Motorcycle.com recently announced its picks for the best motorcycles of 2011. The best motorcycles are carefully selected after riding the bikes that made it to dealerships within the past year. And it was no surprise to see that the Genuine Stella 4-Stroke was selected the best scooter of 2011- Congratulations!

From Genuine:

“Stella has been available since 2002, and just this year officially introduced the 2012 Four Stroke variant which is indeed a milestone. It no longer has a “monocoque” chassis and had to undergo a total chassis re-design to accept the brilliant new motor which was designed 100% in India, with love! The two-year, unlimited mile warranty with full roadside assistance sets this scooter apart from others, together with the 4-speed “twist-grip” shifting that creates such fabulous economy!”

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Piaggio Group announces new Aprilia brand scooter, SR Max 125/300 for grand touring.

June 21, 2011, Piaggio Group, Press Release – SR Max is the new Aprilia scooter which brings the Piaggio Group racing brand into the grand touring segment. Available in the 125 cc or 300 cc version, SR Max puts the Aprilia sport spirit on the road for pure enjoyment and riding pleasure.

Aprilia SR Max interprets the performance and grit of the products from the Noale manufacturer in GT style: the scooter inspired by the racing world which guarantees top performance and great versatility is born.

SR Max, stands out at first glance. An aggressive design traced by taught lines reflects the sport nature of a vehicle which sets itself apart with style and an explosive shape.

The compact but light nose holds the aesthetic dynamism of the headlight assembly: A silver coloured grille is inserted between the two lights, a simple, thin screen which gives the SR Max 125 cc and 300 cc an energetic expression. The graphics which encompass the light and the air intakes create a “contrast” with the vehicle colouring, together with the “three-coloured” scheme, which are flaunted on the upper part of the shield, give the SR Max elegance and an unmistakable style.

The sleek and sharp tail fairing enhance the explosiveness of the rear of SR Max, its agility highlighted by the generous, but slender underbelly where Aprilia is emblazoned in silver.

The two-colour saddle is made from a sport fabric and is highly ergonomic: equipped with lumbar support for the rider, it guarantees comfort in any conditions; the handles which frame the rear part of the saddle guarantee safety and reliability for the passenger.

Suitable for every day travel, but also designed to provide an exciting ride for longer trips, Aprilia SR Max, in the 125 and 300 versions, has top-notch motoring qualities and cycling features in any situation.
Both the SR Max 125 and the SR Max 300 have large scooter suspension: a hydraulic shock absorber with 35mm traditional telescopic fork is mounted on the front, while on the rear a pair of 3 position adjustable spring preload shock absorbers work to guarantee optimum balance of the vehicle.

The 125cc and 300cc hearts are the true strength of the Aprilia SR Max.

The single-cylinder, 4-stroke, 4 valve 125 version, equipped with electronic injection, reaches a power of 15 HP at 9,250 rpm: the maximum power and torque values are absolute benchmarks and ensure quick acceleration and disciplined pick up for the Aprilia SR Max, all to the advantage of perfect gear fluidity.

Aprilia SR Max 300 is equipped with a single cylinder 4 valve liquid cooled, electronic injected engine;  characterised by a 75 mm bore and 63 mm stroke, it reaches maximum torque of 23 Nm at 6000 rpm. The result is excellent torque distribution and consequently energetic acceleration.

Aprilia SR Max 125 and 300 are available in the two classic and elegant colour schemes of Nero Aprilia and Bianco Glam.

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Red Bull Alpenbrevet took place in Switzerland on June 18, 2011. 750 moped racers rode 82 miles over the three Swiss alpine passes – Grimsel, Furka and Susten. The aim of the race was not only to finish the ride on time, but also to score points for style with the jury. Here is the teaser video.

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This year’s AmeriVespa was held in New Orleans, between June 16 and June 19. For those who couldn’t go, this youtube video is bringing the Gymkhana and Slow Race events at this year’s AmeriVespa to the computer screen. Enjoy!

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The Lake Erie Loop (LEL) provides a great opportunity for scooterists to have fun and race while supporting a good cause. The 650 mile endurance run around Lake Erie is to be completed within one day. Bikes under 225cc will be  able to compete for cash prizes and unlimited size bikes are allowed only for a fun run without any official competition.

The Lake Erie Loop  is a fundraising event to benefit the “Aluminum Cans for Burned Children” Foundation (ACBC). ACBC provides many services for pediatric burn victims, mostly through the donation of discarded aluminum cans. Since 2003, additional cash for ACBC is raised through motor-sports.

For more info and registration, visit the Lake Erie Loop website.

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The Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, CA will be hosting a scooter exhibition displaying over 90 vehicles. “Scooters: Size Doesn’t Always Matter” is going to take visitors through a journey in the history of scooters. The exhibition starting on June 18, 2011 and running through May 2012, will feature scooters from the simple Autoped of the 1910s to today’s alternative vehicles.

Petersen Automotive Museum describes the exhibition in their recent press release as follows: “Scooters will show how this genre of motor bike has evolved from simple tube frames with motors to the sophisticated, comfortable, aerodynamic vehicles of today. The exhibit will also illustrate how scooters have been adapted to business and industrial uses, how they have been utilized by the movie and television industry, and how Southern California was once a major scooter manufacturing hub.

Wild or tame, foreign or domestic, old or new, scooters continue to offer a viable and economical alternative to other more traditional vehicles in our motoring landscape and provide a desirable means for free spirited motorists to boldly express themselves without saying a word.”

For more info, visit Peterson Automotive Museum on the web.

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KYMCO will join this years AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days (July 22-24) with its demo scooter fleet. The event hosted by the American Motorcycle Association will be held at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio.

If you have never ridden on a scooter before, but are curious to find out about how it feels, events such as this provide great opportunities to do test rides.

AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days events include, motorcycle competitions in various categories, as well as demo rides of current production bikes and educational seminars. For more info visit the AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days web page.

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Congratulations to Vespa Italy’s website for winning the People’s Voice Webby Award for 2011 within the Automotive category. The Webby Awards have been the leading international awards for honoring excellence on the Internet since 1996.

Two Webby Awards are available for each category, The Webby Award and The People’s Voice Award. Members of The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences select the nominees for both awards in each category, as well as the winners of the Webby Awards. However, people vote online to determine the winner of The People’s Voice Award.

The winners of the 15th International Webby Awards were announced through a Press Release on May 3, 2011. The 15th Annual Webby Awards ceremony will take place on June 13, 2011, at The Hammerstein Ballroom in New York. The event is planned to be broadcasted live through Facebook to millions of viewers Worldwide. For more details on the Webby Awards live broadcast on Facebook, visit their Facebook page.

To see a a complete list of 2011 Webby Awards winners, visit the Webby Awards website.

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Vespa World Days 2011 is going to be held in Norway this year. Thousands of scooterists from all around the world will travel to Norway for the annual gathering. The event will start on Thursday, May 19 and will continue through Sunday, May 22. Registrations will remain open until Sunday, May 15, so you have still 2 days left to join the Vespa World Days.

Vespa Club Gjøvik, in partnership with Vespa Club Norge and Vespa World Club will be hosting Vespa World Days 2011. Group rides, acrobatic shows, live music, dinners, tours are some of the activities planned for the event.

Also, the Vespa Trophy 2011 winners will be announced during the gala dinner on May 21. Registered Vespa clubs in the trophy visit Piaggio Dealers on the way to Gjøvik and collect stamps to win.

For more information about the Vespa World Days and registration, visit http://www.vespaworlddays2011.no.

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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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