And THAT’S when I noticed a trend.  Aaron likes monochrome colors… :D – HAHAH!  NOooooo! Aaron must like scooters.

So I decided to drop Aaron a line and ask him more about the scooter trend with these treasured tomes of his; to which he responded:

Yes, I am a scooter fan and I suggested it be on the cover of “Cocoa Programming for Mac OS X”. My wife, however, asked that I get rid of my scooter as she was concerned that it might lead to my premature death. In a conflict that required a trip to a couples counselor, I agreed to sell my beautiful red Piaggio BV 250 — not vintage, but a great ride.

I understand, being a new dad and all… it probably won’t be terribly long before he’s back up on two wheels.  We chatted about his old scoot a bit more:

I loved that Piaggio BV250 — it is the scooter that many urban Italian police ride. Super reliable, comfortable, and powerful enough to deal with Atlanta traffic. I rode mostly in the summer, so I took the windscreen off so I could feel the breeze.

I had to pass the motorcycle driving test and get insurance and tags to ride a 250cc in Georgia, but it was completely worth it.

Amen to THAT brother! Aaron sent me a link, where he described his essential riding gear in such a fine manner that it brought a tear to my eye… It’s like he summed up TheScooterScoop in one, off-topic post. I’d make Aaron an honorary Editor after reading his testimony on the fun and practical way he gears up to ride. You can read it yourself by going <HERE>.  Oh, but don’t listen to his advice at the end of the post.  I prefer that we preserve some of the more delicate genetics, just in case they contain a cure for cancer.

BEHOLD, the great Japanese Big Scooter – massive, futuristic and fantastically gaudy; Japan’s super custom scooter is slowly vanishing from the Tokyo landscape where it found it’s birthplace.  The two-wheeled offspring of the Dekotora (Decoration Truck) of the mid 70’s, and inspired by the 70’s Kamen Rider (and others), the Big or sometimes called Baka (negative connotation meaning absurd, ridiculous, extreme or dumb) Scooter had it’s heyday in the early to mid 2000’s with dozens of custom scooter magazines and tons of aftermarket parts available.  Today, Japan’s strict noise regulation on <250cc scooters and global economic “cooling” has changed people’s opinions about such expensive and outlandish decorations and now even the magazines have dwindled down to a small handful to make way for the new craze… The American Chopper.  That’s right!  Even though motorbike sales have been decreasing in Japan at a rate of about 10% per year, that hasn’t stopped the Japanese’ attraction to self expression through personalizing their bikes.

Now, instead of the Big Scooter (which never really caught on here in the USA) expect to see more and more of this:

You can keep an eye on the Japanese Mooneyes site for more coverage of how the chopper craze is blazing across Japan.  Thanks to Aki-san for the update (even though it was sad to hear).  Aki believes electrics will catch on as soon as someone figures out how to customize and tune them.  We look forward to seeing Aki’s photos from the floor of the 2010 EICMA show next week!

In an unexpected move for any of the Big4 (HYSK – Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, Kawasaki), Yamaha has placed a full page ad ,(apparently) for the E-2 electric scooter in today’s Tokyo newspaper.  I’m not exactly sure why we are seeing “E-2″ featured when I was expecting to see something called the EC-03 or Passol-L.  I do see “EC-03 & PAS” there at the bottom and perhaps someone can chime in with some help with figuring all that out.

According to our man-on-the-street, Akisan, motorbikes are never advertised in the paper.  Motorbikes are getting bad reputation in the eyes of the younger generation for the number of accidents and their association with bōsōzoku.

Perhaps Yamaha sees a clean-cut, peace-sign-thowing, earth-friendly electric as a means of cleaning up the motorbiker image?  Whatever the reason, they chunked an impressive pile of ¥en at the idea to make it happen.

From what we know about the aluminum-alloy framed EC-03, it’s got a 50V 14Ah Lithum-ion battery that can push it along at 18 mph (on a flat surface) for a distance of 26 miles with a 6 hour charge time; similar performance to what we saw from the UltraMotor A2B Metro… maybe a bit of a longer distance.

I personally hope this electric “personal commuter” receives a warm welcome form the Japanese consumer.  Yamaha only has plans to release 1,000 units of the EC-03 this year starting September 1st, 2010 in the Tokyo Metropolitan area and all over Japan starting TODAY.

Oh!  And here’s another shot of the green wonder.  What do you think?  Looks a tiny bit familiar to me, but I just can’t place it.  Not the Yamaha Cuxi 100.  I’m not sure what.  Take a closer look and tell me what you think about the design.  We know that the Mini E Scooter concept will be powered by a Lithium Ion battery but we’ll have to hold out another week or so before we know what kind of motor is moving this concept.

