Proof there might be some decent scooters left in Vietnam: this guy has a nice collection.
Category: Manufacturers
Vespa Loves You, Man
Apparently there’s a Vespa in that new Paul Rudd movie. So VespaUSA, finger placed firmly on the pulse of their immature-frat-boy-comedy target market, is running a contest. I’m trying to fit in a Vampire Weekend joke, but it’s not coming.
UPDATE: Did I say “finger on the pulse?” They’ve got a contest on MySpace. too. You might remember MySpace, it’s an old website from back when Vampire Weekend was popular.
Pinasco Revisits The “Swinging 70s and 80s”
Several weeks ago the performance tuning house of Andrea Pinasco announced the addition of a throw-back exhaust for smallframe Vespas. The exhaust is of the ET3 ‘banana’ variety with the addition of some special cosmetic touches. The silencer section of the exhaust is painted with an eye-catching, white, high-temp, enamel paint. Additionally the classic Andrea Pinasco logo is applied and is claimed to be able to withstand the test of time. A perfect addition to your ET3 or 50 Special with full UTAH accessory kit.
ScootRS’ new Lambretta front brake
ScootRS’ long-promised Lambretta inline front disc brake is now available. I love to open their RSS feed and try to identify “Today’s Featured Item” without looking at the caption.
Molte Vino
The Scooter Scoop reports on Yamaha’s new “Molte” Vino, with a front-mounted shopping basket (and a low-mounted headlight that probably guarantees we’ll never see it here in the U.S.) It’s wise of Yamaha to put a new twist on a bike that’s been on the market (and copied) for almost a decade now.
117mph Lambretta up for auction
Stuart Owen is putting his famous record-setting 117mph 1970 250cc Lambretta up for auction. Reserve is £7,500. More info at 100mph Lambretta Club.
Scooter (back in) the Sticks
Last spring I posted that Steve Williams of Scooter in the Sticks had decided to stop publishing his blog. Back then I pulled the site from my RSS feed and hadn’t checked it for months. Today I was surprised to find Steve’s retirement was apparently short-lived, and he’s been posting regularly to the site for months. It’s embarassing how long it took me to notice, but I’m happy to see him back, and happy we have lots of his new posts to read through.
Friends in the industry?
As you might have guessed, Carter Brothers and Cobra Powersports aren’t in love with 2strokebuzz right now. I had a cordial and enlightening talk with Bill Pierce at Cobra this morning, and rumor has it there’s an email on the way from Carter Brothers. More tonight
SYMpathy for the scooter industry
I recently learned from a third party that my friend and colleague Steve Guzmán of The Scooter Scoop was let go by SYM distributor Carter Brothers shortly after DealerExpo. When I asked Steve about it, he was modest and polite as usual, and I don’t pretend to know what happened behind the scenes, but it’s a real disappointment.
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“Swimsuit Issue” is just a Sonic Youth song
Most of us stopped “reading” Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit Issue in about 6th grade, when we finally tracked down some real porn. But there will always be 6th-graders, so SI keeps publishing it, and comically pretending it’s a guide for women shopping for swimwear. Their portfolio now includes athletes’ wives, tennis stars, cheerleaders, bodypainted nudes, Danica Patrick (you’re killing us, Danica) and the usual fashion models, but, strangely still no men (don’t men need swimsuit shopping advice?). It’s always beautifully-shot, and always edging just close enough to pornography to create a stir and sell magazines. To anyone with a connection to the Internet, the Swimsuit Issue (and even the Swimsuit Issue website) seems as anachronistic as the Sears catalog lingerie section, but as a public service, Michael dutifully searched through the sprawling site to find these photos of Daniella Sarahyba blocking our view of a vintage Vespa 50 Special in Naples, Italy. As fans of imperfection, charm, and natural beauty, we find the scooter much more appealing than the model. Is there something wrong with us if our eyes are immediately drawn to that aftermarket fenderlight, rather than Daniella’s headlights?
Brains
No, this is not a S.P.A.Z. post. Japanese neuroscientist Ryuta Kawashima, who designed “Brain Training” for the Nintendo DS, has determined that riding a motorcycle can improve memory, space recognition and other prefrontal brain functions. That’s a way better excuse to buy a bike than fuel efficiency, right?
You know, our Brooke is a neuroscientist too, and he would say anything Yamaha wanted, if they’ll fill up his garage with Asian-market Zumas, but since Yamaha didn’t come to him first, I imagine he’ll have an interesting opinion on Kawashima’s findings.
(Thanks for the story, Victor!)
How’s your Piaggio stock doing?
According to Reuters UK, Piaggio reported a 28% drop in net profit in 2008, which reminded us to check on our Piaggio stock: It’s at €0.95, an all-time low since Piaggio’s June, 2006 IPO at €2.30. Poor sales, a bad economy, and the weak Euro all hurt Piaggio last year, as did nearly €100 million in new debt from stock buybacks and a €.06-per share dividend last year, which will be offered again this year, which seems counterintuitive, but what do we know?
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Vespas in Cambodia
Apparently, the vintage Vespa scene in Phnom Penh is growing. The story actually sounds a lot like stories you’d see in American papers in the late ’90s. Now we know where to ship all the Southeast Asian scooters that ended up in the U.S over the last five or six years.
Magnet-Adorned LED Caltrop May Come In Handy
Tell me this baby wouldn’t come in handy when trying to work on a Vespa smallframe carburetor. You could be right. But I’m imagining being caught on the side of the road in the rain and tossing this little bugger down the hole and heading in after it. A must for the metal-bodied aficionado? Or is holding a mini-maglite between your teeth more comfortable for you? Note to Striker: Send me one and I’ll write another post reviewing it.
Haynes’ “Chinese scooter” book
Scooter-Station notes that Haynes has released one of their famous service manuals targeted to Chinese/Taiwanese/Korean scooters. Probably handy, but it can’t be too specific, even though half the scooters made in Asia are Yamaha Vino knockoffs, there’s a lot of variety there, too, and surely a wide variety of tolerances and torques and such, which is where the Haynes manuals usually shine. Still, knowledge is power, and even if it just covers GY6-style engines in depth, it’d be useful.