This story about the Falkirk (Scotland) Scooter Club pretty much nails what’s great about scootering, Falkirk has a 50-year tradition of scootering, and the current club respects that while looking forward and welcoming all.
Category: England/UK
Jeremy Clarkson on scooters
British journalist, Top Gear host, and well-known motorcycle-hater Jeremy Clarkson got a lot of stick last week when he was sighted riding a Vespa. The experience left him shaken, and his review of the bike is hilarious, insightful, and a must-read for anyone considering the jump from cars to scooters. (Thanks, Ben!)
An excerpt, that will hopefully convince you to read the whole thing:
However, many people are making the switch because they imagine that having a small motorcycle will be cheap. It isn’t. Sure, the 125cc Vespa I tried can be bought for £3,499, but then you will need a helmet (£300), a jacket (£500), some Freddie Mercury trousers (£100), shoes (£130), a pair of Kevlar gloves (£90), a coffin (£1,000), a headstone (£750), a cremation (£380) and flowers in the church (£200).
PGO confirms RCV engine program
CENS Taiwan Economic news reports (in great depth) that PGO has been working with british rotary-valve experts RCV Engine Ltd. for two years. Suddenly the rotary-powered Genuine rumors don’t sound so crazy. (Thanks to Rikko on Modern Buddy for the link.)
The End of the PX?
Every few months, there’s an “End of the Vespa PX” story, even though I’ve read that Piaggio officially ceased production in December, 2006. They’ve offered a few “limited editions” since then, and the standard PX has been available from European shops, so who knows? In any case, this story isn’t winning any awards for implying that manual-transmission scooters are illegal in Europe, or for ignoring the fact that Eddy Bullet and other importers sell a fair number of PX-clone LML Stars in Europe, though perhaps that will come to an end, too. Which may be why LML is perpetually rumored to be working on a 4-stroke automatic helium-powered 8000cc PX-style scooter.
Zafferano
Looks like England gets their fair share of oddball Vespas, too. The orange Vespa S is a totally droolworthy scooter, by the way, even without a goofy name.
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?
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.
GPS horror!
As if mobile phones, ipods, and conservative talk radio aren’t distracting drivers enough, GPS navigation systems can actually tell a distracted driver to go ahead and run right into you (w/gory photos!). On the other side of the coin, more and more scooterists are using cell phones, iPods, and GPS navigation systems as they ride, which scares me even more.
“Norwich Is The ‘New Rome’”
A recent study found that Norwich is the UK’s scooter capital, with one scooter per ten residents. Way to sell your Lambretta last week, Cy. The study was conducted by Bennetts, who listed the top ten as follows: Continue reading ““Norwich Is The ‘New Rome’””