Also coming in with their “ME TOO!” concept is Smart with their Smart Escooter. The design is very alien, but it’s growing on me.

***UPDATE 9/24/2010***
Ladies and gentlemen, we have video!

And (thanks to Lorenzo from SCGT) some footage of the E Scooter in the wild.

The Progressive Automotive XPrize! In my opinion, this is the most important competition of our lifetime. Sure, it’s great that a team will receive a grand prize of $10M for building a car that gets at least 100 MPGe (miles per gallon equivalency) in real world driving while being safe, affordable and desirable.  BUT, the real winners here are you and I… and our children… and their children.

The XPrize is Generation X’s version of the moon landing.  Think about all the social advancements that the space race brought us!  Ok, Tang… I know there are others, but what I’m trying to say is that the XPrize is a major catalyst for change! The winners of this competition will provide evolutionary genetics to our next generation of transportation!

Knowing the importance of the Automotive XPrize, don’t you think you should participate?  So, you can tell your grandkids “You know why you’re driving that newfangled doohickey?  Because I voted for it!” and they can nod their head and say “SURE you did gramps.”  Well, this is your moment!  You’ve got from now until August 16th to vote for FAN FAVORITE in the MOST PRACTICAL category.  Need MORE incentive?  How about this… Register to vote and every day that you vote you get another chance to win $3000 bucks!  That’s worth it, right?  Voting to tell the builders what would make your future car more practical while getting chances to bank $3k?!

Fan Faves for MOST STYLISH (Zap Alias) and MOST INNOVATIVE (Aptera 2e) have already been chosen… so vote on MOST PRACTICAL now and then MOST WANTED coming up August 17th – September 6th.

AND… as long as we’re talking about voting, K-Way MOTUS sent us a little note and they would love for you to pick their ride (seen above) as most practical.  It’s essentially an MP3 with a roof like a BMW C1, but running on a parallel electric / gas hybrid platform.  You’ve a pair of electric motors in the two front wheels and for the long haul it’s got an 850cc gasoline engine on the real wheel.  The K-Way MOTUS will hold two passengers and in a future incarnation they plan on adding a swivel-out front seat for easy entry & exit.

There are lots of exciting choices, so go register and CAST YOUR VOTE!

***UPDATE***
Oh, we forgot to mention that “The $10 millionprize grand prize will be presented at an Award Ceremony on September 16, in Washington, D.C.”

The Fiat 500 is the car that put the Italy on 4 wheels, we already know what put them on two wheels ;).   Discontinued in 1975 and back in late 2011 from the Mexican manufacturing plant that spent its time cranking out PT Cruisers (about 150,000 of them) will now be cranking out this cute little 3-door hatchback for the US Market.

Many people, including my wife, consider the classic Fiat one of the most fun, and troublesome cars they’ve ever ridden in.  She still reminisces on the days her mother had to park on a hill so she could get out to give her a push start.

Sales are VERY encouraging in Europe since its reintroduction in 2007.  The expected base MSRP is $16,500.  In the microcar department, the Fiat 500 will be competing with not just the Mini (also designed by Frank Stephenson) and Smart, but also the Scion iQ, Volkswagon UP, the Chevy Spark, and the resurrected Ford Fiesta.  Maybe the PT Cruiser will make comeback in 36 years.

Look for it in an EV version around 2013.  Want more info?  Check out the Fiat homepage, or 500 Fan Site, OR if your Japanese is good, check out the museum!

The PCX’s locking under seat storage is big enough for a full-face helmet and there’s a separate glove compartment up front.  She also comes standard with both a side stand and a center stand.  I’d like to see how Honda’s Programmed Fuel Injection system (PGM-FI) fairs on this 125cc sweetheart.  The Combined Braking System (CBS) may be frowned upon by some riding purists, but I think it will be more than adequate for your average day of street riding.  Take a peek at all the specs right over HERE.  The 2011 PCX will come in AWESOME White and Pretty cool Red.  I think it would be wicked in a matte black too, but you’ll have to do that yourself.

The PCX is not likely to have the stoplight shutdown feature as they do overseas; a fuel saving measure which causes the engine to cut off after 3 seconds of idling and cut back on upon acceleration.  Top speed is estimated to be 67 MPH and the MSRP is yet to be determined (but I’m wagering $3,799).

OH, there’s also an Orange and Black 49cc Ruckus back for 2011.  No one’s committed on a price yet and still no supercharger available.  :(

Anyway, here’s that video I was talking about:

You can follow them on Twitter and see more Bowls LA videos here.