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posted by Bob | April 21, 2012 | link
Earlier we touched on the early start to the season and the upward pressure on the gas prices. Things have returned to normal with typically unpredictable temperature swings and gas prices attached to a yo-yo. Scooter demand has remained at nearly record highs. We are coming off of our strongest March in our ten year history. April could shape up to be the best since the scooter breakout of 2008. With a strong finish we could surpass those record demands.
Kymco has found a winner with the Like 200i. Early indications are that the scooter customer is finding the combination of fuel injection combined with front and rear disc brakes at a price of $ 2599.00 to be too irresistable to turn down. Color availability has been limited and supply appears to present some challenges this season.
Another model we are sure to run low on is the People 50. We have always considered this our flagship scooter since it has been a staple of our offerings since we opened in 2002. Kymco announced that it would be discontinued in the fall of 2011 and we would have to pre order our scooters for 2012 by mid October. We thought we were ordering plenty, but demand for the popular big wheel scooter has caused shortages in some colors. We have already run out of the blue/ivory and green/white two tone models and the emerald green. Limited numbers of the other selections are in stock but there will be no more available to order. The companion People 150 is also in its last year of production and will take another model we have sold since our inception out of circulation. These scooters are not only icons of our fleet, but really great bikes that we will greatly miss. No word from Kymco on what will replace them. We do trust that whatever it is, it will be a great addition.
The Downtown 300i and the People GT300i continue to amaze with their solid and reliable performance. If you're looking for a scooter that will take you anywhere, look no further.
Stay tuned for upcoming news on some exciting new models from Piaggio and Vectrix. Until then, happy trails and safe riding!
Hi. What's new?
posted by Bob | March 31, 2012 | link
This time of year we hear this question frequently. It's natural. Many new inovations occur during the "off-season".. Often the new year offers new models, new colors, or perhaps we've added some new product.
Let's start with Genuine Scooters. The Psycho is this year's "limited edition" model. It's a 125cc Buddy in wolves' clothing. Using the suspension and brake package that rocked the Black Jack, Genuine produced 172 of the Psychos. They're all numbered like previous limited editions. Each dealer was allocated a certain quantity based on annual sales. We were lucky to be a top three dealer for Genuine nationwide so we received five Psychos as our allocation. Here's the downside. At this time (March 31, 2012) we have one Psycho left. The remaining four have been sold!
That's the way things have gone this "Spring?" In terms of the equinox, we are 8 or 9 days into the Spring of 2012. However, Mother Nature has thrown us a delicious curve by bringing some Summer-like temperatures early in the month of March. That, combined with previously unmatched fuel prices for this time of year, have lit a big fire under the scooter buying frenzy that has not been seen since the Great Scooter Sell-off of 2008.
Yes, sales are way up and inventory levels will be challenged by the demand level, especially with the early warm weather. We normally bring in our larger scooter shipments in May and June when demand is highest. Since we pre order in the Fall, the distributors plan our shipments according to a monthy order. We have nearly every color of each model on hand right now, but a heavy early demand will create some inventory holes very soon.
Back to what's new.......
Genuine has added the Italia and Pamploma to their selection of Buddy 170i models.
Get your order for a Buddy 170i in soon! I fear we may have underestimated demand for these.
The other addition from Genuine this year is a two tone Stella 4T. This model is new, and quantities will be very limited!
This chapter is getting a little long. We will follow it up with a listing of new offerings from Kymco, Vectrix, and Vespa.
Cabin Fever Wrap Up
posted by Bob | January 29, 2012 | link
It looks like at least fourteen folks will be sporting new rides this Spring as a result of some
fantastic deals going down this weekend at our seventh
Cabin Fever Rally and sale. We were pleased and surprised by a last minute visit from Philip and Paul who made the journey from Genuine Scooter Company in Chicago aboard the Scooter Love Bus. They came bearing various gifts and swag for the attendees. Appropriately enough, the first two scooters to sell on Saturday morning were the brand new special edition model, the Psycho.
