As the popularity of motorcycles and scooters spreads to well-to-do city-dwellers, there’s been an increase in urban “motorcycle boutiques” (Vespa and Harley each sport a flashy upscale retail location in Chicago) where the machines are a distant afterthought to a line of expensive clothing and accessories. Deus Ex Machina in Camperdown, Australia has taken this trend a step farther by selling a variety of late-model “retro” bikes and dirtbikes in a similar environment. They’ve even produced several custom “Deus” motorcycles and host a gallery with rotating motorcycle exhibits. While Vespa and Harley’s “shoppes” seem like a cheap cash-in, Deus comes off as a more personal, heartfelt venture, though that might just be the utterly amazing graphic design talking. Unlike Vespa’s ho-hum (or plagarized-and-settled-out-of-court) t-shirt designs, Deus’ shirts almost seem worth $50.
Category: Lifestyle
Don’t tread on Nike
I have a love/hate relationship with Nike. On one hand, they’re a huge, indie-culture-stealing empire that pays chinese infants one cent a week to make $80 soccer jerseys that don’t fit me. On the other hand, they made the coolest hoodie ever and they’ve somehow turned self-centered pompous miscreant Eric Cantona into the Wayne Coyne of soccer. (Thierry Henry is so freaking awesome in that clip). It’s happening. I’m starting to get excited about the World Cup.
Spark Plug diagram and Motorcycle Repair Course
This reprint of an old NGK brochure is the most comprehensive diagram of plug colors I’ve ever seen. Good stuff. It’s just a small chunk of Dan’s Online Motorcycle Repair Course: “Now, I’m not going to claim that this course will train you as well as a formal Motorcycle school. But then again it is FREE.” Thanks for the link, Nitro, (Who posted some photos from the Scooterworks ride on his moblog.)
D.C. Rob’s Cannonball for cancer research
If you spend any (most) of your time on Scoot.net Chat or the BBS, you’ve probably met Rob Downs III, AKA “D.C. Rob.” If that doesn’t ring a bell, you might remember him as “Rob who got hit by a semi on the Cannonball Run.” A few months ago, Rob’s father, Robert Downs Jr., was diagnosed with a rare form of skin cancer. Rob is riding again in this year’s Cannonball Run, and decided to try to raise money for cancer research and awareness. He’ll be riding about 3500 miles, and his goal is to raise one dollar per mile ($3500) for the ACS. Donations can be made directly to American Cancer Society online (no amount is too small), and he’s looking for corporate/equipment sponsors as well (email Rob).
We are stardust, we are golden.
A little Joni Mitchell reference there, here are some photos of our trip to Woodstock, IL for the Walneck’s swap meet. Yes, that’s a Honda Reflex with training wheels.
Vespa World Club Website
Lo and behold, the VWC has a website already. The logo is revealed (a ho-hum rehash of the 50th annivesary logo, and where’s the “cog!?”) as is the organizational chart and a “Statute” outlining club rules– in Italian, though the rest of the site is available in “Italiano (Italia)” and “English (United States)”, aka the correctly-but-oddly-translated “Piaggio English” we love so. It’s happily been taken for granted that current national clubs (indluding the Vespa Club of America) have been listed as VWC affiliates. The “Activities” section, where one would expect to find an international rally calendar, instead lists competition events, perhaps they’re standardizing the gymkhana for international competition? A login promises a photo gallery, forum, and, er, blogs, as if there aren’t enough scooter blogs. (The one you’re reading is one too many).
Leardi named head of “Vespa World Club”
“The key to the Vespa is that it has a soul,
It is not just a piece of machinery.�
You may remember reading those words last week during Piaggio’s celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Vespa. It’s a quote from Roberto Leardi who (we’ve confirmed) was named head of the new “Vespa World Club” at the 57th National Congress of the Vespa Club d’Italia. Leardi’s comment struck us as very insightful, and we hope that as he leaves Rome for his new office in Pontedera he keeps the soul of the Vespa independent from the balance sheet of the company that created it. Piaggio’s choice of Leardi is a good start, and we look forward to hearing more about the goals and organization of the new World Club soon.
