Category: Scooter News

In an announcement that brings to mind the Piaggio/Cushman agreement of the early 60s, Piaggio and Arctic Cat announced today a plan to “…expand and strengthen their respective distribution in Europe and North America, and potentially lead to other areas of future collaboration….” It appears that Piaggio Group scooters and motorcycles will soon be sold at selected North American Arctic Cat snowmobile/ATV dealers, a market almost as lowbrow as Piaggio’s “boutique” targets were highbrow. At least it appears Piaggio has moved on to marketing their vehicles as transportation rather than status symbols, and that makes us happy. That said, we’re fairly unfamiliar with the snowmobile market, Arctic Cats could be overpriced eye candy sold only in the ritziest districts of Minnesota…

With Dubai port contracts under debate in the U.S., the Italian and British press are reporting that another United Arab Emirate-owned-company is moving to acquire a 20% share of Piaggio Aero from the Italian Government and the Ferrari family. Mubadala Development, the Abu Dhabi government investment firm, would come under scrutiny from US officials regarding Piaggio Aero’s US military contracts. (Note: today, Piaggio Aero is independent of Piaggio SpA, but, as you surely know, the Vespa scooter was designed and produced by Piaggio’s aircraft division after WWII.)

Looks like Piaggio could be investigating the possibilities of a 3 wheeled scooter. Who knows if it will make production… Piaggio X2. Thanks to Art in Memphis for this..

For those unfamiliar with Greek mythology, Argo is the ship that carried the courageous Jason and his crew, the Argonauts, on a remarkable journey in search of the Golden Fleece.  We may not find the Golden Fleece, but we are certainly looking forward to the voyage.

BajajUSA is now ArgoUSA. Not sure when that happened, but best of luck to Al and his Argonauts, who pioneered the whole “good gas mileage, affordable transportation” message back when most distributors were scouting boutique locations on Rodeo Drive.

“An affordable vehicle of personal expression in the 1960s and 1970s, scooters are on the verge of going mainstream, but not yet…” Ah, I remember those good old days, it sounds like it’s still 1998 in New Zealand. Enjoy it while it lasts, kiwis!

Phil Waters of Pride of Cleveland Scooters was kind enough to share his notes from the Motorcycle Dealer Expo in Indianapolis, from a scooter-dealer’s perspective. They’re presented here in their entirety, unedited for sake of expediency. Phil’s views do not reflect the views of 2strokebuzz, but they come pretty close usually. Photos courtesy of POC Michelle. — illnoise.

Continue reading “2006 Indianapolis Dealer Expo: Phil’s notes.”

On today’s episode of NPR’s The World, Lisa Mullins talked to UCLA’s Brian Taylor about Piaggio’s full-page New York Times ad. Pretty unenlightening, the gist is “yes they save you gas money but you can’t pick up your dry cleaning.” Thanks for the insight. Sure, Piaggio’s motives aren’t entirely altruistic, but it’s a bummer to hear a liberal outpost like NPR laugh off the idea that more scooters might be good for America. (Thanks for the tip, Lu$.)

WantFacts.com allows you to select and compare new scooters online based on manufacturer’s stats. They don’t have all brands, but they have most of the major manufacturers. Consumer Research Solutions, who run WantFacts, recently announced plans to supply KymcoUSA‘s site with this same comparison technology. Kymco is also in the process of switching over to ARI’s PartSmart system to help dealers manage parts supply.