Author: illnoise

Rock and Bend Over

Gene Simmons of the rock band Kiss is notorious for licensing the bands’ image to anyone who’ll pay for it, so it comes as no surprise that you can now ride a Kiss scooter. The Crossrunner Kiss Celebrity Collectors Edition scooter appears to be just another Chinese Honda Joker knockoff with Kiss graphics. It was noted on Modern Buddy that the paint job is worth more than the scooter, but we’re betting it’s vinyl wrap graphics, the likes of which we’ve seen on several Chinese scooters at Dealer Expo in recent years. It’s also interesting that the photos on the site are a mirror image of each other (note the engine case is visible in both photos), it’s a Photoshop mockup, not a photo of the real bike. (The rotating image at the end of the video appears to be real, the graphics are slightly different.) If this bike features the glass piston, fake ABS brakes, and other shoddy components seen on many Chinese scooters, you might want to order a Kiss casket, too.

Ride to Amerivespa with Kymco

KymcoUSA (once again) seems to be more excited about Amerivespa than VespaUSA, they had the kinda-neat idea to plan a group ride from their South Carolina HQ down to San Antonio, Texas for Amerivespa (May 27 – 31, 2010). They’re even offering to pay for gas for anyone else that comes along. If you’re a Kymco fan, this sounds like a pretty neat opportunity to get some face time with Kymco. On top of that, it’s good to know Kymco’s sales and marketing folks actually ride scooters occasionally, unlike most other brands. Find more info in this ridiculously long Constant Comment link, because I couldn’t find anything about it on Kymco’s site. VespaUSA, likewise, has nothing about Amerivespa on their site, despite being the title sponsor. Even worse, Vespa has not posted any news on their site since December. I don’t expect these guys to be blogging daily, frankly, no one would read it, but when you take the time and effort to plan an event or promotion, put it on your site, if for no other reason than to make it clear you’re still in business! I take all that back, see below, sorry.

Scootertechniques DVDs

Can’t speak to the quality of these Lambretta and Vespa Maintenance/Rebuild DVDs. but it’s about time someone put together something like this. I’ve written them to beg for review copies, maybe we can sell ’em over at Scootmoto eventually. (I notice they offer free shipping worldwide, that’s extremely generous, considering current shipping rates! Hopefully they’ve taken region encoding and NTSC/PAL into account they have, see below)

Via ScootRS.

Scootmoto Update!

Speaking of 2SB cashing in (stop laughing), we’ve finally updated Scootmoto with about a dozen new items, including:

(Finally!) NEW 2strokebuzz T-shirts, a very limited-edition tribute to one of the greatest albums ever, and because our son Calvin (obviously) needed one, we did a few onesies. We only printed 36 shirts, so if you’re actually twee/old enough to get the reference, order fast!
Continue reading “Scootmoto Update!”

Jet Blue Vespa Giveaway

What’s up with these contests lately that give away Vespas (in the case of the Jet Blue One Thing Thats Green Sweepstakes, a lot of Vespas) as a runner-up prize, with “top” prizes that no one would want (in this case, flights to the third world, or the “opportunity” to listen to Deepak Chopra’s mullarkey in person? Admittedly, the washer and dryer look nice, but we’ve got that covered.

(Via P.Z. Meyers)

Chicago’s Improved Adhesive Meter Receipts:

The Expired Meter posted about Chicago’s new motorcycle-friendly meter receipts, with a closing quote from some negative creep scooterist.

I actually checked them out after talking to The Expired Meter, they are a big improvement over the old adhesive receipts, and definitely better than the cheapo thermofax paper. We appreciate the effort from the city and LAZ, though my concern about theft still stands (not to mention the hundreds of other complaints people have about the whole parking meter operation in general.)

All that said, most meters have a very limited parking window anyway, so they’re not an option for commuters or overnight parking. And even though Chicago’s metered spaces seem to be growing exponentially, a Chicago Road Use Tax medallion allows you to park on a wealth of (unmetered) residential side streets without a neighborhood permit. Eventually, those will probably be metered as well, but for now, parking in the city is about as clear and hassle-free as it’s ever been.

Farewell, Nev Frost

Neville Frost
David Hardy from teamSequipe.com commented a few days ago on the Team S Equipe 2SB post:

It is with great sadness that I have to announce the passing of the greatest all round scooterist, of all time, Nev Frost.

