Category: Scooter News

Green bike shorts

“Green” bikes and scooters have been showing up more than usualy in the news, probably with Vectrix making a splash in Milan, everyone else thought they better get their PR in motion. Here are a few we noticed:

  • BusinessWeek reports on the ENV fuel-cell prototype. It’s handsome and full of neat ideas, but a quick read of the comments will show you what the makers of fuel-cell vehicles are up against (mainly, an ignorant public, and the expense of fuel-cell technology).
  • Pasadena, CA e-bike and Go-Ped retailer UrbanScooters.com has announced their offices are now “carbon-neutral,” which sounds nice even though they seem to be selling mostly Chinese electric scooters and some 2-stroke Go-Peds. I guess even a nominal commitment to the environment sets them apart from the other thousand online retailers of electric bikes, the site seems more professional and organized than most online stores selling similar products.
  • ShinyShiny reports on the new eGo Helio electric bike. Through a long, strange set of coincidences, we acquired a prototype of eGo’s first model at my day job a few years ago. It’s pretty well-made, but after riding a scooter, it’s not very exhilarating to crawl along with caliper brakes and no suspension. Every time I’ve ridden it, I’ve though a regular bicycle would be faster and more useful (and about 100 lbs lighter). That said, the newer model is prettier and more powerful, and might be worth checking out.

Electric vehicles, while technically emissions-free, generally use power generated by fossil fuels, but until better technology become affordable, the Vectrix seems to be rising above most alternate-fuel vehicles, at least in media attention. Whether that’s the result of a good PR team or a good product will be clear when they go on sale, allegedly soon. Other manufacturers’ experiments with fuel cell, electric, CNG, biodiesel, and hybrid vehicles are a good sign there’s a market and a future for green bikes, but Vectrix looks to be the first large-scale test of their commercial viability.

More on Bajaj’s scooter rebirth

Following last month’s reports that Bajaj was looking to re-enter the scooter market, Moneycontrol India reported last week that Bajaj will launch the Kristal (for the ladies) in January, and re-introduce the Blade. Rajiv Bajaj, who seemed creepily gleeful a year ago when he proclaimed the Chetak dead, is hyping his mysterious hi-tech blockbuster 150cc scooter to the press and making it clear that it won’t be secondary to the Bajaj motorcycle line; it will be “insightfully positioned” (is that Rajiv for “boutique?”) at only 100 of Bajaj’s 500 dealerships. You’d think Bajaj could learn from Piaggio’s mistakes, even if Piaggio can’t. “Given that the Honda Eterno sells 90,000 units a year,” says Vespa Club of America historian John Gerber, “I have to wonder if they would try to compete in this niche with another geared scooter.” I think that seems unlikely, but I don’t think for a second that Rajiv would have any problem pillaging the “Chetak” name.

Cheer up, Peter Reid…

This one’s for M5, complaining about the recent lack of football news on 2sb: Sunderland’s 19-year-old goalkeeper, Ben Alnwick, hit a teenage girl on a Piaggio scooter with his Range Rover yesterday morning. Alnwick was questioned and released, the girl went to the hospital on a stretcher. Amazingly, among the witnesses was Graham Poll, who presented the scooterist with a yellow card for her blatant dive.

4th Annual MGPC Scooter Cup

This weekend, Macau (a Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China) plays host to the 53rd annual Macau Grand Prix.  The Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix, run on the Guia Circuit made up of the streets of Macau, is part of a dieing breed of Real Road Racing.  The notoriously dangerous race is favored by racers who normally take part in the celebrated Isle of Mann TT.  Also being held is the 4th annual MGPC Scooter cup.  The race is open to Macau residents and follows the 40th annual Motorcycle Grand Prix on Saturday November 18th.  The race includes 50cc or 70cc two stroke scooters and 125cc 4 stroke scooters, each with their own class.  PGO entered a G-Max 125 (aka Genuine Blur) in 2004 and won the 125cc class by placing 14th overall. This years entry list does not show a PGO taking part but there are plenty of Yamahas and a smattering of SYM scooters making up the race grid. 2005 podium residents Kin Fei Lai, Mou Heng Tou and Kin Fai Chan (finishing in that order) return for this years challenge. The Scooter Cup, run on the same circuit, has got to be the coolest scooter race on earth. The Macau Grand Prix Committee website offers live audio of the race.

India proposes “spares law”

As anyone who’s bought an Italjet or Malaguti in the last ten years can tell you, it’s frustrating to spend a few grand on a motor vehicle, then find out a month later that a $5 component you need to replace will never be available again at any price. The Indian government is taking steps to require vehicle manufacturers to provide parts and service for five years after a model is discontinued or (handy for LML owners) if the company shuts its doors or changes hands. The Indian Business Standard reports that a new car model is launched in India every month. Meanwhile, Daewoo Motors Ltd., Premier Automobiles Ltd., Hero Puch Ltd., and LML, have all shut down. These closures and remaining manufacturers’ haphazard product lines are leaving millions of customers helpless to maintain and repair their cars, mopeds and scooters.

The article cites “similar laws in the US and the UK,” begging two questions: First, where do American Italjet and Malaguti owners get the proper forms; second, how can a government force a defunct importer of a defunct manufacturer (or worse, a fly-by-night importer dumping Chinese scooters on the market) to provide parts and service?

007 clogs Vespa searches

Actress Eva Green plays a character named “Vesper Lynd” in the new 007 flick, already misspelled “Vespa” by several news agencies. Not since Spaceballs was released on DVD have I randomly deleted “Vespa” Google News alerts without reading them first. Isn’t “Eva Green” sort of a better name for a Bond chick anyway? Ironically, Ursula Andress, who played Vesper Lynd in the original Casino Royale, posed with a Vespa 90 for a Vespa Calendar in the Sixties.