Three Norwegians are taking part in an overland rally event called Budapest-Bamako on Vespa scooters. The rally is described as a poor-man’s Dakar and is not unlike the early days of the most famous desert rally, now run in South America for security reasons. The trio are just taking part in the African leg of the journey ending in Guinea Bissau (Yes, I just linked to the CIA World FactBook. Just want to remind people that there is information on the interwebs other than on Wikipedia!), but still no easy task as it appears to be the most challenging part. Their web site and their facebook page detail their progress and challenges. When you think making a trip across a few States in the US for Amerivespa is going to be too difficult, read up here an get motivated to put your big boy pants on and ride.
Category: Africa
Burn Like Fire in Cairo
Two Italians are participating in the Pharaons International Cross Country Rally taking place across Egypt on two specially prepared P200’s. Check out their bikes and short video here and lets hope not everyday is like this.
Cross Egypt Challenge
Coming in October: a 1000-mile endurance ride across Egypt “to promote tourism, alternative sports, and alternative means of transportation.”
If I checked my Twitter account more often, I would have told you about it in time for you to sign up.
LML, Cairo, February 11, 2011
If you’re truly obsessed with scooters, you’ll spot the unmistakeable corner of a legshield from a mile away. I was scanning through thumbnails of photos of the Egyptian celebrations on Flickr and this great photo by Joel Carillet jumped right out at me. It was taken on the 6th of October Bridge on Friday night, after Hosni Mubarak stepped down. This photo of an Egyptian family waving the peace sign as they cross the bridge four-up on an LML scooter is suddenly and permanently locked in place as my mental picture of the celebrations.
February 11, 2011 — Cairo, Egypt, originally uploaded by Joel Carillet.
UPDATE: Another great one!
Vespa GT 4-seater
Vespa South Africa has custom-built a four-seated Vespa GT for promotion and marketing of the brand. Goofy! Hopefully I’ll see it when I’m down there for the World Cup. Now, to find some World Cup tickets…
But it has a “DOT” sticker!
Nigerian police are cracking down on motorcyclists wearing dried, hollowed pumpkins as helmets. Thanks for the warning, Becky!
15-20% Asian scooter price hike?
Motorcycle Product News reports that manufacturing costs are rising quickly in Asia, and consumers can expect to pay 15-20 more for scooters over the next year. Here’s the full story (pdf), it’s a must-read.
Thanks to Steve at PowerSportsFactory for the PDF.