http://www.MotorScooterGuide.net/index.htmlScooter Scene Newsendandurston@hotmail.comCopyright 2011 DAT Websites2012-05-11T18:38:59-06:00 hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 Fri, 11 May 2012 19:04:27 -0600dandurston@hotmail.comRallies2012-05-11T18:38:59-06:00http://www.MotorScooterGuide.net/files/garden-city-scooter-run.html#unique-entry-id-22http://www.MotorScooterGuide.net/files/garden-city-scooter-run.html#unique-entry-id-22

North America’s Longest

Running Rally Set For 28th Year in Victoria, BC
The longest running scooter rally in North America is set for its 28th year this coming May long weekend in Victoria, BC, Canada. The 2012 iteration entitled ‘Shaken, Not Stirred…” features a James Bond theme and goes off May 18 - 21.

The Garden City Scooter Run is put on by the Capital City Scooter Club (CCSC) and it’s a frolicking good time every year. The quality of people and

scooters that come out for this one make it an awesome rally. Anyone in BC, Canada and Washington State should be eyeing this up.

Check out the full rally itinerary. All scooters - classic or modern - are welcome. Mopeds and other small bikes have been known to sneak in too.

]]>dandurston@hotmail.comPiaggio2013 Models2012-04-19T12:02:05-06:00http://www.MotorScooterGuide.net/files/Piaggio-BV350-2013-USA-Debut.html#unique-entry-id-21http://www.MotorScooterGuide.net/files/Piaggio-BV350-2013-USA-Debut.html#unique-entry-id-21
Newest Member of Piaggio’s BV Family Available Now

The newest member of Piaggio’s popular BV series has landed in American showrooms. The BV350, or Beverly Sport Touring 350 as it’s dubbed internationally, was unveiled last fall at the 2011 EICMA show in Milan.

At the time, Piaggio hinted towards a North American release and confirmed that in March when they announced it as an early release 2013 model. Piaggio expected to have this scooter in dealerships during May, but the intrepid BV350’s have slipped thru the border and are now landing in American showrooms.

The BV350 is the same core scooter as the departing BV300 (and BV250 before that), but Piaggio has made a huge list of great updates. The QUASAR motor has been overhauled with a bump to 330cc (vs. 278cc for the BV300) and the addition of fuel injection and 4-valves.

Power is up to 33.3 HP (vs. 24HP for the 250), which is just 6 ponies shy of the heavier BV500. With the bump to 330cc comes a 10mph top speed boost to 90mph.
]]>dandurston@hotmail.comHonda2013 Models2012-04-02T13:30:19-06:00http://www.MotorScooterGuide.net/files/2013-Honda-Metropolitan-PCX150.html#unique-entry-id-20http://www.MotorScooterGuide.net/files/2013-Honda-Metropolitan-PCX150.html#unique-entry-id-20
Honda USA Announces All New 2013 Metropolitan and More Powerful PCX150

Nearly five months after announcing a pretty thin 2012 lineup of scooters, Honda USA threw out a surprise press release today announcing the return of the PCX and Metropolitan. Making the return of these scooters even sweeter is the news that Honda has made changes to both models to make them even better machines.

We’ll deal with the new PCX150 first because the changes are quicker to discuss. Simply put, the PCX is back for 2013 and features an updated 153cc motor. The basic motor is the same, but the bore is up from 52.4mm to 58mm which boosts displacement 28cc to a total of 152.9cc. Compression is down slightly to 10.6:1 (from 11:1) but regardless the new motor should significant best the PCX125’s 11.1 ponies.

Top speed should rise from 60mph to about 65mph unless Honda forgot to remove the old 64mph rev limiter. Most likely Honda tweaked the gearing to keep the redline the same RPM but raise the redline speed to around 70mph. American’s still don’t get the idle stop technology that Honda includes in many markets to shut off the engine after 3 seconds and re-start it in an instant when the throttle is twisted.
]]>dandurston@hotmail.com2012 ModelsPiaggio2012-03-17T22:50:32-06:00http://www.MotorScooterGuide.net/files/scooter-sales-2011-2012.html#unique-entry-id-19http://www.MotorScooterGuide.net/files/scooter-sales-2011-2012.html#unique-entry-id-19
Part 2 - Scooter Sales Rise Nicely in 2011

The 2011 results are in from the USA based Motorcycle Industry Council and scooter sales finished 2011 up 11.8%. This rise in sales is a welcome bit of good news after pretty grim recession results from 2009 and 2010.

USA Scooter sales had been marching higher most every year from 2002 to 2008, with actual sales increasing from about 70,000 scooters up to around 200,000 in the peak year of 2008.

That all changed with the 2009 recession and subsequent lower fuel prices that combined to trigger a pancaking of the scooter market. 2009 sales were a staggering 59% lower than 2008, which led to a huge clog in showrooms as dealers had stocked up for another year like 2008.

Dusty showroom scooters were in everywhere 2010 except in buyers hands, as sales dropped 9.5% further despite the widely available discounts on surplus scoots. 2009 and 2010 combined sold less scooters than 2008. The motorcycling industry in general was hit hard by the recession, but no other segment suffered as hard as scooters.
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