Amerivespa 2012 Schedule

The Amerivespa team has recently updated the schedule. I don’t know if I’ve ever been so excited about a rally, I am really, REALLY, looking forward to seeing y’all there. Also, looks like we’ll be sharing a mersh table with Piston Ported. (Thanks, Peter!) Remember: it’s just about mandatory to pre-register, to be sure you get all the swag and a seat for the dinner.

Scootmoto Update

I’m going to shut down our sister shop, Scootmoto for a while and start from scratch, probably integrating it into the 2strokebuzz main site. The shopping cart software was junk to begin with (expensive junk at that) and a couple years later, it’s almost unuseable.

I’ll leave it open for a couple days, so if you’ve been eyeing a 2strokebuzz “Beat Happening” t-shirt or any of our other wares made by scooterists, for scooterists, act fast. I’d offer a storewide discount, if the cart software would allow me to. Sorry. Free scootmoto decals with all orders, how ’bout that? (Yes, we always did that anyway.)

Stock levels are subject to inaccuracy, but I’ll let you know right away if we’re out of something.

1, 2, 3: Accessorize And Transform

Welcome to my stream of consciousness. First, after thinking about comments by ‘stefan’ in my last post about trends in the scooter world I thought about a blank canvas scooter that could be customized as wanted. Second, I noticed a photo to the right of the 2sb page that had a close up of some leg shield and thought it was a picture of an accessory so I thought of the currently absent from the 2sb advert rotation Gen-U-Bin. This Gen-U-Bin is pretty cool and even if it’s not your cup of tea, it should illustrate the kind of product that could be bolted on to a chassis that can change the look and character. It’s a bit different than a universal top case from the fine folks at GIVI (who I’ll get to in another post). It’s specific to a model to change function. Third, I was reminded of the stuff from SX Appeal that changes the shape and functional attributes of the scooter like the Pack Rest and saddle bags.

My question for the readers is to point to how they or others have transformed their scooter from one thing to another by adding something. Taking off bodywork was around long before the Ruckus, but how will folks add back from the blank canvas? I’m not talking about a fuzzy seat cover, a top case, chrome crash bars or other embellishment. But stuff that has taken a regular scooter and turned into the scooter that the owner really wish had been built for them. When you wanted it all and got it, where did you put it?

Posting links directly to photos of your creations will probably not show up but I’ll try to check often and approve them.

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!”

In Memory of Marshall Tito: A Scooter Contest

To celebrate the upcoming officially recognized birthday of Josip Broz Tito I would like to offer the opportunity for one lucky trainspotter to win a fantastic Scootmoto decal. The first person to identify the model scooter displayed at 1:07 of this BBC video will win this prize. Don’t put links in your response below just the make and model and I’ll ‘fact check’. (If the feed goes dead here’s the direct link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8032132.stm )

Disclaimer: Not an official contest. Subject to Bb pulling the post and replacing it with a helmet review. But I swear I’ll send one to the first lucky winner, as soon as I get around to it. -bgk

Smallpressapalooza

2SB pal and publisher of the Bumpstart zine, Karen Giezyng, will read tonight at Powell’s Books Smallpressapalooza in Portland, OR. The event starts at 5pm, she’s scheduled to read at 7:15pm. Issue 2 of Bumpstart will hopefully go on sale tonight at Scootmoto, if my internet at home is fixed (it’s been out for a week, sorry about the lack of posts and followup on the TGB story). Issue 1 is back in stock, too, both are great.

UPDATE Bumpstart #2 is now available at Scootmoto!

Life imitates 2sb t-shirts

When we made our “DOT Flip-Flop” t-shirts, we never thought anyone would be dumb enough to sell riding sandals, let alone buy them. Save yourself the experience of having your toes grinded off and stick to the t-shirt instead, we still have some L, XL, and 3XL “Chocolate Brown” shirts and a few “‘Safety Orange” smalls and mediums. We’ve got a few new items over at Scootmoto, too. (Thanks for the tip on the real sandals, Professor.)

A winnah…

Polinarchy (Poliana from Philadephia) is the winner of our “When will the Razz fall over?” contest. She guessed Friday, and both Ryan and I were out of town, so we’re not exactly sure when it fell, but we figure it was probably sometime Friday night or Saturday morning. After more than a month with snow on the ground, it all magically disappeared in two days. Poliana wins a $10 gift certificate from our sister site illnoisePosted on Categories Chicago, Cold Weather, Giveaways, Scootmoto1 Comment on A winnah…

CWC Update, and another quick contest

Entries in the Cold Weather Challenge have been slow thanks to schloads of snow in the northern U.S., but don’t forget runners-up will be recognized by state, so wherever you live, you have a chance at everlasting glory. One notable recent entry is Clayton from South Korea, who holds third place after a fried-chicken-inspired ride through Namhansansong. Chicagoans scooter through the snow for bibimbap, Koreans scooter through the snow for the Colonel. Who knew?

Anyway, here’s a new mini-contest until we have rideable conditions again: That there photo is CWC cosponsor Ryan’s Yamaha Razz, he did a few doughnuts in his back yard on Jan. 9th and then threw it into that snowbank with the centerstand up. Guess what day and time it falls over (in the comments) and the closest guess gets a $10 gift certificate from Scootmoto.com. Go!

Scootmoto

Hey, I’d really like to thank everyone that’s ordered 2strokebuzz t-shirts via Scootmoto. Sales have been great (we’ve already sold out of a few sizes) and we’re all caught up on shipping and it seems like things are going smoothly (now that I know I have to sign the customs forms for canadian orders).

Scootmoto isn’t much right now, it doesn’t even have a logo, which is the true measure of corporate success. But like I’ve said, I have big plans for it, and I’m a fan of slow, sustainable growth. I’ve been working on the idea and researching the market for a long time, so I’m going to go back and hit up some of the people that said they were interested. If you have something you’d be interested in selling at the scootmoto store, please drop me a line at illnoise@2strokebuzz.com. If you’re a shop and you’re interested in a wholesale account, or in help sourcing and manufacturing merchandise for your store, let me know, too. I think there’s a hole in the market for grass-roots scooter merchandise, and I’d love to help people with good ideas get their plans in motion, and I’d love to help scooter shops find interesting, original stuff to sell to their accessory-hungry customers.

Thanks again, customers, for your support.