When owners of Piaggio scooters with computerized engine control systems bring their steeds in for service the attendant hooks up a ‘code reader’ to help diagnose any issues. These codes give advice on how to proceed with repairs. Now, for the first time, the secret codes are revealed. Formerly only known to those with a secret set of instructions, these codes can now be interpreted by all. Continue reading “Secret Vespa GTS Brain Box Codes Revealed”
Category: 2sb News
Self Inflating Tires: Shorcut To Safety or Green Innovation?
Imagine it’s springtime and you haven’t done anything to your scooter all winter (I know, it’s a far fetched idea). It kicks over on the first few tries. It’s a beautiful day and you want to go for a ride and burn off some of that Stabil tainted gasoline. It’s time for a safety check. Brakes work, at least one mirror still attached, license tabs only a month or so expired, it’s time to hit the road. But within one block you realize that your trusty scoot handles like you are driving through mud. It soon becomes obvious that you skipped the tire pressure check. The Self Inflating Tire, SIT for short, by Coda Development aims to make that last snag a thing of the past. Their system claims to be able to keep the tire pressure up after a short drive using a peristaltic pump system integrated with the tire or wheel. Check out their video for an explanation. It’s worth the time if you like to see computer generated machines in action. This seems to be in the early stages of development and will likely appear on high-end automobiles first, but I imagine it will be only a matter of time before new scooters come with this technology. Speaking of that, it won’t work on the old split rims of your classic ride. Besides keeping you up on two wheels rather than skidding across the road, properly inflated tires can help save the planet. From Jalopnik, via Gizmodo.
Chilean MadAss Anatomic Advertisment Art
The Sachs MadAss has gotten a bit of a bump in interest lately with the new importer, Peirspeed, showing off the new 125cc MadAss at the Indianapolis dealers show. The New Cafe Racer Society has reported on some artwork done for the Chilean MadAss importer Apumanque. I’m not sure if they are importing the real deal or a clone (or if it matters). But their artwork for their advertisements is very eye catching.
EPA crackdown?
The EPA has ordered Go-Ped manufacturers Patmont Motor Works of Minden Nevada to comply with federal Clean Water Act requirements. The company has been given until the end of April to meet wastewater disposal regulations. (Yep, we expected something related to engine exhaust, too, but no, just the water thing.)
WKRP, and merciless demolition with 2SB
This weekend, of course, is the WKRP Rally in Cincinnati, and 2SB will be there, as always, probably with stomach flu. Here are two non-sanctioned events that 2SB fans might want to check out (we’ll be at both):
- Saturday evening, early enough that you can still make it to the Comet in plenty of time for the raffle, there’s a Demolition Derby out in Hamilton, OH. We went last year, too, and it was great.
- Sunday at 1:00, the 2SB-sponsored Merciless Tigers FC are playing their first outdoor-league match somewhere in the vicinity of Winton Woods. They accidentally got put in an over-40 league (they have only one player over 40) and their center-back “Number 2” tells us “‘Over 40’ means we’ll be playing guys that have probably been playing together for 20 years and can pass circles around us.” It’ll be a bigger bloodbath than the Demolition Derby. The Tigers need a good cheering section, and if you’re headed back to Chicago or Indy, it’s sort of on your way home. I’ll try to get the exact address ASAP, or ask me about it at the rally. Bring a mug of “coffee” and your MT replica jersey.
The rally itself has become the official kickoff to the Midwest rally season, it’s always huge and always great, see you there.
Colaninno outlines Piaggio’s plans for 2008
Forbes reports Piaggio expects to cut costs this year to improve profits in a “flat” European market. Chairman Roberto Colaninno predicted growth in the commercial three- and four-wheeler markets in Europe and India (New Ape and Porter models were released last week), and vowed to maintain scooter market share with new models. As for the American market, (in Forbes words):
The US market will be stable, [Colaninno] said, noting Piaggio mainly sells Vespa scooters where customers are not particularly concerned by price and the ‘very high margins’ offset the weak dollar.
German Custom Scooter Shows (March ’08)
This past weekend Scooter-Attack hosted a custom scooter show in Saarbruecken, Germany. If you missed out on seeing the show you can catch up with a few Youtube videos. Some wild stuff was shown off and even if bling isn’t your bag, you’ve got to be impressed with the level of professionalism in the event. Another custom show is in a few weeks and hosted by Scooter-Center in Cologne.
Archive: Alf and Kim, 1996
Quadricycles: Another Case Where Four Is Two Too Many?
