Category: Scooter News

Vectrix cuts 60 staff, seeks funding, suspends trading

Charles from Scooter-Station pointed us to this Vectrix announcement via the London Stock Exchange, where their stock is traded:

Middletown, R.I.- April 14 – Vectrix Corporation (AIM: VRX) (www.vectrix.com), maker of the world’s first high performance, two-wheel zero emission vehicle (ZEV), announces that while its efforts continue to secure new equity funding and government based loan or grant support as well as temporary financing, the Directors will now begin to seek other strategic alternatives which could include a merger or sale of the business. The Company will continue to provide updates to the market as we progress through these activities. In order to conserve working capital for continuing operations during this period, the Company this week implemented cost savings measures including a significant reduction in workforce involving some 60 staff.

Trading in the common stock of the Company remains suspended until further notice.

Venti venditio veritas?

Orin reports that Hammerhead’s Venti (and a 50-cc verson, the “Paris,”) are expected to arrive at his local shop in June. Opinions vary, both about the scooter itself and its potential in the market, but Hammerhead seems to be walking the walk and following through (rather quickly) on a concept that could be very popular. If they handle dealer support as well as they’ve handled everything else so far, and if the bike is of halfway decent quality, we’ll probably be seeing a lot of Ventis on the road soon.

UPDATE: (4/16) Ryan at Scooter-News heard a different story from Hammerhead themselves, including a possible name change.

MotorcycleUSA’s “Vespanomics” conclusions

We mentioned last spring that MotorcycleUSA was planning on commuting on a Vespa for a few months to see if PiaggioUSA’s “Vespanomics” held up. We just noticed they posted their conclusions last December, which match what we’ve been saying all along: It’s hard to justify the cost of a new scooter (including maintenance, insurance, and) if you already own a car, but it’s a great substitute for a new car or second car, for a single person without kids. They didn’t really explore the ecological benefits, which are usually overstated, but worth mentioning, but they do mention that it’s a fun way to get around, which we think is the biggest selling point of a scooter.

Scooter Jump Goes Wrong

Next time someone questions 2SB’s “journalism skillz,” refer them to “Website of the Year” Sky News, with important “news” stories like “GIANT CHOCOLATE BIG BEN” and “SCOOTER JUMP GOES WORNG” [sic]. With just a tiny fraction of Rupert Murdoch’s money behind 2SB, we could probably at least double our level of journalistic standards. Help us out, Rupe.

When it rains, it pours

Illnoise,
We’re serious to imform you below:

Illnoise at 2strokebuzz.com is being abusing Yuota company and Its Binqi Logo. Which has been badly damaged Yuota company, BINQI Logo and its market, which brings a big risk to Yuota company.

By phone discussion of Yuota lawyer and Yuota distributor USA, we decide to accuse Illnoise at 2strokebuzz.com and 2strokebuzz web PROVIDER on 2nd April, 2009.

Yuota Lawyer has saved 2strokebuzz contents is to post China Council for the promotion of international Trade (CCPIT) and THE SURPEME PEOPLE’S COURT OF THE PEOPLE REPUBLIC OF CHINA
Yuota Distributor USA is to accuse Illnoise at 2strokebuzz.com and 2strokebuzz web PROVIDER in USA without delay.

Claims for the loss of BINQI brand and Yuota company.

Claims 2strokebuzz web PROVIDER to close 2strokebuzz.com without delay.
Accusation will be in action w/o delay on 2nd April, 2009.

Illnoise at 2strokebuzz.com must delete this Links:2strokebuzz.com/?p=5012 before Accusation time.
Illnoise at 2strokebuzz.com must recover reputation of YUOTA company and BINQI logo on home page of 2strokebuzz.com for lasting 90days..

Daniel Chan at Yuota group

Funny thing is, I just posted a rant on Modern Buddy this morning about how we should all be more understanding about China.

Vintage Baubles From Viet Nam

chromeladySaigon Scooter Centre sent out an email to announce the availability of some new vintage scooter accessories. Mirrors, crashbars and other useless adornments may not be your style. But at least this is not a post about another Maxi-Scooter or clone scooter trend. Mods of the world rejoice. You can now have a nice chrome Pegasus or naked lady on your Series II Lambretta. I’m really just hoping that if I post enough news from SSC that they’ll send me an SS90 repro dummy tank converted to a real fuel tank, to review.

Worse than Worst

Binqi scooters
We always hear about low-quality Chinese scooters, and how the Chinese scooter industry has little regard for intellectual property. POCphil sent us this email from Binqi, and we’d actually received the same email recently, but ignored it. Dealers and anyone with a scooter website get emails like this several times a week. This one deserves a good look, though, because it’s the perfect storm of absurdity:
Continue reading “Worse than Worst”

Buddy 1:12

buddy1121
Genuine’s new line of 1:12-scale die-cast Buddies was just unveiled, and those ingrate MB’ers are already finding reasons to nitpick, heh. I saw the samples, and they look great. Not as great as a 1:12 Blur would, mind you, but great. Scooterworks lists them as “backordered” but it’s more like “preordered,” they’re due in very soon. Only a company with a well-organized, enthusiastic community of customers could order a containerload of toys and know damn well they’ll sell like hotcakes. (If Vespa did something like this, they’d be made by Lladro or Limoges, there’d be a huge PR blitz, they’d cost $1200 each, and never end up at dealers anyway… kind of like those Adidas tracksuits).

222,000

The Motorcycle Industry Council estimates a record-setting 222,000 scooters were sold in the United States in 2008. For the sixth year running, over a million motorcycles and scooters were sold in 2008 (slightly fewer than 2007), but nearly a quarter of those were scooters. The last string of five million-selling years was in the early 70s. In 1992, only 278,000 motorcycles and scooters total were sold. These estimates appear to only include MIC-reporting companies, so Genuine and Kymco and several other popular scooter manufacturers’ sales may not even be included in that figure, let alone the thousands of Chinese imports sold. Either way, those numbers are staggering. Especially because next year 90% of these scooters will be on Craigslist with gummed up carbs and 150 miles on the odo.

Vespa Loves You, Man

Apparently there’s a Vespa in that new Paul Rudd movie. So VespaUSA, finger placed firmly on the pulse of their immature-frat-boy-comedy target market, is running a contest. I’m trying to fit in a Vampire Weekend joke, but it’s not coming.

UPDATE: Did I say “finger on the pulse?” They’ve got a contest on MySpace. too. You might remember MySpace, it’s an old website from back when Vampire Weekend was popular.

The 2-Stroke Dope?

We’re big fans of Cecil Adams’ The Straight Dope, and we’re one of the few scooter-centric media outlets that thinks the ecological hype surrounding scooters is somewhat overstated, but we’re guessing Cecil’s recent “Give a Scooter, Pollute Her” column is somewhat misleading, along the same lines as Willamette Week’s “Polluter Scooters” story from August 2006.
Continue reading “The 2-Stroke Dope?”