We apologize for that headline…scooters were never cool in the past, but they are cool now. Slidescooters has taken your basic unsuspecting Piaggio/Vespa/Honda, and slaped onto the front a steerable ski, and onto the back a rugged treaded tire. The result? Budget hooliganism in the powdery white stuff. Video, photos, and more after the jump.
Every octane-loving American should own one of these, a Polini pocket bike stretched out for drag duty. We spotted this beauty as we were meandering through the halls of EICMA, and knew we had to have one. With a single-sided swingarm, and no suspension to speak of, this 94cc pocket-rocket is about as close to flying at street level as one can get. More pictures after the jump.
Walking around EICMA, we saw many eye-catching things, but the XOR XO2 Urban Transformer takes the prize for stopping us dead in our tracks. It’s a collapsable electric scooter for the urban chic…or something like that.
Just a few weeks ago, Brammo began rolling-out their program to sell Enertia electric motorcycles at Best Buy’s along the west coast. Most companies would be content to rest on this accomplishment and catch their breath, but not the folks in Ashland, Oregon.
Maybe it’s all that clean-air they’re breathing, or there’s something in the water; either way, we’re happy to report that in the nexy 60 days or so, you’ll see a new product announcement from Brammo, secretly dubbed “The Anti-Scooter”.
Visordown is reporting today that Honda has announced that the company will have a battery-powered two-wheeler (notice the absence of the word motorcycle) available to corporate customers in 2010. However, if you’re a loyal A&R reader (as you damn well better be), you of course know that this announcement isn’t anything new. What is interesting though, is how Honda plans to stick their toe into the electric waters.
Electric scooter manufacturer Vectrix is set to file for bankruptcy in 30 days, after failing to find the cash infusion they need back in April. The move to Chapter 11 doesn’t surprise too many people close the company, citing both poor business practices and customer dissatisfaction as being reasons for the manufacturer’s demise.
Lambretta scooters may not be as well known as Vespa is here in the United States, but one quick look at their design, and you will instantly conjure up visions of speeding around Italian streets and sipping coffee. Mild mannered, there isn’t anything too assuming about the Lambretta. That is, unless it has a 2-stroke 250cc KTM motor attached to it.
When one talks about Milan, Italy, it envokes the idea of high fashion, models, runway exhibtions, and the yearly EICMA motorcycle expo. OK, that last one may only occur for the die-hard motorcyclists, but the rest hold fairly true for just about everyone else. The Milan Design Week is a celebration of both artistic and technical design, and this year, Bimota made some waves with its carbon clade DB7 Nerocaronio. But, these days.
I’ve sat on this story for a few days now, trying to figure out what exactly is going on? Is Aprilia once again digging up the Gilera brand as a sportbike entry? Is this wishful thinking by an Italian designer known for “concept” sketches? Is this poor reporting by the motorcycle blogsphere? Or all of the above?
Let me start from the beginning, and in the end I’ll let you decide.