New stuff for the Blog!

Looking at the blog's traffic, it seems that there are a lot of you who read on the regular, but you have no idea when new info is going to appear. Well, this morning, I took a couple of steps to make it a little easier to find out when the new deliciousness appears on your fav KC scooter blog!

Take a look at the sidebar to the left and you'll see a couple of new things:

• A reader's block
• A blog subscription block

The reader's block isn't anything like writer's block. No, instead, this handy tool will allow you to set yourself as a "reader" and then see who else also reads the blog! Nice stuff. It'll also help me fine tune this web-based machine to my reader's interests since I won't be running blind anymore.

The subscription block is just that: Want to be updated when the new stuff appears, just subscribe. Really easy!

All Hallows Even!!

It's Halloween once again, and for once, it's not raining!! It was so nice this morning that I was outside grilling breakfast in just a t-shirt and socks! Superb!

Get out there and enjoy the roads today, but remember to ride safe. If you want a little inspiration to safe riding, check out Brittany Morrow's latest effort: Rockthegear.org . If you're not familiar with with Ms. Morrow, she survived a 522 foot slide across the asphalt in nothing more than a t-shirt, capri pants, and sneakers. She did have a helmet thankfully, but her body was scarred forever! If you want a halloween fright, look up her pics, they're vivid! Her newest initiative is based apon ATGATT or All The Gear, All The Time. The Rockthegear web site offers lots of information and testimonials for those looking for a reason to wear protective clothing when they ride.

It's a great site and it has a small but active forum too! It's not bike-specific, so don't feel intimidated to go ahead and check it out!

Winter Service!

Hey folks, this year we're offering a winter service program for scooter folks, just like you and regardless if you bought from us or not or the make and model of your scoot*. Those who participated last year will remember the free pickup and delivery options and we're continuing that on to this year as well!

For those who have no idea what you're reading about, the Vespa of Kansas City Winter Service + Preventative Maintenance Program is the scooter version of what VanWall (our owners) do for their lawn and green equipment customers. The short explanation is that we get your scooter tuned up and prepared for the winter months. This is especially nice for those who can't ride during the cold season; by the time the warmer temperatures arrive in Spring, you won't have to worry about stale gasoline or a dead battery keeping you from going out and doing what you like to do best: ride your scoot!

Folks on our email list will get a newsletter and those customers who have shopped with us in the past - provided we have a current mailing address - will get a postcard in the mail. If you want to sign up to take advantage of the... Uh, lets call it the VKCWSPMP, just give us a call, ask for Keith or Mike and we'll get you in the books! The deadline for sign up is December 15th! Any questions, call Vespa Kansas City or email me.

Leno and Clarkson on scooters!

Tonight Show host Jay Leno was the guest speaker at this year's Piaggio Dealer's Meeting (end of September), so it shouldn't come as much of a surprise that the Piaggio MP3 showed up on his website. Click here to check it out!

Another famous (or not so much depending on how much of a car nut you are) car enthusiast, Jeremy Clarkson (see above pic) was also talking about scooters recently. I will obviously post the link to his article regarding his being recently sighted on a Vespa GTV Navy (blue version we don't get here in the USA) after saying he hates motorcycles, but be fowarned: If you've never read a Clarkson article or watched him on TopGear... Well, he doesn't mince words. An example:

"I also liked the idea of a Vespa because most bikes are Japanese. This means they are extremely reliable so you cannot avoid a fatal crash by simply breaking down. This is entirely possible on a Vespa because it is made in Italy."

Yeah, it's kinda tongue-in-cheek, so don't take the rest of it too seriously but expect him to bash on scooters and motorcycling in general. Either way, it's a fun little read.

Check it out, here.

The newness for 2009

Chances are that if you've been on the forums and blogs, you already know of the new new coming out for 2009. If you've been like me, nose to the grind (or however that saying goes), then I'll fill you in!

