The Vespa Scene in Vietnam

Vietnam Net Bridge has a cool article about the Vespa scene there. Forums and Internet clubs in Vietnam have large groups of scooterists, exchanging information and collecting scooters. In Da Lat, there was even a festival held in early 2006 with categories for Lambrettas, modded scooters and original scoots. It's pretty exciting to see a growing scene there and an interest in keeping them restored and on the road.

Link.

Rocket Bike

The Rocket Bike designed by Tim Pickens looks like it could be a lot of fun for those days when you want to go a bit faster than what your Vespa can handle.

How it Works:
1. A toggle switch on the battery pack arms the ignition system.
2. The left-thumb button sends power from the battery pack to an igniter on a model-rocket motor inside the rocket engine, vaporizing the roofing-tar fuel so it can burn.
3. The right-thumb button keeps the nitrous oxide flowing (and the rocket lit) as long as it's pushed.
4. The left brake lever regulates the flow of nitrous and throttles the rocket.

Maybe someone out there can talk to Tim about putting this on a Vespa, and get back to us?

Link via gizmodo.

My Experience With Towbin Vespa, Las Vegas Nevada

My friend picked up a great deal on a 1979 Vespa P200E locally. The scooter was in great shape, the engine turned over and everything seemed peachy until it started having problems running. Being the mechanically handicapped people that we are, my friend thought it best to take it to an authorized Vespa dealer to give it a look through and a tune up. We live about an hour and a half outside of Las Vegas, and this would be our first time checking out the Vespa dealer there. We looked up their address and got driving directions on google maps. We were on our way.

When we arrived we were surprised to see a lot full of Bentleys, Rolls Royces and Lamborghinis. I guess that's the way they roll in Vegas. Anyway, we found our way to the Vespa section of the dealer, and we were greeted by a man in what looked to be an expensive suit, probably more expensive then the scooter itself. They were expecting our arrival and he seemed pretty happy to help us, until we opened up the van door to reveal the vespa. I observed the "what the hell is this" look on his face as he saw us pull it out. He then told us he would return shortly as he went inside the main office. When he returned he told us they would be able to take it, put their mechanic is in and out of the place so he had no idea when it would be looked at. The Vespa ended up sitting there for a month surrounded by cars with engine compartments that could eat it alive, lonely and unattended. I don't think I will ever make a return visit the BENTLEY ROLLS ROYCE vespa dealer. Not because they are bad people, but because they have no 2-stroke soul...and we found an awesome mechanic in Salt Lake City.

Vespa Releases New Retro Styled Helmet

Not sure if it's available in the states yet, but the UKs MCN magazine has reported this new vespa retro helmet. A bit nicer looking than the helmets available in the states now. This helmet will also have optional goggles with either a clear, blue, smoke or yellow lens.

Link. via thescooterscoop.

How to make a waterproof boombox backpack

If filling your vespa or stellas glovebox with speakers, cables and an amp doesn't suit you, maybe you should check out this awesome waterproof boombox backpack.

Link via make.

Yahoo! to include traffic reports on maps

Hopefully it's more accurate than weather reports, but Yahoo! is now including traffic reports on their maps. This could be a great help in choosing that route to wherever you'll be heading on your scoot. I know the traffic in my town is so bad right now due to construction, there will be some ridiculous type of road work on every street you try. Such is life, eh?

Link via lifehacker

Las Vegas High Rollers Rally Feb 16-20

There is much need to rejoice! The High Rollers Scooter Rally will be taking place in Las Vegas February 16th-20th! This will be my first year in attendance, and I am tickled. Expect a slew of new posts featuring photos, events and products. How many of you will be able to attend?

The Greatness of eBay.co.uk

I figure since the Vespa movement in the U.K. was so big, I'd give eBay UK a shot to see what kind of vespa items I could find on there. I found a lot of great items! Items I've never seen on the U.S. eBay. Wacky accessories, all sorts of helmets and almost every spare part you could imagine. You have to consider the exchange rate when bidding, but many of the items you can still get for a good deal, and a majority of the sellers ship worldwide. If you're having trouble finding that part, I'd give the UK eBay a shot.

Piaggio won't buy DaimlerChrysler's troubled Smart unit

I would never really buy anything from Daimler Chrysler, at least the things they release in the United States. Personal bias I guess, but it looks like Piaggio was given an offer to purchase their smart unit, and declined due to it having problems "far to expensive for them to tackle."

via thescooterscoop

Vesputer

It brings me great joy that one of my favorite blogs, engadget, posted our submission about the vepsa stereo mentioned before. We also found a sweet link on their site about a Vespa with an installed computer and webcam. You can check it out further here.

Stereo System for P-series Vespas and Stellas

The fine folks over at scooterworks have released a complete Stereo system for P-Series Vespas and Stellas! It includes everything you need to get your system bumping those tunes. 2 4" speakers, gloveboox door with precut holes, amp, ipod cradle and connection for ipod and other mp3 players. If anyone get's their hands on this, please let us know how it sounds!

International Motorcycle Show

Looks like the International Motorcycle Show has been going on for awhile now, since november. Right now the show is in New York and will be heading off to Ohio next with three more stops in Minneapolis, Chicago and, Atlanta. Can anyone tell us of any cool new products they have seen there that we could use on our vespas?

Link

Vespa Releases New Accessory

It's a bag that is designed to be used inside the standard case. Expect it to be nice, and expensive. Looks like you can only get this through your authorized local dealers for now.

Link