As promised, the winning numbers in the blind raffle are as follows (numeric order):
238010 238011 238021 238033 238035 238051 238064 238071 238084 238087 238094 238103 238114
If you're holding a winning ticket contact us next week to collect your prize!
Cabin Fever VII?
posted by Bob | January 22, 2012 | link
How can it be seven years? It seems like yesterday that we followed the suggestion of Philip McCaleb, founder of Scooterworks and Genuine Scooter Company, and threw a mid-Winter party. Well, time does fly. In May we will celebrate ten years since the day we opened for business. We have already been in our current location for nearly five years! The BIG weekend is coming up in just a few days. Friday and Saturday, January 27th and 28th, are the dates this year. As usual, we are keeping the deals under wraps until Friday, though some teasers are going out on our Facebook site. Check out Scooterville on Facebook and give us a like. More hints will be coming along as we lead up to the big weekend!
What's New For 2012?
posted by Bob | November 22, 2011 | link
A lot has been happening in the world of scooters in the past year. We have witnessed the demise of many of the Chinese importers, while the stronger OEM distributors have gotten their inventories under control.
The huge boom that occurred in scooter sales in 2008, combined with the economic downturn that hit in the autumn of that year, led to an overload of inventory in some dealer's showrooms, and all distributor's warehouses. The high profile bankruptcy of Scooter Superstores, which operated several locations in Florida and Georgia, compounded the oversupply problelms that were plaguing the "big three" of the U.S. scooter market: Genuine Scooters, Kymco, and Piaggio/Vespa.
Speaking of bankruptcy, Vectrix has risen from the ashes of their bankruptcy filing with one new model (the VX-2) and two new battery platforms for their larger bike (VX-1). While the specs for the VX-2 have an indicated top speed of 30 MPH, the controller can be easily set to extend that to 40 MPH. We have done mileage testing of the VX-2 and have established a 45 mile range in city riding.
Check out this review on JustGottaScoot. We really love this bike! Come in and schedule a test ride.
The long (version) anticipated wait for the Stella 4T is over!
posted by Bob | June 05, 2011 | link
Rumours of the Stella 4t have swirled around the internet almost since the Stella 2t was introduced back in 2003. The Stella was an instant hit when it came to our shores but it was excluded from sale in California due to their stricter vehicle emissions standards.
Naturally, the vast network of scooterists in the Golden State cried, "What about us??!" Granted, they'd had access to the four stroke, metal bodied, four speed, traditionally styled Bajaj Chetak as an alternative. But the Stella was housed in an actual Vespa P-series chassis. The lines of the Italian design trumped the more utilitarian cut of the Indian styled Chetak. Then Genuine painted the Stella in a variety of both traditional colors and lively pastels. The battle between Bajaj and Genuine for the hearts and minds and wallets of the scootering public was over before it began.
Whille the speculation and debate circulated through on-line scooter chat rooms (who knew?), the concept for a four stroke Stella was being discussed between Genuine and the Stella manufacturer, LML. The solution was not a simple one. Significant modifications would have to be made to the P-series chassis to accomodate the 4 stroke, 150cc engine and the neccesary emissions equipment that would make the Stella exceed the strict C.A.R.B. (California Air Resources Board) standards. The process ran into a variety of hurdles along the way. Not least of which were financial and labor/management problems at LML which shut down the factory for over a year in 2006-07.
In the summer of 2009 at least a couple "concept" models of the Stella 4t arrived inthe U.S for extensive E.P.A. testing and scrutiny. She passed with flying colors! LML began retooling for assembly of the new model and Genuine announced that the long awaited arrival of the 4t Stella would hit dealwer showrooms in early summer of 2010.
Dealers began taking deposits from eager customers lining up to get their hands on the first ones available. Barry Gwin, the proprietor of San Francisco Scooter Centre, had received deposits from literally dozens of long suffering Californians. At Scooterville we had sold out our initial order. Great excitement accompanied the news that the first shipment had arrived in Chicago. Then came the next barrier.
