UrbanNerd.com

A great article on the growing scooter population in Japan:

It may not seem like it, but fewer and fewer motorcycles are bought in Japan every year.
Some 700,000 two-wheel vehicles were sold last year, a 7.9 percent drop from the previous year. Sales of large scooters, however, have been on a steady rise.
About 97,000 scooters with engines in the 126cc to 250cc class, were bought last year, a rise of 10.5 percent compared with the year before. It may seem a small figure, but profit-wise the sale of one big scooter equals the sale of five to ten smaller ones, according to industry experts.
The new scooters have much to recommend them. They can purr along at faster than 100 kilometers per hour, keeping up with traffic even on the freeway.
They don’t demand fiddly foot and wrist coordination-the scooters are automatic and come with anti-lock braking systems and even satellite navigation screens as options. Their displacement is small enough to exempt them from expensive inspection checks required every two years. (There are supersize scooters though that require them).

click here for story

There is lots going on this weekend what with the rally and all. Here is a great NY Times article on the NYC scooter scene & Rally, and just scooters in general.

Paolo Timoni, president and chief executive of Piaggio USA, which manufactures Vespas, said the company sold more than 1,000 Vespas in New York City last year, an increase of 128 percent from 2003.
This weekend, scores of scooter owners from across the country are expected to join New York riders for the third annual Gotham Rally, an event in which “scootophiles” show off their bikes, socialize and drink as they roll through the city and surrounding area in a buzzing swarm.

click here for story with pictures

You can now click to register as a user on the left hand side which will enable you to write stories and submit them directly (without emailing me) by clicking the “submit news item” link. They will be held in queue for me to publish, so there will be a slight delay before they show up. Also, I will be adding a links section soon, so if anyone has links they think might be particularly useful for scooter info, please let me know. I am going to try to compile a nicely organized useful links areas for scootering.

IRVINE, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–April 29, 2005–The Motorcycle Safety Foundation, the nation’s premier safety and training organization, will mark the start of the spring riding season by offering a free Experienced RiderCourse(sm) to hundreds of motorcyclists in Southern California. Every year, May is designated as “Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month” across America, to help focus attention on training programs for riders, and to ask that other motorists safely share the road with two-wheelers. Motorcycle safety programs from state to state will coordinate their own public awareness efforts, ranging from billboards to radio spots and media relations campaigns. And the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration lists May as a “special emphasis period” that focuses on traffic safety issues concerning motorcyclists.

click here for full article

I did not go to any of the Gotham Rally Thursday night events. But I did go today, for day 2. The trip was to Scooters Originali in Bloomfield, NJ. Andrea in particular was a wonderful hostess, and being a Jersey boy, how could I miss out? I met the group of scooterist at the holland tunnel on the Jersey side and we all went to ScootersO via the backroads. The day was a lot of fun, and despite the weather forecast, not a drop of rain fell. I took part in the scavenger hunt, forming “Team Venture” with Kaj, Adam, Herb, Jason & Robert. I am pretty sure we won the event, but the results won’t be tallied and available until Sunday. The hunt was a lot of fun, I took a few pics of the day, which you can find in the new picture gallery I just added. I am still unsure if I will go to any saturday events, it will depend on the weather. I will be heading to Brooklyn on Sunday. Also, check out the pictures of the new Lambretta prototype that Scootrs Originali had! It is much bigger in person than it looks in pics!

Here is an update from Andrew:

well the facts are these: In the monthly community board meeting with the NYPD residents of the UWS were complaining that too many scooters parked on the sidewalk were a public nusance that had to be stopped, several local residents contacted higher ups at the NYPD downtown that really got this process started….the NYPD has been doing weekly sweeps of the precinct for scooters parked on the sidewalk and or parked without plates…the NYPD not the DOT towed about 20 scooters to the local precinct on 82 btw col/amst . the people picking up their scoots recieved a 115 dollar summons and a notice to appear before a judge for furthur penalties.

Further update from Andrew:

They started this in the East Village too. Though the cops left a flyer taped on my bike saying that towing would start on May 3. Given all the folks who got their bikes towed, I guess we’re getting off easy. Still, what to do about parking…

Well.. even though I ride my scoot every day, rain or shine, it is still depressing to have rain in the forcast for today. The weather is lousy out, only in the 50’s and rain is due around 1pm starting with drizzzle and only getting worse afterwards. The ride today is out to Scooters Originali. Andrea from ScootersO posted on the newyorkscooters yahoo list the following on the new Lambretta: For those of you coming out to Scooters Originali tomorrow for the Gotham ride, you’ll be able to see the new Lambretta up close and personal. She followed that up with: The price hasn’t been set yet, but there’s much discussion that it’ll be priced around the GT price. No one knows for sure right know though. It’ll have a 250cc engine.

I received this email this morning: Hi neil my name is andrew, and I live on the UWS of manhattan, and I own a BV500. I was wondering if you would be interested in reporting about the nypd towing scooters parked without plates and/or on the sidewalk. The NYPD towed about 20 bikes on the UWS this week. Of course I am interested! It seems pretty ridiculous to me that the NYPD would crack down on scooters. NYC has a heck of a lot of problems with parking and traffic. More scooters alleviate those problems, not add to them! If anyone else has word on crackdowns please let me know.

From the organizers, posted in response to the original topic, but I figured it was worth a repost here:

Hey all. Sorry to not be a bit more specific in my original post! It’s not a major rally that’s being planned. More of a small group ride (30 or so, including folks from Piaggio and several of the Tri-State dealers) to interact with both the public and the media to get the word out about both the new Vespa model and scootering overall. We’re absolutely aware of the Gotham rally this weekend and did not intend for timing to interfere or undermine that event. May 10 came up as the date for a variety of reasons, including timing of when some of the first new LX models would be available for us to use in the launch. And the weekday timing comes from wanting both members of the media and lots of normal workday commuters to be able to interact with the group. We have a number of riders joining in already, and we’re working closely with the Tri-State dealers. So again, apologies if the initial post caused confusion!
- Anne Green

I found this on engadget today. I don’t know that electric scooters are really the way to go because of limited range, but people still seem to be making them. Of course, the folks at treehugger.com just love it. I don’t much like the look of it for my tastes.

At two grand, the EVT-America Z-20 is significantly cheaper than a shiny new Vespa, and while you won’t get that sweet post-mod aftertaste, you won’t have that bitter petrolium-based fuel-use guilt either. The Z-20 is an all electric scooter powered by a 48-volt 2000-watt hub motor that can zip you along at up to 35 miles per hour for between 40 and 50 miles, depending on how much you had to eat that day and whether or not you brought a bag of books with you. Hand-crank charger not included

click here for engadget link
click here for treehugger link