Nev passed away last Friday, unfortunately I do not know the circumstances as yet.
From the mid sixties Nev was the one you had to beat, whether it be on the track, grass track, rallies or navigation trials he would be there at the top or there about.
Just a fantastic competitor.

I hope he gets the send off he deserves, a truly great man & scootering legend.

Sadly, while Frost’s Lambretta-racing legacy looms large on the web, word of his passing doesn’t seem to have spread through the scooter community, and a week later, I’m unable to find a proper obituary. If anyone has more details, or memories to share, we’d love to hear them.

PSRA Cup kicks off on Sunday, MASR’s first race on the 24th, and Twist and Gone‘s drag event in Indiana is on May 1, perhaps racers at those events can keep Nev in their hearts and find a way to honor his memory.

“Don’t Bother Learning How to Ride Properly,
You Will Die Anyway”

That’s the basic gist of a new report by insurance-industry group IIHS. It’s a ridiculous statement from a group that’s come under fire from motorcyclist rights groups before, but that didn’t stop the (usually-right-on) New York TImes “Wheels” blog from regurgitating it verbatim and trying to pass it off as journalism. The Motorcycle Safety Foundation quote at the end can be translated as, “We’re so shocked and appalled, we don’t even know where to start with our rebuttal.”

Here’s Eric Almendral’s response at Modern Buddy which is pretty much right along the lines of what I’m thinking. I hope scooterists and motorcyclists will both attack bloggers and journalists who reprint this ‘study’ as science, and hype the f**k out of the MSF rebuttal, when it comes.

Mag7 ride Saturday

If you’re not in Cincinnati this weekend, the Magnificent 7 SC is hosting a Chicago-area ride on Saturday (April 10 2010, rain date April 17).

Meet at Cafe Cappuccino, 3800 Harlem (next to Bakers Square) at 9:30am Ride departs at 10:30am. Return to city eta 5:00 pm for free pizza and $3 Blue Moon pints at The Playroom on Belmont.

This is a long ride; 100+ miles with two planned stops along the way. Please, only larger scooters capable of cruising at 50mph.

World’s Largest Scooter Ride


Scooter Therapy, Madison, WI’s Genuine/Kymco dealer is attempting to enter the Guinness Book of World Records on April 17 with “The World’s Largest Scooter Ride.” We heard rumors of this a couple weeks ago, and found it curious: Isle of Wight organizers brag that their 2008 Sunday ride was Guinness-verified as the world’s largest parade of scooters with about 5000. Even though there’s no mention of this record on Guinness’ site, European rallies routinely top 1000 scooters.

It turns out, despite the vague name of the event, Scooter Therapy is trying to break a 2005 Dutch record for Largest Parade of Mopeds (motorcycles Under 50cc), which currently stands at 674. All mopeds and scooters are welcome, but only those under 50cc will count towards the record.

I don’t know what kind of moped population Madison has these days (maybe it’s through the roof, unlike most states, WI law clearly specifies 50cc scooters as mopeds, legal to operate with a regular driver’s license, and Madison is a relatively affluent college town) but that still seems like a lot of bikes, considering that the biggest (and more-publicized) midwestern scooter and moped rallies rarely attract half that many. When you limit it to 50cc bikes, and hold it on the same weekend as a big moped rally in Louisville, that just doesn’t seem possible, but maybe they know something I don’t. In any case, it’s a ride, it’ll be a good time, and they’re giving away a Genuine Roughhouse 50, so if you’re in the area you’ll want to check it out. Here’s hoping they pull it off and steal the title from those stinking Nederlanders!

What about “Flyover Country?”

Comparing powersports journalist Guido Ebert to 2strokebuzz is like comparing Roger Ebert to an anonymous YouTube comment. So you’d think Piaggio would jump at the chance to get him on their bandwagon, right? If Piaggio’s going to set up every lawnmower repair shop in the midwest as dealers, you’d think they’d give them a little marketing support. I honestly wondered if this was an April Fools joke, but I don’t think it is.

Testing your Loyalty?

I know Vespa rudely scheduled their dealer meeting in California the same weekend as Genuine’s dealer retreat in Wisconsin a couple years ago, but it doesn’t seem sporting to schedule the grand opening of the redesigned Scooterworks Chicago space the same day as Motowork’s North Avenue shop opening. I’m not sure who called dibs on the date first, but if I can’t go to both, I’m not going to either. Even if one of them books Jay Leno.