December 29, 2006
Stupid scootering tricks
In one story of scooter boys gone bad, some English lads had their 2-wheeler confiscated and it's going to be crushed, "for their own good."
In another tale, a New Jersey thug who stole a scooter after fleeing from the coppers at a traditional [automobile] traffic stop, was caught, then charged with, among others things, stealing the scoot.
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LML to resume production in 2 months
LML, the Indian manufacturer of scooters sold under the Genuine Stella brand in the U.S., is planning to start production within two months and will manufacture two-wheelers and autorickshaws. It will undertake these projects without collaboration.
This move has come after the company failed to get a partner even after trying for 10 months. The discussions held with parties did not materialise.
Elaborating the production plans RK Srivastava, vice-president of the company, said, ``We decided to start the factory on our own. We have large export orders for two-wheelers. We propose to make two-wheelers, 150-cc, NV model, an old model of ours, for export only. Once we start production, we will be the only producer of this model in the world. The initial plan is to make about 10,000 scooters a month, for which we have export orders. We do not plan to make motor cycles now``.
Srivastava further added ``Another product is autorickshaws, the three-wheeler, which Bajaj Auto makes. We are not going to make Tempo, either of Vikram or JSA type. Work has started on the autorickshaw project and will take some time. A mock-up is being prepared. We made autorickshaws in 1994-95 when the Vespa Car company plant at Rae Bareilly was under production."
Link.
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Vespa produce 100,000th scooter in 2006
VESPA, famous for their scooters have just produced the 100,000th Vespa this year, it was a red Vespa GTS 250. Vespa production volumes and shipments have made impressive progress in the last two years: production volumes in 2004 were just over 50,000, approximately 87,000 in 2005, and more than 100,000 in 2006: an increase of 16% in the last 12 months alone.
Vespa’s record-breaking success will also have an important social impact: as Roberto Colaninno announced on 27 April during the celebrations to mark the Vespa’s 60th anniversary, the Piaggio Group is to donate one Euro for each Vespa sold in 2006 and 2007 to the Italian Multiple Sclerosis Association (AISM), a body set up in 1968 to provide social and medical assistance, raise public awareness about multiple sclerosis and promote scientific research into the disease.
The record output of 100,000 Vespa scooters in 2006 is a direct reflection of the success of the world’s most famous scooter range, which this year welcomed the Vespa GTV and LXV vintage line, as well as the Vespa GT 60°, a limited edition whose 999 numbered units"produced to mark the iconic scooter’s 60th anniversary"were purchased within days by collectors and scooter enthusiasts around the world. Yet another indication of a brand appeal that has continued to flourish over the years, an accomplishment that very few brands can match.
Since the launch of the Vespa 98cc in 1946, the model that laid the foundation for the myth, the Vespa has sold all over the world, for a total of nearly 17 million scooters.
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December 22, 2006
Sidecar with Scooter on Sale at Scooterworks
Scooterworks is touthing this as the COOLEST PRESENT FOR ANYONE:
1970'S 8" Vespa 150 with matching colored STEEL torpedo sidecar. Available in three colors ...mint, red, and royal blue. Assembled in the USA by Scooterworks with all new reproduction parts; reliable and fun. Will turn heads anywhere...take your kid, your dog or your wife (husband!!) Allow 4 weeks for delivery, order must be place by 12/31/06. Our Price: $4,900 FOB Chicago Scooterworks sales rep will assist you with freight information.
Unit pictured above is a 1965 model that is selling for $5,695 on their website, and there are others under four grand.
Link.
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December 21, 2006
Grandma rides scooter down sewer, recovered. She's okay, too
In today's edition of making fun of the misfortune of others, we have this report of a 55-year-old grandmother who took her daughter's scooter out for a spin -- into a storm drain.
The woman, "luckily," got wedged in the pipe, preventing her from falling in the sewer any lower -- and drowning.
Click here to watch the video.
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December 20, 2006
Kinetic Motor joins hand with San Yang for bikes
NEW DELHI, DEC 18: Two-wheeler manufacturer Kinetic Motor Company is planning to extend its collaboration with Taiwan’s San Yang Motor Company (SYM) to manufacturing motorcycles as well. Currently, Kinetic manufactures scooters in collaboration with SYM and motorcycles in technical collaboration with Hyosung of South Korea. The move may come into effect once SYM ups its 11.1% stake in Kinetic.
“Our relation with SYM for scooters may be extended to motorcycles in coming one or two years. SYM may increase its stake in our company and we are open to this option. However, we are yet to discuss this,” Ajinkya Firodia, vice president, sales and marketing, Kinetic Motor Company told FE.
