Brand Values
From its conception in 1946 to the present day, the Vespa has always been more than a scooter it is a classic style icon.
The Vespa is the reflection of a specific personality and lifestyle which consumers buy into – adventure, style and simplicity – and evokes notions of romance seen in ‘Roman Holiday’ and ‘La Dolce Vita’.
Yet another crack induced article on how electric scooters/motorcycles are the way to go/on the rise/our future. This is of course insanity of the highest order. Hybrid and hydrogen driven bike are already in prototype (I am too lazy to look up my own other links proving this). Now if the writer is speaking of these as electric bikes then okay, but bikes powered by plugging in are crap of the highest order.
Read about it here.<
Getting as many as 110 miles per gallon, scooters have become a popular means of transportation during the warmer weather in spring and summer.
Specifically, sales of smaller scooters with engines 50ccs and under have increased.
Ross Petersen of Petersen Motors said that sales of the Honda Metropolitan scooters at his business have taken off in the past three seasons.
In 2000, he sold four or five scooters, but the number jumped
up to 30 last spring and sales are going well this year, too.
This past weekend was Utah’s 3rd Annual Provophenia Scooter Rally. Perhaps if I was not in so much pain from my accident, and if I was not “busy” being operated on Friday May 26th, maybe I would have posted this on time! But I digress, here is your late news:
Utah Valley’s 3rd Annual Provophenia Scooter Rally on Friday and Saturday will include a fund-raising barbecue, raffle, camping and scooter rides to the Nebo loop and other local sites.
All proceeds from the rally (concession sales, raffle ticket sales, T-shirt sales, donations, etc.) will be given to Wasatch Mental Health’s Giant Steps preschool for children with autism. All events are open to the public.
A fundraiser barbecue will take place at The Scooter Lounge, 824 S. State Friday at 1 p.m. Friday evening, participants will ride to Springville for dinner on the Art City Trolley and then to a camping site in Hobble Creek Canyon.
On Saturday there will be a scooter show and raffle at the Springville Dairy Queen followed by a ride through the Payson Lakes/Nebo Loop area.
click here for short & out of date story
Update
click here for post rally coverage
I am finally getting back to blogging after taking a break due to the accident. I had an operation on my right thumb to repair a fracture/dislocation. I am due to see the doctor on Wednesday to discuss the upcoming operation on my knee to repair a torn ACL and meniscus. While I am doing all this healing there are a lot of scooter news items building up in the queue and there is no reason for me not to catch up on everything this week!
Although this press release covers things that are mostly happening abroad (India and the Philippines), two things are of note. The first:
“The scooter industry has slowed down and it is a challenge now to make scooters that make money, but we believe we can redefine the scooter market,” Managing Director Rajiv Bajaj had said last week.
So while scooter sales are going up in America, they are going down in India. Does this mean Bajaj will take a more active role in the US market? And the second:
(Bajaj) is also considering buying a stake in the Philippines division of motorcycle maker Kawasaki Motors. Kawasaki Motors has been importing Bajaj motorcycles and selling them in the Philippines alongside its own motorcycles for the past year and a half, the spokesman said.
I find it interesting that they have been doing work with Kawasaki and may purchase a stake in them.
If you are going to be in Cleveland In early June, be sure to check out the 13th Annual Amerivespa put on by the Vespa Club of America. Scooter fans from all over the Midwest, North America & world are expected to attend.
“We’re excited to have the rally in Cleveland this year!” said J.D. Merryweather, Vespa Club of America president. “Ohio is well known nationally for its great scooter scene. The club chose Cleveland because of the city’s strong scooter community, central location, history and scenery.” Each year Amerivespa moves to a different part of the U.S. This is the first year Amerivespa will be held in the Midwest.
Long rides no deterrent to Scooter Club members
THE VILLAGES – A ride to Cedar Key – or even St. Augustine – for lunch is never out of the question for members of The Villages Scooter Club.
According to ride leader John Roffi, long trips are indeed a possibility on scooters.
“It depends on the engine size of the bike,” Roffi said.
And during this period of elevated gasoline prices, riding a fuel-efficient scooter is a way to keep some money in an owner’s pocket. Roffi said 3 gallons fills his scooter’s gas tank and lasts for approximately 150 miles.
Another update: I spoke with the eyewitness listed on the police report. He definitely confirms my description of the incident, he says that he attempted to follow the suspect but was unable to right after the accident. He was very helpful in sympathetic but unfortunately he only could get a partial plate number. He suggested the same thing other people have which is to swear out an assault complaint with the jersey city police department. I then spoke with a friend of mine who works for the new jersey division of motor vehicles and I asked him if it was possible to search with a partial plate number by make model and color of a vehicle, he told me it was not possible, that PD are limited to searches by plate # only, and that they were unlikely to do multiple combination searches on my part for a case like this.
I will hopefully be speaking with a lawyer (maybe more than one), my health insurance and my bike insurance tomorrow. I need to get some fast answers on how to proceed with getting surgery on my very broken thumb. Until then enjoy the pictures of my injuries.
Thanks to all the well wishers who emailed me!
Here’s a quick update: Wife and I went to the Port Authority today to look at my bike. The bike is in surprisingly excellent condition. I grabbed a few personal items from the bike but I will have to go back to have it towed. It seems as if the crash bars took most of the damage.
I spoke with the lieutenant on duty, he was very nice and gave me a copy of the accident report. In the accident report was the witnesses’ phone number (which is excellent news). As I suspected the reporting police officer only took down a partial plate number (NNY). I told him that I thought I overheard the witness saying NNY30B, he ran that plate but it came back to a Buick which is obviously not the vehicle. Also the police report incorrectly stated that the vehicle was a Ford. I told the lieutenant that the vehicle was definitely a black Jeep either Cherokee or Laredo. Unfortunately I was told that there are no tapes to pull from the tunnel as the only star recording when something is happening. Additionally I was told that they can only run a search on plate number and not by color of vehicle or make and model which seems very limiting to me. I’m still going to pursue an online search to see if I can get more information.