The Geneva Motor Show has brought out a few new rides that further blur the lines between car and motorcycle. The Yamaha Tesseract made distinct impression when the concept ‘bike’ showed up in 2007. Four-wheel ATVs have been around for a while and distinguish themselves from cars by having the pilot centrally located, straddling the engine in a ‘horse-riding’ position while steering with a handlebars rather than a wheel. As on-road vehicles these have only started to catch on outside of the USA. The NHTSA would define these vehicles as automobiles and require them to pass the same safety standards as any other automobile, including requirements for restraints, airbags and collision tests. These requirements wouldn’t make any sense on something more akin to a motorcycle than an SUV, but one can appreciate where rules are rules and as defined it is an automobile with four wheels in contact with the ground at all times. Regardless of U.S. marketability, the world marches on. Enter the Lumeneo Smera and the Sbarro Pendolauto. The Smera is a proposed cabin-enclosed electric vehicle that has four wheels but tilts similar to the idea behind the Piaggio MP3 and the Sidam Xnovo. The Sbarro Pendolauto is a much more sporty quad concept with the rider in the open air in a very low position that shouts corner-speed. The saying ‘four is two too many’ regarding the four-stroke engine is often recognized by fans of two-stroke powered motorcycles and the same could be echoed in regard to these four-wheelers. So, why a pseudo-cage when a bike is so much fun? Obviously the stability of four corners would be an asset as well as the additional grip offered by two additional wheels. The drawbacks would include the increased size and weight of the extra wheels. Size is a big deal to many scooter and small displacement fans that are frequent readers of 2SB, where we typically get excited about smaller being better. But the quadricycle concept does retain several aspects of the motorcycle that many people enjoy such as nimble handling, better fuel efficiency, the open air rush, leaning into turns and a smaller footprint when it comes to traffic and parking. The quadricycle concept for personal transportation is intriguing. If the NHTSA would redefine the motorcycle as a vehicle where the rider is centrally located and any passenger would be required to sit in-line with the pilot (or if the quad was given a class unto itself) we could possibly see things like this on the road in the USA. Surely the auto industry would have something to say about it. But maybe it could be an asset to them if they were to join in by scooping up one of the several fine ATV makers in the US like Polaris or Articcat and kick start their entry into the field. BRP is already on the case and half way there.
Obiboi Re-Invents The Honda EZ-Cub
Motorcycle and scooter designer Oberdan Bezzi has turned to applying the aesthetics of classic motorcycles to modern creations. Some of his latest drawings posted on his blog, Scooter Design, include an enduro inspired series of scooters that draw from the Honda EZ-Cub in form and Honda z50 part info. The scooters definitely have an off-road look with knobbie tires, a crash guard on the bottom and motocross style number plates. The paint schemes are modeled after KTM and Penton dirt bikes of the 1970s. These drawings follow on his most recent motorcycle designs transferring the look of 70s off road bikes to modern bikes. What I like most about his designs is that he superimposes a rider on his creations. I believe that many motorcycle and scooter designers forget to do this anytime before they hit the sales floor.
Archive: Jon Vnuk, 1996
Jon Vnuk, Niagara Falls, 1996
Back to Niagara ’96 and an old friend we don’t see enough of these days. In the center of any rally in the mid-90s, no matter how drunk and silly you were being, you could always be sure that Jon Vnuk was on a rampage around the campsite, being even sillier than you, without a drop of alcohol in his system. Whether jumping over the campfire in a cow suit (don’t touch the udders) at 2am or wandering around, still awake, at 7am in nothing but a foil survival blanket, he was always fun to be around, and luckily we still run into him, unexpectedly, pretty much every time we’re in Milwaukee, whether our visit is scooter-related or not. He’s such a clean-cut kid, yet such a weirdo.
Flu Update/Apology
Judging by the four-hour wait at UrgentCare yesterday, most of America has the flu right now, but it was a bad time for me, I’ve still got a lot of DealerExpo to talk about, people have been sending me great links left and right, the new T-shirts are almost in production, and that’s not even accounting for my real job, or American Scooterist, or any of the many other balls I dropped last week.
Continue reading “Flu Update/Apology”
Archive: Chicago scooterists, 1997
Chicago, Tom Shoner, Andy Miller, Bryan Bedell, Alfredo Mar, and Roger “Gun Dude”, Chicago circa 1997
I’m not exactly sure when this photo was taken, probably at Slaughterhouse 3 or the first Rockford Rally. The mystery here is Roger. He showed up at Slaughterhouse 2 on a polished bare-metal Primavera and turned up for every scooter event in the midwest for about a year. He was a great guy, but we always suspected he was “up to something,” partially because his phone number at the time was “773-GUN-DUDE.” I believe it was Andy who was filling up at a gas station one day and saw Roger in a U-Haul, in a big hurry to get out of town. We never saw or heard from him again. Roger, if you see this, and you’re out of prison, give us a shout! (You too, Shoney!)
Return of the 2SB Action Toy
A repost from the old days: the 2strokebuzz Action Toy. (Click on image for print-friendly .pdf file)
Continue reading “Return of the 2SB Action Toy”
Construction continues…
Just about everyone I’ve asked, including myself, said they’d prefer to see the center column as an all-inclusive chronological listing rather than separate categories, so I’ll be changing that back soon, as soon as I figure out how. In the meantime, have you checked out 2strokebuzz Radio?