Scooter News Perth Motorcycle and Scooter show report Our roving West Coast reporter Steve Laing visits the Perth Motorcycle and Scooter Show.
Steve Laing We must thank Steve Laing from Ace Scooters for taking time out for writing the following piece.
Some notes of interest must be the new V Moto range of scooters (50 and 150cc) that were on display. Plus the new MP3 slipped quietly into Perth for its Australian debut. Perth also got a close up and personal look at the Peugeot Geopolis 250 set for release soon.
Also check out the spy picture gallery!
Over to you Steve.......
Formerly Big on Bikes, Perth’s Motorcycle and Scooter Show was the first major bike show in Australia. Previously held at the Passenger Terminal at Fremantle, this year the event moved to the Perth Convention Centre in the CBD in order to accommodate the rise in new brands and surge in popularity of two-wheeled transport.
Scooters were well represented at the show, with two of the top selling scooter brands Bolwell and WA’s own Vmoto with large stands displaying their various models, the latter displaying prototypes of a new 50cc and 150cc model and a possible new colour, white, for the ever popular Milan. For those in the know, there was some disappointment that the Bolwell VS 125 wasn’t available.
The Japanese brands were, of course, displaying in style, though as usual with a greater emphasis on their various geared products, but no new scooter models. Aprilia too had scooters on display alongside their bike range.
A variety of newer brands were on show, including Arquin, as well as locally imported models from MCI (Jianshe) and the Cougar, an Adly scooter. EMC brought varied coloured electric scooters, and the folks at SCP showed off some TGB, Peugeot and Sachs vehicles.
Of the major brands, only Bug were notable by their absence, although they were represented on the stand of the local dealers utilizing the Scootamoto business name, who also displayed some of the other scooter and off-road brands they sell.
But of all the scooters on display, there was one that clearly got the most attention – the Piaggio MP3. The Piaggio/Vespa/Gilera stand displayed a selection of their most popular models, but everyone – scooter and bike rider alike – were intrigued by this new three-wheeled addition to the two-wheeled market. It was easily the most maneuvered stationery vehicle at the show, as riders were amazed at the lean angle, and the geometry of the front suspension as the scooter.
Nearly 20,000 attended over the three days, an increase of over 30% from the last show 2 years ago, and could easily have been more if the weather had been more favorable, particularly on the Sunday. What is probably most interesting is the recognition amongst the motorbiking fraternity that scooters are now very much an accepted part of the market, and whilst not perhaps for some of them yet, they did recognise the advantages that they had over bikes and were delighted in the innovation that they were bringing to the industry.
published 31/08/2007 |