Kinetic will focus on gearless scooter market in future and expects to sell 1 lakh units in the next calendar year in the domestic market. In 2006, it has so far sold 60,000 units of scooters.
The company is to begin export of two-wheelers to new markets such as Sudan and Egypt.
Kinetic currently earns about 5% of its revenue from export and expects to increase it to 12% by the end of next year.
Meanwhile, the company launched a new disc brake variant of its popular motoscooter (165cc) the Blaze on Monday. The new scooter is priced at Rs 53,999 (ex-showroom, Delhi). By the end of next year the company plans to launch two more scooters of 135cc and 250cc.
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Optima to acquire Chinese scooter brand for $3.2m
A formal Share Sale Agreement signed today has cleared the way for an Australian company to rapidly increase its exposure to the US$27 billion a year worldwide scooter market.
Under the Agreement, listed Australian lifestyle group, Optima Corporation Ltd, will acquire 100 per cent of Freedomotor Company Ltd, an international scooter and motorcycle trading and distribution company with primary operations in Shanghai.
Freedomotor is one of China's largest independent distributors and exporters of motorcycles and scooters while Optima is the global owner of the class-leading Vmoto scooter brand, successfully distributed throughout Australia, New Zealand, the United States and most recently, the U.A.E.
The Freedomotor acquisition will deliver Optima distribution rights into more than 50 countries for motorsports products.
As Australia's largest scooter brand, Vmoto has forecast revenue of $5 million for calendar 2006 from sales of 5,450 scooters and All Terrain Vehicles.
The Freedomotor acquisition will potentially increase that revenue stream tenfold next year and allow Optima to possibly rebrand all Freedomotor products under the Vmoto nomenclature to create a global brand.
The proposed transaction entails the acquisition of 100 per cent of the issued share capital of Freedomoter by Optima. Total consideration payable is US$2.5 million in cash, of which US$1 million is payable on or around 5 January 2007 and US$1.5 million is payable on 3 April 2007.
Further, Optima has agreed to pay further consideration to the vendor equal to Freedomotor's 2007 (calendar year) NPAT, forecast at US$2.5m, subject to receipt of audited accounts for that calendar year ("Deferred Consideration") and Optima shareholder approval.
The Deferred Consideration is to be satisfied through the issue of Optima shares, the issue price to be 80 per cent of VWAP of Optima's shares during the 14 days prior to issue, expected to be around the middle to the end of February 2008.
Optima plans to fund the US$2.5 million cash consideration via a convertible note issue, resulting in no immediate dilution to its existing shareholder base.
"Optima's future is in becoming a totally vertically integrated motorsports distributor into expanding international markets where the uptake in scooter sales has proven and significant growth potential," Optima Managing Director, Mr Blair Sergeant, said.
"We will layer across the Freedomotor network, the same marketing and sales model which has contributed to the outstanding success of Vmoto in Australia as an aspirational hi-tech, fashionable scooter for enthusiasts and commuters alike," he said.
"The Freedomotor acquisition, coupled with Vmoto's alliances with state-of-the-art scooter manufacturers in China - provides the quantum Optima needs to achieve economies of scale, global growth and further product development.
"The Vmoto brand is currently sold in Australia, the United States, New Zealand and the U.A.E. but this acquisition will allow Optima to launch it into additional international markets immediately."
Freedomotor has more than 80 clients in Europe, Australia, North America, South America and South Africa. Its product mix includes petrol/hybrid/electric scooters, various category motorcycles, ATVs and hi performance off-road karts.
Mr Sergeant said Freedomotor had forecast turnover for the 12 months to 31 December 2006, of US$21 million (A$26.8 million) on annual sales of approximately 28,000 units, and is expected to climb nearly 70% next year. US$18.5 million has already been recorded up to 30 November 2006.
"Further, Freedomoter is forecasting sales of US$35 million (A$44.7 million) for calendar 2007, and US$45 million for 2008. This would produce forecast consolidated revenues for Optima approaching A$50 million for the year ended 30 June 2008," he said.
Mr Sergeant said these projections did not include any upside from Optima's recently announced exclusive distribution agreement with the Dubai-based The Sharaf Group, potentially opening up access to lucrative Middle East markets.
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December 19, 2006
The world's fastest, 850cc scooter
When Honda released the first mass-produced four-cylinder motorcycle in 1969, the 72 bhp CB750K caused a sensation due to its performance.
