The PX is Dead...Long Live the PX!!!

UK's the Telegraph ran an article about how Piaggio will now only make automatic scooters. It is also covered by Sportique's Cassandra Schoon here.

Oh PX, we'll miss you dearly!

When I first got a chance to ride an automatic scooter, I felt like a cat riding a boat; out of my element. It was a ET2 and I hated it. I would never own an automatic car, so why would I consider an automatic scooter? But now, after riding dozens of them I have come to appreciate them (especially on a steep San Francisco hill...), but never will my love for a shifting scooter wane. They have taken away my pleasant two-stroke exhaust and now my shifting?

I'll stop shifting when they pry my P200 and VBB out of my cold dead hands...

Old versus New

I've been struggling with the idea of old versus new scooters all year. I love my vintage scooters, but enjoy riding some of the new bikes I test. I can see how much pleasurable it is to ride 100 miles on a speedy, fast and reliable twist-n-go, but I am very aware of how they lack the feel the smell and beauty of vintage scooters. Yes, I Do like the smell of scooter exhaust...

So, this article that appears in the Other Paper from Columbus, Ohio brings it to head. Like any good reporter that looks past the obvious and trite, Richard Ades cuts to the chase and finds the underlying wound that is tearing at the scooter community. How do we reconcile old and new scooters?

Well, I don't quite have the answer, but I want you folks to read the article and let me know how you feel about the whole situation. I'm going to mull it over in my mind for the next few days and post something about it this weekend.

It's very troubling.