Until recently, scooters were not that popular in the USA. But somehow your grandma could always associate Vespas with Italy. Have you ever wondered how?

It is all because of the 1953, William Wyler movie, Roman Holiday. The award winning movie starring Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck, was a big hit throughout the world in the 50s. In fact, the actors riding through the streets of Rome on a Vespa caused not only the gluing of the words Vespa and Italy together in millions of minds, but it also resulted in more than 100,000 Vespa sales.

If you haven’t seen the movie, watch the trailer here.

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Good, an advertising company from Kazakhstan created these helmet designs last year as part of their marketing campaign. The result was a huge success as the helmet designs received lots of attention from riders all around the globe.

The post Dude what’s that thing on 2 wheels? first appeared on scootcats.

Do you like riding in style? Check out these luxury designer scooter helmets from Ferrari, Lagerfeld and TAG Heuer.

#1 Ferrari Helmet

Available at the online Ferrari store for 681.50 USD.

#2 TAG Heuer Steve McQueen Helmet

The limited edition helmet is priced at 650 USD.

#3 Karl Lagerfeld- Les Ateliers Ruby Helmet

The Ruby helmet is available for 1800 USD at the Les Ateliers Ruby web store.

Low Clearance Helmet Sale, Watch Your Head!

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Whether you are chased by a dog, or you encounter a deer while scooting the mountains, if you don’t know what to do, these encounters can result in serious collisions.  Many experts say that the best approach to survive such a collision is to safely avoid hitting the animal. The California Motorcycle Handbook adds: “If you are in traffic, however, remain in your lane. Hitting something small is less dangerous to you than hitting something big—like a car.”

Here are some basic tips you might find useful.

Tips to avoid hitting a deer

• If you encounter a deer on the road, be extremely cautious passing it. Slow down and be prepared to stop.
• Watch for deer crossing signs. If it is a deer inhabited area, slow down, cover your brakes and watch the sides of the road. Slowing down will decrease your braking distance and will give you more time to react.
• Deer are most active at dusk and dawn, so be extra cautious at those times.

• Deer travel in groups, so if you see one, probably there are more, slow down and be prepared.

• If a deer freezes seeing your headlight, flashing your headlight may break the spell.
• Note that, if you swerve to avoid the deer, you might hit something else instead, such as an incoming vehicle or a tree.

What to do if you are chased by a  dog

If you are chased by a dog, start by slowing down and approach the animal slowly. As you approach it, accelerate away and leave the animal behind.

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It can be easily described as one of the most stylish, unique and sexiest mopeds known to exist…

The Sachs MadAss is a product of German Engineering. And, no, it is not manufactured by one of the companies that recently popped up with the scooter/moped boom. In fact, SFM GmbH, the manufacturer of MadAss, is one of the world’s oldest motorcycle manufacturers. The company, initially manufacturing only bicycles, started doing business as early as 1886. Moving to motorcycle production in the early 1900s, today they are still in business and known as the manufacturer of one of the coolest bikes in history, the MadAss!

The Sachs MadAss moped is available both in 49cc and 125cc. For more info visit http://www.sfm-bikes.de/.

The integration of the fuel tank into the bike's frame and the exhaust hidden under the seat gives it a bicyclish look.

Watch the fun MadAss commercial video below.

And some MadAss stunt!

The post MadAss ist einfach sexy! first appeared on scootcats.

National Highway Traffic Administration (NHTSA)’s findings show that some novelty helmet users attempt to make their helmets appear to be compliant with DOT standards by misleadingly attaching stickers that have the appearance of  legitimate DOT certification stickers. Sellers and distributers of these labels claim that those letters coincidentally resemble the legitimate certification labels and that they stand for something other than “Department of Transportation”.

Now, NHTSA is taking action, to make it more difficult to label novelty helmets misleadingly, effective May 2013, with a new rule, the certification labels on motorcycle helmets are going to change as follows: “DOT FMVSS No.218 Certified”. Review the full rule here.

So, what is the meaning of this sticker, what does it mean to be DOT compliant? In 1973, National Highway Traffic Administration (NHTSA) issued a Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 218 for Motorcycle Helmets. The standard, specifying a set of safety performance requirements, is aimed towards reducing motorcycle deaths caused by traumatic brain injury and other types of head injury. And a DOT sticker on a helmet indicates that it fulfills the requirements of FMVSS No.218.

