Category: Manufacturers

Yamaha Maxam news (or not)

Today’s story from Gizmag teased us once again with Yamaha’s ultra-cool-looking Maxam3000 scooter, before going on to say that the popular Japan-market-only Maxam 250 will make an international debut soon at an Australian motor show, with the rest of the world to follow. Not so exciting as the futuristic “3000” (that’s 3000mm — almost ten feet — long) version, but new scooters are always good news, right? Unfortunately, Gizmag (who knew they were Australian?) is apparently unaware we’ve had the Morphous250 (the same scooter) here in America since early this year.

Peg Perego Vespa: as overpriced as the original

We reported on the Peg Perego Vespa GT for kids a while ago, but Nitro has finally spotted it for sale at Hammacher Schlemmer. $329.95? Suck it Milena, I’ll be able to buy you a real one for $329.95 by the time you get your license.

Update: Vespaway reports Sears and Walmart are selling it for less than $250. Still not cheap, but somewhat more reasonable.

News briefs

Check your paperwork!

Title fraud, or at least title negligence, seems to be growing as a problem in the scooter world. We’ve recently seen comments from a couple Xkeleton owners that they had serious issues getting paperwork for Xkeleton Tricksters bought on eBay. It appears likely that both bought from the same seller, so it’s probably not a widespread Trickster-specific problem, but be sure any scooter you buy is DOT/EPA/CARB certified and has proper paperwork, title, and documentation, and don’t take delivery without it. The problem isn’t limited to fly-by night eBay sellers, Vespa Philadelphia, which recently closed, allegedly lost their Piaggio/Vespa dealership rights and owner Vincenzo Mercuri is rumored to be under investigation for embezzling deposits, tax and title fees, and charging for service not performed. While there may be more to that story (and we’d appreciate any info), it’s proof that you should be extra-careful regarding paperwork.

P2Motors interview: Kinetic’s plans for America

Two weeks ago, Armando Gonzalez of Phase2 Motors contacted 2sb to let us know he was working on bringing the Kinetic “Italiano” line of scooters to America. To make a long story short, Kinetic is an Indian manufacturer that, in 2003, acquired the rights to manufacture and distribute seven Italjet models worldwide. Italjet became more-or-less defunct around the same time, and Kinetic has been working towards bringing these models to market ever since, under the “Italiano” name. Early this year, Kinetic released their version of the Italjet Millenium (as the Kinetic Blaze) with positive results, and promised bring the Velocifero to America. Recently, Kinetic issued another press release promising the Blaze, and quietly removed the Dragster from the list of Italjets it planned to release. (Massimo Tartarini, son of Italjet head Leopoldo Tartarini and owner of the “Italjet” name has several times announced plans for the Dragster, but hasn’t followed through, to our knowledge.) Back to Kinetic, here is our interview with Armando Gonzales:
Continue reading “P2Motors interview: Kinetic’s plans for America”

The Maltese Vespa

Piaggio’s importer and distributor for Malta, M. Demajo & Co. Ltd, announced a special financial assistance program for students. Demajo is also lobbying the government to cut registration tax on scooters, and working with transportation and police authorities. Worldwide, Piaggio is seeking new ways to promote the many benefits of scootering, though in Malta they seem to have bypassed PiaggioUSA’s vague pseudo-political ‘petition’ and are instead taking direct politico-socio-economic action. To be fair, that’s probably a lot easier in a nation of less than a half-million where scooters are already popular.

Taiwan: Taiwan kicks ass

The Taiwanese scooter industry is totally freaking awesome, according to a statement issued by the Taiwanese scooter industry. The report namechecked SYM, Kymco, and Maxxis, ignoring PGO, who was presumably too busy making scooters to attend the conference. Joking aside, Taiwan *is* a scooter success story, with US$500 million in exports and a good reputation worldwide. The industryis focusing on further distinguishing their products from those of mainland China and positioning Taiwanese scooters as being competive with Japanese scooters. Kymco, at least, is well on their way in the U.S.

Kinetic’s U.S. importer?

