Category: Lifestyle

Too much racing for one headline

If you’re interested in scooter racing at all, read on! Simply put, there’s a big schload of scooter racing going on this summer, and that is awesome.

Our 2SB Rally Calendar should now be up to date with all events for the following organizations/leagues:

Are we missing anyone? (Probably!) See any errors? (blame Google Calendar!) In either case, please let us know!

You’ll see we’ve added a new series of events, following the success of Twist and Gone in May, the North American Scooter Racing Association is hosting a full season of drag races in Nashville, IN, sponsored by Scooterworks.

One last bad news/good news bit: MWSR’s organizer Seth tells us that the race this weekend at G&J Kartway in Camden, OH has been postponed, but the good news is the track will be open to scooters for only $10.

Kymco racer photo above is courtesy of Alan Spears, MSILSF

2SB World Cup Contest

Update: ESPN’s entry deadline is a bit unclear, but it could be sometime today (Thursday), so ENTER NOW!

We sort of dropped the (Official Adidas Jabulani) World Cup ball this year, since we’ve been so hyped up on the Blackhawks, (see below).

But World Cup season is always a big deal here on 2strokebuzz. If you want to get mixed up in our Quadrennial gentleman’s wager, just sign up for ESPN Soccernet’s World Cup Bracket Predictor then make your picks and join the 2strokebuzz.com group Whoever has the most points at the end of the tournament wins… something. Something good.
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We’re not “2strokebuzz” on eBay

A couple 2SB fans noticed a GS150 Airbox auction on eBay from seller in Sacramento, CA named “2strokebuzz”. I’ve got nothing against this guy, and he has good feedback and he’s been using the name on eBay since 2001. He doesn’t seem to be pretending to be related to the site or anything, but I emailed him anyway, asking politely if he’d consider changing his name, or adding a disclaimer that he’s not related to us.

He claims he’s “spent the last 20 years riding and restoring scooters,” and is “active in the vintage club scene.” So it’s possible it’s just a coincidence, though it seems weird we’d never heard of each other until now, in the smallish world of vintage scootering. Anyway, I’m not gonna hassle the guy, it’s not that big a deal, neither of us uses eBay much anyway, but I just figured since he didn’t seem interested in clearing things up, it was up to me to make it publicly clear that he’s not me, and vice versa.

Scooter Racing Returns to the Midwest

Just a couple months ago, I complained that there didn’t seem to be much racing going on, and people keep making me eat my words (happily, for once). The latest league of fast gentlemen, Mid-West Scooter Racing, has recently cropped up in 2SB’s ancestral homelands, Southwest Ohio, and is organized by one of our favorite guys, Seth Hershey, from one of our favorite shops, who we won’t name because they’d prefer Seth not highside and miss work. Seth tells us:

The one time I raced I sucked, but I still had such a fulfilling time I just have to do some more.

That’s our Seth. He’s certainly not the aggro intense speed-demon type, but we love incongruity here at 2strokebuzz. Classes and race prep look suitably laid-back and inclusive, so we’re betting he’ll put on some great events.

Motor-Scooter International Land-Speed Federation

Gentlemen, tune your engines: “With no recognized sanctioning organization willing to accept motor-scooters into the fold, we decided to create our own organization, appoint ourselves as the sanctioning organization of motor-scooter land-speed records, and get about the business of hosting the First Annual Motor-scooter Land-Speed Record Trials on November 21st 2010 at El Mirage Dry Lake, California.” The MSILSF is also working towards the creation of scooter classes at Bonneville in 2011.

Colorado’s new “Low-Power Scooter” Laws

Colorado has cleared up their rules regarding 50cc scooters. “Threar” on Modern Buddy sums up the changes nicely in this post. While the rules still differ from most states, and the terminology is a little weird, the rules seem to give 50cc scooter riders more freedom than most states (no special license needed, very cheap registration) while closing some loopholes exploited by scofflaws and fly-by-night scooter shops. The new law also requires liability insurance, which is only fair (and by most accounts, well under $100 a year.)

The one major complaint is that 50cc scooters are limited to 40mph speed, which is under the capability of many 50cc scooters. That’s a bit of a drag, but it makes sense. That’s an arguably-reasonable speed limit for someone without a motorcycle license, and it makes it easier to weed out people cheating the system. At Amerivespa in Denver a few years ago, I remember seeing more than one Vespa GT 250 with the “2” snapped off, and many other bigger-displacement scooters with homemade “50cc” stickers. I can’t imagine police would issue citations to anyone with a motorcycle license on an insured 50cc scooter riding responsibly, unless they were REALLY speeding.

Finger on the Pulse of 2008?

From the Sunday Chicago Tribune: “Experts fear scooter boom will result in more rider deaths.” The premise of the story is that there’s a huge scooter craze going on right now, so the whole thing has a “2008” vibe to it, and there are a few factual errors, but we couldn’t agree more that riders should treat scooters with the same respect as a motorcycle, get training, and wear proper gear. And at least there’s no mention of Audrey Hepburn

Pep Boys fined $5m

Looks like Pep Boys and their scooter supplier, Baja Inc. are finally being penalized for their questionable scooters in the largest Clean Air Act case ever. The complaint alleges that Pep Boys sold over 241,000 illegal vehicles and engines (45 models!). Hopefully this publicity will spark an NHTSA investigation (the Clean Air Act action ignores the safety and road-worthiness of these vehicles.) Baja (not to be confused with Bajaj) was apparently in dire financial straits already, their fine was reduced.

I live near a Pep Boys and always marveled that they sold fifth-rate “off-road-use” vehicles in the middle of the City of Chicago. I see grownups AND little kids riding those scooters and minibikes on city streets and sidewalks all the time… no helmets, no license, no training, no lights (let alone turn signals), on bikes spewing blue smoke, wondering “How does a huge national chain like Pep Boys get away with selling those things?” I guess now we know.

#21: Parts is Parts

Today’s question for Dr. Buzz (his “panel of experts” has become more trouble than it’s worth) comes from Joe W. in Philly:

Does anybody there know how to contact ******** or whatever their corporate identity is this month? Their website lists a “dealer” in Westchester PA who had never sold one, never worked on one. I took my scooter there and unfortunately it needs parts. The dealer is unable to get anybody to sell him parts. The phone number is a secret so nobody can call, I get a grumpy response from some of the other dealers on their list – maybe it’s the same situation…

(updated 5/14 with more details)
Continue reading “#21: Parts is Parts”

Piaggio MP3 400 LT Touring

If the Piaggio MP3 wasn’t already “the Gold Wing of Scooters*,” the new MP3 400 LT Touring with old-man windshield, giant top-box, and hard panniers should seal the deal. Rumor has it 2012 will bring a reverse gear and an 8-track player.

*Granted, The Suzuki Burgman is more commonly saddled with that title, and the Honda Silver Wing has the closest etymological connection.

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.