"Vespa Pizzeria" in South Carolina

The Post and Courier newspaper carried a review of a new restaurant called Vespa Pizzeria in South Carolina. The restaurant is supposed to use a "pizza garage" theme.If you find yourself in the Daniel Island area, check them out:
224 Seven Farms Dr # 101 Daniel Island, SC 29492-7974
Phone: (843) 881-0102

iPhone App: Rat on a Scooter XL

I was scanning the iTunes App store and happened upon Rat on a Scooter XL which seems to be a rat ridding a scooter on an obstacle course. Download it for your iPod or iPhone for 99-cents.

Les Nereides- Scooter Necklace

Thanks to Lara who forwarded me this tip from the Frisky on this quaint, but pricey scooter necklace from Colette. It will run you about $122, but is a unique piece.

Add your Flikr scooter pics to our pool

If you are a Flikr member and post scooter pics, why not share them with other Flikr scooterists by adding them to the Scoot! Magazine Flikr pool? I just tagged my Taiwan photos so that other members could see them. Add yours!

Little Ceasar is Italian

And I have photo proof that he rode a scooter.



-- Post from my iPhone, out-n-about...

Bell Sports Helmets Lambretta Animation

I was looking up some info on Bell Helmets and noticed that they have an animation of a guy riding a Lambretta. Cool! There are several Flash animations, of which this is one.

Cannonball Route

Just got this info from Bagel:

Vancouver, BC to Portland, ME - 3270 miles
13 states, 3 border crossings

ROUTE MAP

Day 1: Vancouver, BC to Grand Forks - 325 mi
Day 2: Grand Forks to West Glacier - 331 mi
Day 3: West Glacier to Lewistown - 314 mi
Day 4: Lewistown to Bowman - 347 mi
Day 5: Bowman to Ortonville - 369 mi
Day 6: Ortonville to Ironwood - 362 mi
Day 7: Ironwood to Sault Ste. Marie - 311 mi
Day 8: Sault Ste. Marie to North Bay - 270 mi
Day 9: North Bay to Lake Placid, NY - 365 mi
Day 10: Lake Placid, NY to Portland, ME - 276 mi

This year it is the high route, with crossing into Canada!
Who is up for it????

Looking for the Most Scooter-Friendly College/University

Scooters are ideal modes of transportation for students. They are economical with fuel, maintenance and are easy to park, making them perfect for parking on and off campus.

We're looking for the most scooter-friendly campus in the US. I'd like to do a story on what makes it so well-suited for scooters, with hopes to inspire other schools to embrace and encourage scooter riding.

Want to nominate your school? Send a 100-300 word essay extolling the school's benefits to scooter riders. Be sure to not only consider just easy parking or a discounted permit. We want to know of the general attitude towards scooters. How many scooter riders are on campus? Have any facilities, rules or accommodations been made just for scooters? Is there a local scooter club or place where scooterists congregate? Consider all the angles when drafting your nomination. Send your submission to April (select Interested in Contributing).

Bajaj to Exit the Scooter Market (?)

Just saw this article in the Business Standard of India, which says that Bajaj will exit the scooter business in favor of trying to overtake the small motorcycle business that Honda has been dominating. Sad! According to the story:

The decision to move away from scooters, according to Bajaj, is pegged on three reasons. One, the company is seeing good profitability in selling strong brands like Pulsar and Discover 100cc motorcycles.

“Our EBITDA margin for the second quarter of this year stands at 22 per cent, which is the highest in the auto industry so far. For the third quarter we hope to do better.” Vaishali Jajoo, analyst at Angel Broking, said margins derived from selling Pulsars were above industry average, at 15 per cent.

Secondly, he thinks the worldwide motorcycle market is growing faster than scooters. “There is enough headroom for growth both in the domestic and the export markets. Currently we manufacture around 50,000 units of Boxers in China, which are sold in the export market.” The Boxer is sold as Platina in India.

