First up is a 2007 Genuine Scooter Company Buddy 125, one of the most consistently highest rated scooters on the market today. This red edition looks like it’s been well kept and gently used. $2000, Brooklyn. Click here for the full listing.

Second is a 2005 Genuine Scooter Company Stella that we saw up for grabs towards the end of last year, and it would seem never found a buyer. It’s got black livery, a CBGB’s theme and some custom additions. 7000K on the clock, $2150, Red Hook. Click here for the full listing.

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Initially the purpose of the site was to track my progress to getting back on to two wheels in the US after a number of years of absence since riding scooters as a teenager in the UK. But the ambitions of the site quickly outgrew its inception.

In the past twelve months the site has grown from strength to strength, gaining recognition from local scooter riders, local dealers and local organizations; brought in guest writers and interviewees; and has expanded to cover everything and anything to do with riding scooters in New York City.

To celebrate our one-year anniversary let’s take a look back on some of most significant stories of our first year month-by-month.

Taking a break during last year's Basic RiderCourse

March 2009
In March we covered my experiences taking Motorcycle Safety School’s three-day Basic RiderCourse on their range and in their classroom in the Bronx. The course is considered the perfect way for beginners to get comfortable on two-wheels with expert instruction; and walk away with a DMV test-waiver at the end of the course.

Parking NYC style.

April 2009
April brought us two milestones. First was the introduction of the Deals on Wheels section of the site, and in particular our first “Today on CraigsList” helping local scooterists find diamonds in the rough. Our very first posting was for a 2001 Vespa ET4.

Second, one of our most successful stories ever, our look at the do’s and don’ts of parking on the streets of NYC. The story looked into keeping your scoot safe from harm, and your pocket safe from tickets.

May 2009
May was filled with sorrow and joy. On the joy side, after multiple bureaucratic delays (which have since been removed entirely) my test-waiver finally arrived following my completion of the Basic RiderCourse allowing me to finally get on the road legally.

In the sorrow category, May was the month we bid farewell to Nick and the crew at Brooklynbretta, a local dealer who though in existence for a relatively short time made a hugely positive impact on the local scooter scene. We still miss you Nick.

Revellers at the NY Scooter Club Block Party '09.

June 2009
In June we covered our friends, the NY Scooter Club, as they celebrated their annual bash, the NYC Block Party including ride-outs to Coney Island and Flushing Park Meadows. It was fantastic to see so many great scoots on display and meet so many great folks. The NY Scooter Club have recently announced the date for this year’s bash, the 5th annual Block Party taking place a little earlier on May 14th and 15th and you can be sure we’ll be sharing plenty of news on this date as we get it.

July 2009
Like you, in July, we spent less time sitting in front of our laptops and more time out riding, so while the local news slowed, we still managed to get some great stories; this time from our neighbors in Boston and Philadelphia. Both cities revamped local scooter laws with Philly commencing its installation of official motorcycle and scooter parking and Boston cracking down on 50cc owners who had previously avoided license plate and parking restrictions.

DJ Josh Link.

August 2009
August brought the sad news that local DJ Josh Link was killed after his vintage Vespa failed him on the Williamsburg Bridge. While Josh’s death was sadly not the only scooter related death of the year, it brought us all closer to the reality of riding our idiosyncratic machines among the cabs, buses, SUVs and trucks of the Big Apple.

On a happier music related note, later in the month saw the Brooklyn Soul Festival that unearthed forgotten soul legends and brought them to our city. Fingers crossed for Brooklyn Soul Festival 2010.

Some of the insightful Gear Up! Project data.

September 2009
September was a busy month here at NYCS Towers and among all the scooter related news we began to place a lot of emphasis of scooter maintenance and repair articles.

In particular, a new addition to the family in the form of a 1985 Vespa PX150e began a series of restoration, or if you prefer rebuild, posts over the following months as I slowly brought the scoot back to its former glory.

September also saw our interview with safety advocate Kate Rhodes, founder of the Gear Up! Project which has been founded to draw scooterists’ (and motorcyclist’s) attention to the importance of wearing the right safety gear for the road.

October 2009
October saw fashion label, ScooterGirls sweep the first prize award during LA’s Fashion Week. The woman’s wear that goes a long way to ensure fashion doesn’t have to suffer at the hands of safety has since go on to a strong showing at the Dealer Expo in Indianapolis earlier this year and should begin appearing on local dealer’s shelves soon. We’ll keep you posted.

The month also saw a local Middle School teacher bring vintage Vespa restoration into the classroom as a teaching aid. We were there to scoop some behind the scenes photographs from NY Times coverage.

Finally, October was the month that we here at NYCS threw our two cents into the ongoing heated debate over restored vintage scooters emanating from Asia and their reputation as dangerous bodge-jobs: The NYCS Viet-bodge 101.

4 strokes under the hood.

