TheScooterScoop

It’s been over a year since Fly first showed their cub styled scooter at the Indy Dealer Expo and today the Scout is finally ready to launch!  This new Scout bares little in common with the sample shown at the 2009 Expo and really looks more like an old school Honda Cub in its current form.  Dealers are expected to begin receiving the new 2010 Scout in about a month.  We are yet to see how this new kid on the block stacks up against the old salty dog from SYM.  With a one year head start, the Symba has already proven itself as a pretty reliable machine.  Looking at their specs, there’s no clear winner… it all depends on what more important to you the consumer.  I’ve put together this little table to help you see how they stack up:

So, what’s it gonna be?  The $800 savings (not including SYM’s promo) of the Scout?  Are you more interested in the Symba’s 2 year warranty?  Do you like the more modern, front suspension of the Symba or are you good with the more traditional, old school leading link of the Scout?  It’s a pretty tough battle and I think we’ll have a better idea of who’s gonna come out on top by Spring 2011.

If you’re in California, expect the Scout to receive its CARB badge by this summer.

-NOTE:  The Symba has always shown a 199 lbs. maximum capacity, though I suspect that number was just never converted from kg to lbs.

***Update 3/6/2010***
Got some new photos of the Scout for ya.

Ever wonder what they were going to do with all that unobtainium they were mining in the movie Avatar? They were rushing it back to Honda so they could build this concept electric 3-wheeler in time for the 80th annual Geneva Motor Show. This mythical machine is half 3-wheeler, half electric car. In the running position, the rider sits directly over the battery powered drivetrain (see: Low Center of Gravity) and is enclosed on 5 sides, with only the blue sky above.  In the parked position the large front windshield becomes a canopy that completely encloses the cockpit, keeping out the elements so everything remains pristine when you return… oh and by “YOU”, I mean no one since this machine will never be built commercially.  Oh well, at least you can stare longingly at these photos and dream about having a Honda 3R-C in your garage.  If your imagination is not that good, then maybe the video below can help get things in motion.

I was going to say that you stood a better chance of getting your hands on a Lumeneo Smera, but there are two factors preventing that, ONE – The $41,000 US Price tag and TWO – That damned 4th wheel.  I wonder how long before the US Auto Lobby looses its grip and not-for-highway-use, four wheeled vehicles begin to trickle in; you know those tiny trucks and vans popular everywhere else.  Maybe until then someone will release a 3 wheeler with a 4th wheel “option” to provide… um… added stability!  Gizmag did a nice piece on the convergence of car and motorcycle which you can see HERE>.

What happens when you get 600 – 800 scooterists to converge on a US city? Increased smog levels? An overextended emergency services department? A bunch of confused gawkers? Besides all of that… YOU GET AMERIVESPA! That’s right! It’s time again for the Vespa Club of America’s annual scooter rally; the biggest of it’s kind (in the USA). This year, if you haven’t already heard, the host city will be San Antonio, Texas and you know us Texans are mighty excited about it.  They will be packing more scooter fun into four days than you’ve had all year!

Here’s the deal though, you want to get registered NOW.  ”Why now”, you ask?  Because if you register before the end of day Saturday you will not only get a goody bag full of super-awesome schwag and a drop-dead gorgeous t-shirt and patch but you’ll ALSO get THIRTEEN free raffle tickets!  That’s $13 LUCKY dollars worth of prize winning chances FREE!

So, go to their site, make sure you’ve got $75 bucks in your account and register HERE>
In the interim, here’s a slice from last year’s Concours d’Elegance:

I don’t know if the name Kevin Rose means anything to you.  Back around 2002 he used to roam the halls of TechTV (before G4 screwed it up)?  No? Remember, Leo Laporte used to introduce him as “The Dark Tipper”, and loved for him to share his hacking secrets with the viewers?  No, still no idea eh?  How about the Adidas wearing multimillionaire who started businesses like Digg, Revision3 and Pownce?  If the answer is still “No”, then my geektitude is really showing about now, sorry.

Well, Kevin Rose had an itch for Mopeds for a while that finally spread to a full-fledged moped-rash back in August 2009 when he tweeted about a moped he was in love with (see below).  A month later he tweeted about some goggles he bought and then finally he committed to a rusty Puch, which he bought online from a guy in Ohio (a 1977, Kevin’s birth year) and sent it to Dan at 1977Mopeds.com for the works.

The finished product is quite  lovely in it’s cafe-racer form and while he could have sprung for the $73,000 Ducati Desmosedici, his dream-bike probably ended up costing him $70,000 less… Though I think he should have gotten this Monarch with the included accessory instead.  It’s within his budget!  Congrats on the new wheels Kevin and way-to-go Dan!  Good to see another one of your works of art on the road.  You can see more of Dan’s work HERE>.  Oh, and I included an old Kawasaki ad from 1980, when they were trying to take a bite out of the moped market.  Ahhh, and shout out to Jalopnik for the scoop.

One benefit of having a Honda plant in your own country is that the team there has a REAL understanding of your market; take Thailand for instance.  The Honda Thailand factory is producing exactly what the population demands (a large number of big-wheel scooters in the 110 cc-150 cc range).

Last week Honda announced that they will begin sales of a new Cub-type automatic transmission (AT) scooter model, Wave110i AT, next month.  This new Wave is based on the last series of Wave110i, which is highly acclaimed for its fuel efficiency, but the new Wave110i AT features a newly implemented CV-Maic transmission.  The starting price will be 44,900 baht (about $1400 US), with an annual sales plan of 50,000 units.

We (or Honda America, rather) will also start selling $1,400 Honda scooters when Wyoming and Colorado begin selling 50,000 scooters a year, built in their Fort Collins manufacturing plant.

You can read all about the new, advanced Honda Wave 110i on the Honda Worldwide website.