Stella 4T's to be in Chicago by the 7th!

The original 2-stroke Genuine scooter and its 4-stroke manual and automatic offspring

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SDG
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Post by SDG »

ericalm wrote:
Lovelandstella wrote:
Rippinyarn wrote:Thanks for the update Tee Jay. I wonder if it's because the Blurs are from Taiwan (PGO) and are somehow more trustworthy in the eyes of the feds, or whomever is doing the fine-tooth comb-deal with the Stellas?
I like the theory(joke) that Piaggio bribed someone for the Stella delay.
The Scary thing is that it would make sense that Piaggio is not nearly as threatened by the Blur, right?
Hilarious.

I don't know how Piaggio USA is reacting to the Stella, but I know some dealers are rightfully concerned about its debut in CA.
Hey Eric,

Care to enlighten us on this? I know the CA dealer body pretty good and haven't heard a peep. What are we "rightfully concerned" about?

Some USA dealers still have brand new 05 PX's for sale, it was a failed experiment for the USA. It seems 95% of the riders want automatics, probably because 50% of them are brand new riders.

I am just curious to a deeper explanation of your statement.

See you Sunday!

Best,
David
dwayneed

Post by dwayneed »

You are right there are a lot of new PXs out there, but not discounted. Many dealers loaded up on them knowing it was the 'last' 2 stroke Vespas. I would have considered one against the Stella if not for the price. I don't know if failure is the word for it. I agree on the fact thAt there are many new riders, thankfully! I am one of them.
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ericalm
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Post by ericalm »

SDG wrote:
ericalm wrote:
Lovelandstella wrote: I like the theory(joke) that Piaggio bribed someone for the Stella delay.
The Scary thing is that it would make sense that Piaggio is not nearly as threatened by the Blur, right?
Hilarious.

I don't know how Piaggio USA is reacting to the Stella, but I know some dealers are rightfully concerned about its debut in CA.
Hey Eric,

Care to enlighten us on this? I know the CA dealer body pretty good and haven't heard a peep. What are we "rightfully concerned" about?

Some USA dealers still have brand new 05 PX's for sale, it was a failed experiment for the USA. It seems 95% of the riders want automatics, probably because 50% of them are brand new riders.

I am just curious to a deeper explanation of your statement.

See you Sunday!

Best,
David
Well, since you asked: When I mentioned I might ride my new Stella 4T to a group ride for charity departing from a local Vespa dealership, the dealer threw a shitfit, made the ride "Modern Vespa only" and sent me private messages telling me not to show up on a scooter his shop doesn't sell, not to post the ride to the 360+ member Meetup group I organize and not to post it to ModernBuddy or anywhere else. When I expressed disappointment with the dealer not supporting the local scooter scene, contributing to the existing divisions among scooterists and taking away from the charity in question, I was told to quit lecturing.

To me, this pretty much looks a lot like concern over having competing products in front of the Vespa shop, especially coming from a dealer who can't resist an opportunity to knock Genuine and their products. Apparently, the prospect of having a 4T Stella at an event there was so frightening, this dealer hotheadedly reacted without thinking.

Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed and the ride was (re)opened to all scooters. Maybe the dealer realized he behaved poorly. Maybe he realized that in these times, many dealers would relish the opportunity to have owners of other makes come into their shop to see what they had to offer. Or maybe he realized that for all his talk of love of scootering and the scene, he was exhibiting almost pathological two-faced behavior, revealing his true motivations while saying and behaving in a completely opposite way in public.

With Vespa dealers in SoCal shuttering their doors and many of the others in dire straits and still others sitting on huge stockpiles of scooters that they're having to sell at or near cost, any not concerned about a vintage-styled, metal bodied shifter for sale at a price point much lower than their base 150cc model is delusional.

I can't make the Sunday ride because I'll be en route to my sister's wedding in NC. I strongly encourage all locals to attend—riding whatever they like—to enjoy the ride and to help support the Pablove Foundation for pediatric cancer research.
Eric // LA Scooter Meetup Group // Stella 4T // Vespa LX // Vespa LXS // Honda Helix // some, uh, projects…
Tee Jay
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Stella 4T's to be in Chicago by the 7th!

Post by Tee Jay »

Eric don't be too offended. I rode a Bajaj from San Diego to Las Vegas for the High Rollers Rally in 09. The ride was around 450 miles (all back roads). During the middle of the night at the rally, a un-named vespa-type person had the fortitude (thought you might edit what I really wanted to say) to write comments on the scoots. They said "Bajaj half the quality half the price" on the scoot that I rode there.I stayed up late the next night at the hotel hoping to catch and physically speak to the offending person. I should say the Italian only club who had only good things to say about ther own, dissed every body including a Blackjack. Mind you I was the only non-freeway legal scoot to ride there. Not the trailer queens or italian wanna bees. The arrogance there was unbelievable. If you weren't vespa or Lambretta then you were second class. I will never forget and never return.

The arrogance is beyond belief. Not what real scootering is about!
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lmyers
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Re: Stella 4T's to be in Chicago by the 7th!

Post by lmyers »

Tee Jay wrote:Eric don't be too offended. I rode a Bajaj from San Diego to Las Vegas for the High Rollers Rally in 09. The ride was around 450 miles (all back roads). During the middle of the night at the rally, a un-named vespa-type person had the fortitude (thought you might edit what I really wanted to say) to write comments on the scoots. They said "Bajaj half the quality half the price" on the scoot that I rode there.I stayed up late the next night at the hotel hoping to catch and physically speak to the offending person. I should say the Italian only club who had only good things to say about ther own, dissed every body including a Blackjack. Mind you I was the only non-freeway legal scoot to ride there. Not the trailer queens or italian wanna bees. The arrogance there was unbelievable. If you weren't vespa or Lambretta then you were second class. I will never forget and never return.

The arrogance is beyond belief. Not what real scootering is about!
A friend of mine in Italy rides a LML Star 150 DeLuxe ALL OVER the place. He says Vespa is more a philosophy than a brand.
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