When scooter news breaks, we put it under a tarp in the garage.
…and your nunchucks: North Wales postman dumped 3,000 packages in woods:
A POSTMAN hid thousands of packages in woods and delayed many more because he “couldn’t be bothered” delivering them. (…) Scores of customers complained they had not received items including a set of nunchucks, parts for a Lambretta scooter, craft items, sports wear, DVDs and children’s clothing.
A likely excuse, scooter shop! Anyway, when the trial’s over, he’ll have no problem finding employment losing mail in Chicago.
International motorcycle rental chain EagleRider is adding Vespa and Piaggio scooters to its rental lineup in Las Vegas, Orlando, Los Angeles, and San Francisco this month. Just a press release rehash, but good to know (and good for PiaggioUSA sales figures, we bet).
Peugeot displays the HYmotion3 concept. Yes, it looks pretty much exactly like a hybrid Piaggio MP3. Maybe it is an MP3, I dunno, merde, those French people, it’s like they have a different word for everything. Whatever that thing is, I wish the rumor I made up a few months ago about Peugeot coming to the U.S. would come true.
As anyone who has lost a scooter can tell you, it’s not easy on your mental health. Luckily, I had comprehensive insurance (if you don’t have comprehensive coverage, get it, right now), and at least it was a replaceable modern bike that was stolen and not one of my treasured and irreplaceable vintage scooters. So, after 30 days pass (in case it turns up) I’ll be shopping for a new scooter. In the meantime, I’m following the five stages of grief, trying to decide what will fill the sad emptiness in my garage left by my beloved Genuine Blur 150.
From our spies at Piaggio’s fall dealer meeting:
Dinner meeting features Jay Leno: 45 minutes of stand up, closing with “when Piaggio called me they said, ‘we don’t have much money,’ and I said ‘I’ll do it free, I’m Italian, I want to support an Italian product, I like Italian bikes,’ then I get here and find out how your sales are up and your dealers aren’t exactly hurtin’.
A sad farewell to hockey player/coach, pool hustler, old-west outlaw, parking-meter scofflaw, philanthropist, motorsports fan and team owner, and scooterist, Paul Newman. On top of all that, he made the best damn pretzel sticks known to mankind, and I’m not being glib. He was a great actor, and a great human being.
With all his superlative accomplishments in film, “Slap Shot” might not have been his most critically acclaimed movie, but what other film is so crass, funny, and ridiculous while being so well-acted, gritty and poignant? Hard times demand comedy, do yourself a favor and watch it soon.
India-based Mahindra & Mahindra is considering a purchase of Malaguti Moto. M&M recently bought Kinetic Motors, and thus owns the rights to several Italjet models. Malaguti, like Italjet, produced several popular scooters five years ago, even making brief appearances in nascent American scooter market. Today, both manufacturers appear to be limping along selling a combination of 2003-era bikes and less-inspired newer asian-made models.
Carl Sagan uses Paolo, an italian teenager on a Vespa, to explain travel at the speed of light. (from episode 8 of Cosmos.)
One question: why is that Tuscan kid (at 1:06) wearing a Cleveland Barons sweatshirt?
(Awesome link, Matt, thanks very much. I actually remember watching this very episode in my parents’ family room in 1980.)
Piaggio announced today that they’ll be incorporating the operations of wholly-owned subsidary Moto Guzzi into Piaggio’s infrastructure by the end of November, moving Guzzi production to Piaggio or Aprilia facilities, and “rationalising the technical, industrial, design and style operations of the two companies.”
A review of Pippo Cappellano and Marina Cappabianca’s film Forever Vespa from the 13th Cathay Pacific Italian Film Festival in New Zealand. The reviewer is a Vespisti (and admittedly a bit snobby about it!) with an astute grip on the current scooter craze, he notes that it’s an independent film so well-supported by Piaggio’s archives that it sometimes appears to be a Piaggio promotional video. It’s played at a few festivals, but I can’t find a trailer or any more info… anyone?
Italy’s usually-decent F1 driver Giancarlo Fisichella is having a not-so-great season with Force India, which will give him plenty of time to serve as an “Electric Ambassador” for Vectrix scooters.
Dave McCabe’s been riding the Vespa S for a few months now, here’s his perspective:
Cue the Muppet with the fedora and trench coat: “So you wanna buy a letter ‘S?’” The stylish Vespa S 150 has been on the market since March but many of us remain confused by what it is, and what Piaggio intended to do with this model.
What’s with the fancy red “S” anyway? How many cars these days have an “S” edition? The most well-known is the wildly-successful Mini Copper S. There are also “S”es adorning Toyota Corollas and Acura RSXs. The Volkswagen Beetle and the Porsche Boxster are as shamelessly consistent as the others, using the same racy calligraphic “S”—except in grey or chrome instead of red. This says nothing of similar variants such as the Honda S200, the Suzuki SX, and who knows what else. There’s definitely a trend here and maybe it’s a gotten little out of hand.
Continue reading “The Vespa S 150: a review”
The Yamaha TMax is garnering some serious love from the motorsports press, and the new yellow color livens up the look a little. So leave it up to Yamaha to unleash an ultra- lame marketing campaign. The target market for a $8000 scooter is not sheepish motorcyclists, it’s people who specifically want to AVOID being lumped into the testosterone-fueled image-conscious world of motorcycles, but still want to enjoy 2-wheeled life. No one in that market (including me) will recognize the third-tier motorsports celebrities in the ad, nor will they empathize with their “image” problems (let alone their acting skills). And here’s another tip: get those stupid dated tribal-flame bullshit decals off that yellow T-Max, or I’m going to come to Cypress, CA with a heat gun and do it myself. You’re killing me, Yamaha.
The T-Max (once you take those stickers off) is possibly the most appealing scooter available domestically right now, and Yamaha wants to let America know. I understand that. But what does reinforcing scooter stereotypes do for your other scooter models? Wouldn’t it make more sense to sell it as a great scooter, rather than a passable motorcycle? Is it smart to market TMaxes to the small percentage of Americans that are already motorcyclists, rather than the much larger percentage that aren’t?
[Thanks for the video link, Ryan]
Indianapolis MotoGP “Valentino Rossi” “Nicky Hayden” “Jorge Lorenzo” “Casey Stoner” Indianapolis Motor Speedway
More photos from the Indianapolis MotoGP.
Continue reading “More MotoGP photos”
Piaggio chairman Roberto Colaninno and his group of investors have withdrawn their bid for Alitalia, after failing to gain support from the airline’s unions.