Category: Scooter News

GRO’s Electroscoot

Electric scooters, usually a heavy battery and a rubber belt jammed into a Chinese faux-Vino frame, don’t generally wow us here at 2sb, but GRO Design’s Electroscoot is an amazing design, even if it is just a concept and its specs don’t really set it apart from other electric bikes. But one can dream. (link courtesy Motoblog, where you can see photos without waiting for Flash.)

Schwinn & TNG links linked?

We’re still getting a lot of hits from Schwinn’s link, and we just noticed that they’ve borrowed more than design cues from TNG:
Schwinn Scooters’ “Extras” Page
TNG Motor Scooters’ “Extras” page
Which got us thinking “maybe they’re actually related somehow” but Whois records and Google searches provide no indication that CMSI (TNG’s parent company in Washington state) is involved in Schwinn Scooters (a division of Pacific Cycle who own Schwinn, Mongoose and GT, based near the Pacific in Madison, WI). I’ve emailed TNG to hopefully find out more.
(UPDATE: 4-18-06: It turns out there’s much more to the story.)

Revealed: Excerpt from Quadrophenia the Musical

Jimmy:What the bloody hell you doin’?

Postman:We could’ve killed you!

Jimmy: (Singing) Ah, fuckin’ heellllll!
Look what you’ve doooone!
You cuuuunts!

Postman: (chanting) Why didn’t you stop? Why didn’t you stop!

Jimmy: (Singing) You’ve killed me scooter!
Look what you’ve doooone!
Fuck off! Leave it alone!
Get off it! Why don’t you kiiiiilll me?
All of ya! Fuck off! (jazz hands)
(etc.)

Quadrophenia heading for the stage

First there was ABBA’s “Mamma Mia”, then Queen’s “We Will Rock You.” We even have the “Boney M” musical arriving in London’s West End later this year.

However, pretty soon it looks like we will have The Who’s Quadrophenia made into an on stage musical as well.

I wonder if they will have the scooters riding around on the stage?

(note: we just realized the linked story was from 2001… oh well.)

Bajaj stops production of geared scooters, ArgoUSA future uncertain

Maharashtra Scooters, the factory that produces the Bajaj Chetak, has stopped production of manual-transmission scooters. 2,450 Chetaks remain on the factory floor, and it appears ArgoUSA (formerly Bajaj) isn’t expecting any more: (From their site)

“We are working to solidify relationships with other scooter manufacturers that can provide us with the quality and reliability that is expected by the American scooter rider.”

BajajUSA’s sales message of economy and practicality was ahead of its time in the US, when other importers were pitching scooters as luxury toys to internet millionaires, and $3/gal. gas was unthinkable. A serious blow was dealt by the introuduction of the similar, but trendier—and not-much-more-expensive—Genuine Stella about a year later. The Bajaj featured a more modern and fuel-efficient 4-stroke engine, and owners and dealers gave the Chetak and Legend high marks, but the Stella’s arrival, and a seeming lack of interest in the US market from Bajaj HQ, loomed over BajajUSA for the last couple years. (Another Maharashtra Scooters story)

Schwinn Motor Scooters

While we’d like to thank Schwinn Motor Scooters for linking to 2strokebuzz, we’d also like to make it clear that 2strokebuzz in no way endorses Schwinn motorscooters. I don’t think i’ve ever mentioned them before, simply because they appear to be Chinese Yamaha knockoffs with a big Schwinn sticker on the front. Maybe they’re allright, try it out and let us know what you think, but in the meantime, we’d spend the extra few hundred bucks for a real Yamaha Vino. (UPDATE: 4-18-06: It turns out there’s much more to the story.)

Win a Vespa signed by Corey Hart!

CTV (with the technological help of ABC, because Canadian TV is apparently broadcast in black and white) is giving away a Vespa PX150 as part of their Juno awards shenanigans. If you think it’s worth sitting through any music awards show, let alone one with performances by The Guess Who and 54/40, to win a Vespa, go for it. Note: Events Halifax, one of the sponsors, has an awesome logo.

Best… Bust… ever.

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Nestled within the usual ads for yarn and alternative menstruation products, the April/May 2006 issue of Bust features a story about “biker gangs” for women. Though it covers bicycle, motorcycle, and scooter clubs, the Secret Servix SC monopolized the bulk of the text and photos, along with the Baltimore Bombshells and a couple other girls’ clubs. If that’s not enough to get you running to the newsstand, you also get Gretchen Mol convincingly dressing up like Bettie Page, and a story on comics artist Julie Doucet. Nice! Janel clearly made the right choice hiring Vina as her publicist.

Pimp my Vespa?

From a Globe and Mail story about the new “MTV Canadia:”

“I joked that … we’re going to see Pimp My Snowmobile,â€? Mr. LeBlanc says with a chuckle, a reference to the popular MTV program Pimp My Ride in which old cars are restored and customized to hip status. It may not be that much of a joke. Mr. Schwartz notes that MTV in Germany has a version called Pimp My Bicycle, and in Italy they’re developing Pimp My Vespa.