This Stella (one of only 150 made in an Atomic Fireball limited theme) was spotted in the East Village.

Is it a Vespa or isn’t it? We’ve talked quite a bit about the Genuine Scooter Company’s Stella but we haven’t fully covered its origin and its versatility as a practical everyday scoot for New York City, until now…

Indian motorcycle and scooter manufacturer LML (Lohia Machines Ltd.) entered a technical collaboration agreement with Piaggio in 1984 to develop a number of scooters for the Indian market beginning with the LML NV in 1986, a licensed copy of the Vespa PX 150e. Over the next few years additional refinements and takes on the PX design were launched including the incredibly successful LML Select.

By 1999 however LML’s relationship with Piaggio came to a close but LML continued to manufacturer a scooter based on the Vespa PX tooling – the LML Star.

In 2002, Philip McCaleb – founder of the Chicago-based vintage Vespa and Lambretta mail-order supplier Scooterworks USA – formed the Genuine Scooter Company to license the LML Star and import it into the US under the “Stella” name. By 2003 the first Stellas began entering the country and the Stella instantly became a cult favorite among US scooterists.. When labor strikes at the LML factory interrupted production of the LML Star/Stella in 2005, the Genuine Scooter Company began to expand it’s line up beyond its LML reliance, but soon returned to importing the Stella once the disputes were resolved in mid 2006.

In 2009 LML, after several years of internal development, unveiled a four-stroke version of the Star: completely revolutionizing the engine while maintaining the classic PX silhouette. Shortly thereafter Genuine announced that it would bring the new 4-stroke to the States in the form of an updated Stella for the 2010 season. The first of these bikes have slowly begun to appear Stateside at dealers across the country and energetic initial pre-orders have sold out the first US shipment in advance of its arrival. In the meantime, Genuine is continuing to sell the 2-stroke model “while stocks last.” Certainly LML are continuing to manufacture the original 2-stroke Star in India and are currently modifying it to meet the latest Euro emissions laws. Ultimately the success of the 4-stroke Stella Stateside will determine whether the 4-stroke model replaces the 2-stroke model outright.

So how does it ride? Given it’s one of only a few geared (manual shift) scooters currently in production and follows the classic lines and heritage of the Vespa PX, the Stella is a popular ride among scooterists.

After many many years of iterative mechanical and design improvements, the Vespa PX is considered the epitome of Piaggio engineering. The model is also popular because it remains true to one of the initial tenets of the scooter, to be easily maintainable by the owner, something that is becoming increasingly tougher since the advent of 4-stroke engines including LML’s own. Further, given the Stella is based on Piaggio’s best selling Vespa aftermarket parts and accessories remain abundant and are mostly interchangeable.

The Stella also includes a number of updates to the PX spec sheet including a better fuel economy due to it’s updated reed valve induction, and a little more pep due to a higher compression ratio, and 5 port cylinder.The Stella also betters the PX with adjustable load gas shock suspension.

Features

• 5-port 2-stroke engine.
• 4-speed manual transmission with “twist grip” shifting.
• Gabriel performance shocks.
• Front Grimeca hydraulic disc brake, rear drum brake.
• 60+ mph, 90 mpg.
• 1 year / 5000 mile warranty.

Options

• Black
• Red
• Light Blue
• Avocado
• Orange

Thankfully, a good amount of Stellas are seen on the streets of NYC (and available on CraigsList) thanks to the Genuine Scooter Company’s early partnership with Gowanus’ Brooklynbretta one of it’s first national dealers.

While Brooklynbretta has since closed, the Stella is still available locally through Brooklyn Scooter World, part of the Brooklyn Harley-Davidson dealership. The 2-stroke model sells for an MSRP of $3,599 and we are still waiting for word on when the Brooklyn dealership will receive the 4-stroke model.

For a side-by-side comparison of the subtle differences between a late production run Vespa PX and the Genuine Scooter Company’s Stella, click here.

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