Etc.
etc.
VESPA'S 60 YEARS
Okay, they’re passionate Italians, but they jumped the gun just a bit in celebrating their 60th anniversary of scooter production, which actually dates from the landmark Vespa 98 of 1946. To mark the occasion, Vespa distributor Piaggio USA unveiled two stylish new models and threw a big party in the Big Apple. The new LX150 is a 150cc, fan-cooled, 12.4horsepower four-stroke, while the elegant little LX50 is the company’s first non-stroker 50cc. Both feature and kick starting, the latter a retro touch. And the name, LX? Roman numerals for 60. It sounded better than LIX...
WE HAVE A WINNER!
Joe Krewer is the lucky winner of the 2005 Cycle World Ride for Kids motorcycle raffle. The Georgia resident’s ticket was drawn from the 11,408 entries gathered over the course of the 12 International Motorcycle Shows held across the country between last November and this past February. The prize? An all-new Norton 952 Commando donated by Kenny Dreer’s Norton Motorsports. This year’s raffle raised more than $51,800 to support the research and family support programs of the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation.
BIG RED REALLY IS BIG
Honda has produced more than 150 million motorcycles since introducing the 1949 Dream Type D. Last year alone, Big Red cranked out 10.8 million bikes, the first time it busted the 10-mil mark in annual production.
BECOME A WORLD TOURIST
Motorcycle traveler Helge Pedersen spent 10 Years on 2 Wheels, which is what he called his book. Pedersen liked traveling by motorcycle so much that he started a touring company called GlobeRiders, offering lengthy tours through some of the most remote places on Earth. Latest offering is World Tour 2006, scheduled to begin May 9 in China and Inner Mongolia and travel to Munich, Germany, on a 10,000-mile route lasting 66 days. Both cost ($18,950 on your own machine) and terrain (“You must have the right experience, the right bike and flexibility to deal with the unexpected”) are not for the faint of heart. Visit www.globeriders.com for more information.
THE GRANDEST CONCOURS?
The Legend of the Motorcycle is being billed as “the world’s first superlative concours d’elegance exclusively for motorcycles.” It's scheduled for May 6, 2006, at the gorgeous Ritz-Carlton Half-Moon Bay overlooking the Pacific Ocean south of San Francisco, and organizers are making a call for entries, looking for “the best in rare, unique, exceptionally preserved and accurately restored running specimens.” Hopefully, they mean motorcycles! For more information orto submit your bike, visit www. legendofthemotorcycle. com.
FANTASY RACER
Web-based fantasy leagues for stickand-ball sports are huge, and now you can manage your own made-up motorcycle racing team of riders such as Valentino Rossi or Nicky Hayden at www.fantasyracer.com. The latest series added is MotoGR which complements motocross, supercross, flat-track and Superbike offerings.
