.
Safety expert Larry Grodsky killed in deer crash
This is going to sound callous and flippant, but I mean it in all seriousness. If a guy like Larry “Stayin’ Safe” Grodsky can be killed on a motorcycle, then NO ONE should ever feel entirely safe on two wheels. There’s always more to learn, and one less person to teach us. Thanks to Scooter in the Sticks for the news, embedded in yet another insightful post.
Israeli scooter racing photos
From Brooke: The Israeli Scooter League got underway last week, here are some photos.
2sb drops the (soccer) ball
For those two or three of you that come to 2strokebuzz for soccer coverage, I apologize, I’ve totally lost track of soccer in the last couple weeks. Yesterday, Matt, of all people, informed me that the US national team, with the World Cup a mere seven weeks away, was ranked fourth in the FIFA rankings, an all-time high. (I don’t know about that, I’ll be surprised–but ecstatic–if they make it through the group round of the World Cup.) Then today my boss, of all people, told me Arsenal beat Villareal in the first leg of the Champions League. I’d totally forgotten about the match. If Arsenal can beat or tie Villareal in Spain next week, they’ play in the Champions League Final against AC Milan or Barcelona (Barcelona won the first leg, in Italy, 1-0). On top of all that, the MLS season has started and I haven’t even mentioned it, I’ll post about the Fire and their new stadium soon.
FIV replacement announcement soon?
It appears that Piaggio may soon announce a new international Vespa Club sanctioning body to replace the FIV (Federazione Internazionale dei Vespa Clubs), which they mysteriously dissolved in December. The new body is rumored to be called “Vespa World Club” and is likely to be directed by popular Vespa Club Italy president Roberto Leardi. Unfortunately, comments from Piaggio CEO Rocco Sabelli, published in the November/December issue of the company magazine “Piaggiornale,” indicate that this new organization might be under even tighter control of Vespa’s marketing department:
“To this end [adding extra value to our brands], we will be launching merchandising programs based on each brand’s history and traditions for professional and market-oriented use of the Vespa Club, Aprilia and Moto Guzzi communities.”
Hopefully Sabelli’s comment describes an increased investment to support the independent rallies and clubs that keep the scooter scene alive, rather than a plan to co-opt the historic and colorful national Vespa Clubs and re-tool them into Piaggio marketing squads. In any case, EUROVESPA 2006 is still scheduled for Turin this summer, and proudly displaying the FIV logo on their site.
Legolas warning!
Riding in London? Keep an eye out for Orlando Bloom.
Piaggio 2006 line announced
Piaggio X8 400ie
Today Piaggio announced a whole schload of new and redesigned models.
- The Beverly line now includes five models: the 125, 250 ie (“iniezione elettronica” –electronic injection), S 250ie, 400ie, and 500.
- The Liberty and new “racier” Liberty S are both available in a 50cc 2-stroke, as well as 50, 125, and 200cc 4-stroke versions.
- The Typhoon 50 has been redesigned for 2006.
- The redesigned X8 range features five versions: the X8 125 and 150 “Street,” the X8 125, and the 250ie, and the 400ie.
Photos of some of the new models are in our gallery, More photos and specs will be posted as we make sense of it all. Note: these are worldwide-market names and products, few will likely make it to the US, and the Beverly will likely continue to be called the “BV” here.
60 already?
It seems like Vespa’s 50th anniversary was just last month! Can you believe the ET-series is already ten years old? Coverage of the Italian festivities, with all the usual cliches, ran today on Times Online: “Cool at any age: The Vespa hits 60” Note: That’s 60 years old, not 60 mph.
Yamaha wins “copycat” suit
Speaking of Asian copycats (Via the BBS):
Yamaha Motor Company, U.S.A., Cypress, Calif., has obtained a Consent Judgment in its lawsuit against Yamoto Motor Corporation, Union City, Calif. Yamoto has agreed to stop the import and sale of Yamoto products into the United States which Yamaha claimed were copycats of its products.
The lawsuit, filed October 12, 2005 in Los Angeles Federal Court against Yamoto Motor Corporation and Patriot Motorcycles Corporation (Pink Sheets: PMCY), alleged trademark infringement and copyright infringement, among other claims.
Read the full story at Powersports Business
TNG files charges against Schwinn Scooters
As 2strokebuzz noted a couple weeks ago, the new Schwinn Scooters bear more than a casual similarity to the TNG Venice and Milano models, and as promised, we’ve dug a little deeper into the situation and our findings are rather startling. Tom Lynott, president of CMSI, makers of the TNG scooters, had no comment on April 4th, but since then, a source outside CMSI confirmed that CMSI were preparing legal action against Pacific Cycle, the parent company of Schwinn, Mongoose, and GT bicycles. A complaint, which alleges that Pacific Cycle effectively “stole” TNG’s product and business model after a proposed collaboration was abandoned, was submitted to the United States District Court in Seattle on April 6, (two days after our original story), listing six charges against Pacific Cycle: False Designation of Origin, Violation of Washington’s Consumer Protection Act, Common Law Unfair Competition, Intentional Interference with Contract, Intentional Interference with Prospective Economic Relations, and Breach of Contract.
Continue reading “TNG files charges against Schwinn Scooters”
Return of the 5-speed Vespa transmission
The newest Scooterworks mailer offers a 5-Speed Transmission Upgrade for the Vespa P-series and late-70s largeframes. I remember talk of a five-speed kit that was available in the early nineties, but I haven’t seen one for sale in the last ten years. It’s not my bag to tamper with Piaggio’s genius, but if you’re the type who insists his amplifer “goes to eleven,” order now.
Dave Tooley and the Wildcat Lambretta
Dave Tooley raced Lambrettas in the early seventies for the Rafferty Newman “Wildcat” team in the UK, most notably the 158cc-model that dominated the 160-and-under class. Dave’s site contains great scooter racing photos, memoirs, scans of period magazines and advertisements, and technical info about Les Rafferty’s Wildcat Lambretta race scooters. And unlike most UK scooter sites, there’s not an animated navigation button or mod target to be found. Well-done!