The Denny’s dumpster is not a HazMat disposal center
(not even at 3am)
As I was hunting for a new battery for our motorcycle this morning (found at Illinois Battery, thanks), Matthew posted some links to upcoming hazardous household waste drop-offs in our area (Illinois EPA schedule / Northern Cook County schedule). Scooterists use all kinds of paints, cleaners, oils, and lubricants to maintain their scooters, and we go through batteries and tires much faster than the average citizen (“but they get such good mileage!”). If I was smart, I would have taken the battery to the store with me and exchanged it. Most auto parts, battery, and tire stores accept discarded hazardous materials for disposal, and most local agencies have collection days and disposal guidelines. More suggestions for recycling and disposal of household hazardous waste can be found in this EPA document.
Vesparados!
A Matthew Diffee cartoon from this week’s New Yorker. Available from The New Yorker Store on T-shirts, framed prints, and anything else New Yorker readers crave… tote bags? latte mugs? Thanks to DC Rob, pretending he’s literate enough to read the New Yorker. I wonder if my “Brew City Beer Run II” flyer, on which Brent misspelled the name of his own club (“Vespardos!”) is worth anything now.
Safety expert Larry Grodsky killed in deer crash
This is going to sound callous and flippant, but I mean it in all seriousness. If a guy like Larry “Stayin’ Safe” Grodsky can be killed on a motorcycle, then NO ONE should ever feel entirely safe on two wheels. There’s always more to learn, and one less person to teach us. Thanks to Scooter in the Sticks for the news, embedded in yet another insightful post.
Israeli scooter racing photos
From Brooke: The Israeli Scooter League got underway last week, here are some photos.
2sb drops the (soccer) ball
For those two or three of you that come to 2strokebuzz for soccer coverage, I apologize, I’ve totally lost track of soccer in the last couple weeks. Yesterday, Matt, of all people, informed me that the US national team, with the World Cup a mere seven weeks away, was ranked fourth in the FIFA rankings, an all-time high. (I don’t know about that, I’ll be surprised–but ecstatic–if they make it through the group round of the World Cup.) Then today my boss, of all people, told me Arsenal beat Villareal in the first leg of the Champions League. I’d totally forgotten about the match. If Arsenal can beat or tie Villareal in Spain next week, they’ play in the Champions League Final against AC Milan or Barcelona (Barcelona won the first leg, in Italy, 1-0). On top of all that, the MLS season has started and I haven’t even mentioned it, I’ll post about the Fire and their new stadium soon.
FIV replacement announcement soon?
It appears that Piaggio may soon announce a new international Vespa Club sanctioning body to replace the FIV (Federazione Internazionale dei Vespa Clubs), which they mysteriously dissolved in December. The new body is rumored to be called “Vespa World Club” and is likely to be directed by popular Vespa Club Italy president Roberto Leardi. Unfortunately, comments from Piaggio CEO Rocco Sabelli, published in the November/December issue of the company magazine “Piaggiornale,” indicate that this new organization might be under even tighter control of Vespa’s marketing department:
“To this end [adding extra value to our brands], we will be launching merchandising programs based on each brand’s history and traditions for professional and market-oriented use of the Vespa Club, Aprilia and Moto Guzzi communities.”
Hopefully Sabelli’s comment describes an increased investment to support the independent rallies and clubs that keep the scooter scene alive, rather than a plan to co-opt the historic and colorful national Vespa Clubs and re-tool them into Piaggio marketing squads. In any case, EUROVESPA 2006 is still scheduled for Turin this summer, and proudly displaying the FIV logo on their site.
Legolas warning!
Riding in London? Keep an eye out for Orlando Bloom.
60 already?
It seems like Vespa’s 50th anniversary was just last month! Can you believe the ET-series is already ten years old? Coverage of the Italian festivities, with all the usual cliches, ran today on Times Online: “Cool at any age: The Vespa hits 60” Note: That’s 60 years old, not 60 mph.