The Scooter Blog The Scooter Linc - Part 7 The 1960 VNB 125 will be coming out to play at the Kuranda Motorcycle expo!
The 1st of October will be the Kuranda Motorcycle Expo. The ScootaCo Vespa mascot (our1960 VNB 125) has been getting madly polished and tweaked in readiness for the show. In years past, we have only displayed new and popular models from Vespa and Piaggio. This year we have decided to cull it down to old skool versus newskool.
So we'll be showing the VNB and the latest and greatest from Vespa the GTS300 Super Sport Nero Abisso (or flat black). This bike show is promoted as the peoples show. The people behind it go to lengths to promote it as such, we have been involved every year, not so much as a sales tool but in an effort to show scooters as a valid part of the two wheel scene, besides, it's just great fun!
A fortnight after the Kuranda show I will be at a bike show of another kind, the “Australian Moto GP” at Phillip Island. This year has been a beauty for race fans (as an old Honda mechanic and supporter of Aussie riders-need I say more?). Along with the racing I will be fortunate enough to do the trip via a combination of four wheels and two from Sydney, with my best mate, his dad, his brother and father in law and a group of their riding buddies. I will be starting in the back up vehicle and working as “sore bum interchange”, not a bad gig!
The bikes on offer range from large capacity cruisers (yes including a couple of Harley's) a highly tuned Suzuki B King (I can feel that licence getting lighter already) a trick custom Fireblade 954 (just to lighten that licence a bit further) and what I expect to be the bike best suited for the job, a Honda Varedaro 1000 - what no scooters?
There were fleeting thoughts of either shipping or buying one down there but logistically and financially it was not viable, so the “interchange” plan proved the best option for all concerned. I think some of the older boys are sighing quietly in relief, besides it allows the riders to be unfettered with gear during the big miles (and unlike all scooters, carrying capacity is not big on your average motorcycle).
One final subject of interest - ScootaCo has just received and prepped 6 x TGB Delivery 125 cc scooters for Domino’s Pizza franchises around the Cairns Area, funnily enough I had noticed the scooters popping up as part of their TV adds for about a month before being informed of their arrival, the125cc model at first seemed an unusual choice.
Being Queensland, the 50cc version can be ridden on a car licence, I haven’t spoken to the decision makers at Domino’s, but looking a little deeper into it, there are a couple of reasons I think these will work well. First of all these 125's will comfortably keep up with all traffic in the 80 km/h zones and still hold its own in the limited 100km/h zones around the delivery area. Second the four-stroke engines in these bikes tend to be more economical at 40-70 km/h (50cc are two stroke and of course like all mopeds are limited to 50 km/h).
Last but not least the average R and RE class licence holder generally as a part of the learning process is required to attain that licence with a certain amount of “mechanical Sympathy”. In other words they tend to be a little easier on their equipment. Anyway you look at it, it's another six scooters out on the roads being seen, and that can’t be a bad thing!
published 29/09/2011 |