Last weekend was the Piaggio Dealer's Meeting. This annual get together is how the dealer's find out what's new for the upcoming year. This time around there weren't many additions, but a good number of significant changes:

• Gallio Lime (Yellow) is out for '09 and Capri Blue (glossy powder blue) is in.



• Vespa S 150 is being joined by a Vespa S 50 which has a 4-valve engine! Awesome!



• Grantursimo 200 is gone, replaced by a new GTS machine, the GTS Super. It has new looks and a 300cc fuel-injected engine. Woot!



• The BV family finally gets what Europe has had for a while, the Touring redesign, making the BV 250 and 500 the BV 250 Tourer and BV 500 Tourer.



• The Fly series gets color swaps, adding Optic White in for the 150 and 50 instead of the Dragon Red.



• The MP3 250 and 400 get a facelift and a couple new accessories including a new backrest that doesn't require a topcase! Nifty!



• Sienna White is the new.. uh. White.

So, that's it for the most part. If you're interested in ordering anything special, right now is the time to let us know as we're setting up our 2009 order as I type this. I'll give you readers a week or so before turning it in, so act fast if you'd like to have your choice of color.

Miracolo Italiano

Berlin-based designer, Damian Ortega is currently displaying a show in Turin named Miracolo Italiano. It's based upon a previous work of art that also involves a deconstructed automotive icon, named Cosmic Thing. That body of work involved a VW Bug whereas Ortega's current piece involves three Vespas.


"This takes his Volkswagen project–called Cosmic Thing–to a new level. Where his Bug was a single installation, the Vespa is seen in three stages of completion, allowing the viewer to walk backwards and forwards, creating and dismantling the icon. Icon-deconstruction is a fun process for Ortega; the Volkswagen was one of Mexico’s “most potent symbols of Westernization and mass production”, and the latter applies, within Italy, to Piaggio’s Vespa as well."

For more pics and info, follow the link.

Undies

Apparently, The Gap has something that you never knew you wanted, but as soon as you see it, you will...

Ta Da! Scooter boxers, just in time for fall weather riding! $10 and they're yours!

Check it out, here.

Photo Op!

This Saturday, yours truly took a couple of scoots out to a photo shoot to be featured in Urban Times magazine. A couple of pouty-faced models in a dark, graffiti-plastered alleyway on a yellow GTS 250ie and a white GTV 250 is pretty much how it went down and after an hour, we were done and all packed up. As soon as the pics come up, I'll let y'all know!

Cannonball 2008

Every once in a while, a bunch of crazies get together to either generate $$$ for charity, prove to themselves that they can do the impossible, or just be crazy. In three days, beginning on September 11th, a number of folks will be doing just that.

The Scooter Cannonball happens once a year (or two) and is a 3000 mile rally testing endurance, will power, and scooter reliability! This year, rally goers will be starting from San Fransisco, CA and ending their journey in Ocean City, MD. Coast-to-Coast, baby!

Pistol Pete, a contestant in this year's rally emailed me to let everyone know that the Cannonball is coming through our area this year with a stop in Fort Scott, KS! He plans on being out there on day six and hopes to run into some local scooterists! Here's the info:

101 State Street
Fort Scott, KS
66701

He also has a blog and Flickr link setup as well.
http://cannonball08.blogspot.com/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/scooterpics/sets/
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=petairvespa

Portland's Scooter Mecca

Another video today, this time sent to me via Matt V. Enjoy a taste of Portland's two-stroke scooter scene. The video comes from the area NBC affiliate KING5.com, and although its a "news" video, it's actually a very nicely done piece and very fun!

Check it out by following this link.

Scooter drag racing

I found this on 2strokebuzz.com this morning:

1/32 mile scooter drag racing in Taiwan using Tag Heuer timing equipment. It's a nice little video, check it out!!

Click here for the link.



Note that you may have to stop the music player (left side of page) to view movie within the blog.

