Category: 2sb Archives

Stuff from the old site

My favorite blogger is one year older

Now that the Galewood rally has gone the way of the dinosaur and two stroke twins, there was little to remind us of what I like to call Beebmas.  Today we celebrate the birth of the man at the helm of 2StrokeBuzz.  All of us here at the corporate office would like to wish Bryan a happy birthday.  Cake will be in the breakroom at 2:00.  Bring your own plates and forks.

Diamo USA announces Roadside Assistance program

Diamo Motors USA has announced a new roadside assistance program, included with all new street scooters and motorcycles. Diamo’s Kathryn Davis tells us “This program is unique because it is offered to customers free of charge and is comprehensive in nature.” A well-implemented roadside assistance plan is good news for anyone saving up their cash for the new Italjet Dragster.

A few rashers more? Think again, Galewood

mmmmmmmThe folks over at Gizmodo reported on some ‘scientists’ in the UK that have come up with an equation for the perfect bacon sandwich. Further research revealed that my lab rat brethren at Leeds University have defined what is the perfect “Bacon Butty”. I’ve been eating bacon sandwiches with pleasure for the last thirty plus years, but these little pleasures are more akin to what Americans would call a fried ham sandwich (Here is where I give a shout out to my pals in Seattle, Joe and Euan, for introducing me to the bacon butty at a bar down the street from Soundspeed Scooters in the Fremont neighborhood). Being that 2strokebuzz is primarily a scooter ‘blog’, I’ll apologize for going off topic but I know that the subject is close the heart of many of it’s loyal readers. Read on and decide for yourself and let the derision of ‘merican bacon commence (p.s. I like both kinds, but not too crispy).

Kymco Backs Experienced Duo With “No Factory Support”

Kymco USA has bumped up their motorsports profile by sponsoring the “No Factory Support” AMA Superbike team.  The team will be running CBR1000RR sport bikes with very experienced pilots in the seats.  Motorcycle legend Doug Chandler and experienced former MotoGP rider Kurtis Roberts are going to have a shot at taking on the full factory supported AMA superbike teams.  Kymco Super9 scooters will be used by the team in the pits as well as by the crew of a reality show on the SPEED Channel network.  (In other related news, Kymco is sponsoring a NASCAR team as well).  Hopefully this mainstream injection of scooters into the public arena will reduce the likelihood of Roman Holiday references in craptastic newspaper pieces by at least a small amount.  Thanks to the good folks at Road Racing World Magazine for passing along this Kymco PR information.

Motorcycle Rider Program classes announced

The University of Illinois Motorcycle Rider Program is now accepting applications for their 2007 classes. As usual, applications are taken only by mail or in person, and the classes fill up amazingly fast. If you’re in Chicago, you may want to Fed-Ex your applications or drive them to Champaign in person. (Thanks for the reminder, Larry)

You can’t take the class on a scooter, but motorcycles are provided and the skills you’ll learn are crucial to scooter riding. Mike Maddox and 2sb are trying to organize a special scooter-only session in the Chicago area, we can’t promise anything but we’ll keep you posted and we recommend signing up for the regular course, whether or not you take the scooter course later.

It’s official: VCOA in Vespa World Club

Vespa World Club was announced about a year ago, but not much happened since then. Today Vespa Club of America president J.D. Merryweather received confirmation that on Feburary 28, at the VWC Directive Council meeting, VCOA’s membership was officially approved. This announcement signifies a commitment from Piaggio in Italy that thankfully ends a year of confusion about the future of the VCOA. The affiliation should enhance the VCOA’s already-great credibility, stability, and member benefits.

French Scooter Thieves Beware!

It has become apparent that DNA testing is now among “classic methods” for tracking down Booster boosters in France.  BBC News reports of the controversy over the investigation of the theft of a scooter belonging to the son of French Interior Minister and Presidential candidate Nicolas Sarkozy.  Critics claim Mr. Sarkozy may have invoked special treatment of the case of the theft after DNA tests were used to narrow the suspect pool.  This scooterist wonders if these techniques will become standard methods in the US as well.

Kristal leads Bajaj scooter revival

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Becky McCabe on a Bajaj Kristal, with Kiran K. Dani, Bajaj Engine Assembly Manager, Bajaj Akurdi Plant, Pune, India (Photo: Dave McCabe)

With scooter sales exceeding expectations in India, Bajaj–known for decades as a a world-leading scooter company–doesn’t list a single scooter on their website. For a year, Bajaj has been selling of remaining stock of their unpopular Wave and bragging of their dominance of the second- and third-world motorcycle market. Stuck without a product in a growing (or at least very stable) market, Bajaj seems reluctant to admit their judgement error, even as they scramble to release new scooters. The first new effort, the Kristal DTS-i, debuts in February. At 95cc, it’s targeted towards teenagers and specifically women, which seems sort of old-fashioned even by Indian and Bajaj standards. Dave McCabe of VCOA and American Scooterist just returned from India, and some Bajaj plant tours, and reports:

The Krystal is kind of a disappointment. It’s smaller than the [Indian Honda] Activa. It has all sorts of funky angularity built into the design (crystal-like?) The scooter has lots of gadgets added to it, an underseat storage light, light-sensitive sensor for turning on the headlight at night. Turn the ignition key one way and it pops open a gas fill. The underseat compartment can hold a full-face.

In India, at 16 you can ride an “ungeared” scooter under 100cc. You need to be 18 to ride a geared scooter. The wimpy engine capacity is targetted for this market.

The engineers who gave me the tour assured me that the Krystal’s engine was an entirely new design from the Wave. It keeps the Wave’s dual spark system and the “exhaust tech” (I know, B.S. names.) I understand the point of the dual spark but I had to have an engineer explain the point of the exhaust system. It’s basically a little box off the main line of the exhaust pipe. At low rpms, the little box (ahead of the cat converter) help reduces back pressure on the engine. It’s more” low tech” than “exhaust tech” but apparently it works.

Bajaj was pretty coy about why they stopped production of the Wave. It had something to do with the starter motors, but I also think that it had other design flaws. It was evident that they were being super-careful with the rollout of the Krystal. Dealers were getting limited numbers to test for bugs and there were many stages of quality control in the engine production. All of the engine cases were pressure tested. If the cases didn’t hold pressure they were pulled from the line. The leak was found using the old “soapy water” method, then repaired. All engines were also bench tested before being put in bodies. The bench test was interesting, they had a system set up so they could check that the engine would run on both spark plugs or either plug. At the end of the assembly line, all of the scooters were dyno tested as well. It’s pretty clear they want rock solid scooters going out before they ramp up into full production.

More Kristal news from the Hindu Business Line, the Business Standard, and Techwhack.