But today not all riders wear helmets that are FMVSS No.218 compliant. According to NHTSA, a significant number of riders wear novelty helmets. Tests performed by NHTSA showed that novelty helmets fail the safety performance requirements specified in the standard and that they will not protect the riders during a crash and will not likely be retained on the riders’ heads in case of crashes.

Figures below show American motorcyclists by helmet type and helmet use by region (source: Traffic Safety Facts, Research Note, NHTSA).

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Maximilian II

German engineering brings commuters the ultimate transportation solution. TP Scoots are compact and foldable, so you can take one on the train with you or put it in the back of your car. It’s 100% electric and you can charge it from a standard plug. One charge takes up to 5-6 hours and enables traveling up to 20 miles with a maximum speed of 20mph.

The TP Scoot is approved for all EU roads, not available in the US yet. Currently, the company is offering two models; Maximilian II and Ferdinand II.

Ferdinand II

Maximilian II

Maximilian II

Maximilian II

The post The Ultimate Transportation Solution first appeared on scootcats.

Vespa scooter

So, you have decided to own a scooter, congratulations!

Scooters are fun, they are stylish, they come in different shapes and colors, some have retro looks, some look modern and futuristic, each of them has its own character. No matter which one you pick, at the end of the day, they are all environmentally friendly and a cheap alternative to a car, especially with today’s rising gas prices.

Do you know how to ride? If not, don’t worry, operating a motor scooter is easy, operating it safely is NOT.

Compared to a car, a scooter operation requires more skill and coordination. You have to keep an eye out for cars all the time. You need to make sure you remain visible to the drivers and anticipate what might happen at all times. For example, you need to anticipate that drivers making left turns may not see you and be prepared to make defensive maneuvers. Many crashes occur from other motorists not seeing the scooter and turning into its path. You need to be cautious when riding in bad weather conditions, on slippery surfaces and when encountering obstacles. Ejection from the scooter is the most common injury path. There are no airbags and seat belts to protect you, when you are ejected, be ready to hit the ground. So, it is very important to wear protective gear, such as a helmet and protective clothing at all times. For more information, please read about the anatomy of a motorcycle crash at the NHTSA website.

In many states, you are not required to obtain a motorcycle license in order to operate scooters up to 50cc. You can easily find out about the requirements of your state through your regional DMV’s website.

If you are not required to get a motorcycle license, the best way to learn is to attend MSF’s half day Introduction to Scooters (IS) class, the alternate way is to have someone teach you. If you don’t know anyone who can teach you, you can attend a training course offered by another provider.

This is a repost of the article “…where to start” posted on 02/22/2011 under our Technicalities section.

The post Scooters 101 – Where to Start… first appeared on scootcats.

According to yesterday’s post by Visordown, Lambretta is returning to the UK market in June. Great news!

Actually, the 2011 Innocenti series scooters are also posted as a part of their collection on Lambretta Consortium’s USA website. So, does this mean they are also entering the US market in 2011? Lambretta Consortium is the legitimate successor of the former Italian company Innocenti. And according to their website, Lambretta SRL also in the consortium, is the global owner of the brand Lambretta.

For those of you who are not familiar with the history of Lambretta; the manufacturing and trademark rights of the italian Lambretta, were acquired by the Scooters India Ltd. in the early seventies. And then we started seeing new generation Lambretta branded scooters on the streets. But these didn’t have the style or any resemblance to their predecessors. These were scooters by Lambretta International. On their website they say they are the “Official site of Lambretta Scooters”. The company behind Lambretta International is Khurana Group USA LLC, which was officially licensed by Scooters India Ltd. to manufacture and distribute scooters in the US with the Lambretta brand. When they entered the market in 2008, rather than coming up with a new design, the company actually just rebranded Taiwanese Adly scooters.

So, what will happen here? Are we going to see scooters from different manufacturers with the same brand name in the US? How are we going to distinguish the two brands?

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APC Systems is a Spanish company, developing and manufacturing motorcycle helmets with airbags. In order to develop the safety technology, the company carries out many types of crash tests and uses the data obtained through these tests to further improve their safety technologies. Some of these crash tests simulate scooter riders hit by vehicles and vehicles hit by scooters.

We wanted to share APC’s crash test videos with you, as these remind us one more time of the importance of wearing helmets while riding. Watch for yourselves. It already looks bad with the helmet, but don’t forget the impact the skull would take would be much more without the helmet.

Also read:

Half face or full face helmet?

Safety Tips

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