Its snowing, its snowing!

Yeah its time once again to pull out the sleds and snowboards, skis and inflatable tubes, ice salt and snow shovels, but that doesn't mean that riding on your two-wheeled vehicle of choice is out of the question.

Okay, maybe it does. I wouldn't be out there in this, but what I consider my limit doesn't apply to everyone.



Riding on an older police-issue Kawasaki 1300, he pulled into our shop to warm up a bit since his gloves were sub-par for the temps. Apparently, he wasn't a police officer, but a funeral escort rider, caught in the snowstorm on his way back from Atchinson. Sounded like bad news, but after witnessing his riding after he warmed himself up and hit the road again, i would have assumed that he was enjoying it!

Safe travels crazyrideinanyweatherguy. And safe travels to you guys out there as well!

We Do Vintage

Just a reminder that we service the old school 2T Vespas as well as the modern machines we sell & that winter is the best time to drop your vintage Vespa by for a quicker turn-around. From a tail-light bulb to a full restoration - we'll take it on.

Mp3 in action II

More MP3 footage.

This is actually a pretty nice clip! It does a nice job of giving us an idea as to what the controls and dash look like as well as what that mysterious "tilt lock" mechanism is used for (0:59 in the video). Check out 1:26 for manuevers that couldn't be done by most on two wheels. Heck, I'm not sure I could do that on four wheels!

Also check out this vid for more basic footage, such as how that underseat/trunk space works!!

USA Weekend Edition

More MP3 news:

On the cover of the weekend edition of the USA Today publication, Piaggio's anticipated MP3 made yet another appearance. America just can't get enough of this bike, and we at the shop... We can't get enough either; we want that demo unit and we want it NOW! Stay tuned...

Click the pic or click here for the link to the story.

Somethings afoot!

Guess who finally showed up to dinner? The Piaggio three-wheeler is finally up on the PiaggioUSA site with the original MP3 name. I'm assuming that they finally were able to get clearance on that name and ditched the previously made official MZ3 nomenclature.

There isn't too much info, but they have a new theme for the vehicle that sounds very Japanese, complete with that "lost in translation" type of feel. WELCOME, TOMORROW.

Eh?

Anyway, check it out here.

Funancing online

For those of you out there interested in financing a scooter, you may now apply for Funancing online. Call or click the button below for details and the application.

We offer other financing options as well & will do our best to get you financed just call or visit the shop for the details.

New Beanies In!

We just received a shipment of top quality "Vespa" embroidered knit caps to keep your noggin warm through winter or hide your helmet hair

The beanies are available in Lt Blue, Lime Green, Black & Red

Save 10 days a year!

MediaPost.net had an interesting article on the Piaggio three wheeler MZ3 this morning. Sure, you may be tired of all the attention the scooter has been recieving, but even if you're collecting every news clip, this one is a little different. Apparently, Paolo Timoni, CEO of Piaggio NA had the company run a hypothetical analysis "in which 20% of car volume in New York City was replaced by scooters. "We learned that each of those drivers would save ten days a year," he said. "

Assuming that those ten days refers to lost time due to sitting in gridlocked traffic, thats a big deal! Check out the article which includes that infamous Fifth Gear video we posted last year, just in case you missed it!

Well, It looks like we have a name!!

At the traveling motorcycling bonanza known as the International Motorcycle Show (or IMS), the Piaggio three wheeler, formally known to us as the MP3 had its new name plastered all over it. I'd like to reintroduce you to the MZ3.

Even on a snow day

Last Saturday, during all that tasty inclement weather we were enjoying, we still sold a scoot! Thats right, the postal service isn't the only crew doing there thing regardless of the climate conditions.

Bill's spanking new PX with the white wall tires and rear rack had to be delivered because of all the standing snow and ice; we took a few shots of it before loading it into the mystery-mobile.



We delivered to his home safe, sound and frozen, but he had a nice comfy place in the garage already prepared for it, complete with warm blankets, a food dish and tons o' treats. Good man!

