Category: Lifestyle

MBI award voting ends Sunday

MBI70.gifOnly one day left to vote for the 2007 Motorcycle Bloggers International Riders’ Choice Awards. We have no idea who’s winning, but we did find out that 2strokebuzz is among the top referrers to the voting site, and that several other scooter blogs also posted some impressive traffic, so scooters should be well-represented next Wednesday (March 15, 2007) when the winners are announced.

Céad Míle Fáílte

Los Corazones Negros have organized a ride to the Chicago South Side Irish St. Patrick’s Day Parade on Sunday (March 11, 2007):

Ride meets at 10AM, Atomix (1957 W. Chicago Ave (312) 666-
2649) and at 10:30/45 leave for the parade. Easy ride 20ish miles, small frames welcome. Weather looks to be nice.

Tenative route follows:
Western to Odgen
Odgen to Harlem
Harlem to SW Archer
SW Archer to 96th/LaGrange
96th/LaGrange to either 95th or further to 111th
95th/111th over to 99th and Artesian somehow

We will end at Harts on 99th and Artesian (1 block west of Western) to park and grab a bite. Afterwards eveyone’s on their own. Drink, check out the parade, whatever. If anybody else will be in the area drop me a line (773.680.2269) before or day-of and we can meet up.
Cheers, Matte

Don’t forget daylight savings time has changed this year: “spring forward” at 2am Sunday.

SunL Sucks?

Phil’s review of the SunL microcar got a few laughs over on the SunL Sucks bulletin board. It’s funny that many Chinese brands’ hate sites and bad reviews have higher Google rankings than the brands’ official site. As we always say, if you:

  • have no problem buying a scooter you can’t see first-hand, and sit on, and test-ride before buying,
  • have no problem risking your life on a motor vehicle that costs less than you spend on coffee in a year,
  • have no interest in after-sale support, maintenance, or parts availability, and
  • trust a Chinese company and a fly-by-night importer to keep your best interests in mind,

then by all means, buy a Chinese scooter on the internet. Also be sure not to do any research beforehand, and ride helmetless, in flip-flops. You also don’t need a license, plates or insurance and you can park and even ride on the sidewalk. Have fun.

Democracy at work

Here a list of motorcycle/scooter/driving-related laws proposed in the 95th (2007) session of the Illinois House and Senate. Note that none of these are approved, and only a few are likely to be. You can track their progress in the links.

  • HB072 and SB0580 would prohibit “community agencies” from organizing a Regional Cycle Rider Training Center, leaving the right with only State universities and community colleges. It would also allow the State Treasurer to appoint a trustee for the Cycle Rider Training Fund, to oversee how ILDOT uses the fund.
  • HB0262, HB1080, and HB0408, respectively, would require drug testing for first-time drivers/riders under 18 (at their expense), bar juvenile gang offenders from driving until age 21, and require new riders/drivers to display a “Learner” sign, again, at their own expense. SB0032 and SB0172 would further restrict new drivers and add more steps to the licensing process for minors.
  • HB0996 and HB1845, appear to be virtually the same: the “Motorcyclist Public Accommodation Act,” which would prohibit “any person from restricting an individual’s access to, admission to, or use of a place of public accommodation solely because the individual operates a motorcycle.”
  • SB1265 would prohibit both tinted and clear licence plate covers, probably not a bad idea in Saltsville, ours are a mess.
  • HB019 would exempt senior citizens from emissions testing. (Sure! They won’t be around to see the ice cap melt!)
  • HB0946 would authorize NASCAR license plates. Hillbillies run this state.
  • HB1499, HB1768, and SB0724 are related to off-road motorcycles, ATVs, and recreational trails if you’re into that.

Death by Committee

Just checked in on a few state laws I’d been tracking since last spring, all of these were abandoned in January when a new session began. Illinois will NOT:

Minnesota bursts with CWC pride

The 2006-07 Cold Weather Challenge has come to an end, with the top four spots going to Twin Cities riders. Jeremy “433” Stomberg rode his 2-stroke Bajaj-powered 1963 Vespa VNB for 11.4 miles at -17°F on February 5, and was stopped by the police for riding on the Transitway. Gary Charpentier (2) and his Baron scooter came up a mile short of Jeremy in the same conditions and Patrick “Duo” Harris (3) dropped his TGB delivery scooter three times during his 18.5-mile ride at -8.5°. Jeremy wins a copy of The Scooter Bible from Whitehorse Press, if his hands ever thaw enough to turn the pages. Congratulations to all the entrants, you’re all nuts!

Yamaha to supply offical scooters for MotoGP in 2007 campaign

Yamaha has been supplying the FIM Grand Prix paddock with BW scooters (a.k.a. old-style zumas to us in the USA) for several years now.  This year they’ll be the official paddock scooter for MotoGP.  The scooter model has changed to the Yamaha Jog RR (a.k.a. a cool scooter that will never grace our shores to us in the USA).  Yamaha will also offer an exclusive special edition replica model at dealers across Europe with MotoGP logos and track maps of each of the Grand Prix stops in the 2007 season.  The Season kicks off in one week at Losail for the Grand Prix of Qatar.

2007 Dealer Expo: POCphil’s review

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Since a week has passed and I still haven’t been able to collect my thoughts on the ginormous mindblowing extravaganza in Indianapolis, here’s POCphil‘s writeup. I’ll add my comments in italics where appropriate. -2SB

We were so excited to get to the Indianapolis Dealer Expo this year, we were running about 2 hours early. We took that time to go visit Speed City Cycles in Indianapolis, only a few minutes from the Show. Mike and Marybeth Tockey have created a fantastic shop with an ingenious use of space and rural/industrial feel that leaves room for a snack bar, lounge and a ton of scooters and accessories. Mike also builds award winning metric cruisers. Just hanging around his IWL Berliner is a treat. After a great tour and some bench racing we were back on our mission to deliver two scooters to the Scoot! Magazine/ Corazzo booth and still arrive early enough at the hotel for some hottubbing before showing up in time for the open bar at 4PM, whew!
Continue reading “2007 Dealer Expo: POCphil’s review”

CDOT’s Chicago Scooterist Roundtable: May 4

After gathering input from Chicago scooterists last month, the Chicago Department of Transportation and the Chicago Department of Environment are hosting a Chicago Scooterist Roundtable at the Chicago Center for Green Technology (445 North Sacramento Boulevard) on Friday, May 4, 2007 from 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm. Our contact Charles Roesner tells us, “At the session, scooterists will be encouraged to discuss the potential positive impacts of increased use of scooters in Chicago. Scooterists will also have the opportunity to detail the challenges and barriers that they face while riding scooters in Chicago. They will be able to make suggestions and recommendations to CDOT and DOE as to how the environment for scootering in Chicago could be improved.”

This meeting is something many of us have dreamed about for years, so mark your calendars and take the afternoon off work. For more information and action plans, email 2SB, or check the CHIscooterList.