Jeff, the FB survey is on the Lambretta Jamboree 2011 event page. If you're still interested.
The survey was the end result of a kerfuffle on a Portland e-mail list, which I'm going to guess is likely to have set a record for number of uses of the word 'douchebag'. Someone acting in the manner Jeff described got a Portland person all bent outta shape (though I think this is someone who was really eager to be offended), and this person reacted.
However, I wouldn't paint
all members of make-specific motor vehicle clubs with the broad douchebag brush. In this particular case, it
is called the "Lambretta Club USA" and their Web site states specifically that membership is limited to owners of Innocenti Lambrettas and their licensed derivatives. The BMW Motorcycle Owners Association of America limits its membership to owners of BMW motorcycles. The Porsche Club of America, Porsches. Heck, there's a Pontiac Aztek club, too!
From time to time I think it would be kinda cool to have a vintage Lambretta. If such a thing actually became feasible, I'd join the Lambretta Club USA because I really don't know much about Lambrettas, and being part of such an organization would afford access to resources and expertise I probably couldn't find on my own.
When I bought my first Vespa, I joined the Vespa Club of Seattle for that very reason. I met some great people, who I think will be lifelong friends. I met some real dicks, too. That's just the way clubs are... some people wrap their whole identity up in their club membership. OTOH, some are indifferent, but most are grownups who have lives and identities and interests outside the club. They get it.
As for the idea of a Kymco Club, well, why not? Kymco would be wise to nurture something like this, because happy owners are probably the best marketing tool in the world. My impression is a much larger percentage of Kymco owners are scooter newbies vs. Honda/Yamaha/Genuine, and would join such a club for the reasons above. I know someone who talks about her People 150 like it's a pet. I'm inclined to think she'd join a Kymco USA club, if there were such a thing.
When I was in high school, conventional wisdom said nobody would care about contemporary automobiles, even the muscle cars. And besides, you can't restore them, these people said. Unfortunately, most are not around to see what goes across the stage at the Barrett-Jackson and other auctions. I don't think anybody thought there'd be muscle cars selling for large fractions of a million dollars in 2011.
Thirty years from now, that Kymco People 150 might fund your retirement...
__Orin
Scootin' Old Skool
