TheScooterScoop

This month I’m so excited I can hardly stand myself. In case you haven’t been counting, in the next couple of weeks we’re expecting to reach our ONE MILLIONTH HIT! Woohoo! 1,000,000 total hits since we started back in April 2005, can you believe it? No seriously, who reads this crap?! ;) I’m kidding. I’ve worked hard to put up the nearly 1,600 posts I have since we started.

Well, we’ve got some other important news for you in 2008. As of right now, Steve Guzman (me), is the official point of contact for Italjet USA! Yes, you heard that right… All the blood, sweat and tears that I’ve put into TheScooterScoop.com and TheScooterScoop.tv over the years are finally being put to good use. LS Motorsports has brought me on board to manage all aspects of Italjet Sales and Marketing.

I will be working closely with Italjet Moto (Bologna, Italy) to bring you the highly anticipated return of the Italjet Dragster as well as the Torpedo, the IT50 and MORE to be revealed!

Stay tuned for THE SCOOP from your inside-man at Italjet USA!

Now, speaking of “scoop”… The big question is, “What will happen to the scoop?”
Obviously, I cannot continue to do scooter reviews. I know that I could be fair and honest but I also know for some there will always be a question of bias, lowering the value of my work. There are other great resources for scooter reviews. I would like to continue to offer analysis on trends and scoops as they come up… it’s really a matter of available time, at least until after the Indi Dealer Expo.

As I begin to settle into this new position, I should be afforded more time in the evenings to dig for scoops; until then, it could be a bit slow around these parts. I will be sure to give you the scoop on what’s happening in my new job. I might even look at handing over the keyboard to another scooper while I get my bearings. Any interest?

Thanks again for tuning in. I’ll be back just as soon as I can.
-Steve

PS> Hey Simon Evans (in the UK), I tried to reply to your email, but your mail server is a regular spam pitbull. EVERYTHING gets rejected. Didn’t want you to think I wasn’t interested in contacting you. Maybe you could reset your filter?

(NOT one of the 3-wheelers celebrated by the Times… courtesy of Force4x4)
A little newsletter called “The LA Times” dropped some knowledge on 3-wheelers about a week ago. Thanks to Mike Davis for the scoop! One tidbit that caught my eye was this line:

Piaggio’s groundbreaking MP3 250 hasn’t even been on the market for a year, and already it’s the bestselling scooter in the Piaggio brand lineup. So what’s a manufacturer to do? Capitalize on that success with a one-two punch: a pair of 400-cc and 500-cc maxi-scooters that use the same twinned wheels and articulated front end to increase the bike’s stability and riders’ sense of calm.

Yeah? Bestselling Piaggio? Ok, that’s pretty cool. I’ve yet to test drive the MP3-500. In the article they also speak of the Vectrix V3… that’s Vectrix’s electric scooter that uses a licensed mp3 tilting wheel mechanism. Susan Carpenter was NOT very impressed with the outcome.

See more odd 3-wheelers HERE mostly photoshopped strangeness.

I’m sure this has GOT to be safer than Radium Paint, it’s the Litroenergy glowpaint from MPK Co. Here’s a blurb on it:

Lightroenergy is an amazing new source of illumination which can produce a bright glow for up to a dozen years without any electricity or exposure to sunlight Litrospheres are tiny self-luminous (read RADIOACTIVE) particles which can be injection molded or embedded into paints. Brightness is said to be about the same as that of a 20-watt light bulb, but I’d imagine that would depend on how much surface area is covered with the particles. The material is extremely cost-effective, covering an 8.5 x 11 surface for about 35 cents. The particles can even be customized to give off just about any light color.

Alright? Now, who’s gonna be the first to do a top to bottom glow-in-the-dark paint job on their scooter?

(Steve, like Honda, is filled with shame for his lack of posts and failure to respond to emails.)

Howdy y’all! Man… I know I deserve a swift kick in tail for slackin’ so hard lately. It seems like it’s always hard to get the Scoop machine kick started after a break. Must… focus… must commit to daily… post.

If you were feeling “left out in the cold”, I apologize… sincerely.

Ok, so NOW I’m startin’ to feel it. Prepare for some scoopage!
I’ve got some HUGE news around a little Italian scooter manufacturer that we all know and love (and it’s not Vespa) and some other nifty tidbits coming this week.

*Steve gives her ONE MORE KICK*
VAAAAAAAAROOOOOOOOOM! Ping-ping-ping-ping-ping *cough cough*

Out with the old and in with the new. I can’t wait to see what 2008 has in store for us, but as soon as we find out we’ll give you the scoop. Now that vacation time is up it’s time to roll up the sleeves and get to scoopin’.

Thanks again to everyone who has contributed, visited, commented or told a friend about The Scooter Scoop. I’m expecting to see some exciting announcements at the Indi Dealer Expo in February, so stay tuned.

CHEERS!
steve

Dudel took some time out from unwrapping gifts to scoop us on the Forza updates. Looks like the fanzy Forza Z in Japan has undergone a full model change yesterday for launch in spring 2008. Besides the fancy key card, seven speed s-matic transmission, and optional cute kitty compartment, the all-new FORZA will be equipped with an audio system.

It’s American cousin, the Reflex, is of course discontinued. Honda’s biggest selling “lightweight motorcycle” is not available here. Honda’s biggest selling vehicle of all time, the Cub, also not available here. *steve kicks a dead horse*