Could you use a (Roman) holiday?

Found this famous clip a few days ago and thought I'd share. Enjoy.


For those not in the know, this clip is from Roman Holiday (1953), starring Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck.. and a Vespa (of course!) The clip is when Audrey's character, Ann, decides to take the Vespa out on her own for the first time. Hilarity ensues.


If your browser is being stupid or the video isn't loading, you can view it right here.

Snowy slush-set Saturdays

With the weather the way it is, riding for the most part is out of the question. I'm sure you diehards are out there in the wintry mix anyway, but for the rest of us staying at home, here's a little something from the vaults of old school. Hopefully it'll tide you over till the sun comes back.

Click here for the goodness!

Australia riding hard

As reported on The Age, an Australian online magazine, folks in the land of kangaroos,bandicoots and pirates are riding a plenty nowadays. Gas hasn't ever really been cheap in Aus, and with a new public transportation overhaul being completed this year, mass transit isn't looking to be much better.

Leave it to the people to find a quicker, cheaper, and more entertaining way to do what they have to do; scooters! So many scooters in fact that sales were up in 2006 by 42 percent (!!!!!) over 2005's figures.

Some of the more interesting quotes:

"A lot of people buying them are white-collared, well-educated and well-travelled. They have seen how well they work in Europe,"

"The traffic is not going to go away, city parking is not going to get any cheaper or easier and petrol is not going to get cheaper, so there are all these good reasons. Plus, they're fun."

Indeed. Click here for the whole shebang!

On another topic, the last post... Well, I'm sure Rev-it didn't realize, but it was our 100th!!! Bravo to us and congrats to all our readers!!!

Customer Profile: Little Joe & his Chicco

Following the story of VKC's Chicco...

Our friend Jim - who helps us keep the shop minty fresh - picked up our last little Chicco for his son, Joe.

Here he is racing 'round the house.

Joe shows us that nobody's too young to be a Vespisti. Great to know our Chicco ended up in such happy hands!

Year of the oink!

Well, it's a whole new year, and with that new year comes new opportunities to party hard! Currently, we're compiling, organizing, and reorganizing our list of events for the year of the pig. The idea is that we not only want to inform our scootering community of the rides and fun that we partake in week to week, but the events that occur within the community in general. So, with that said, I have this long list of things going on all year that are so awesome, I can hardly keep them to myself!!!!

But, I'm going to anyway.

We're still in the planning stages to make sure that 2007 will be the best year EVAR!!!!! So, if you have any events you'd like us to know about, email me and let me know. So I can let you know. And you can let them know. And so on.

Ciao.

Customer Profile: Tommee S

Our good friend & customer Tommee e-mailed us these pics of his PX150 @ the Lawrence Art Tougeau Parade.

Tommee rides his Vespa down a stretch a gravel road on a near daily basis. Yet, he manages to keep the sunny side up & the scooter looking good as new. You may have spotted him on the KU campus where he has been a fixture for years or down on Mass playing saxaphone for grateful evening passer-bys.

Thanks for the pics Tommee!

In search of Vespa!

Here at the shop, we run into Vespa videos all the time. From clips of folks in Germany stunting their scoots to chaps in China racing them, we get a taste of everything. Unfortunately, I sometimes forget that not everyone works at a scooter shop and might miss out on the goods.

Lucky you that I came across this tasty tart! Videos like the following are always nice in the way that they illustrate how historical and rich the heritage of the Vespa brand is. I mean, sure there are plenty of great bikes out there, but only with Vespa can you find so many examples of culture-inspiring uber awesomeness! (yeah, I'm biased towards these things)



If you can't see the video in your browser, click this link for direct access to entertainment.

The video is a youtube quality peice following a British scoot enthusiast as he travels Italy in (as the title of the video suggests) Search of Vespa. Good stuff! The clip is seperated into multiple parts. Check the links for the rest:

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Gleaned from modernvepsa

Happy Holidays!

I figured our weblog would be the last place anyone would find themselves today, but just incase-you know: after the presents, the food and fats, the in-laws, and the movies-we have you covered.

