Letter to the Editor,

Long time reader, first time writer. Love the site. Love the tweets.
I write to you with a question, an anecdotal inquiry if you will. I begin in the year 2008, where this guy, strike that, this awesome guy, meets these two hot chicks, we’ll call them Zauren and Zecky for confidentiality. As it turns out, along with their stellar sarcasm and general awesomeness (salute, General Awesomeness), they also partake in a gaggle of scoots. Now let’s say that said writer is both intrigued and secretly wanting a scoot of his own since leaving the mean streets of NYC for sunny California. Now let’s go a step further and say said writer also drops the line ‘Living the Dream’ about nineteen times a day, so obviously he wants in. Long story short, the pages of 2009 grace the calendar, a gem is found on the craigslist, a fixer upper named Zorangina, who along with some love and a home, needs a few parts and some wrenching. That brings me to the point of my rant. Now lets say a cowboy boot wearing kid name Zeter Zabib joins our story, who along with a love of Creed, promises to fix the scoot, much the way Midas turned oranges to gold in the tales of legend. So the writer makes some searches via the “world wide web”, Zauren is forced to talk to a Pikie stripping parts in some slum of Eastern Russia, and Zeter does a lot of hard talk, using some weird language with words like ‘sparkplug’ and ‘ball bearings.’ All the while, Zorangina lies in shambles. All the while, Zorangina is hurting. All the while, Zorangina is ashamed to show her face, abandoned by Zeter in the name of what, education? Where is the dedication to his club? Where is the love he once showed Zorangina? Has he patched over his LTD jacket with Crew, Chess Club or Planeteer? One reader would like to know the answer, needs to know the answer: why has Zeter abandoned Zorangina…

Signed,
Concerned Reader











(this letter in no way expresses the thanks and appreciation to all parties involved including, but not limited to Zauren, Zecky and Zeter, for all they have done in going above and beyond the call of duty to help said writer acquire, fix, work on and bring said scooter back to life)

Full Sail LTD

The LTD Scooter Gang aren’t the only ones Livin’ The Dream. We stumbled across a delicious beer (thanks to LTD member Tom), that is not only delicious, but shares the same mentality that we do. We were filled with utter joy when this beer came into our presence. The beer is brewed and bottled by Full Sail Brewing Co., who with love and curiosity, created the LTD Series. While it is a limited edition lager, the LTD means Livin’ the Dream for the people at Full Sail. In celebration of their 21st birthday, they fulfilled one of their dreams by concocting an ever-changing series of small batch beers which are only available for a limited time. We advise you get your butts to your local liquor store and pick yourself up a few packs.

Not only is the beer delightful, but it’s packaged with a lovely retro design by Sandstrom Partners (an inspiring design company). On top of a great outer package, consumers are in for a treat when they pop the cap off, which reveals the sweet message of “Live the Dream” underneath.

It’s just too good. So, we salute this limited edition beer.

Nice work. May everyone continue to LTD.

What's your Scoot?

With LTD growing and spreading across the globe we thought it would be a grand idea to tally up what types of scoots everyone is riding. We've created a poll and listed scoot types in the column to the right. Please vote for whatever scoot you ride and feel free to comment here about the greatness of your gem. If your scooter isn't listed as an option in the poll, let us know!

Wrench Night

On a recent Thursday eve, some of LTD gathered to work on our scoots. Becky's Yamaha Vino was in desperate need of an oil change. The majority of the time was spent, however, working on Tom's new gem, Orangina. This beauty needs a lot of work. After taking apart most of her outer shell, we tinkered on her insides to figure out just why she's having trouble running. After about 4 hours I think we got to the bottom of it! It was a night well spent, ending with a trip to In-N-Out. Check out some pictures taken of the glorious night here.

Keep living the dream!

The Story of Orangina

In 1995 an Arizona bandit by the name of Gim Inney was taking a cruise in his newly purchased cherry red Honda Elite. The Elite served Gim's bandit career well. He never bothered taking it to the DMV for plates so there was no identifying his scoot, and he proved to be a small and hard to catch target for vigilantes. The cherry red color, however, was becoming a problem. In the glaring Tucson sun, the color made him stick out like a giant amongst a gang of midgets. As he stared at the burnt orange dirt beneath him, the solution became clear. For the next 6 months he put his scooting bandit career on hiatus as he baked his cherry red scoot in his backyard, slowly but surely fading the color to none else but a dirty burnt orange - the perfect camouflage and interestingly enough, Arizona's state color.