November 2009
As the weather began drawing the 2009 riding season to a close, we were treated to some exciting news in readiness for the 2010 season as LML unveiled its 4-stroke iteration of the Vespa P-clone, the Star 4. Since we caught the story, Genuine have confirmed and begun prepping their 2010 Stella manifestations of the Star 4 for shipment and they are expected to arrive at local dealers in the next couple of weeks. Stay tuned for our first local sightings and review.

December 2009
In the continuation of scooter news out of India, the final month of 2009 saw Bajaj announce its withdrawal from the scooter business, bringing an important piece of scooter heritage to a close. The move came in part due to increased competition from its rival, and manufacturer of the Stella, LML.

January 2010
In January, local scooter parking advocates from the New York Motorcycle and Scooter Task Force made local headlines as they drew attention to NYC’s poorly thought-out Muni-Meter Zones as they pertain to two-wheeled parking. And while the parking debate continues on without definitive action, it’s always good to bring more attention to the issue. We’ll keep you up to date in 2010 as the discussion continues.

Photograph courtesy of Carbon Negative.

February 2010
Finally, last month saw the Williamsburg branch of Vespa SoHo reinvent itself as Carbon Negative, continuing to sell and maintain scooters but expanding their reach to covering the two-wheeled categories less gas, no gas, 100% human. We look forward to bringing you more news from Carbon Negative as we enter spring.

So that’s it folks. It’s been quite a year. We look forward to seeing you out on the streets of New York, New York State, Long Island and New Jersey as the rain and snow subside and the sunshine arrives. Don’t forget that we’re expanding the team and looking for your input in the 2010 editorial calendar.

Thanks for your support over the past year, and we look forward to you jumping in with more of your insightful comments in the year ahead.

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Photo by caribb, Flickr.

With the winter snows subsiding and many of us hitting the road again for the first time this year, it’s important to remember that we’re not the only recent additions to NYC roads.

Spring is pothole season in NYC.
The combined effects of the past three months of freezing temperatures, road salt, plowing, and thawing mean the city’s roads are in the worst shape of the year yet again. Growing out of the earth (or should we say falling from) like evil versions of the season’s crocuses and daffodil bulbs these menaces are every scooter’s sworn enemy.

The New York Times ran a story last week on Mayor Bloomberg’s public effort to put the city’s two millionth pothole out to pasture. And while we applaud Mr. Bloomberg taking his brand new shovel to every new hole over the coming months (good luck with that,) it’s also up to us to bring these bad boys to justice.

Here’s what you can do:

The New York City Department of Transportation categorizes these puppies as street defects. A category that includes a whole cast of characters – potholes, cave-ins, hummocks, ponding conditions (where water sits and stagnates), manhole covers, street hardware, failed street cuts, old utility cuts or the dreaded “open street cut.”

The DOT has a page detailing street defects, with guidance as to what to do to report one. Generally a call to 311 is suffice, but depending on the condition, completing a street construction complaint form may be necessary. The DOT also has an online pothole report you can use to report the offender and have it short-listed for pothole death row. The feared fill-in.

If your scooter is damaged by a street defect, you can file a claim with the city of New York by visiting the NYC Comptroller’s web site, or calling 212-669-3500. According to a New York Times article, if you yourself are damaged by the accident the city may be responsible but under the 1979 Prior Written Notice Law only if it can be demonstrated that the city was aware of the defect (as reported by a previous complaint) but has failed to address it.

But you’re not going to let that happen to you, are you? Ride safe and master the swerve, and for the next couple of weeks take it slow on your regular routes until you’ve had a chance to add new potholes to your mental list. I for one have ID’d two particularly nasty ones for 2010 on my morning commute that wouldn’t think twice of swallowing a Vespa’s 10” wheel whole.

Ride safe.

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Membership has its benefits, as Long Island’s newest club, the Absolute Scooter Club reminds us.

The Absolute Scooter Club is an informal club with no officers, dues, or meetings, just folks from LI and the surrounding NYC neighborhoods who want to get together and ride.

We’ve added the Absolute Scooter Club to our honor roll of local clubs. Visit www.absolutescooterclub.com to learn more and get involved.

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This is not what we mean by writing about scooters. Photo by Kukkorovaca, Flickr.

We’ve had a phenomenal first year of operation and next month marks our 12-month anniversary. As we enter the 2010-riding season, we’re looking to expand our team to provide regional riders valuable scooter-related news views and reviews on a daily basis.

If you’re a scooterist based in NYC, upstate, New Jersey or Long Island we want to hear from you. You don’t have to have a professional writing background but you do need to have a passion for our favorite form of transportation.

Specifically we’re looking to fill the following two positions:

Lambretta Contributor
At NYCS over the past year we’ve been guilty of not giving the Vespa’s most famous rival its fair time in the sun. Ideally you’re a Lambretta rider past or present that not only has a passion for the scoot but has also spent some time under the cowls getting your hands dirty.