The horsepower and capacity wars that followed have seen the capacity of production motorcycles raised to a staggering 2.3 litres and it seems that the scooter world is following suit with the announcement of the Gilera GP 800, an 850cc V-twin-engined scooter that will most likely become the the world’s fastest scooter when it hits showroom floors a year from now.
Suzuki kicked off the maxiscooter craze in 1999 with its Burgman 400, then Yamaha followed with the 40 horsepower twin cylinder 500 T-Max in 2000, then Honda trumped that with the 50 bhp Silver Wing 600 twin then in 2002, Suzuki raised the bar further with the Burgman 650.
As forecast earlier this year, Piaggio (which owns Gilera, Vespa, Moto Guzzi, Aprilia and Derbi) has been working on a new 850cc maxi scooter and the bike was shown publicly for the first time in Milan. The scooter will bear the Gilera name, with its 75bhp 90 degree V-twin motor giving it a top speed of more than 120mph.
Link.
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December 18, 2006
French Army Vespa, with Cannon*
*Shells not included
"So, what's the most unusual military vehicle you can think of? Maybe the Japanese airplane-launching submarine of WW2? Or perhaps the Soviet attempts to build a flying tank? Or perhaps the 1000 ton rolling fortress the Germans tried to build in WW2? All quite odd, I agree, but barely made it past the drawing boards. For us, the oddest is a scooter armed with a 75mm cannon.
After World War II, there was little money for defense spending while the nations of Europe rebuilt their industry and society. When there was some cash to spend, one had to be creative to stretch it as far as possible. The French probably accomplished the most astounding example of that with the ACMA Troupes Aeról Portées Mle. 56.
Deployed with their airborne forces, this was essentially a militarized Vespa scooter outfitted with a 75mm recoilless rifle. Five parachutes would carry the two-man gun crew, weapon, ammunition, and two scooters safely to earth, and the men would load the weapon on one scooter and the ammo on the other, then ride away. More impressively, the recoilless rifle could be fired effectively on the move by the best of the gun crews. Total cost? About $500 for the scooter and the recoilless rifle was war surplus.
Link.
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December 17, 2006
Vectrix Electric Maxi-Scooter three-wheeler prototype
While the established players in the scooter game have shown concept machinery in the fuel cell, electric and hybrid genres, there’s one European company that has been quietly going about the business of designing and building a viable electric maxi-scooter with performance roughly equivalent to a 400cc conventional internal combustion engined mount – Vectrix.
Link.
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Electric scooter? He'll fix it
Raleigh resident Rich Sathoff discovered his love of electric scooters when a friend loaned him one during a European vacation. He liked it so much that he bought one of his own, but then had trouble finding a place to service it.
So he opened Electric Scooter City three years ago to sell and service electric vehicles.
Although the business started with his own interests, Sathoff had good timing.
Sales of all electric vehicles -- from scooters to bikes to cars -- are taking off as consumers become more environmentally conscious and sensitive to gas prices.
Electric Scooter City expanded this week into a larger space at 3801 Hillsborough St. in Raleigh, in the former Royal Bakery building.
And though it's one independent shop, it seems likely that Sathoff's business will continue to benefit from the overall trend toward electric transportation.
No one keeps data on electric scooter sales. But the Electric Drive Transportation Association in Washington, D.C., reports that the number of hybrid cars sold jumped from 83,000 in 2004 to almost 190,000 in 2005.
Link.
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December 12, 2006
Indian scooter sales up 16%
Car sales jump 29%, bikes 15% in Nov 2006
New Delhi, Dec 8 Domestic car sales rose 28.5% to 88,473 units in November this year compared to 68,841 units in the same month last year.
Motorcycle sales increased by 15% to 5,56,612 units in November 2006 as against 4,83,957 last year, according to the data released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM).
Total sales of two-wheelers, including motorcycles, scooters and mopeds, grew 14.75% to 674,692 units compared to 587,938 units in the same month a year ago. Commercial vehicles sales increased 43.1% to 40,317 units as against 28,174 units in November 2005.
Scooter sales in November stood at 88,831 units, growing by 16% over 76,406 units sold in the same month last year, buoyed by higher numbers of segment leader Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India and TVS Motors, SIAM said.
Overall two-wheeler sales, comprising bikes, scooters and mopeds, grew 14.7% in the month at 6,74,692 units as against 5,87,938 units in November 2005. Total two-wheeler sales in the April- November 2006 period were up 14.4% at 53,08,718 units against 46,39,105 units in the same period last fiscal.
Link.
