Vespa of Los Angeles' LA Times Spotlight

Earlier this week, the LA Times featured Vespa of Los Angeles.

The 4,000-square-foot space, designed to emphasize the Vespa lifestyle, looks more like a fashion boutique than a vehicle dealership. Its exposed drywall ceiling and concrete flooring were chosen for their "industrial, urban feel," Miyakawa says. The three large photos of edgy models and bright Vespas lining one wall were taken by Miyakawa, who worked as a fashion photographer before opening the scooter store. At the front, large display windows allow the shiny Vespas within to catch the eyes of passersby, if there are any. Central Avenue runs through the heart of the industrial district and is mainly a route for car, not foot, traffic. But the location hasn't harmed business. Vespa Los Angeles has sold 106 scooters since opening day, earning it the rank of No. 2 in sales for the Southwest and No. 11 in the nation. It aims to sell 225 scooters a year. By comparison, the San Francisco Vespa store sells 480 scooters a year. There are 34 Vespa stores in California, a testament to the brand's burgeoning popularity.

Read more online.

Vespa Rentals coming to LA, SF, Vegas & Orlando.

This in the news:

EagleRider to include Vespa scooters in rental line-up.
from Powersports Business:


EagleRider added Piaggio and Vespa scooters to its motorcycle rental line-up that already includes Harley-Davidson, Honda and BMW motorcycles, reported EagleRider.

Beginning Oct. 11, EagleRider will start renting Piaggio and Vespa scooters at its Los Angeles, Las Vegas and San Francisco locations. Beginning Oct. 15, EagleRider’s Orlando location will carry the scooters.

“Strong Vespa Scooters sales growth in 2008 coupled with increasing gas prices makes the addition of the Vespa line-up a necessary choice,” Chris McIntyre, president of EagleRider, said in the release. “Vespa is a world famous lifestyle brand that will be a great complement to our prestigious rental fleet of Harley-Davidson, Honda and BMW motorcycles.”

Upcoming Event: Side Car Rally 10/19/08

I haven't had a chance to make it to this event, yet, but I thought I'd put a shout-out about the upcoming Griffith Park Side Car Rally sponsored by Sidestrider Side Cars and the Sidecar Industry Council (who knew there was one?) Info:

Sunday, Oct. 19, 9am-3pm
Crystal Springs picnic area
Griffith Park Los Angeles

"Spectators free!! Learn about sidecars and see some of all the best and most unusual sidecars in the world. Call: Doug Bingham 818-780-5542"

Misadventures in Buying a Vespa- LAist

I found this interesting piece at LAist, a community website for Los Angeles-area folks. It highlights the usefulness of comparison shopping for scooters. This summer, most scooter were in high demand with not enough supply to fulfill orders. I heard reports of many dealers adding on premium charges, which may be the case here, but I haven't followed up with the shops to see. Many dealers that I work with on a regular basis charge anywhere from $150-$250 for PDI which is the assembly and testing that they do when it arrives.

Even if you are buying a scooter from the only dealership in town, you should still call some other dealers to get prices and see if they compare. Additionally, I agree with the writer's suggestion to only buy from a scooter dealer, which I have said numerous times before.

In LA last week testing Aprilia Sport City 250

Last week I was in Los Angeles for a trade show, but also took the opportunity to test the new, zippy Aprilia Sport City 250. I spent 3 days riding it, and found it to be fun, exactly what I'd expect from an Aprilia. One evening I went to a book signing for a new book on the band, R.E.M., called R.E.M.: HELLO. The scooter was perfect for the West Hollywood area which is tough on parking. I got to park right in back of the store right next to Michael Stipe's car. That's a new meaning for the "rock star parking" that us scooterists are always talking about.

A few days later, I rode the Aprilia from downtown Los Angeles out to Simi Valley. About 40 miles on the freeway, by my calculations. It handled well. I felt comfortable and was able to keep between 60-70mph even on some of the hills outside of Simi Valley. I went to Skatelab a skatepark owned in part by Todd Huber of the Westside Scooter Club. I finally got to meet Todd and see his phenomenal collection of skate decks. Well, I probably didn't see all of them as he has a lot, but the whole place is decorated with them. There was a book signing for the new skateboard culture book, Stalefish. I was able to get a copy of the book signed by a bunch of classic skaters including Lance Mountain, who you may recall I interviewed for the skateboarding article in issue #44 (which is now sold out!). I was even given a Geoff Rowley skateboard deck with a scooter on it! AWESOME! It totally made my day! Thanks to Sean Mortimer who is a cool author to work with, and who knew the perfect gift for me!

Later that night, after riding 40 mile back to my hotel, taking a quick shower and downing some room service food, I met up with Hilliard Guess from the Reflections Society. He did an article n the Untouchables in issue # 42 and just submitted an article on the Aggrolites for our next issue. We had emailed & chatted on the phone, but it was my first meeting with him in person. We rode scooters to his favorite cafe and had a drink on the patio while watching the Saturday night revelers. It was cool to get to know him better and put a face to a name.

I was only in LA for 5 days, with lots of time spent at the convention, but it ws fun to ride around the city at night. It reminded me of the trip I took with Josh to Miami. Not that the cities are similar, but in Miami Josh and I remarked that it looked just like Grand Theft Auto Vice City, and during my ride through LA, I saw some disturbingly familiar place. I was ready for some of those guys in purple to come out and get me. :P In Miami, Josh and I kept telling Joel Martin to floor it before we got attacked by Haitians with machetes! Ha-ha! He plays GTA too, so he didn't think we were too weird. Or maybe he just humored us, because Josh and I are weird.