Category: Scooter News

Vespanomics Go Green videos

What VespaUSA is calling “your chance to show and tell the world what Vespanomics is through your creative lens” is what the advertising industry calls “spec work,” doing work for free in the hopes of accceptance or a prize. I’m not knocking the entrants, and there are some pretty decent entries, but contests like these always come off as the last gasp of a company with no ideas, and the inequal footing of entrants (some amateur, and some professional enough to know better) and the corporate overview that’s necessary usually strips out most of the fun. With video editing capabilities in the hands of more and more consumers, and the “rise” of “viral” video, it’s not surprising to see contests like this popping up all over, and they are. PiaggioUSA surely borrowed the idea from recent well-publicized Heinz or Doritos contests. While it’s tempting to think they’re doing it to save a few bucks (Heinz’ $57,000 prize was far less than the creative cost of a “real” national advertising campaign), it’s funny to think they also had to spend lots of money and time advertising the contest, which makes it seem even sillier. To be fair, Vespa’s contest isn’t really a “make us a commercial” deal, I think they’re just looking for some viral love (and more mailing list names to whom they’ll never send anything), and the prize (a $5000 scooter) reflects that, though also makes it that much less enticing. Again, the entries themselves are pretty decent and worth checking out, it’s the contest itself that pushes all my wrong buttons. Judging by the fact that no “end date” is posted anywhere, I’m guessing this will be yet another promotional media-bandwagon-jump that will succeed despite PiaggioUSA’s instant abandonment of the project, thanks to the devotion of scooterists and the scooter community. (See also: Vespa Blogs),

Bajaj to close main Pune plant?

Facing a 15% drop in first-quarter two-wheeler sales after a major demerger and a very public emphasis on the budget automotive market (possibly with Renault), Bajaj Auto announced Thursday that production of their only current scooter model, the Crystal, would move from Bajaj’s main Akurdi plant in Pune to a three-wheeler plant in Waluj. 2SB reader/Bajaj fan Dave McCabe suggests this move is similar to Ford announcing they’re no longer making cars in Flint, MI. (Or Piaggio moving Vespa production out of Pontedera). The work week has been cut to four days in Akurdi, and union leaders and workers fear more layoffs or even the possibility of the historic Akurdi plant closing permanently. Despite several revamped motorcycles and talk of an electric bike, scooters don’t seem to be a priority at Bajaj these days.

German Scooter-Weekend just one month away

There is still time to call the travel agent, pack your bags and get to Germany for their annual Scooter-Weekend celebration, sponsored by Scooter-Attack.  On September 29th the Hockenheimring will host hordes of scooterists from across the world in what has become one of Europe’s premier modern scooter events.  The schedule includes drag racing, custom scooter shows and dyno shoot-outs.  The event is for scooters and mopeds only.  Quads, motorcycles and scooters with motorcycle engines are not allowed! 2strokebuzz.com reporters are still open to any offers of sponsorship to attend the event.  In the case of no live coverage from this correspondent, check back in about two months and there should be a nice link to a gallery of photos detailing the weekends festivities.

Click here for computer friendly flier in German.

Yamaha’s EC-02 hits Japanese market

Photos of the Superman-logo-shaped Yamaha EC-02 electric bike have been circulating since 2005, but InventorSpot reports that it’s finally available (at about US$2000) in Japan. Unlike the Vectrix, it doesn’t come close to the performance of even a 50cc gas-powered scooter. But it has several pluses over the many ho-hum electric cycles on the market: an iPod dock with speakers, an original and distinctive design, the Yamaha name (and dealer network), and some sort of mysterious 3-D glow-in-the-dark coating. (Thanks, Kevan!)

LML Vespa? Doubt it.

IndiaTimes reports that after relaunching international shipments in the last couple months, LML is back in the (Indian) domestic market, with their “Vespa brand” scooters. I’m assuming this is sloppy journalism and not some sort of LML-Piaggio joint venture where the LML NV SPL and Select II (on which the Genuine Stella is based) are actually being sold under the Vespa name, but in the unlikely event that Piaggio is involved, that would likely bring a quick death to the Stella.

Moped Takeover

Hollywood Holt's

OK, I’ve been waiting for this day for years. between Hollywood Holt’s “Throw a Kit” video (featuring Chicago’s Peddy Ca$h club) and Andy Samberg’s Hot Rod movie, mopeds have officially taken over the hipster market and are finally positioned to become ubiquitous in television commercials and otherwise overexposed and boring, allowing scooters to fade back into obscurity so I can buy them for $800 again. Take note, hipsters, there soon will be folks showing up at moped rallies wearing fanny packs. And not Pac-Man fanny packs from Ragstock, either, I mean actual unironic fanny packs.

That said, “Throw a Kit” is awesome, and the first rap song to ever rhyme “Garelli” with “Minarelli”

Lessons from Italy

Sure, Italy and the U.S. are two very different markets, but you’d think this data would mean something to American motorcycle marketers. 15 of the top 20 selling motorcycles in Italy (Jan-June 2007) are scooters. The top five are ALL scooters. The top-seller is a 150cc. The top three are all Honda SH-series scooters. (Why aren’t those here, come ON, Honda!) The best part? There’s not a single bike on there over 750cc. If Italy can sustain that kind of sales/growth with such restrictive displacement and emissions guidelines, U.S. sellers need to abandon the “But 1600cc cruisers are what people WANT!” mentality. Motorcycles are a niche market here, it’s time to focus on the other 99% of Americans who are so repulsed by overpowered and unpleasant-to-ride cruisers and sportbikes (and the people that ride them). Teach them that a responsible, polite motorcycle or scooter can change their lifes.

Piaggio patents 2-wheel drive electric “moped”

Scooped again by the Scooter Scoop, who report Piaggio today published a patent for an electric moped with two motors, one driving the back wheel, the other located inside the front wheel. Over the years, many manufacturers have tried to power the front wheel, usually from within, as seen in the 1922 Megola to the current Revo Power Wheel. Most of these met with little success, but Piaggio seems bent on innovation lately. Perhaps this patent is just a legal lockdown of a rough idea, or maybe an integral front-wheel electric motor is an alternative to their HyS gas/zero-emission concept, or even a powerplant for the Carving Tool. Who knows what madness Piaggio is up to?

Honda, Yamaha, and Piaggio prepare for Vietnam war

In the last week, both Honda and Yamaha have announced new factories in Vietnam. The Japanese marques are targeting a booming Vietnamese market for scooters and small motorcycles, Honda will build mainly scooters at their new facility, and Yamaha will increase capacity for their bestselling “Nuovo” and Sirius” big-wheeled scooter models. Even if the Vietnamese market growth continues, Piaggio will find plenty of competition when their Vietnamese plant opens in 2010, though analysts suggest the higher-end Vespas will find their own niche.