TheScooterScoop

Attention all seattle locals. Please try to attend this meeting. a good turn out and a lot of scooters parked around city hall would make a BIG statement. Pass this info on to anyone who is in the area and rides!

Vic…

www.vespaeastside.com

Seattle City Council
Councilmember Jan Drago
Councilmember Sally J. Clark

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 6, 2008

CONTACTS: Jodie Vice, Drago Office, (206) 684-5325; David Yeaworth, Clark Office, (206) 684-8802; George Howland, Jr., Council Communications (206) 684-8159

Councilmembers Host Forum on Motor Scooters

SEATTLE – Councilmembers Jan Drago and Sally J. Clark are hosting a forum to generate ideas on how Seattle can become a better environment for motor scooters. Councilmember Drago , chair of the Transportation Committee, said, I am looking forward to a productive conversation with the scooter community to see how we can work to better accommodate them in our city as a viable transportation option. Councilmember Clark , vice-chair of the Transportation Committee, said, Motor scooters are an exciting mode of alternative transportation. Councilmembers need to hear from scooter riders, the Seattle Department of Transportation, the Seattle Police Department, and the general public about how motor scooters fit into Seattles transportation system.

What: Forum on Motor Scooters
Who: Councilmembers Jan Drago and Sally J. Clark, Representatives from the Vespa Club of Seattle, the Mosquito Fleet, Seattle Department of Transportation, Seattle Police Department, Urban Mobility Group, and others.
Where: Seattle City Hall, Bertha Knight Landes Room, 600 Fourth Avenue, First Floor
When: Tuesday, March 11, 5:30-7:30 p.m.

All members of the public are invited to attend. There is no admission cost and no need to RSVP.

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Visit the Seattle City Council website at www.seattle.gov/council where you can view Council meetings in progress and access previous meetings. All members of the public may receive Council news releases by contacting George Howland Jr., Council Communications, 206-684-8159, george.howland@seattle.gov

George Howland, Jr.
Communication Specialist
Seattle City Council
phone (206) 684-8159
fax (206) 386-4628
george.howland@seattle.gov

BRAVO! I hope other cities are taking notes (errHRM, AUSTIN!) to make something like this happen in your own hometown.

***UPDATE 3/15/08***
For the play by play and outcome analysis, be sure to check out the Scootin’ Old Skool blog from Seattle’s man-about-town, Orin O’Neill.

Alright! We had some great participation in our “Dream Scooter Survey”. The purpose was to discover the ingredients for the “perfect scooter”, and all-in-all we had over 600 participants offer their opinions.

So, are you ready to see the results? Let’s start with question one. For the first question we asked for you to rate nine different qualities in order of importance. The question wasn’t designed very well and a few people wrote that they were frustrated to find they could only check one box per column. Sorry about the confusion. Overall we had 638 people answer this question… what qualities came out on top? (click the image to see a bigger version)

So, out of Price, Performance, Handling, Comfort, Appearance, Build Quality, Brand Reputation, Reliability and Storage capabilities, “Reliability” came out on top, followed closely by “Build Quality“, then “Handling” and “Performance (speed)“. Most found Storage and Brand Reputation to be of least importance.

So, what does that mean? It means that people want a solid product. Something that is tight and right… something that they can rely on. Was that a surprise? It was to me! Observing the market (what gets imported and sold) over the last few years, I would have guessed the top three to be “Price”, “Performance” and “Storage”. Price actually tuned out to be middle-of-the-road as for as importance goes. I’d say that with the results we’ve been given, this is pretty promising. Maybe we are ready to move away from the disposable scooter? Only demand will dictate… money talks and its a language that manufacturers hear and respond to. If you buy more mail order scooters, you will get more mail order scooters… Supply meets demand.

Now, on to question number two. What design style turns you on? It’s no surprise that the “Classic Italian” look took top honors. Americans especially love the look of the old Vespa, and that’s why we see so many “classic” (As Bryan B. says, “Retro” is probably a better choice of words here) designs on the showroom floors here like the Honda Metropolitan, the Yamaha Vino, etc. Strange as it may seem, this design style is not nearly as popular in Europe. Nope, most other nations consider this look to be tired.

