When scooter news breaks, we put it under a tarp in the garage.
(Updated 11:30pm 11/29/07 with photos and more details.) The news we’ve all been waiting for, and a couple surprises: The first shipment of Genuine Stellas (reportedly less than 300 scooters) will be delivered in January to top-seller Genuine dealers only, who will get 15 Stellas each (3 of each color per dealer: avocado, powder blue, … Continue reading “2008 Stella/Buddy/Roughhouse (with photos)”
Orin at Scootin’ Old Skool actually retracted his story about the “return of the Stella” (at the time rumored to be around Labor Day). “Giving up” seems to me to be a pretty sure way of making sure the new Stellas are announced any day now. A watched Stella never boils, as they say. As … Continue reading “SOS: Where’s Stella?”
My best friend’s sister’s boyfriend’s brother’s girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who’s going with the girl who saw LML making scooters at 31 Flavors last night. I guess it’s pretty serious. OK, it’s not quite that convoluted, but we just heard that LML’s plant is officially back up and running, making … Continue reading “Stellas soon?”
Dave McCabe sent me the following article on New Year’s Eve and, sadly, I’m just getting around to posting it, even though it’s probably the most interesting Piaggio news since EICMA. The story, written by Adil Jal Darukhanawala, appeared in the December, 2006 issue of Bike India. I generally don’t swipe entire magazine stories, but … Continue reading “Colaninno: “We will make a new Vespa for India””
Racecar Bob (aka Letterpress Bob, who printed us some fantastic new business cards that I keep forgetting to post about,) found these photos of a Batik-covered low-rider scooterette. Actually, a Bajaj or LML would look pretty sweet covered in that Indian batik fabric they sell in the back room at Moti Mahal, but covering a … Continue reading “Only In Jakarta…”
Harley Davidson workers have joined their LML brothers in solidarity. Workers of the world unite; you have nothing to lose but your chains! (Thanks, Lu$, update your site already.)
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 … Continue reading “India proposes “spares law””
Two weeks ago, Armando Gonzalez of Phase2 Motors contacted 2sb to let us know he was working on bringing the Kinetic “Italiano” line of scooters to America. To make a long story short, Kinetic is an Indian manufacturer that, in 2003, acquired the rights to manufacture and distribute seven Italjet models worldwide. Italjet became more-or-less … Continue reading “P2Motors interview: Kinetic’s plans for America”
A one-cm-long Vespa will be certified as Vietnam’s smallest scooter in Ho Chi Minh City today. Presumably, it has yellow kickstand boots. Reese Witherspoon’s film Penelope, featuring Christina Ricci with a pig snout and Witherspoon as a scooter messenger, debuted in Toronto this weekend. Arkansas pastor Bryan Fink, sick of $85 fill-ups for his minivan, … Continue reading “News Briefs”
This my first review of a scooter in more than ten years of writing 2strokebuzz. My first scooter was a vintage Vespa and have pretty much stuck to what I know. I’ve taken a few spins on various modern scooters, and have been impressed by some, and not by others. The Blur impressed me.
We’ve been telling you this for months: The few Stellas left on showroom floors are the last ones we’ll ever see. Despite yesterday’s glimmer of hope for LML, the Stella has officially been deleted from Genuine’s lineup (though parts and accessories are available). The updated site features Genuine’s current all-PGO lineup: The Black Cat and … Continue reading “Genuine lineup update”
The Economic Times reminds us that the Kinetic/Italjet deal is certainly not the first collaboration between Italian and Indian corporations. As we all know LML, Bajaj, SIL and others have made Italian scooters in the past, and just as Italy helped fuel India’s original manufacturing boom, a new wave of Italian cooperation is fueling the … Continue reading “India and Italy, true love always”
Singapore scooter “fleet manager” Ban Hock Hin Co. manufactures some pretty interesting scooter conversions for Asian businesses. I thought this was an LML Porta-Potty but alas, it’s not. I’ve got no doubt they could make a few dozen toilets on wheels for you.
Though we reported the end of the Bajaj on April 1, this India Times story from January 2006 (a reprint– the India Times page is popup-tastic, and thanks for the link, Matthew) says production officially stopped at Bajaj’s Akurdi plant on December 31st, 2005. (apparently Maharashtra continued building them from ‘CKD packs’ for three months.) … Continue reading “RIP, Bajaj Chetak (1972-2005)”
Following last month’s strike at the LML factory that produces the Stella, thousands of contract workers at Hero Honda’s Gurgaon plant called a strike today, demanding more reasonable benefits from the plant that produces 6,200 motorcycles a day. A strike at Honda Motorcycles and Scooters of India several months ago resulted in highly-publicized police beatings … Continue reading “More labor unrest in India”