Some scooter owners find hurdles at the DMV

The Denver Examiner has an interesting post about Denver's recent reactive action against the huge influx of Chinese-built, sub-quality scooters. Apparently, a lot of these new cheapies have fake or non existant emissions documentation and equipment and thus, aren't SAE registered. Some are sold without proper Origin Statement paperwork, which in itself is illegal. Denver is currently rejecting folks' attempt at registering thier bikes if they don't check out, and other states are probably sure to follow.

If you or someone you know is thinking about buying a no-name scoot, check out this link first!

Ruh Roh!!

It seems that Denver, which has seen it's popularity in scooters rise perhaps earlier than most of the country, is also starting to see a little bit of the negatives before everyone as well. Ever seen a scooter stolen in 11 seconds before??

Check this out.

This video illustrates why sometimes locking your scooter up isn't enough. It does give some helpful hints to combat this, but it doesn't explore anti-theft options too deeply. I would also suggest, depending on your neighborhood or other enviornmental variables, an electronic alarm, or electronic alarm brake lock.

Or a garage...

Scooter.. moving?!?

As reported here in The Seattle Times.com site, some folks in Seattle are suffering from a phenomenon that, if not for this year's boom in scooter sales, probably would never have become a problem. It seems that folks are finding other people moving their parked scooters in order to obtain a better parking space! Check it out here for more!

Updating the blgo

As you can tell, there have been a few tweaks to this cramped site! Now you can see videos on the right at anytime as well as search for scooter-related materials up top. Nothing big, but at least the blog has been updated!

Project: Parts and Accessories

http://www.scooterworks.com

We've been getting a lot of calls lately from customers who have maintenance coming up who tell us that they've ordered this part or that part and would like us to install it. After a few of these phone calls, we began to ask, why and where were the parts ordered from. An astounding number of folks revealed that they were ordering items from Scooterworks.com and used them because they believed that we wouldn't be able to provide them with the products they were in need of.

Well, contrary to popular belief, we also order from Scooterworks, so if you're in need of parts and/or accessories, feel free to order them through us, especially if you're going to have us install or replace them anyway. Makes sense to go ahead and have the parts sent to where they're going to be installed anyway right?

Now you know and knowing is half the battle!

Super busy: ARRRGH!

It's been almost exactly a month since my last post here, and in that time i've sold what feels like a million scooters to both new and old customers as well as folks that live nowhere close to Kansas City. We're out of Vespa LX 150s, Piaggio Fly 150s, MP3 400s and 500s, BV250s and 500s, Vespa S 150s and we only have 1 Fly 50 left and are sitting on our last two GTS 250s and last two Granturismo 200s. We've been out of GTVs for a while, but we did finally get a portifino green GTV that was on order for a customer in Alexandria, VA. He purchased it back in November of 2007 and we don't plan on seeing him until this October!

It's been busy.

Apparently, I'm not the only one that's been knee deep in scooter customers as, allegedly, our friends at Scooter World are sold out and our (not) friends at Reno's Yamaha/Vespa keep trying to do dealer trades (despite us not having anything they want) and I can only imagine how busy Vespa Lawrence has been this month...
I'm also assuming that you riders have been busy as there has been a complete lack of scheduled rides on the forums. If not for the Sunday rides out of Scooter World by the Mad Toto crowd each week, I'd a figured that everyone was really using their scooters this year for commuting only.

Today, I happened to be off, and after wakeboarding, playing with the dog, I found enough time to post up something.

Yay for you.

I would have quickly posted up the different posts from all over the country regarding scooters but, as you can imagine, they've ALL been about the rise of scooters because of the rise of gas.

Boring.

Anyway, I'm making a promise to at least make a stronger effort to post more in the coming weeks, so hopefully you all haven't forgot about the blog.

See you later!

Scooter News

We haven't found the time lately to post anything to the blog because... Well, because we've been uber busy selling scooters! Apparently, we're not the only ones shoulder high in customer orders for more scooters as the last few weeks of scooter news has been about nothing else but on how well scooter sales have been thanks to gasoline.