For months, we’ve been trying to find out who would bring Kinetic’s “Italiano” line of former-Italjet scooters to the U.S. In the end, he found us. Armando Gonzalez of Phase2 Motors, in suburban Seattle, posted this comment Saturday:

Hello all, just stumbled on this site and caught the posts. Great comments. I met the Kinetic Managing Director last year in San Francisco and am working to re-start Kinetic distribution in the U.S. The current distributor based in Philly is ready to retire and has had trouble getting a strong product line from Kinetic. Now that the Italjets are available, things are looking up, but you are right about their priorities. I was in India in June and it’s hard for them to justify putting much emphasis on the U.S. market because our annual scooter sales are dwarfed by what they sell in Inida (even as the #4 scooter company). Anyhow, I’ve been trying to convince them that Velocifero and Dragster are the big ticket items in the U.S. I’m going to copy the above comments and pass them along to Kinetic (minus any names) to help bolster the case. If all goes according to plan I hope to get some of these hot models into the U.S. sometime next year. Please chk out my site and send me an email if you have suggestions. I’m going to have to setup a dealer network from scratch and will need all the viral marketing help I can get. Pls keep those candid comments coming.

We’ve sent a slew of questions to Armando about Italjet, Kinetic, and his plans, we’ll publish his replies when we get them. Thanks for chiming in, Armando!

Update: A little more info about P2Motors and the Kinetic situation on the ScooterBBS. To clarify, P2Motors does not yet have a deal in place with Kinetic, but is working toward taking over from Cosmopolitan Motors. Cosmopolitan is Kinetic’s current importer, and has been for some time, but–for whatever reason–has brought very little visibilty to the brand in the U.S.

Kinetic: Blaze to U.S.

Kinetic is back in the news, saying more or less the same thing they’ve been saying, minus the “Velociferos to America” part and instead saying we have the Blaze (“the third-best selling scooter in India!”) to look forward to. Why a company with the rights to, and tooling for, the entire Italjet line would chunk out boring “family” scooters before the Dragster is beyond us. Then again, Piaggio hasn’t brought the Gilera Runner to the US, so what do we know?

More news from PiaggioUSA’s dealer meeting

Dan Kay of Old Towne Motocycle Shoppe has confirmed, as we reported Monday, that the U.S. version of the Piaggio MP3 three-wheeled scooter will feature Piaggio’s 250cc electronic-fuel-injected QUASAR engine, the same engine found in the Vespa GTS. Kay also confirmed that Piaggio was for some reason unable to use the name “MP3” in the U.S., and no name has been chosen yet: “Europe wants alpha-numeric, Americans would prefer a name.” The renamed MP3 will arrive at U.S. Vespa dealers in March or April 2007. Kay’s impression:

Very interesting! The integrated trunk with seat pass-through is a nice touch. The front suspension with the electronic stabilizer is trick, [and] the extra front wheel feels a lot less squirrely on grooved pavement and metal grates. Most people won’t steer as agressively to notice that a GTS is a bit more maneuverable.

In other news from the meeting:

  • Piaggio/Vespa MSRP price increases will take effect on November 1.
  • PiaggioUSA will soon announce the 60th anniversary models. Only 250 individually-numbered GT60s will be sold in the U.S. The bikes feature grey paint to match the original Vespa MP6 prototype, with a fender light and a leather seat. Other goodies include a wallet, key fob, book, and custom satin cover. The owner’s initials will be engraved on a silver plate mounted to the scooter. The 60th-anniversary GTV and LXV models will be a darker “Aveo Grey” with brown leather seats and retro-style speedometers. MSRP for the LXV is $5199, so we figure the GT60 is one of those things where, if you have to ask, you can’t afford it.
  • Kay tells us Piaggio has more new models on the horizon, but he isn’t sharing, as “to not take attention away from the three-wheeler.” Fair enough.
  • Aprilia’s new big-wheeled Sportcity 250 features the same Quasar engine as the MP3 and the GTS. It’ll come to the U.S. halfway through 2007, in the “mid fours.” The Aprilia Mojito 150 will also return to the U.S, at a new lower price in the “mid-threes.”

PiaggioUSA dealer meeting: photos

A few photos of the first Piaggio MP3 in America, at the Piaggio Dealer meeting in San Antonio today. Dealers had the chance to see and ride the new MP3. No confirmation from our source yet on which model is coming, or if the name will be changed for the US market (Prior to the meeting, PiaggioUSA had been referring to it as “Piaggio Three Wheeler.” Catchy!) More info to come!

Scooter tent!

Lambretta tentAgain, sorry we’ve been kinda slow here, it’s been a nutty couple of weeks. I’m taking the Blur camping this weekend, and while I’m not nearly as stylin’ as these two fine ladies and their Series I Lambretta tent (so simple even a woman can assemble it!), I’m looking forward to a nice long ride on the Blur. I’m really enjoying the Blur, and I have a lot to say about it, when I get time to organize my thoughts. (Thanks to Aimee for the link, the video is from the amazing British Pathe Archive.)