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Student saved by pile of garbage after scooter crash
A university student was miraculously unharmed following a scooter accident yesterday that caused her to tumble over 20 meters down a mountain valley, thanks to the fact that she fell into a pile of garbage that stopped her fall.
The National United University student, surnamed Peng, was headed back north to her school in Miaoli in the middle of the night along with other classmates after a visit to Taichung. According to United Evening News, Peng was riding in the back of a scooter when it hit a guard railing at a mountain road turn. Both Peng and the driver fell off the scooter and down the side of the mountain. The scooter's driver was not thrust too far and was not injured either.
According to the Miaoli police who rescued her, falling into the pile of garbage was actually very lucky for her, as it was the safest place where she could have fallen.
At the hospital, Peng told her parents, "I kept rolling down the mountain screaming and trying to grab onto nearby trees but to no avail. In the end it was the pile of garbage that stopped my fall," she said.
Peng compared the ordeal to "a horror movie," and said she would not be riding scooters any time soon.
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December 4, 2006
Scooter blues: Environmentally correct, but they get no respect
I wish I knew why Harley riders stare straight through me when I'm coming down the street on my scooter from the opposite direction.
Sadly, I'm beginning to suspect American motorcyclists of subscribing to a caste system in which Harley Davidsons occupy the top tier, followed by the Euro-touro blends, the bullet bikes, dirt bikes, and, finally, the dung of motorized two-wheeled transportation, the scooter. I own a scooter. Americans are buying and riding more gas-saving scooters. Do we have to organize our own rally just to get a little respect?
It may be that a manifesto tooled into leather and nailed to a dealership door could make our case for a new age on the streets. Not everyone who chooses to ride a scooter is a wimp; clearly, not everyone who rides a Harley is a rugged individual.
I've seen the ladies with blue hair driving their two-wheeled Buicks and, believe me, it takes guts to scoot around on our public roads with only 49ccs under our seats. I'm proud of my comrades for staying alert, being cautious and sucking up less gasoline. It's time the big bikes realized they're representing the Hummers and SUVs of the motorcycle world.
Link.
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December 3, 2006
Liberty S: Piaggio adds sporty spice
The Liberty S is for boys about town - but girls might find it lacking in a few vital areas, writes Susie Mesure
The Piaggio Liberty, a slimmer cousin to its bestselling Vespa counterpart, always struck me as something of a girl's bike. Its sleek frame and high wheels somehow seemed more feminine. Which to my mind could explain why the Italian scooter giant felt the need to launch the Liberty S, a sports version of the existing model.
Now this is very much a boy's bike: the Liberty S comes in black, and only black. From the menacing-looking giant headlight to the abstract graphics on the side, the bike seems to have been designed with a male rider in mind. There is a pointless grey plastic shield above the headlight - handy if you're advancing into battle, but of no discernible use otherwise. The bike even looks more bulked out than the old model, as if it has downed a few glasses of that muscle-building shake that appeals to puny students.
Despite not appreciating its physique, I could certainly admire its power. The Liberty S can really move. This was the 125cc version, although it also comes with a 50cc motor. Head to head it would easily beat my Vespa away from the lights, although that probably indicates that my own bike is due a service. On the A2 out of London I found I hit 50mph without really noticing. It may even have gone quicker but I didn't like to take my eyes off the road to check the speedometer.
Link.
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Toy Vespa in the UK
When you were a kiddie, you probably wanted a motorised thing to drive around on. I recall hearing the unmistakable wrrrr of an electronic motorbike struggling up a shallow hill. Well, I imagine that they've got much better since then, and what better way to spoil a young wannabe mod child than with an a motorised Vespa for your kids!
A faithful reproduction of the grown-up scooter (stabilisers aside), this miniature Vespa has a two-speed gearbox (2.5 and 5 mph) powered by a rechargeable battery, automatic brakes and working headlight, horn and hazard-warning lights. It is suitable for children aged from three to seven.
Link.
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Fuel cell scooter in development
An Italian company has announced that it is developing a scooter which will be powered by a fuel cell.
GR Grafica is in the process of developing the scooter, which would be the world's first to be powered by a fuel cell and could have a significant impact on the use of scooters as an alternative green technology.
"So far we've been able to manufacture merely four prototypes of the model," GR Grafica's managing director Giacomo Beltramo, said.
However, Mr Beltramo went on to say that his laboratory is carrying out further research and a commercially available scooter could come into existence in the near future, reports UNI news agency.
One of the prototypes was displayed at a recent conference and Grafica is hopeful that the new technology will prove successful in getting more people to use environmentally-friendly vehicles in and around towns and cities.
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