Image courtesy of The Genuine Scooter Company.

Motorcycle.com doesn’t just reserve its love for the humble scooter’s more burly brother. On occasion it dishes out its admiration in our particular category.

The website has just unveiled its awards for the best of 2011 and has declared the four-stroke iteration of the much-loved Genuine Stella its scooter of the year. The dot-com have picked up on the bike for the same reason scooterists the world over have: It’s seemingly last way to ride a modern bike with all the benefits of a four-stroke power plant, but with a geared transmission to keep you engaged in the ride.

In second place, honorable mention goes to Kymco’s GTi 300 edition of the “People.” With its generous capacity, fuel-injection, and sixteen-inch wheels, the GTi demonstrates some serious muscle on the road.

Head on over to Motorcycle.com to read about all the winners here.

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Thanks to the Genuine Scooter Company’s Facebook folks for picking this up and spreading the word. It’s a hell of a product demo.

Remember – put your feet down, “there’s no shame in that.” My favorite quote?

“Do I want to attempt this? Being Stupid?…. Sure. Why not.”

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Photograph courtesy of Motorcycle-USA.com.

With the Genuine Scooter Company’s four-stroke iteration of it’s flagship Stella in current import limbo, it’s been tough getting any fresh insight on how the bike actually performs compared to its popular two-stroke predecessor.

Thankfully, while US scooterists who pre-ordered the scoot continue to wait to get their grubby hands on the bike, Motorcycle-USA.com provides us with some new news in the form of  a thought-provoking outsiders perspective on the idiosyncrasies of riding a bike that combines a bang-up-to-date engine with vintage everything else.

Contributor Gabe Ets Hokin observes that when modern-day car drivers or bike riders say they want to ride something straight out of the good-ole-days, they’re lying. We take so many advances of the past thirty years for granted that we forget that driving a thirty year old machine can be well, er, an experience.

Regarding the Stella he observes:

Like the original P200E (or PX150, if you ever rode one of those), the Stella is a refined, well-engineered product—within limits. The motor is appliance-like, clearly intended for maximum function and economy, so while it starts easily and runs well, it’s as far from high-performance as you can get. It’s rough and buzzy like a two-stroke, and retains the whirring, rattling noise a Vespa owner will expect. But the exhaust note is lower and thumpier, leaving no doubt of its four-stroke redesign. But riding it is a lot like the old P(only slower); redline comes quickly, necessitating quick shifting action on the handlebar-mounted shifter. Keeping up with traffic is easy, if said traffic isn’t trying to race with you, and the scoot quickly gets up to its 30-40 mph cruising speed. Faster than that is possible, but hardly relaxing.

Heck, that just about describes my description of riding any vintage bike. A friend of mine once described riding a vintage scoot as an “agricultural” experience to which I concur. That said, Hokin agrees that buyers looking at the Stella 4T are looking for the journey, not the destination:

But the Stella isn’t about doing the Hustle. It’s about grooving to your own soundtrack, and enjoying a very elemental scooter experience. It looks right, performs right (although the two-stroke was probably more fun) and will convince you—and anybody who’s looking—that you’re riding a vintage Italian scooter. It’s far from perfect, but so were the originals, which is probably why there are vintage Vespa clubs but no rallies for Yamaha Razz owners.

Click here for the full review over at Motorcycle-USA.com.

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Genuine Scooter Company Stellas pop up regularly in the New York City area CraigsList pages but what won’t pop up regularly is a limited edition “Atomic Fireball” model.

Back in the Spring of 2005, Genuine Scooters got together with Ferrara Pan Candies to put out a limited run of one hundred and fifty Atomic Fireball editions of their flagship scooter in honor of the famous Atomic Fireball.

What you’re getting here is however a little bit of fireball and a little less atomic. Unfortunately due to a previous owner the bike has been stripped of it’s unique fireball livery and decals.

Fortunately the atomic end of the business extended beyond the paint job in the special edition with a special up-gearing that helps it achieve a slightly faster top-speed as stock.

The bike is number 59 of 150, still carries the limited edition plate and only holds a very respectable 2,655 miles.

Find the full listing here. $2200, Astoria, Queens.

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Image courtesy of The Genuine Scooter Company.

Detroit Examiner has broken the news that the US debut of the new four stroke Genuine Scooter Company Stella has hit another hitch.

The initial import of the new Stellas has been held up for some time by US Customs. This was surprising given that the prototype model had been inspected and passed by the EPA earlier in the year.

Now, it would seem, we have finally gotten to the bottom of the delay. The initial shipment of Stellas from Indian manufacturer LML did not follow the US specifications established by the prototype. No doubt a genuine mix up at the factory given that LML are shipping the new four stroke in a number of guises around the world with subtle changes to meet local guidelines.