Imagine that.

Here are a few of the MANY stories:

The scooter: Once a toy, now a top seller.
Cycle sales rev up in contest against fuel prices.
Scooter sales are having a great ride.
Top Gear opens Vespa dealership in Athens.

Donald Rumsfeld buys a Vespa??

Tag this post under, AWESOME!

According to AutoBlogGreen.Com, former US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld recently purchased the super fuel-saving LX150 as a vehicle of choice! No word as to whether he bought it for himself or as a gift for someone else. Either way, it's kinda funny. You can check out the original post, here.

Thanks to Matt for the heads-up.

Buddy and Bob?

It seems that Piaggio is sponsoring two 70-somethings on a 3400 mile ride down the Lincoln Highway on MP3s! Leaving San Francisco today, you can tune into the action on the Piaggio USA site, here.

Scooter shortages?

According to a recent post on 2Strokebuzz.com, scooter's are becoming more and more difficult to come by.

A quote from the post for those who are in the market for scooters:
"What does that mean? In short, if you’re looking for a bike for this summer, and you see the bike you want, in the color that you want, buy it now. If you don’t see it, get an order in, with a deposit. Don’t expect discounts. Bigger/more established dealers seem to have prepared and are likely to have a better selection, but even so, bikes are selling fast. Newer/smaller dealers are finding it hard to get any product at all. Sunny spring saturdays are always insane at scooter dealers, and it’s even worse now, if you’re shopping seriously, take a drizzly weekday off work and show up early with cash if you want a salesperson’s undivided attention."

I have to agree with most of that statement, especially about coming in on a Saturday. I apologize to any and all who come to shop and end up leaving frustrated with only a "I'll get to you as soon as I can." Saturdays have been insane. I've had to refuse test rides because they take up so much time that other folks can't get helped and even pencil sales for the weekdays instead of closing them during the weekend because of the shop being so busy. It's a lovely problem to have... Unless you're a customer.


Anyway, for more info on the scoot shortage, Check out the post here.

Toys for your toys

Patrick Ma, toy designer, has come out with two toys as a part of the I.W.G. Combat Mod Squad set last year that are, and have been, on my "must have" list. The problem is that they're limited editions, and pretty much sold out now everywhere. That said, I thought I'd share my lust with you and wish you good luck in aquiring these bad boys.

The toys, a part of the Rocketworld line-up, feature Septimus and Takahara, a rhino and bear on vintage scoots, toting.. uh, walking sticks? To learn more and start your addiction on Vinyl toys, check out Vinyl Pulse.com

Scooter Art

While looking for these cool limited edition MOD toys (I should add, expensive cool limited edition), I came across this Scooter-art.com site that has custom kitsch graphics for your scoot, helmet and other stuff. They have a few designs, but lots of different colorways. You should check it out; you know your scoot has been feeling a tad naked since you got it anyway!

More articles about Vespa - Gas pumps = happy times

More and more posts are showing up on the web about scooters being a great alternative to fuel thirsty trucks. I don't see this trend slowing down before the end of summer, but here are some links for the curious:

"Scooter sales rev up as gas prices soar"

"Scooter riders laughing all the way to the pump"
"Scooter sales soar as gas prices rise"


"The scooter solution to high gas prices"

Fuel efficient?

A recent article posted in the Auto section of the Wall Street Journal's web page this weekend, explains the rising popularity of scooters in metro areas.

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An educated guess could have told you it was gasoline, but the article is really good. I suggest you take a look and read on how scooters have changed some folks' lives for the better!

Click here for the article.

Other recent scooter-related posts:

New Zeland Times compares bugs to scooters.

Great Falls tribune discovers fuel efficient scooters.

Vespa to be seen in this summer's Get Smart film starring Steve Carell.

A semi-correct history of gas scooters...

Vespa Get Smart sweepstakes