Category: Manufacturers

Piaggio, Vespa scooters arrive at Old Towne Moto

2sb’er Matthew reports

Piaggio USA was just dropping off new Vespas and Piaggios at Old Towne Moto. Included in the mix was one of the Police stickered BV250s.

So despite any official word from Old Towne Motocycle Shoppe (1421 N. Wells, Chicago) or PiaggioUSA, it appears certain now that Old Towne (and presumably parent company MotoplexUSA) are Chicago’s new Vespa/Piaggio dealer. it’s still unclear whether the ex-Maywood “Vespa of Chicago” operation (now in Roselle) is an officially sanctioned dealer or service center, though 2sb reader Wezul reports they serviced his bike to his satisfaction.

Lambretta outsourcing?

The Indian Financial Express reports on the woeful state of vocational education in Punjab:

The curriculum, for instance, has not been updated since it was introduced. In the motor mechanic’s course, students are still being taught about the components of the Lambretta scooter, whose production was stopped over a decade ago.

There are few skills more useful in life than Lambretta repair, send some of those guys over to the United States.

LML to remain shuttered through 2006

LML employees continued their protests last week, going to the district magistrate’s office to chastize the government for their lack of involvement. The Indian government has been publicly supportive of the workers, but has done little to end the lockout or secure promised payments. Monday, at a meeting between Indian labor officials, LML managment, and the union, an LML official aanounced that there was no chance the factory would resume production within the next six months. No agreement was reached as workers continued to demand payments (few workers have been paid since January 2006) and more effective government intervention. It’s now very safe to say 2006 Stellas are out of the question.

Yamaha Vox: C3 to US in 07

Yamaha has announced that their Japanese-market VOX scooter will come to the United States in 2007, renamed as the Yamaha C3. That, I believe, makes it two better than the BMW C1, but D3 worse than the Pontiac G6 and W(-2) worse than a BMW Z1. (via TheScooterScoop) Update: Something was bugging me about the “C3” logo and I just realized it’s a total ripoff of the Hummer “H2” logo. Now I hate this scooter.

To dream… the impossible dream…

Honda's

Honda UK drafted our own Professor Matthew to root for Engerland in a fantastic TV commercial. A similar-but-lamer ad has run in the US for the past few years. With Michael Owen down and Argentina and Brazil both on fire, England’s gonna need more than a dork on a Super Cub to win the cup, but our fingers are as crossed as St. George’s flag. In other Honda-meets-World Cup news, Nicky Hayden had a few nice words for the US team, though we’re not really convinced he’s a big soccer fan.

Citicorp Finance invests in Kinetic

India’s TV18 reports Citicorp Finance is buying a 10% stake in Kinetic Motors. The interview with Kinetic Managing Director Sulajja Motwani doesn’t reveal much about their plans, but she says Citicorp’s investment covers their needs for the development of Italjet and SYM models over the next couple years. The hopes of Italjet Dragster fans everywhere are in your hands, Ms. Motwani.

“LML failed to get any number”

The Islamic Republic News Agency confirmed today what we’ve suspected all spring: Neither LML nor Bajaj exported a single motorscooter in the first quarter of 2006. Bajaj, of course, has been focusing on motorcycles and three-wheelers, and doing rather well on those fronts, but LML’s labor issues have brought their production to a total standstill. While some compromises and investments have been made in recent weeks, there is no indication that LML is, or will soon be, back on line.

More Chicago Vespa dealer rumors

We continue to hear rumors that Old Town Motocycle Shoppe on Wells Street will soon become Chicago’s official Vespa/Piaggio dealer. Old Towne and their Cicero-based parent MotoplexUSA currently sell Aprilia motorcycles and scooters, another brand owned by Piaggio.

It’s unclear what happened when Sam Tomaino sold West Suburban Auto Group, but it appears a dispute between Tomaino and Old Towne may be holding up an official announcement. While the VespaUSA site lists no shops in the Chicago area, Tomaino has apparently opened a new shop in Roselle (with the same phone number once listed for the Maywood dealership) and vespachicago.com lists only the Diversey Ave. Vespa “boutique.” Ex-Vespa of Chicago sales manager Dan Kay is rumored to be involved in the MotoplexUSA operation. We suspect Tomaino is (quite reasonably) attempting to retain WSAG’s past customers and sell what’s left of the WSAG stock. In any case, this holdup can’t be helping PiaggioUSA’s sales during this busy sales season.