Lastly, address the top end with KTM motorcycles. The company has a 31.72 per cent stake in Austrian motorcycle manufacturer KTM, which manufactures motorcycles of 250cc configuration.

“So, we make more money by being focused as motorcycle specialists rather than producing everything and making no money at all like the Chinese manufacturers,” Bajaj added.

So has everyone abandoned the Vespa-styled manual shift scooters? Sad! Sad! Sad!

"The company is putting in all of its resources towards becoming the number one motorcycle manufacturer in the world." Anyone want to take bets on how that will shake down?

My Taiwan Flikr Set

As usual, I have come down with a cold after traveling. I tried to do everything I could to avoid it, including bringing nose spray to keep my sinuses hydrated. However, my plane from Tokyo to San Francisco was so dry that I ende up getting dry eyes. They felt like sandpaper! Will I ever win?

Anyways, the downtime has given me an opportunity to upload my photos to Flikr. Some have captions, some don't but you can get an idea of where I went. I also took tons of video of scootin' action, but will need to edit that *after* I get the next issue to design. My work is never done!

Check out my Taiwan 2009 Flikr set.

My Fave Scooter-Riding Sleuth

If you haven't caught Hetty Wainthrop Investigates on PBS' Mystery! series, you are missing out. Not only does actress Patricia Routledge do an excellent job inhabiting the spunky and no-nonsense female detective "of a certain age" but she also does so sometimes from the back of a Lambretta.

The series has Hetty starting her own investigation agency at the age of 60, when she determines hat she has a knack for ferreting the truth.  She is assisted by her sidekick Geoffrey, played by Dominc Monaghan (from Lord of the Rings films and Lost), pilots the scooter and helps Hetty with her investigations. Not every episode has a scooter, but you'll find it interesting nonetheless if you enjoy the sort of programming that Mystery! brings.

You can get the first season at Amazon for a discount, but it looks like some independent sellers have it at a nice discount.  Go Hetty!

Shopping Day in Taipei!

I have visited two night markets since coming to Taiwan; one in Tainan the other in Taipei. The markets are like our Flea Markets with vendor tables selling all sorts of clothing, jewelery, shoes, housewares and especially food. My gluten issues have taken the tasty baked goods off my list but last night I ate some tasty fried sweet potato chunks in a sweet crispy sesame seed glaze. Yum! Ate it straight from the box with a toothpick while walking the market.

Here you can see a few scores from the market:






The pink thing is a fashionable face mask which does not have a scooter, but the cute packaging does.

Today the serious shopping begins. It is my first and only day to wander around on my own. I am on a mission to try for a new camera and (of course) get more scooter stuff.

-- Post from my iPhone, out-n-about...

NSR: Mr. Hankey Cookie DIY Video

This is almost scooter-related since I shot the video, the cookies were made by a scooterist and the idea for the cookie cutter was devised by another scooterist, but let's not split hairs (or get them in the dough).

Just in time for Christmas...How to Make Mr. Hankey Cookies

Paper Scooter Models

Like to make paper models? Here are some online sources for patterns:

Pizza Delivery Scooter

Download it here.

Bajaj Ape/Tuk-Tuk

 

Download it here. 

Holiday Gifts for Scooterists

Don't forget about the Sur la Table scooterist kitchen towels! $8

GQ Picks Vespa S for Gift Guide

American men's magazine GQ has picked the Vespa S150 as one of their 50 gift suggestions for this holiday season. Of the scooter they say:

We love motorcycles, but we don't know many guys who want to attempt balancing a dozen eggs on the tank of a Ducati. When you're running errands in the suburbs or commuting on congested city streets, there's nothing better than a Vespa. This S150 has the lines of the classic models from the 1970s, enough zip to shoot the gaps in moving traffic, and room under the seat for a six-pack. Your commute will never be the same.

Cool Animated Gif

Saw this fun animated gif on the DeviantArt profile page of cinslalucria. I like the color combo and the swirling pattern. Neato!