The lads and lasses around the corner at Asphalt & Rubber have named the Vespa 946 scooter as the EICMA Best in Show. This is quite the honor when you consider that this, admittedly gorgeous, scooter had to beat out off-road bikes, adventure-touring motorcycles, rocket bikes, and classic rides to be best if show.
A&R describes the Vespa 946 as having been drawn with lines that are “a nice blend of the MP6′s style, with a firm touch of the modern.” The MP6, of course, is the Second World War-era Vespa. This newest beauty to Vespa’s line of beauties features a steel conocoque chassis and an 125cc, four-stroke, three-valve, single-cylinder engine that can get the 946 a 130 wobbly miles per gallon.
Perhaps most exciting about the Vespa 946 is that it’s got an ASR traction control system and ABS brakes, both firsts for this class of scooter.
Of course, the Vespa 946, or any Vespa for that matter, was not built to meet the needs of motorcyclists. No, Vespa’s are made to bring a motorcycle-type vehicle to hip folks looking for a hip urban ride, and this new Vespa has all the traits that such a scooter needs to have.
Rumors are coming from across the Pacific that Honda is working on a hybrid scooter/motorcycle vehicle for the American market. The common thread of thought is that this thus-far-unannounced two-wheeler will be similar to the NC700 series to fit into Honda’s mid series lineup. However, some tea leaf readers caution that folks are misreading signs…
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BMW has let it be known that its C Evolution Scooter Concept will make its two-wheeled debut at the 2012 Paris Auto Show the last week of September. Now, you are probably thinking, as did this writer, why is BMW, a maker of high-end cars and motorcycles, dabbling in the world of scooters? Well, it…
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Honda’s been making cool scooters decades, and its 2013 Honda PCX150 is no exception. What is especially noteworthy about this newest scooter is that it is freeway legal, a claim that the 2012 version could not make, However, that does not mean that the 150cc scooter would be a relaxing ride on any freeway. With…
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If you are in the United States and know a thing or two about transformer-looking scooters, there is a job opening just for you: the CEO post for Zap Jonway. The maker of gas-powered and electric vehicles such as ATVs and scooters has announced that the hunt is on for a new U.S.-based CEO now…
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Since motored scooters first hit the road in the sepia days of sixty or seventy years ago, it seems that every generation has had its own unique love affair with the lesser cousin of the motorcycle. Honda is doing what it can to ensure that this trend does not change with the current crop of…
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Proving that the Netherlands is the true home of invention, Domino’s Pizza the Netherlands has improved the safety of their scooters by giving them a human engine sound. That’s right, the pizza delivery scooters in the Netherlands sound like a person making engine noises. When you watch a video (easy to find on Youtube) of…
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As salaries and car and motorcycle sales drifted lower in the UK last year, scooter sales saw a dramatic spike. The Motorcycle Industry Association recently released numbers showing that new scooter sales jumped by 12 per cent in 2011, which is just about the direct opposite as what happened in 2010, when new scooter sales…
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When 17-year-old Caroline Found was killed in a moped accident in Iowa City in August 2011, her friends knew that something had to be done to prevent similar accidents from taking future victims. They decided to take action themselves by getting state lawmakers to pass a law requiring moped riders younger than 18 to wear…
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BMW has been trying to reconcile its image as a luxury automaker with its desire to sell motorcycles. Many bikers view BMW bikes as safety heavy rides designed for old men. Just when the company begins to build exciting bikes like the S 1000 RR and K 1600 LT, it announces that it will be…
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