Dunno if South Korea’s Daelim scooters are any good, but their Besbi is sort of cute, if you’re into the “faux-retro” thing. It doesn’t look like Daelim USA is importing it, though.
Category: International
Indian makers explore natural gas models
RedOrbit reports that LML, Bajaj, Honda, and Kinetic are all working on natural-gas powered concept bikes, possibly including dual-fuel options. Just thought we’d throw that in there with all the 210cc nuclear-powered rotary-engine automatic time-travelling Stella rumors floating around.
Automobile Family Tree
From Jalopnik: Car Company Family Tree. Someone with a month of free time should try that for scooters.
Peugeot RCup and Speedfight Ultimate
Peugeot unveiled two new scooters last week, the Speedfight Ultimate Edition and the RCup. The RCup features a mismatched double-round-headlight look that seems to be popular these days (Sym Mio, Adly Panther, etc). It’s hard to believe no one’s been able to convince Peugeot to enter the U.S. market, they’re great scooters, very popular in Europe, and sold in many small markets. A few Peugeots were grey-marketed through a Florida company a few years ago, and their story is unclear, they were never listed as an official distributor on Peugeot’s site, and they folded shortly after distributing one small shipment.
New Piaggio models next week
From Motoblog: Piaggio plans to launch new Beverly and Carnaby models next week. The Beverly Tourer is a new version of the scooter known as the “BV” in the U.S. The new line will feature 125, 250, and 400cc versions. The Carnaby (unavailable in the U.S.) will feature new colors with 125 and 200cc engines. While we’re on the topic, I don’t think we’ve mentioned their new-ish X7, yet, by the way. It’s getting a lot of press in Europe lately.
German Custom Scooter Shows (March ’08)
This past weekend Scooter-Attack hosted a custom scooter show in Saarbruecken, Germany. If you missed out on seeing the show you can catch up with a few Youtube videos. Some wild stuff was shown off and even if bling isn’t your bag, you’ve got to be impressed with the level of professionalism in the event. Another custom show is in a few weeks and hosted by Scooter-Center in Cologne.
New LMLs: The Scootering story
Most of this thread is proof that Modern Vespa has eclipsed the stupidity of the BBS, but it includes scans of Scootering’s story about LML’s 4-stroke geared scooters, presumably someday to be known as the “Stella 250.” Great info there, and nice to see Scootering’stypesetting hasn’t improved in the several years since I’ve bought an issue. Peignot? Come on! England’s hatred of the French apparently doesn’t extend to shitty French typefaces.
Liev Schreiber’s GTS
If you’re into the whole “celebrity sighting” thing, here’s Liev Schreiber on a Vespa GTS in Sydney.
Decimal points are your friends
A Hemscott headline reports that Italian motorcycle registrations dropped 51% in Feburary. In the following story, however, they add the decimal point where it belongs, a much-less-newsworthy 5.1%. As in January, under-50cc registrations actually increased while scooter and motorcycles declined.
Ramblo, Ramblas, Rambla, Ramblamos, Rambláis, Ramblan
Derbi unveils the Rambla 125 and 250. Now that Piaggio has broken brand precedent and released the Gilera Fuoco here as a Piaggio, maybe there’s hope for U.S. fans of distinctive Spanish scooter design.
LML: 4T PX, ET clones available soon?
The March 2008 issue of Scootering confirms earlier reports that LML (the Indian manufacturer of the Genuine Stella) is ready to start production of 4-stroke geared Vespa-PX scooters. The story, written by an owner of UK LML importers Eddy Bullet, reports that 125, 150, and 250(!)cc versions are in the works. On a recent trip to New Zealand, VCOA historian John Gerber met the local LML importer (Retro Scooter, who import the LML as the Belladonna) who also confirmed the news, though he didn’t mention a 250cc version. He reports the Belladonna is selling very well in New Zealand. Gerber also met an Indian scooterist living in New Zealand who had actually ridden the long-rumored LML Clipper (a clone of the Vespa ET-series).
Continue reading “LML: 4T PX, ET clones available soon?”
WSJ: Suits ride scooters too
The Wall Street Journal‘s crack squad of business journalists have discovered that in Europe, even people with jobs ride scooters!
The Wall Street Journal‘s crack squad of business journalists have discovered that in Europe, even people with jobs ride scooters!
Italy looks to scrap older scooters
The Italian government has approved a plan to pay scooterists a €300 incentive to replace their old scooters with newer, less-polluting models.
Glasgow Airport police go Vectrix
Add Strathclyde Police to the short list of Vectrix riders. (Another story) (Bonus: a a review of the Vectrix from Londonbikers.com.)
Chinese scooters on Sacramento TV news
“It’s rated 75-miles to the gallon, so you can’t go wrong with it.” You almost start to feel sorry for people that are surprised their $800 scooters aren’t legal.