Harley video contest

Harley-Davidson realizes that women buy motorcycles and ride them and not always on the back!  They have targeted women riders and potential buyers, which is nice to see.  While I won’t ever get a motorcycle (don’t need the bigger engine) and I won’t ever get a Harley, I do like to support this video contest Harley is running.  The fun of riding is basically the same, whether you are riding 70 on a country road on a Harley, or if you’re riding a Kymco 150 at 30 on High Street. 

The poll closes Wed the 12th, so vote now if you are interested!  The prize is a trip to Bike Week, held in Daytona Beach, Florida.  3 winners will be chosen, and if the polls closed today the winners would be The “Winning” Road, Teresa Weston, and my personal favorite “No Fear”.

Wednesday video – Go Green Challenge

I did not win.  (In fact, I did not have time to prepare an entry.)  But other people won, and bravo for them!  I have not seen all the entries (see the winners at http://gogreenchallenge.vespausa.com/) but I am including 1st place below.  (Honestly I didn’t really like the 2nd place winner video.)  1st place video was very good!  

another DJ alert

Since it’s Wed. I thought I would pub next Thursday’s DJ Benassi show.  Here is the safe-for-work original version of the Satisfaction video.  (Not with all the power tools.)  The show is November 15th.  More info here: http://www.columbusunderground.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=9534

DJ alert and EuroBike Night

Two events for ya:

Next Tuesday (10/30) is the last EuroBike Night of the year, in Grandview.  6 PM at the Bank Block, Grandview Ave and West 2nd Ave. Despite the name, it is open to all, even scooters, and non-Euro scooters.

And this Saturday DJ Irene will be in town.  More info here: http://www.columbusunderground.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=9200&highlight=dj+irene  Good electronic music.  In her honor, here is a video of her.  (Safe for work) 

Hocking Hills ride this Sunday

This Sunday at 10 AM there is a group of scooterists (and at least 1 motorcycle) going on a trip to Hocking Hills.  It’s famous for its twisty turns.  “Sunday, October 21st, is our first annual Hocking Hills ride.  We will be meeting at the White Castle on High Street and Arcadia at ten o’clock in the morning.  As always, all scooters are welcome.  We plan to ride slower than usual but there will be places where we hit 55 mph.  Expect the ride to take most of the day, I imagine we will be back [to Columbus] not later than four o’clock.”

Let them know you’re going by posting on the board: http://www.modernvespa.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=14492&start=200

And since it’s Wednesday, here’s a completely unrelated video.  I tried to find a good one of motorcycles in Hocking Hills, but the ones I found were boring.  This song is called Magalenha and is by Sergio Mendes.  Definitely not boring.

Scooters and Ska

For kicks I’m moving the usual “Friday fun video” post to Wednesday.

There’s a connection between scooters and ska.  I don’t know all the details, but if you are surprised, just trust me.  (Something about the time frames in England, I bet, but I’m not getting into the whole Mod vs. Rocker thing.  I don’t even know about all that!)
 

Pro-Bike video and photos

Here’s a great video (totally SFW) comparing the commute to work on an electric bike vs. a car.   This really makes a great case for bikes.     Unfortunately scooters are motor vehicles, so we have to follow the same rules (and roads) as cars.  No scootering on the bike path! 

Friday lowriders and war

Reminder: Oct. 15th is the deadline for the Vespa-run video contest.  Make an ad for Vespas, around 2 minutes long, maybe mention some Vespanomics.  More info here: https://scooterfan.wordpress.com/2007/08/29/video-contest/.  Or go straight to the source: http://gogreenchallenge.vespausa.com/

All videos directly shown in this posting are safe for work.  Yay! 
War!  What is it good for?  Absolutely nothing!
So sang the group War in one of their songs.  Here’s another song of theirs.

I confess an admiration for lowrider culture.  That includes hydraulics. 

And to bring it back to scooters, here is a scooter with hydraulics. 

Friday yea baby

I’m adding a link to Scoot-A-Que photos on the Scoot-A-Que page.  A quick rundown of some upcoming events… and then a video to kick off the weekend!  Ride safe everybody!

Today (Friday 9/21) from 10 AM – 6 PM there is a bicycling event going on at OSU, 15th and High Street.  More info here.  (Not directly scooter related, but I know you can deal.)

Next Tuesday (9/25) there is a EuroBike Night going on at Grandview.  6 PM at the Bank Block, Grandview Ave and West 2nd Ave. Despite the name, it is open to all, even scooters, and non-Euro scooters.

And, as promised, here is a fun video.  I like music more than videos, but this vid is OK for work.  Not that you’re spending company time looking at this website, hmmmm?

scooter video from chicago news station

“Scooters in the City” piece.  Some faulty information (50 cc is the cut off for licensing, not 150 cc) and bad examples (safety gear riders) but interesting.  Unfortunately I can only post the youtube version, which cut off the last 10 seconds or so.

The links they refer to can be found here: http://www.nbc5.com/newslinks/14041818/detail.html 

Here is the official link: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2yaik_nbc5scooter_auto

(hat tip to 2 stroke buzz for the link to the links… http://2strokebuzz.com/)

Free parking for scooters in NYC

Wouldn’t it be cool if Columbus had this one day?  Believe it or not, I am not the only person who cares about this.  From one of the relatively new Columbus Dispatch blogs: http://blog.dispatch.com/commuter/2007/08/put_it_in_park.html

If you are traveling to NYC or have friends there, here are the details: http://www.vespanomics.com/FreeParkingNYCLocations.cfm.

Here’s a video from a NYC news channel about it…

Video contest

I like playing around with making videos, but I’m not very good at it.  But I will try to get something together for this contest Vespa is throwing. http://gogreenchallenge.vespausa.com/  The winner gets a brand new Vespa.  I think Vespas are over-rated but if someone gave me one free?  I wouldn’t turn it down!

Really it’s the idea I like more, that Vespa is using this contest to get people to create videos that spread the message that scooters (in this case Vespas) are greener than cars.  Harnessing the global community, and the power of “the internets.”

Random good videos

Here is an ad for Kymcos from China.  I believe it’s in Mandarin.  (Someone just pointed out that the gibberish is fake alien talk, of course.  The Mandarin part is at the end!)

And also here is that dumb reporter crashing a scooter as she shows some morning show viewers how “easy it is to ride.” Check out her coworkers laughing at her at the end.