The subjects you’ll write are entirely up to you as long as they are Lambo-related. Not every article need be a vintage look back. With the brand name Lambretta changing hands periodically, we’ll look to you to cover the future of the Lambretta name in all its form as much as Innocenti’s storied past.

As much as possible we want to cover the Lambretta’s remarkable heritage with an NYC perspective.

Asian Scooter Contributor
Scooters were invented for the purpose of cheaply and efficiently moving folks like you and me around. These days, owning a Vespa or a vintage Lambretta can be a luxury, not a convenience, when a contemporary Asian scooter can be had for several thousand dollars cheaper.

Asian born scooters move New Yorkers around the city daily in the spirit of the scooter’s original intent and in 2009 we didn’t give our friends in China, Taiwan and Japan fair coverage. That’s where you come in. SYM, Kymco, Yamaha, Honda, you name it; we want to hear about it.

Getting paid to do what you love
At NYCS we pay our writers on a per-post basis, its not going to make you rich, but it’s our way of saying thank you. We require our contributors to post 8-10 posts per calendar month to qualify for monthly payment via PayPal.

Posts under 500 words are paid at the rate of $10 per post. Posts over 500 words are paid at the rate of $20 per post.

Getting in touch
To learn more about joining our team, please contact me at paul@nycscootering.com.

Paul Chambers
Editor-in-Chief, NYC Scootering

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Here’s the original post, let us know what you find out:

Hello…I am selling a Vespa 200 P The Scooter from the 70’s and is complete..only missing one cown side…The engine was on this summer for 2 or 3 minutes, I don’t have any papel I paid 500 dols to restore but I don’t have time to do it now..in those old scooters is easy to get the registration from DMV,,so’ for this little money you can get a really classic scooter…I am asking 350 Dols AS IS..

Photos available if you contact the original seller from the post, here.

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The Specials at a recent gig on their 30th anniversary tour.

We’ll keep this short. Their April 21st show sold out in a matter of minutes. They’ve added Tuesday April 20th as a second date at the same venue, Terminal 5. Tickets went on sale at 12 noon today.

Run, don’t walk, to the Ticketmaster page now and book your chance to see the legends on their 30th anniversary tour.

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Local scooter legends, “Scooters O” are having a swap-meet at their Orange, NJ location on Saturday March 20th.

From the folks at Originali:

Scooters Originali Swap Meet - Saturday March 20 2010.

Bring your stuff to sell or swap.

Scooters Originali is hosting a scooter swap meet on Saturday March 20th 2010 at
our shop at 50 South Center Street, Unit 6, Orange NJ 07050, from 11am till
whenever.

Bring all those parts you”ve had hanging around in your garage for ever, and
swap them with other people, or sell them to get the money you need for new
parts. Nothing to sell or swap? No problem. Just come and browse what other
people have to sell.

There”ll be rare vintage Vespa and Lambretta parts, clothing, accessories and
even a few modern Vespa bits and pieces, all being sold at unbelievably low
prices. We need space and we need to clear the shelves off!

If you”re bringing parts to sell, just bring a blanket to throw all your parts
on, as tables will be in short supply.

You own another shop and you want to attend and sell that excess inventory
you”ve had on the shelves for a while? No problem. Drop us a line, paypal us
$10, bring your own table and you”re ready to go.

Rain/snow date will be April 17th.

Need more detail? Call us on 973 672 6600 or e-mail sales@scootersoriginali.com

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UK outfitter Armadillo Scooter Wear have found a US partner after a rocky couple of years of intermittent distribution stateside.

Miami, Florida dealer/distributor Martin Racing Performance have effectively become Armadillo Scooter Wear US. MRP are acting as a distributor for the British clothing line in the US. Unfortunately as a member of Joe Public, you can’t order from them directly, but the new deal (and MRP’s presence at this month’s Indianapolis Dealer Expo) should mean that Armadillo’s wear should start showing up in local scooter stores this spring.

Armadillo’s unique range of scooter clothing uses d30 elastic technology to add flexible lightweight body armor that hardens on high-speed impact, a technology currently in use by the US military.

Armadillo produces armored but fashionable clothing for both men and women in the form of jackets, hoodies, pants and gloves. Their best selling products include their take of the classic Parka (shown above,) the City Rider waist-length jacket, and woman’s classic silhouette Scarlett Mac.

Learn more at Armadillo’s website, or take a look at MRP’s dealer store. As soon as we have news on local store inventory we’ll share it here.

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Spend $50.00 and get 15% off – Coupon Code: 15%

Spend $120.00 and get 20% off – Coupon Code: 20%

Spend $220.00 and get 25% off – Coupon Code: 25%

No word on how long the deals will last so head on over to Scooter Mercato for additional details and start shopping.

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