Related to the the last story: Justin’s Vespa LX150 Total Cost of Ownership. His situation is perhaps not entirely typical, but if you’re putting a few thousand miles a year on your scooter, you could expect similar expenses. Thanks for sharing, Justin!
Category: Manufacturers
Vespa GTS 300 Super
More GTS 300 Super photos in the 2sb Gallery. (Photos courtesy of Piaggio)
We’d long heard the rumors a 300cc Vespa GTS was on the way. That was big news in itself, 300cc is the biggest displacement ever offered by Vespa since its inception in 1946. At first glance, the body looks “retro-fied” like the recent LX-Special, but on closer inspection, the only differences appear to be a new (and arguably less retro) “horncast” (what was a light on the GTS is now an “air intake”), a slimmer taillight, grey beaded trim on the seat, and GS-style louvers in the left cowl. The louvers and grey trim alone go a long way toward emulating a vintage Vespa and making the bike stand out from the “run of the mill” 250cc version. Continue reading “Vespa GTS 300 Super”
Econo in Windsor
Rover Eric sent us this clipping from Windsor, OT’s “WAMM” magazine, featuring an interview with his clubmate Otto Buj. There’s a lot of stretching of the truth involved in a lot of the ecology, economy, and style arguments out there, but Otto insists that if economy is your chief goal, nothing beats a cheapo fourth-hand Italian postal Vespa.
Huuuugs! Achewood Vespa for sale!
OMG OMG OMG! I heart Achewood. I heart scooters. I’ve been lusting after this Vespa Rally that Chris Onstad painted for years. Now, that very scooter is for sale in the scoot.net classifieds, and it’s going to pretty much take everything I’ve got to not call the dude. Thanks a lot, Matt.
A personal note to dude selling the bike: Please send me more photos, and then tell me it’s already been sold so I can stop thinking about it. Then post it on eBay Platinum Reserve where it belongs.
Lespa patch on eBay
Just found this beauty on eBay. As my coworker Sarah would say, Dub Tiff?
Yamaha MPG throwdown
Autobloggreen noticed that Yamaha has added MPG estimates to its website. They claim 124mpg for the Zuma, 110 for the Vino, 115 for the C3, all of which are 50cc models (the Zuma is a 2-stroke). Even their Barcaloungers pull over 50mpg, with the Morphous at 56 and the Majesty at 51. All those numbers seem pretty unrealistic in the real-world, and likely to spark even more exaggerated claims from other makers.
Bajaj activates their CAPS LOCK key
The Bajaj empire consists of financial services, consumer electronics, and insurance companies along with their motorcycles, scooters, and industrial vehicles (and soon, their consumer automobile). It’s time for a new logo, though the story doesn’t bother showing us what it looks like. It sounds like the all-caps “BAJAJ” text (used under the “flying B” in the Bajaj Auto logo) will be used within logos for Bajaj Electricals, Bajaj Allianz Insurance, and Bajaj’s other holdings and financial services companies. Yes. I just linked to a Bajaj toaster. It’s not as silly as KTM’s toaster.
India to break the 150cc barrier
Indian manufacturers, who have all but abandoned the scooter market over the past couple years to produce 100c motorcycles, are developing new scooters with bigger displacements to compete with their own motorcycles that killed off the scooter market in the first place. And Kinetic expects to launch the full Italjet-derived line “in the coming months.” Sure they are.
Save the Planet, ride an LML
If you’ve gotta write an Earth-Day column about something, why not write it about a thirty-year-old-design 2-stroke engine saving the planet?
Celebrity crash of the week: Jason Segal
This time it’s Jason Segal, of “Forgetting Sara Marshall” and “Freaks and Geeks.” Segal was rear-ended while he was standing up to stretch, leaving him standing safely as his Vespa was knocked out from under him. He says, “The guy thought I was crazy because I just started laughing hysterically. It was amazing.”
Operation Vectrix
Vectrix has been lending out 100 electric scooters in European cities (more than they’ve sold to date, by some accounts) to celebrate the third anniversary of the Kyoto treaty. Riders can reserve a bike to test for a limited period, and are then offered incentives to purchase (EU “green” credits and discounts make the bike much more accessible in Europe, Vectrix is lobbying for a similar program in the U.S.). The program started in Rome, is currently running in Bologna, and will visit Milan, Turin, Madrid, and Paris in coming months. Vectrix has also started taking pre-orders for its three-wheeled electric scooter based on the Piaggio MP3 system.
Malaguti: “Draw your own conclusions”
Baron Motors’ BBS announcement-of-sorts is actually more of a caption contest than an announcement. (BTW, that’s one “t” in Malaguti). I suppose the gist is that CFmoto is building Malaguti-branded bikes and selling them here via Baron. (See also: PSF/QJ/Benelli, LS/?/Italjet.) Also, just for fun, read the Wikipedia Malaguti page and guess who probably wrote it. (Thanks, Matty.)
Cackalacka News bits: 4/3/08
A bunch of stories to block out election coverage:
- AutoWeek reviews the Vectrix, which will replace gas-powered bikes at the Boston Marathon, which seems like a long-overdue idea.
- A florida girl was trapped under her scooter for three hours.
- British scooterists strut their stuff in Hastings, North Wales, North Allerton, and Rotherham.
- A Miami scooter dealer epitomizes Vespa USA’s marketing shift from “Show off that bling!” to “Save the planet!”
- More “Save Gas” stories from North Cackalacka, another from North Cackalacka, and, wait! another one from North Cackalacka! Way to come up with original story ideas, N.C. media. I guess you had to get that out of the way before the primary.
MP3 ticketed for using MC spot
The Brighton and Hove City Council had to redefine “three wheeler” to allow the Piaggio MP3 to use motorcycle parking. As the current glut of proposed three-wheeled minicars and motorcycles hits the road, many other municipalities will likely have to follow suit.
100mpg 115mpg at Scooterville?
From WCCO in Minneapolis:
Bob Hedstrom’s Minneapolis store Scooterville is struggling to keep up with demand as customers brag to their friends about their gas mileage. The scooters, whose prices start at $1,800, get 100 miles to the gallon.
Bob Hedstrom is probably our second- or third-favorite scooter shop owner in the United States, and, to be fair, he’s not directly quoted as saying the Buddy gets 100mpg, but this is the fifth story this month that implies that the Buddy gets 100mpg. I like and trust Bob a lot, so I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and believe that the Buddy can get 100mpg, but it certainly doesn’t get that in real-world conditions, and 80mpg is surely worth bragging about. Despite Vespa’s claims of 60mph on most of their bikes, I saw a story this morning (Link to come later) where a Vespa owner claimed to get 80mpg. Again, I just think it’s the small gas tanks, the inaccuracy of scooter odometers, and lack of careful record-keeping that convinces people they’re getting better mileage than they are. 100 miles per tank? sure, but not per gallon.
UPDATE: Here, sandwiched between two Hedstrom quotes, KARE says scooters “get anywhere from 50 to 115 miles per gallon.” WTF?