So, a very happy holidays to you from us at VESPA KANSAS CITY! May your stomachs stay full and your company inebriated so you may nap at will and in peace.

Ciao!

ONLY TEN DAYS LEFT!

To celebrate Vespa's 60th Birthday, we're giving away a $60 gift card when you purchase a new Vespa. You can also take advantage of our 365-day no payment/deferred interest financing program to buy your Vespa. So you can ride for free for a year and fill up your gas tank on us for the first few months. Not a bad gift! But you must purchase before December 31st to take advantage of it!

Click here for details

Vespa Milestone for the Holidays!

This month, the 100,000th Vespa of the year was produced at Piaggio plant, marking a milestone that hadn't previously been met since 1990. Wow! In doubling the production numbers from 50,000 units in 2004, the folks at Piaggio had a lot of reason to celebrate. In promising to donate on Euro for each Vespa sold during 2006 and '07 to the Italian Multiple Sclerosis foundation, Piaggio isn't the only one having a party this month. Click here for the original post, via 2strokebuzz.com

To put some of this into perspective, lets take a look at the year 1990...

• Seinfeld and The Simpsons were becoming popular sitcoms in many homes.
• Iraqis invaded Kuwait
• The World Wide Web was created(1989-1990)
• The Hubble Space Telescope was launched
• The Berlin Wall became history
• South Africa ended apartheid
• The Russian and former USSR states begin their decline into depression
• Club dance music hits an all time pop high
• Piaggio produces 100,000 Vespa models

To provide insight into the line-up available around that year that was so successful for the Vespa founding fathers and mothers, I did a little research. It seems that beyond the Piaggio Sfera and the Vespa 50 Special being reintroduced to the world, everyone was still riding around on PXs, PKs and T5 pole positions. Quite a different world of scooters nowadays eh?

Blogs from another world: ET34

Obviously we're your favorite blog of all-time! However, that doesn't mean we should be the ONLY blog you read from time to time. That said (or written), I thought maybe it'd be nice for you to check out a weblog of a different flavor. Its still about scoots... but scoots in Japan! Click here for a direct link!

ET34 is a nice read and.. wait, you can't read Japanese? Well, Click Here for the translated version!

New ScooterWorld mag hits our shelves.

We just recieved the new ScooterWorld publication this morning, chock full of scootering goodness!! A few reviews of jackets and scoot-related product throughout, the standout is the review of the Piaggio MP3 on page 20! A very well-written and enlightening read, it describes in detail the functionality of the electronic stability system as well as its road-going mannerisms. All in all (like every other mag that has reviewed it), the author gave it a thumbs up! Come by the shop and pick up your own issue!

Euro-spec MP3 on the streets of America..

ModernVepsa.com member, Jess recently got a day and a half to ride the Piaggio MP3 around the mean streets of San Francisco. He wrote up a review for it and gave the Euro-spec model a thumbs up. Its a long first-hand write-up, so click on the link to read about it.

Main web back in operation!

A well deserved thanks to The-Man for getting our web page back up for your viewing pleasures. Another rebel fist of defiance and thanks goes to The-Man for getting our email back up as well; you can now feel free to send us all the lovely suggestions/hate mail/scootering info that you've been unable to all week. Or, just stop by today and celebrate our "spring weather during the month of December" Saturday with us; I'm typing email replies all day and Christopher is selling parts over the phone.

No, we're not boring...

T-shirt "Oh!s"

Two days ago, Christopher recieved our shipment of classic Vespa shirts. As of yesterday, we are sold out of one color, and there are only three left of the other...

For fans of the GTS, we added another Gloss Black/tan seat bike into the showroom last night so we could have one of each color on display. Problem is, the Excalibur Silver GTS is on its way to a happy home and our Dragon Red GTS demo is the last of that color we have period. Thank goodness for warm winters eh?

More shirts are on the way (and probably more GTS') but stay tuned for pics and details regarding these classy threads.