Category: Oddities/Customs

DDDave’s Pipe Dream

This has been all over the web, but in case you missed it: Damn Dirty Dave’s “Pipe Dream” Vespa, in progress. Not sure what the story is, sounds like maybe it was a project for the Vegas build-off that didn’t quite get finished in time, but I’m glad he decided do hang on and do it right rather than rush it together for the show. It’ll certainly be among the most distinctive custom Vespas of all time.

Scoota Flamethrowa

English plumber Colin Furze has rigged up his commuter scooter to shoot an adjustable 12-foot flame backwards at encroaching drivers. “I’ve been told that if I fire the flames while riding on the road it’s equivalent to using a firearm and I could be in a lot of trouble,” Furze says.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1260047/Wheels-James-Bond-fan-invents-flame-throwing-scooter.html#ixzz0jX4OanJM

(Thanks, Kathy!)

Ocean Colour Scene makes room for snowblower

Ocean Colour Scene’s Steve Craddock is unloading two custom Lambrettas. Craddock claims he’s just too busy to ride, but anyone with a Lambretta fixation can tell you, you don’t sell a Lambretta unless you need the cash. Especially a surprisingly tastefully done Lambretta, that’s been on the cover of Scootering magazine twice (your editor looks in his wallet, a moth flies out.)

Baby sidecar!

With the recent spate of scooter babies out there (Cheers Archer, Calvin, Lillian and a Bastianelli and a Spurck to be named later) and a multitude of alleged “new Lambrettas” on the market, let’s bring back the Lambretta baby-stroller sidecar. Awesome. I don’t check Scooterswag nearly enough. Be sure your child is facing backwards, you know, in case the airbag goes off.

Swedish Army Huskies

We try to only talk about motorcycles when it’s absolutely necessary, but with Cold Weather Challenge fever heating up and a few threads going about the snowmobilification of scooters, Mad Man Maddox posits an alternate scheme based on Sweden’s late-seventies military Husqvarna. Even motorcycle-haters can love a 250 automatic, but it’s the ‘winter package’ that will send gonzo CWC would-bes on an errand to the welding supply shop. These Huskies feature spring-mounted outrigger skis! On roads, they pop up out of the way and you put your feet on the pegs. On snow, you rest your feet on the skis, which automatically adjust themselves for cornering and snow height. Brilliant! If that doesn’t sound like fun, check out this video:

Yesterday I demanded Brooke procure some video of Bob and Colin racing ski-scooters across Lake Minnetonka with “Take Me With U” playing in the background. But scratch that, now I demand footage of you psychotic Minnesotans tearing up Michele Bachmann’s front yard on dual-ski outriggers. Get on it!

Oh, if 2SB only had Top Gear’s budget.

You meet the weirdest people
on a Kukuxumusu

kukuxumusuBradford says, “Thank God we don’t have the Kukuxumusu.” Actually he said that like four months ago while I was on vacation, but I just rediscovered his email. I’m an atheist, so I’ll just thank the NHTSA and the EPA.

Even so, something along those lines could really help a somewhat-respectable-but-painfully-indistinct brand of scooters in the U.S. market. I’m looking at you, TGB.

Soviet Scooters

Here’s a good brief rundown of the Soviet-era scooter industry, featuring some good photos of the Tula Turist and T-200, and a 1974 Vyatka “3,” which I’d never seen before. If that’s not enough Warsaw Pact-ion for you, Autosoviet has lots more info and photos of Tula scooters and Vyatka’s better-known Vespa knockoff plus more than you ever wanted to know about Vostok, Dnepr Minsk, Voskhod, CZ, and more.

Vespa rumors: Pink? Adidas?

Even if that lovely Fred Perry Vespa never makes it over here, we’ve recently heard about two other limited edition Vespas that are due to the US soon. Adidas/Vespa co-branded clothes and shoes were unveiled in Europe months ago, and may finally make it to the U.S. along with the “Adidas Originals” Vespa LX (probably like these). We’ve also heard a pink Vespa LX is in the works, possibly with a breast-cancer-awareness tie-in. Pink scooters are always popular, let’s just hope it’s not as over-the-top as the Swarovski crystal pink Vespa auctioned off for a breast cancer charity a few years ago in the U.K.

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