19.7% of the 628 votes for this question went with “Modern Japanese” as the style of choice. Yep, nearly 20% experienced shortness of breath and increased pulse over the swoopy lines of the scooters like Burgman and Silverwing. Ringing in at #3 was the “Modern Italian” look with 16.4% of the vote. Poor little “Moped” came in with just 1.1% of the vote. Maybe ‘ped riders don’t visit The Scooter Scoop. The results may have been different if we were The Moped Scoop, eh?

Well, on to question #3… This was pretty easy, the preferred wheel size was “Medium (13-15 inch)” garnering nearly 40% of the vote… So what is this survey saying? The Honda Silverwing is the perfect scooter? Strange, lets read some more.

Question #4 asked for your prefered engine size or displacement. Answers ranged from the petite little 50cc all the way up to the monstrous 400+cc class. Looking at the answers it was a pretty close call with “Large (200-300cc) just edging out “Medium (150-180cc)” at second place and “Extra Large (400cc+)” taking third. Again, if you want a closer look, just click on the image. 50cc came in last with just 4.8% of the vote.

Here’s another easy one… For preferred seat height, more than half of the population said “Medium (29′-30′) was the way to go. Scooters in that category were the Zuma, Vino, C3, Ruckus and Silverwing. I’m watching you Silverwing!

Here’s another surprising one. Price point! We had nearly a three-way tie here with “Medium ($2800-$3200)” coming in first with 26.8% of the vote, followed by “Luxury ($5000-$9999)” at 2nd place with 25.4% of the vote and “High ($3400 – $4999)“. Really? Strange… and only 2.4% expected to pay rock-bottom pricing on their next scooter.

All of that leads us to question number 7 in the survey dealing with fuel. As you can see, most people thought that good fuel economy was “Damed important!”. Alternative fuel raised a few eyebrows, as did Electric Hybrid. Full Electrics register almost no impact with 55% of the interviewed population finding them rather useless.

Still tallying up the remaining answers. Stay tuned for the results in the morning.

(Better answer the survey before it gets all old and moldy.)

Last chance to get in on the survey. We want to get it closed out at midnight tonight so we can get the results posted before the weekend. If you haven’t already, please take a few minutes to complete our itsy bitsy survey. If you’re sober it should only take you 6 minutes to complete and will be greatly appreciated.

Click Here to take survey

Thanks,
Steve

Six year olds + 39cc minimoto race bikes + giant helmetheads = Awwwww CUTE!

(Bradley “Stunt boy” Ray in some kneedraggin’ action from Josh Daley’s site)

Clay E. just sent us the scoop that Josh Rogers, seen here between Jim and Patrick, was involved in a terrible scooter vs. Lexus accident while on the monthly Los Gato’s ride yesterday. Curt Fargo had been updating memebers of the Modern Vespa forum with th news:

Just talked to someone who was on the ride and he described the accident as a young early 20′s kid driving an Lexus SC300 50-55mph around a 25mph turn loosing control, locking his brakes up and skidding into the on coming lane hitting Josh head on. Josh was on his Green Laser (not leading but in the middle of the pack) which was thrown some 100 yards backwards and down into a ravine. Both car and scooter are totaled.

Josh was airlifted to:
Regional Medical Center of San Jose
225 N Jackson Ave
San Jose, CA 95116
(408) 259-5000

I don’t know how long he will be there or where they will transfer him too at the direction of his medical insurance company.

Yes there are photos of the scene but I’m to that they are too horrific to post here.

This hits very close to home for me as this is the same hills where I had my bad accident but it sounds like I got off a lot better then Josh did.

Lets do keep Josh and his family in our thoughts and prayers.

Please do! I haven’t ridden with Josh, but in most of the photos I’ve seen of him riding, he’s got on a helmet. I believe that’s the case here too because his head and neck are in good shape. His legs didn’t fair as well though and it could take 3 to 6 months for him to walk normally again.

We hope you’ll be able to offer Josh some mental and/or financial support to help him get though this. Get all the updates and details directly form the Scoot! blog HERE or in the title link.

We’ll be thinking about you Josh and look forward to seeing you in a tank-top again this summer!

Did you know that the emergency airlift ALONE can cost around $5000 – $8000 dollars or MORE?

***UPDATE 3/4/08 10am CST***
Talked to Josh in his room this morning. It was a relief to hear that he sounded just like he normally sounds. The drugs must really be doing their job. Again, a testament to the power of wearing your gear. How sad would it be to call a friend or relative in this situation and hear slurred, incoherent speech or WORSE, never be able to hear from them again? PLEASE, wear your gear. Thanks.