Category: Manufacturers

Genuine mythbusting

Genuine Blur 150 and Buddy 125 owners have had a healthy argument going on since both models were introduced: Which is quicker?. Nathaniel over at Modern Buddy did some tests and confirmed they’re pretty much even in the 100m dash. There’s still debate over which is faster, I’d argue that despite the displacement difference, they have a very similar top speed, but the Blur handles and brakes much better, with this video (the part after the G-Max commercial) as my evidence. Now for the next question, how much faster/better is the new Buddy 150?

Farewell, Scooter in the Sticks

Steve Williams closed up shop on his Scooter in the Sticks blog yesterday. I loved “Sticks” (as it’s called in my bookmark) for Steve’s great photography and writing, which was always sweet, personal, and meditative without ever getting sappy or melodramatic (so, basically, the exact opposite of 2SB). I’m sure whatever Steve decides to do next will be just as great, and hopefully he’ll leave it up for posterity (and so I can catch up on reading it, I’m a few posts behind).

Vespa’s punchy “new” scooter

If this article is to be believed, the Vespa LX150 was just released in Canadia. Maybe they meant to review the Vespa LXS, which just came oot, and is being promoted in Canada under the banner “Born to be Square”, with what looks like 4/5th of the Kids in the Hall, circa 1992, with LXS headsets for heads.

Many people hate the square headlight on the “S.” Those people are dumb, it is awesome, and VofC is smart to turn it into a selling point. If you want a round headlight, buy the “new” LX 150!

Another (positive) Honda-inspired rant

Bob sent this great Honda ad from 1967. The ad’s a perfect illustration of everything Honda got right back then, and explains how they came to dominate the U.S. motorcycle industry at that time. There are a lot of ideas here for aspiring foreign scooter and motorcycle importers (in no particular order):
Continue reading “Another (positive) Honda-inspired rant”

“Have it your way” with Honda?

Honda’s site welcomes you to “Have it Your Way” and customize your scooter to your exact specification. Fun, right? Except the SilverWing only comes in one color and offers no options or accessories, and the Ruckus is only available in black or silver this year, with no further options. The Metropolitan offers many accessories, but its rainbow of colors and patterns in recent years has been stripped back to red only. There’s something to be said for keeping a product line simple (Brooke’s working on a story about that), but a huge worldwide player like Honda, with such a wide variety of models overseas, should be offering more than three scooters in the U.S., or at least the one that’s topping all the best-seller charts in Europe.