#scooters

I remember riding the Piaggio MP3 when it was introduced in America. A scooter lover at heart, underneath my sportbike-loving exterior, I wasn’t sure what to make of the MP3 and its three wheels. My opinion of it was solidified when I leaned the scooter/trike over through a turn and felt the outside front tire skipping. What would have likely resulted in a lowside on a two-wheeler ended up being a case of massive understeer, without ever separating myself from the scoot in a crash. From that point on I’ve always had a soft spot for all the Piaggio MP3 variants. In this week’s Church feature, Yossef Schvetz takes a spin on the MP3 at its European intro. His opinion? Awfully similar to mine. 

Some of you may not be familiar with SSR motorcycles, but with 200 dealerships across America, the company is steadily establishing itself within the industry. At AIMExpo 2016, Tom Roderick visited the SSR booth, where he saw first hand some of the cool new models the company will be releasing soon, including the Buccaneer Cafe and Buccaneer Classic. Both are powered by 250cc, air-cooled V-Twins with stylish designs and attractive price tags. Other models include the scrambler-style XF250-DT and custom-looking XF250 Snake Eyes. Both are powered by a 250cc Single. Rounding out the range are the Lazer 6 moped and SEEV-800 electric scooter.

This week’s Church feature is an interesting look back at the 2008 Vectrix Electric Scooter. It’s interesting because electric vehicle technology has come a long way since Yossef Schvetz rode the Vectrix. For one, NiMH batteries have given way to lithium-ion. What hasn’t changed is the reaction first-timers like Schvetz get when they turn the e-throttle for an electric for the first time. Instant, massive acceleration blows people away each time. Read on to see the rest of Yossef’s thoughts about what is becoming the propulsion method of the future.

The Honda Ruckus won’t win any beauty contests, but its charm is in its ugliness. Maybe that’s why the Ruckus has such a loyal (and huge) cult following. For this week’s Church feature, we look back at the 2006 Honda Ruckus from the eyes of our friends at our sister site, TheScooterReview.com. In it, the author attempts to make the Ruckus out as some sort of masculine device. The word “macho” is used and there’s even a reference to Chuck Norris! It gave us a good chuckle. Hopefully you’ll get a kick out of it, too. Enjoy.  

It’s been a rather diverse week as far as content is concerned at Motorcycle.com this week. Sportbikes, cruisers, adventure bikes, and even adventure scooters were published on these virtual pages over the past seven days. All of those bikes are great for letting its rider escape the pressure and stress the everyday world can bring. Instead of escaping the everyday however, today’s Church feature is going to look at a machine that allows you to take on the everyday with a bit more ease and comfort: the 2002 Honda Reflex 250 scooter. A great everyday runabout, the 250cc scoot came with plenty of space and comfortable ergos to keep you fresh on the way to work. Here’s the 2001 MO staff with their take on the Honda. 

BMW announced an updated version of its C Evolution electric scooter, claiming a 60% increase in range. And more notably for American consumers, BMW confirmed the C Evolution scooter will finally be available in the U.S.A.

Honda has released a new video teasing its upcoming adventure scooter. The new video is longer and offers a better look at the scooter, which we expect to be sold under the name “ X-ADV,” than the first teaser video released last month. The latest teaser shows the scooter tackling some off-road terrain on the island of Sardinia before heading into an urban area.

I hate to break this to you, regular Motorcycle.com reader, but you might be the wrong audience for the GenZe 2.0 electric scooter. How do I know? Well, if you’re here then you appreciate the speed, the sound, and the power (both mechanical and personal) motorcycling provides. The triple threat is an addictive combination to stir the emotions. The GenZe 2.0 doesn’t have any of that.

Yamaha announced a new scooter model for the Vietnam market called the Janus. Available in three different trim levels, the Janus uses the 125cc Blue Core engine that also powers Yamaha’s Nozza Grande and Acruzo models but with one important addition: an idling stop.

The Honda Pacific Coast 800 is not a motorcycle I think about very often. In fact, I hadn’t thought about it at all until Tom Roderick nominated it as one of his choices for Top 10 Disappointing Motorcycles. Then, once a search result popped up after typing Pacific Coast into the MO search bar, I had a feeling the subject of this week’s Church feature was presenting itself. After reading the first impression below of the Honda Pacific Coast from the 1998 MO staff, I knew we had a winner. If you’re curious about the “Station wagon of motorcycles” then you owe it to yourself to check out the story below.

It’s been a quiet year on the scooter front, as headlines have understandably gone towards more exciting models and categories of two-wheeling. The industry hasn’t offered much new in scootering this year, and by extension, neither have we. So it’s with this harsh reality that we announce the winner for our 2016 Best Scooter award… is the same as last year: The Vespa GTS 300 Super ABS.

We’ve been seeing various electric-powered, gyroscope-equipped mono-wheel scooters for the past few years. Ryno is an American-made example apparently still available for an undisclosed amount money you must contact the company directly to discover. Another is the Uno. Originally a mono-wheel scoot, the Uno has morphed into a Transformer that changes from one thing into another (motorcycle?) at the push of a button. According to a 2012 Facebook post, it’s still under development.

A little trash talking is healthy when it comes to competition. It gets both sides heated up, it’s entertaining, and it makes for exciting action once the competition gets underway.

In the pantheon of vintage motorcycle shows, the Quail Motorcycle Gathering is a little like your neighborhood block party. Part Concours d’Elegance, part custom show and part biker bash, it’s a place where a hardtail chopper with springer forks sits happily alongside an impeccable Manx Norton. Vincents, Velocettes, and boutique customs share the grassy expanse with a newly introduced Yamaha XSR900 in retro Kenny Roberts livery.

Ireland is not a location you think of when it comes to motorcycle companies. Sure, the country has a great heritage in motorcycling, especially when it comes to racing on real roads, but as a locale for a company actually selling motorcycles? Not so much. It’s not a big stretch, then, to imagine an unconventional place to be the home of an unconventional vehicle, and with a name like Volt Motorcycles, you can likely guess what kind of unconventional vehicle Volt produces.