TheScooterScoop

Just tossed together a video, sorry if it’s a bit rambly.  I just wanted to discuss a couple of the options available in the world of “action cameras”.  They’ve come down incredibly in price while really moving up in quality.  Today we’re looking at the old stand-by, the HD Hero from GoPro and the X170 from Drift Innovation.  It’s a real “apples to oranges” comparison since the X170 is standard def and the GoPro is HD, but I’m hoping to come back with a brief review of the newer HD X170 soon.

Oh!  One thing to keep in mind, when you’re reviewing this video, is the quality could be considerably better.  Unfortunately I didn’t have the time to make sure we were going through the minimum number of re-encoding iterations, so there will be some unfortunate artifacts and junk.  Um… enjoy?

PS>  This is a freshly uploaded video, so it may have some playback issues until the dust settles over at YouTube.

(The 2011 Quadro 4D Scooter- Could having 4 wheels be its downfall?)

What is there NOT to like about the radical 2012 Quadro 4D concept? Yes, it’ll be heavier than your standard 2 wheeled maxiscoot and more expensive to replace tires, but watch the video and look at the stability that four wheels offers the motorbike platform.

You can read all about this fancy contraption on other sites, I mostly want to pose a question.  How do you think this scooter would be received in the USA?  Not, by the consumer but by the regulating government agencies?  Do you think the Auto Lobby would squash it for tip-toeing too close to their territory?  Will they require seat belts and airbags before they will allow it on the streets?  Will it be confined to “off road” use like other quads?  I know they are hopeful and so am I.  I think there should be better criteria for labeling a car versus a motorcycle.  Four wheels, does not “a car” make… especially in this case.  Opinions?  Shouts to Clive and Lorenzo for the scoopage!

We’re going to do a little product plugging for the next couple of months.  We’re looking for things that are outstanding or unusual in the scooter world that would make great gift for the Holiday Season (Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Three Kings Day, Ramadan, Winter Solstice, Saint Lucia Day, Festivus… did I miss any?).

For the love in your life (and that could be YOU) who is thinking about getting a classic Vespa, this book is indispensable!  Sure it’s not a quick and insightful as hiring your local restoration guru to give it a look over and talk you through it, but if you don’t have that luxury then this could be the best reference.  Oh, and think of how smart you’ll sound the next time someone asks you what you think about their Vespa.  Here’s some info from inside the cover:

The two stroke Vespa is rightly regarded as an iconic scooter. It’s initial purpose was to provide low cost transportation to the masses in the 1950s, but it evolved through the vibrant ’60s to became a symbol of the burgeoning youth culture, and on into the ’90s when it became firmly entrenched as an Italian icon. The history of this phenomenon has been well documented, as has the subculture that surrounds it, but there has been no previous attempt to provide a guide to buying one of these classic scooters.

This book will help ensure that you avoid the main pitfalls and end up with your very own slice of La Dolce Vita on the driveway.

If you want to have a peek inside the cover check out this PDF.  It’s just $13.57 and ships in mid-December, just in time for gift wrapping!

In an unexpected move for any of the Big4 (HYSK – Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, Kawasaki), Yamaha has placed a full page ad ,(apparently) for the E-2 electric scooter in today’s Tokyo newspaper.  I’m not exactly sure why we are seeing “E-2″ featured when I was expecting to see something called the EC-03 or Passol-L.  I do see “EC-03 & PAS” there at the bottom and perhaps someone can chime in with some help with figuring all that out.

According to our man-on-the-street, Akisan, motorbikes are never advertised in the paper.  Motorbikes are getting bad reputation in the eyes of the younger generation for the number of accidents and their association with bōsōzoku.

Perhaps Yamaha sees a clean-cut, peace-sign-thowing, earth-friendly electric as a means of cleaning up the motorbiker image?  Whatever the reason, they chunked an impressive pile of ¥en at the idea to make it happen.

From what we know about the aluminum-alloy framed EC-03, it’s got a 50V 14Ah Lithum-ion battery that can push it along at 18 mph (on a flat surface) for a distance of 26 miles with a 6 hour charge time; similar performance to what we saw from the UltraMotor A2B Metro… maybe a bit of a longer distance.

I personally hope this electric “personal commuter” receives a warm welcome form the Japanese consumer.  Yamaha only has plans to release 1,000 units of the EC-03 this year starting September 1st, 2010 in the Tokyo Metropolitan area and all over Japan starting TODAY.

I assume everyone here knows who Italjet is?  Used to make a bunch of sweet, small displacement motorcycles, dirt bikes, terrible ATVs and some legendary scooters (Example one, two, three).  Well, one of their most famous scooters was the Italjet Velocifero (seen here:)

The cute, though slightly odd, little retro two-stroke 49cc scooter (5 HP) was produced from 1995-2000 and could be found sprawled out all over the pages of the popular fashion and business magazines of the time.  Even Billy Joel bought a matching pair for he and his wife Christie Brinkley.  Alas, Italjet USA is no more… twice over, but that’s not stopping the man behind the Italjet name, Massimo Tartarini, from giving it a go.  He’s brought back a redesigned Italjet Velocifero, minus the set of peepers (now only one headlight) and plus a new, two person seat (the original was a single passenger with optional second saddle).

So, let’s get some feedback!  What do you think of the update? Massimo says it’ll likely be available as a 4-stroke 50, 125, 150 and/or electric.  The plan is to kick production off in January and I’m guessing the MSRP to be around the $2000 mark for the 50cc version.  The Velocifero is the only model for now but there are others in the works, including a 3-wheeled delivery vehicle!

No word on the exact retail price of the new Velo, but the original sold for a whopping $3150.  They still need a distributor who will need to run it through a bunch of painfully slow and expensive certification tests, but if it does come in an electric, that will take off some of the pressure.  Sorry still no word on the return of the Dragster, but my sources say “never”.  Oh, a bit of trivia for ya… Velocifero translates into “bringer of speed”.  Nice, eh?  Here’s one more shot:

(Suzuki skimpin’ on the image size like they are skimpin’ on the power. SOURCE)

There’s not a whole lot of “ground breaking” going on with this two wheeled, electric, granny grocery getter BUT does reinforce the trend towards electric that we are seeing. We’ve got Honda, Yamaha, and a hand full of independents not to mention Auto companies like Smart and Mini jumping in on the action.

With the amount of R&D going into electrics I predict that we’ll reach the dawning of the paradigm shift in the next 7 years.  By that, I mean it’s only a short amount of time before we finally have an electric vehicle with the same price and performance as a comparable petrol powered vehicle.  It’s not going to cause a lot of jaws to drop, but an electric scooter that costs about as much as a Honda Metropolitan ($2049), tops out at around 38 mph, get’s nearly 80 miles per charge while recharging in less than 10 minutes (capacitors) would signal the demise of oil burners.  At least in my humble opinion.

For an example of a bike stretching those limits, check out the BRAMMO Empulse.
Shout out to Aki in Japan for the Scoop on  new Suzuki e-Let’s; Suzuki’s new lightweight electric that tops out at less than 19 mph.  Not the paradigm shifter you were looking for.