I got the scooter bug the day I joined GOVECS back in 2011. Within a week of working there, I somehow managed to get a company-issued scooter for research and development testing. Back then, GOVECS GO! line of scooters was just entering the market and the scooter itself was evolving almost every month. The best…
While our Transalp test ride was mainly geared towards the Bieszczady area of south-east Poland, we had scheduled our return path a little differently to cover more of the unknown. Having never been to the cities of Przemyśl, Łancut, or Sandomierz, we decided to do a quick drive by, even if for a minute. First…
The idea behind getting back into riding the Transalp was to do at least one epic run a season. Now the jury is still out on what exactly would deem a ride ‘epic’, but right away my imagination started running wild. Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, no, screw that, Albania! It’s all just a few thousand kilometers…
The Cracow trip described in the previous post wasn’t exactly a sightseeing trip from the get-go. The real purpose of the trip was, in fact, to check out a motorcycle I had found online and considered buying. The owner of the motorcycle had said that he will be available in the late afternoon, giving us a better…
As part of ongoing testing prior to our scooter production launch this year, I have arranged for a team of our test engineers to spend a mandatory holiday in Spain. What a drag, I know. To spend a few weeks in a warm and sunny climate on the southern coast of Spain, while Poland is…
I was really trying to write a meaningful blog entry just now, but simply nothing was making any sense as soon as I typed it. I figured it just wasn’t a good evening to write. So, without further ado, I leave you with all the models of EICMA 2016. Please note that most of these…
While still pretty hot from our Intermot official showing of the Schwalbe, this week GOVECS presented Schwalbe at EICMA in Milan, Italy. Our booth took on a little different arrangement from just a month ago due to an EICMA regulation on open floor space percentage, and while just a little smaller than at Intermot, we…
I don’t really have too much commentary for this other that I hope you enjoy these photos. There’s quite a lot to take in at the show. One aspect very noticeably missing from the Intermot was the models. EICMA is definitely more model friendly than Intermot. I also noticed that the Queen made her presence pretty…
Keeping up with more Schwalbe news, I spent the last weekend in the German city of Koln at the Intermot motorcycle trade show. Having been at the past 4 EICMA’s in Milan, I’ve never been to Intermot due to it’s biennial event status. I was told it would be smaller, less important, etc. But I…
I saw this trike pulling a trailer on the highway today. Honestly, I don’t see any sense in this. You’re out in the open to the elements, but you’re basically a car. With a camper trailer to boot. The setup itself is pretty impressive though.
A couple of weeks ago I got my hands on a Vespa PX125 by Piaggio. A model made sometime between 1983 and 1985 according to the VIN number. I did not buy this scooter, nor is it mine to keep. I was simply asked to evaluate its current state as it hasn’t been ridden in…
I spent the first half of this week in Bergamo, Italy, visiting a plastics manufacturer named Acerbis. I had previously only stopped by Bergamo on my way to Milan, and I must say that I was impressed by what Bergamo had to offer. The city has this totally european/Italian vibe to it. Pizza shops closed…
During my Transalp days, I often rode with groups that almost always included at least one or two Honda Africa Twin motorcycles. The “Queen” they call it. Twenty years old and long discontinued, it was the enduro motorcycle that would never die. Well, a few beers into any Africa Twin conversation you’ll get a short…
This post will soon be edited with photos and stuff, but here’s a quick Google automatic movie that I helped create just now. Overall, it’s fun out here in Milano!
For the past 3 years I have been fortunate to attend the EICMA motorcycle trade show with GOVECS, and this year marks my 4th event in a row. Four years isn’t much, considering my this is my boss’ 9th or 10th. But even to a noob like myself I can tell that EICMA is shrinking.…
I stopped by Hollywood Electrics today to check out what the top electric mobility shop in the vast L.A. area had to offer. I’ve read plenty about Hollywood Electrics in the past year or so, and have followed their social media updates routinely. I especially like their “electric Tuesdays” night rides that group electric motorcycle…
I’m a big electric scooter nerd, no need to go into details. So I was pretty happy to see a newcomer to the field called the ATX 8080 by Austin Electric Powersports; a frame only scooter reminiscent of the Honda Zoomer. Here are the two side by side, Zoomer on the bottom. Unfortunately the cool…
This week GOVECS put together first pre-series test models for Scrooser. Owners of Scrooser were present as our engineers assembled, disassembled, tweaked, assembled again, repeat, etc… Scrooser scooters. The first are always the hardest, a learning experience in its own right when taking CAD modelled parts and assembling them together in real life. So hickups were…
I sold my Transalp last week. Pictured here is my last photo of it, along with its new owner Jacek. I wasn’t gonna post anything about it, but my wife’s response to that photo was priceless. I messaged her the photo with a “SOLD” caption, and her reply was: “That guy doesn’t look like he knows…
Demise of a company is never easy. Having worked for startups over the years I know well how quickly unstable times may approach and how fast a company goes from conquering the world to “we have cash for one more month”. Last year I visited Vectrix, and American electric scooter manufacturer, on the day the…
