Category: Manufacturers

Tuk Tuk USA lineup features… Ape Calessino?

Ape Calessino or Tuk Tuk USA?

Jeremy Korzeniewski of Autoblog reported today that Tuk Tuk USA has “officially been granted both DOT and EPA approval for its line of Mitsubishi-powered three-wheelers.” Jeremy’s clearly a big tuk-tuk fan, he’s been following Tuk Tuk USA for about year, and he also posted an elegy for BajajUSA’s three-wheeer.
Continue reading “Tuk Tuk USA lineup features… Ape Calessino?”

POC’s morning-show charm

POCphil and POCmerritt on Cleveland’s That’s Life with Robin Swoboda. Could two people be more charismatic ambassadors of scooterdom? Throw in POCrenee and you’ve got a hit reality show, one that I get to watch live, every time he’s around. People accuse me of being a Phil Waters groupie, but Phil’s met African-American preachers, racist skinheads, models, racing superstars, cops, soccer moms, hillbilly gun nuts, Tom Jones, and even my parents, and charmed the pants off of all of them, often literally. Who could blame me for loving the guy, his wife, and everything they stand for?

Note that even the best scooter dealers tend to bend the truth a little (Genuine Buddies start around $1999, but that’s a top-of-the-line Black Jack) but props to Phil for drilling home the safe-and-legal message right from the start.

Vectrix cuts 60 staff, seeks funding, suspends trading

Charles from Scooter-Station pointed us to this Vectrix announcement via the London Stock Exchange, where their stock is traded:

Middletown, R.I.- April 14 – Vectrix Corporation (AIM: VRX) (www.vectrix.com), maker of the world’s first high performance, two-wheel zero emission vehicle (ZEV), announces that while its efforts continue to secure new equity funding and government based loan or grant support as well as temporary financing, the Directors will now begin to seek other strategic alternatives which could include a merger or sale of the business. The Company will continue to provide updates to the market as we progress through these activities. In order to conserve working capital for continuing operations during this period, the Company this week implemented cost savings measures including a significant reduction in workforce involving some 60 staff.

Trading in the common stock of the Company remains suspended until further notice.

MotorcycleUSA’s “Vespanomics” conclusions

We mentioned last spring that MotorcycleUSA was planning on commuting on a Vespa for a few months to see if PiaggioUSA’s “Vespanomics” held up. We just noticed they posted their conclusions last December, which match what we’ve been saying all along: It’s hard to justify the cost of a new scooter (including maintenance, insurance, and) if you already own a car, but it’s a great substitute for a new car or second car, for a single person without kids. They didn’t really explore the ecological benefits, which are usually overstated, but worth mentioning, but they do mention that it’s a fun way to get around, which we think is the biggest selling point of a scooter.

TGB to USA

I’m not sure how long this notice has appeared on TGB’s Taiwan website, but it’s been up for the last few days at least:

[Cobra] Powersports is no longer the exclusive distributor for TGB products in the US. We will be manufacturing some of their scooters brand[ed] as Peirspeed. Please look for TGB to bring in new products under the TGB brand to the US in late March!

Over the past week or so, I’ve heard from several parties related to both TGB and Cobra, including George Lin, the President of TGB. I feel that especially considering what I’ve learned since my apology, it’s absolutely fair to say that my original interpretation of the facts was correct. What Cobra’s rep at the show told me was technically true, and Cobra maybe didn’t see it coming, but as of last week, TGB gave Cobra notice that they’ll be breaking their contract, and will be importing TGB bikes themselves. I’ve offered Cobra and TGB a chance to fully clarify the situation, more to come.

TGB & Cobra: A clarification and apology

In my 2009 Dealer Expo new scooter roundup, and again in my rant about SYM and Steve Guzmán, I reported that TGB had apparently ended their relationship with U.S. importer Cobra Powersports. As it turns out, this is not true at all. In short, Cobra is only one year into a five-year contract with TGB and their relationship is solid. I’d like to apologize for not clarifying the situation sooner, and (at great length) try to explain what happened.
Continue reading “TGB & Cobra: A clarification and apology”

Honda: SH150i to U.S. for 2010

It’s not the 300i, but it’s still one of the most popular and in-demand scooters in Europe: Honda has announced their SH150i will be available in the U.S. for 2010. Maybe too little too late to really capitalize on whatever’s left of the scooter boom but still great news for medium-displacement big-wheel fans. (Scooped once again by Guzmán at the ‘Scoop.)

Buddy 1:12

buddy1121
Genuine’s new line of 1:12-scale die-cast Buddies was just unveiled, and those ingrate MB’ers are already finding reasons to nitpick, heh. I saw the samples, and they look great. Not as great as a 1:12 Blur would, mind you, but great. Scooterworks lists them as “backordered” but it’s more like “preordered,” they’re due in very soon. Only a company with a well-organized, enthusiastic community of customers could order a containerload of toys and know damn well they’ll sell like hotcakes. (If Vespa did something like this, they’d be made by Lladro or Limoges, there’d be a huge PR blitz, they’d cost $1200 each, and never end up at dealers anyway… kind of like those Adidas tracksuits).