A Scooter by Any Other Name

The boss collects old scooters. His latest aquisitions -- a fairly recent KYMCO Agility 50 and a People 150-- got our collective juices flowing. KYMCO makes great scooters, but sometimes finding the right replacement parts can be challenging. Even locating the correct size 16" tires for the People and People S series scooters is often difficult as many local tire stores may never have even heard of 100/80-16 rubber. My buddy Mike, the official Monster Scooter Parts mechanic and subject matter expert extraordinaire, tore the Agility 50 and People 150 down to their proverbial nuts & bolts and made a rather interesting discovery about parts compatibility. Although almost every other scooter manufacturer in the world uses AC CDI modules, KYMCO scooters require DC CDI modules! It took some doing, but we have located a source of supply for replacement DC CDI modules and are now awaiting the shipment. If you need a DC CDI and are frustrated with trying to get parts from a KYMCO dealer, give us a call. Among some other identified replacement parts that we have in stock for the KYMCO Agility 50 scooter: 19 mm Carburetor with Electric Choke Ignition Coil 12 Volt Electric Starter Motor Clutch Shoe Assembly Automatic choke unit Tires, spark plugs, throttle cables, CVT belts, bulbs and more. It came as a surprise a while back to find out that KYMCO scooters were from one of the top five makers of scooters and motorcycles in the world today, along with Piaggio (Vespas, Aprilias, et al.) and the Japanese Big Three (Honda, Yamaha and Suzuki). KYMCO (Kwang Yang Motor Company, Ltd) actually got its start as the subsidiary engine parts supplier to Honda. Unlike some of the generic (or best left unmentioned) scooter manufacturers on the Chinese mainland, the Taiwanese KYMCO continue to uphold Honda's high standards of quality control and assurance. A Scooter by Any Other Name "O, be some other name! What's in a name? That which we call a Grand Dink by any other name would smell as sweet." -- William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, 1600 Well maybe the Bard's young Miss Capulet wasn't really pining away for her KYMCO Grand Dink scooter, but the sentiment remains the same. Of all the major scooter makers in the world, KYMCO evidently had a marketing crew with either the greatest sense of humor, or the least understanding of branding for the American scooter market. Scooter models with names like Yup, Top Boy, Bet & Win, Dink and the ultimate curiously (but very nobley) titled Grand Dink are all examples of KYMCO's undeniable silliness with the English language. In my mind I can hear the voice of an American public relations expert taking the KYMCO Vice President of International Marketing aside and saying; "uh sir... I don't think the folks here in the US will be all that enthusiastic about a scooter called the Yup. You may want to rename it into something that sounds a bit zippier like maybe 'the all-new KYMCO Sting 50' or something like that. Now about that Grand Dink thing..." So other than the Bet & Win models, KYMCO naming in the USA is often quite different that that used in other parts of the world. I am still waiting to see the definitive cross reference listing of all the KYMCO scooter models, along with each of the various & sundry names used in different countries and when it was that they used them. Maybe not great literature for the casual reader, but for the die-hard scooter enthusiast or the student of international marketing it might make for more than a few raised eyebrows. www.monsterscooterparts.com

New Scooter Tires and More New Scooter Tires

Scooter tires are getting bigger, and Monster Scooter Parts carries the larger size rubber for the bigger rims on today's heavier motor scooters. We have recently expanded our tire inventory to include the often hard-to-find 13", 14", 15" and 16" sizes found on the up-scale Aprilia, Derbi, KYMCO, and Piaggio models. Adding to our range of Innova, Kenda and Michelin scooter tires, we now have the Shinko and Vee Rubber brands in the larger sizes as well. Additionally, we have added a new Michlin series, the Michelin City Grip Premium Scooter Tires. The City Grip replaces the manufacturer-discontinued Michelin Gold Standard and Pilot City series. We still have a few Gold Standard and Pilot City tires left in our warehouse stock, but once these are gone there may not be any more to be had for love or money. Small + round = agility, big + round = gyroscopic stability Back in the early salad days of scooterdom, the 3.50-8, 3.00-10 and 3.50-10 tires were the industry standards rolling underneath those classic old Lambrettas and Vespas that came buzzing out of Italy like a swarm of wingless wasps. Offering the exceptional agility needed on the venerable streets of Rome and boulevards of Paris, these little tires were best suited for the 49cc and 125cc relatively low horsepower 2-stroke engines of the day. As time went on and motor scooters became heavier, faster and more powerful, the qualities of enhanced nimbleness in the smaller wheels were negated by their lack of directional stability at high speed. Think about a gyroscope here; the bigger the wheel, the better it is at maintaining its forward direction. Two very aesthetically pleasing lines of modern scooters are the Aprilia Scarabeo and KYMCO People series. Combining that great "wasp-waisted" body style with big 16" tires, these scooters are finding global favor with urban commuters world-wide. Good looks, fun to ride, and the undeniable safety and smoothness of bigger wheels all make for a winning and popular scooter combination. Another innovative 21st Century design is the unrivaled Piaggio MP3 series. Using three big wheels in a reverse-tricycle arrangemment, these robust maxi-scooters definitely turn some heads when they pass by. The earliest big-wheeled scooters that I personally remember are the Honda Cub C50 and Cub C70 that used 17" tires. And yes, Monster Scooter Parts stocks those classic sizes as well. The boss and I debate about whether Honda Cubs were called scooters back in the day, or were properly termed as "motorbikes." As I am the elder by almost two decades, I stand on the experience of my (sometimes misplaced) memory. As the signer of paychecks, he stands on an even greater authority. Also in his favor is a contemporary 1960's pop tune where it was refered to as a "groovy little motorbike." www.monsterscooterparts.com/