Genuine Scooters is now in the process of returning the shipment to India to bring the bikes in line with the EPA’s requirements. A dealer email uncovered by the Detroit Scooter Examiner revealed that the shipment of bikes had…

“… errors that are not consistent with the original specifications provided to the EPA during the original certification process. The original specifications were not carried out properly in the first production run of Stella. The errors are non-mechanical and easily resolved”

The Genuine Scooter Company suffered two violations as a result of the mix up which is particularly unfortunate given the errors were neither safety nor environmentally related.

Unfortunately this means that early adopters who have put down money on the first shipment of Stellas will now have to wait until sometime in the “late fall.” If there’s any good news in all this, it’s that other international incarnations of the four stroke have been arriving in Europe and Asia to very positive reviews.

Credit goes to Scootin’ Old Skool for unearthing the news.

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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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JustGottaScoot’s David Harrington recently got Genuine’s founder Philip McCaleb on the phone to answer some questions about their upcoming releases. The interview has since been posted to both JustGottaScoot and Genuine’s websites.

The highlights:

• The new 4-stroke Stella is anticipated in dealers nationwide in mid-May following a press-junket. Followed shortly thereafter by the Blur 220i in dealers in the last week of May.
• The European versions of the 4-stroke Stella has been selling incredibly well, boding well for the US market and aftermarket support.
• Existing 2-stroke Stella accessories will fit the new 4-stroke version, excepting the rear rack. A revised rear rack is being released.
• The revised Blur will be supported with OEM accessories including a custom rack-case from Soft Italia.
• Genuine are working with PGO on developing a 300cc scooter. It’s in the R&D stage. It’ll be liquid cooled with 14″ wheels with a “unique blend of vintage characteristics from the 50s and 60s.” The bike will likely also be available in a 150cc version, and is targeted for Winter 2010/2011.
• Genuine is co-sponsoring an upcoming 12 month 50 state tour on a 4-stroke Stella by a stunt/adventure driver.

You can listen to David’s interview with Phil here.

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Photograph courtesy of thescooterreview.com

India’s LML Star is a scooter by many names. Here in the US it’s re-badged by Chicago’s Genuine Scooter Company as the Stella. In the UK it remains under its LML moniker. In Australia, New Zealand and Oceania, it’s the Belladonna RV150 where it is imported by NZ scooter distributor, the Retro Scooter Co.

Mechanically we’re talking about the same bike, so if you’re interested in a perspective on the scooter from our friends south of the equator, thescooterreview.com has answered the call. Wish that beautiful canary yellow paint-job was available in the States…

We’ll let you click on through for the full review, but the site gives a great definition of the idiosyncrasy of the LML Star in a modern world surrounded by twist-n-go scooters:

Summing up the Belladonna is complex…it’s like someone trying to justify why they bought a Versace shirt over say something from The Gap. They both do the same job; and in many cases The Gap product will actually be superior…however what kind of person are you? Regular; run of the mill sort of person…or are you something a little more unique…something maybe, a bit…cooler. To really nail it home; get this, the Belladonna is actually priced well too; it’s a significantly less money than the Vespa equivalent so it’s not really rocket science, if retro’s your style…the Belladonna RV150 is definitely your bag…baby.

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The Genuine Scooter Company's Blur 150 spotted in the East Village.

Chicago’s Genuine Scooter Company is known for more than their take on the Vespa PX, the Stella.

While the company’s signature scooter has gone from strength to strength, including the introduction of a 4-stroke model this year; things were not always so rosy.

Back in 2005 a combination of labor, management, and financial issues shut down production of the LML Star (the Stella’s original name) at the LML plant in Kanpur, India leaving Chicago’s smallest scooter company without a scooter to sell.

Genuine Scooters immediately dove into the process of replicating the success of their business model – to take a foreign born machine, make adjustments and improvements, and then re-badge it for the United States market – by partnering with another manufacturer.

One such partnership was with the Motive Power Industry Co, Ltd., of Taiwan AKA PGO which led to the introduction of the Genuine Buddy (originally called the PGO BuBu) which Genuine introduced to the US market in 2006. This was quickly followed by the Blur (PGO G-MAX) in the same year.

Unfortunately, while the Buddy went on the massive success for Genuine, the Blur failed to find a foothold in the US market, and Genuine withdrew the model from their line up the following year. That said, the Blur is a fantastic scoot that made fans within its niche audience. In particular, with both front and rear disc brakes the bike has been commended for some of the best stopping power in the business.

This year, Genuine has announced the reintroduction of the Blur in the form of the fuel-injected Blur SS 220i. The upgrade to 220cc also acknowledges the scoot’s solid positioning as a performance scooter with a reported top speed of 75 MPH whilst still delivering on 78 MPG.

The revised Blue will be launched in white and gray color options this month with an MSRP of $3899. Since the demise of Brooklynbretta, Brooklyn Harley-Davidson on Fort Hamilton Parkway serves as Genuine Scooter’s NYC dealer.

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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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