Having had some time to plot out his debut robbery on his burnt orange Elite, he trekked out to Tucson's own "Gazooks! Toys", the oldest independently owned store in town. As he ran in using his swiftest movements, it seemed he hadn't skipped a beat since his hiatus. As the cashier went to hand over the bag of cash, Gim had been distracted for a moment at the selection of Pogs and Slammers "Gadzooks!" had to offer in their last chance bin. By the time he snapped back to it, the cashier had used the lapse to his benefit and came at Gim with his coveted 1891 Mosin-Nagant bolt-action rifle. As Gim ran out of the store and onto his Elite, the cashier shot at him, puncturing the Elite and its side panels. Gim was apprehended and the scoot was later resuscitated by none other than LTD member, Tom Mankowski, as he was roadtripping his way back home to Long Island, NY. Heeding to his fathers advice, Tom used the two most important tools a man can have: duct tape and needle nose pliers, to patch a few bullet holes and get the Elite back on its feet. Having had consistently bad luck with automobiles, Tom ditched his 1997 Pontiac Grand AM and hopped on the Elite and headed back to CA. The newly titled “Orangina” is still in need of some TLC, but is officially LTD. If Tom's awesomeness had not intervened, we would never have such a gem a part of LTD. Continually inspired by Orangina, Tom has initiated a band called Tucson, fully equipped with synthesizers and keytars. In Tom's own words “If awesome was my job, I’d be overqualified and underpaid.” We couldn't agree more. LTD.

The History of Scoots

Scoots have been around for hundreds of years! That’s right friends...the history of motor scooters begins in the 1800s with the first well-documented successful example being the Hildebrand & Wolfmueller, which was patented in Munich, Bavaria in 1894.

Characterized by the typical scooter step-through frame, and using a twin cylinder water-cooled engine, the Hildebrand & Wolfmueller, though not a significant commercial success, nevertheless led the way in shifting from pedal to power driven transportation. It was not until after WWII, however, that further progress was made. The modern motor scooter tracks to France in 1902, where a French inventor designed the auto-fauteuil.The auto-fauteuil maintains the step-through frame and a rudimentary engine in the back. From 1902 to 1935 the history of the motor scooter in America basically follows small scooter firms that were lackluster in performance. In 1936, Salsbury introduced the Motor Glide, which was the beginning of the motor scooter craze in the United States.

Cushman, a competitor, developed the similar Auto-Glide and a fierce competition developed between the two.

There were developments such as self-shifting transmission (1938) and new sleeker models like the Salsbury Model 85 (1948) but for motor scooters, no great history continued to happen in the United States. In Italy, the Second World War brought the economic situation into disarray. Many of the large factories which had made weapons were forced to change over to new products including the motor scooter.

Piaggio, a former military aircraft firm, was directed by Corradino d'Asciano towards a new motor scooter, the Vespa. Check out this video from 1990 on the history of The Vespa. The Vespa had many new features, easy-to-change tires, better protections from the elements, and a hidden engine. This new motor scooter was well ahead of its time in history.

The Vespa was originally made of pressed steel to help utilize stock from the war and made solely in Italy. In just a few short years, however, Vespa production had spread throughout Europe (Germany, France, and England) and into Asia (India). Each manufacturer helped to shape the history of motor scooters in their respective regions. In the late 1950's and early 1960's two more scooter makers in history began production of motor scooters. These were the 1958 Honda Cub and the 1960 Harley Davidson Topper (which was the only scooter with the Harley Davidson signature).

The Honda Cub, known as the big little giant, has gone through some minor changes, but is in essence still produced today the same way it was in the 1950's. The Honda Cub motor scooter has sold over 50 million units in its 50 year history.

Most people think scoots are most popular in Italy....WRONG.

More scoots have been sold in Asia than anywhere else on the planet. In some Asian countries, the population owns more of these fuel-efficient, relatively cheap motor scooters than they do cars. Buying a motor scooter can save you a lot of money and is something to look into. You can’t go wrong with owning a scooter. And I don’t think there exists a person who has been on a scooter and hasn’t fallen in love with it!

LTD!

LTD in Thailand!

LTD member and good friend, Chris Marsh, is traveling the world right now, experiencing the beauties that overwhelm this earth. Right now he's in Thailand, and Living The Dream. LTD's Godfather, Charlie Duarte, recently posted the LTD logo on Facebook, in which Chris Marsh commented with: "I love it ;) I've been scooting (LTD) around Thailand... This place is the land of scooters." Once again, LTD has gone international. We will do our best to get pictures of Chris in action on a scoot around the world and we'll post them here! In the meantime, visit his blog to keep track of his adventures: www.lostinasia2009.blogspot.com. LTD!