The arrival of the 4t Stellas coincided with a recent dragnet by the U.S Customs to catch vast numbers of illegal scooters coming in from mainland China. Many of the Chinese models were coming to the U.S. with improper emissions documents and forged EPA stickers. Public and industry outcry about these scooters resulted in a long overdue inspection process by Customs of newly arriving scooter shipments. Agents in Chicago uncrated the first of the newly arrived Stellas and, during their inspection process, discovered that the factory had installed the wrong type of adjustment screw on the carburetor. The shipment was impounded by Customs while they decide their fate. Finally, after weeks in limbo, it was determined that the scooters would have to be returned to the factory in India to have the required adjustments made.
Fast forward to March of 2011. The first shipment of Stellas went to the long awaiting dealers and customers in California. Our first batch arrived this week. While many of the people who had placed deposits with us in 2010 had tired of waiting, demand has remained high and only a small portion of our first batch remain.
The Buddy 170i is here!!
posted by Bob | May 21, 2011 | link
The Buddy 170i has existed in rumor for a while. Many wondered what it would achieve versus the Buddy predecesors in the 125 and 150cc versions. The short answer is.......Faster!! It achieves in up-hills what the 125-150s would do in down hills. Great brakes? Yes. You'll need them.
Supplies are severely limited in the early release period. Grab one while you can!!
Supply crisis?
posted by Bob | May 08, 2011 | link
I don't like to toss around words like crisis or panic without a very good reason. I especially don't when it comes to scooters. But after a Minnesota spring that has not been great in terms of average daily temperature, we finally saw a couple of decent days in a row and sales just exploded!
Supply: How it works.
Every fall, usually in October or November, scooter dealers are required by their suppliers (Genuine, Kymco, Piaggio/Vespa in our case) to place orders for the upcoming year. Using a complicated metric of tea leaves, Ouija board, prior years' sales data, and current inventory, we come up with the formula of what to order. We take the over-all order and specify which scooters we want in which months. The monthly order usually comes to us in the second or third week of the month. We order the most scooters for the months that have the strongest sales data. In Minnesota that has been heaviest in May and June.
Mother Nature's role.
The earthquake and tsunami that devestated large areas of Japan also took a toll on their power grid, requiring periodic power shortages throughout the country. Although we do not sell any Japanese manufactured scooters, many Kymco models use parts that come from Japanese factories. We are sold out of one of our most popular 50cc models, the Kymco People 50. They are not able to tell us when they will be available, but our May allotment will not be fulfilled.
When gas prices go up, scooter sales follow.
We saw it happen in 2008 and it is happening again. Gas prices are hovering around $4 per gallon and, depending on whom you're listening to, predicted to go up (or down). Those fuel prices drive up the demand all over the country and in the warmer climates, scooter dealers bought up the remaining 2010 inventories that distributors had in their warehouses.
How about those inventories?
I just came across a fuel receipt from November 1, 2010 when premium was selling for $ 2.99 a gallon. That was when we were putting together our 2011 scooter orders. Inventories were a bit higher than we like to see them at that time of year and 2010 sales figures were well off the all time highs of 2008. Oil prices had not seen much upward movement, awaiting some positive word about the global recession. Even the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico had not had produced much upward pressure on the price of gas.
There was still snow on the ground when we began to notice a larger than normal amount of floor traffic in Scooterville. The inventory of scooters we thought would carry us well into May was getting bought up and forecasters started to speak of $4, $5, even $6 dollar gas. That's when we took a closer look at our orders for April , May, and June and noticed that there could be some shortage if sales kept up their pace.
The pace has kept up and we are already starting to see shortages, especially in the 50cc up to 150cc models. We're taking deposits for the next shipment of Buddies, and People 50s are sold out until further notice. If you're looking to upgrade to a larger scooter (250cc and up) this will be a great year to do so. Demand for the larger scoots is still a bit soft, while trade-in value for a used 50 or 125 cc should be strong.
