Inspired by a newbie thread about patches on Modern Buddy, I finally tracked down the source of a particularly awesome JPEG I came across a few weeks ago. Turns out the JPEG was just the tip of the iceberg of Ace’s Jacket Cosplay Breakdown. Anyone stuck home watching Dr. Who on PBS in the late 80s, I bet you’re with me on this one. I wanted a scooter in 1986, but I wanted a Honda, thanks to Adam Ant and Lou Reed. I didn’t know anything about scooter culture back then, but man, did I want a bomber jacket with a bunch of random patches.
Category: History
Lambretta LD3: No Tilting At Windmills
While it probably handled more like an ATV rather than a 2 wheeler like the Piaggio MP3, I’d trade the lean for the style. Via Ride The Machine (again), but originally from this Czech scooter site with lots of cool old images.
Mod Photo Mystery
Also via Scooterism: Help Sandra find the photo of her brother Raymond Kelley used in countless books, ads, and such. I don’t have my copy of Richard Barnes’ Mods handy, but I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s the original source. Sandra refers to a book “Mods” in the story, but I think that’s a newer book that features the NME cover. As neat as it would be to see Sandra reunited with a good print, it’d be even better to see the original photographer pick up royalties from the frequent and probably unauthorized reproduction of his work over the years, and hopefully get a chance to exhibit or publish more prints from that period!
“Scooter Commuter,” 1962
It is absolutely mandatory that you watch the Rank Organisation’s “Scooter Commuter” film from 1962. A lot of the pitch is still true today, but more than anything, it’s just heartwarming to see such well-shot footage of vintage Vespas and Lambrettas (and Corgis, and Bonds, and more) in action back when a silk scarf was all the head protection you needed. It’s like watching Quadrophenia without the baggage and overwrought bass noodling.
Vintage Carousel Ride Scooter
Philadephia-based online vintage-resale boutique Three Potato Four is currently offering a vintage carnival-ride scooter for $1250. Most of us rarely pay that much for a actual, running vintage scooter but, you have to admit this thing is a neat find. They’re calling it a “Vespa” and it has a few Vespa-like features, but scooter nerds will recognize most of the features as more Lambretta-esque.
Thanks to Vina for the link.
Scooters and Guns:
A Match Made Somewhere In Europe
The Ride The Machine blog, formerly known as The New Cafe Racer Society, posted this photo worth sharing. I think the views of scooters in the US would be very different if such applications were reality. But instead, I think something like this Vespa TAP that Steve from The Scooter Scoop posted about on Facebook would be more highly admired.
Via The Velobanjogent, another good site to watch.
LML, Cairo, February 11, 2011
If you’re truly obsessed with scooters, you’ll spot the unmistakeable corner of a legshield from a mile away. I was scanning through thumbnails of photos of the Egyptian celebrations on Flickr and this great photo by Joel Carillet jumped right out at me. It was taken on the 6th of October Bridge on Friday night, after Hosni Mubarak stepped down. This photo of an Egyptian family waving the peace sign as they cross the bridge four-up on an LML scooter is suddenly and permanently locked in place as my mental picture of the celebrations.
February 11, 2011 — Cairo, Egypt, originally uploaded by Joel Carillet.
UPDATE: Another great one!
WebBikeWorld on the Piaggio Museum
We’ve always loved WebBikeWorld’s great reviews, Larry Gebraski points out they have a good writeup on the Piaggio Museum with some solid advice for travelers.
(When you visit, ask how the extravagant new Massimiliano-Fuksas-designed museum that was scheduled to open in 2007 is coming along. Be sure to remind your tour guide that the museum hype came a month before Piaggio’s stock offering, then was never mentioned again.)
Book Review:
Vespa Scooters Essential Buyer’s Guide
Veloce Books is a British publisher focused mostly on vintage cars and motorcycles. They’ve released several scooter books, some reviewed here in the past, and all worth checking out. Their newest scooter-related endeavor is The Essential Buyer’s Guide: Vespa Scooters (subtitled “Classic two-stroke models 1960 to 2008“) by Mark Paxton. The word “Essential” in the title is not hyperbole, this book is truly a “must-own” for anyone considering the purchase of a vintage Vespa.
Continue reading “Book Review:
Vespa Scooters Essential Buyer’s Guide”
An Alternate Reality?
The MV Agusta motorcycle, like the Vespa, was born from the remnants of an Italian aircraft manufacturer after World War II. But did you know the Agusta and Vespa very nearly had a lot more in common?
MV Agusta produced their first prototype, called “Vespa 98”, in 1945. After learning that the name had already been registered by Piaggio for its Vespa motorscooter, it was referred to simply by the number “98”.
Agusta went on to build a few scooters, such as the CGT, the Ovunque, and the Chicco. So if it was not for some paperwork, we could all be riding Ovunques today!
Thanks to our Belgian friend David V.
Isle Of Man Lambretta Racing c. 1970
This is a great video. You may want to turn up the brightness on the monitor but that may take away some of the appeal. The music is so good you’d think Mr. Illnoise had posted this. The event isn’t quite the closed-road TT, though the pilots just show their mettle by mixing it up with lorry traffic. Now you’ll excuse me while I go look for a petrol can in the carport.
Via the SIP Facebook page
World Meet 2010 Micro/Minicar Show
2SB visited the World Meet 2010 Microcar and Minicar show in Crystal Lake today. Ever since reviewing the book A-Z of Popular Scooters and Minicars a while back, we’ve been keen on checking out a microcar show, so we’ve been looking forward to this show in our backyard (well, our distant suburbs) for more than a year. We weren’t disappointed, there was a good turnout with some great vehicles. I don’t know much about these beasts, so I’ll let the photos speak for themselves, but to keep it scooter-related, look out for the several Vespa 400s, an Innocenti-made Mini, and an Isle-of-Man-built Peel Trident with its original DKW motor replaced with a Vespa engine. (You can’t see the engine, but the dashboard gives it away!)
Continue reading “World Meet 2010 Micro/Minicar Show”
Farewell, John Gerber
I’ve just heard that John Gerber has passed away. As an active participant in the U.S. scooter scene since “the old days,” John was the preeminent historian of American scootering history, collecting his own memories, first-person accounts, and laboriously-researched stories for American Scooterist. He was frankly the heart and soul of the Vespa Club of America. Aside from that, I have no details at all, but I’ll share the information when I get it, and a proper tribute when I’m less speechless.
2strokebuzz Zines: Past and Future?
A handful of you may remember that 2strokebuzz started life as a ‘zine. It would probably help if I kept the old issues linked up. There.*
I’ve been thinking for a while, with the advent of print-on-demand sites like MagCloud and Hulu that it’d be so much easier to print/distribute a zine these days. I focused most of my magazine energy into American Scooterist for the last several years, but that required months of work per issue and as great as it is, it doesn’t have that 2SB vibe. I’d thought about ‘2SB Greatest Hits’ compilations, or compiling the old issues, but I’d rather try something new, and something fast and collaborative and less open-ended.
Today I heard about the 48 Hour Magazine Project, and that’s inspired me to try something similar. I’ll look into it and figure out some details, but if you’re interested in helping out, drop us an email or comment!
*Someday hopefully someone will find a USB SyQuest drive so I can finish issue 4… and send Nikki a copy of the great long-lost cover photo.
Farewell, Nev 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.