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Kevin Kemble Emergency Fund

On Wednesday, Aug. 13, Kevin Kemble, member of the Louisville Scooter Group had a bad accident while out riding. He got into about 3-4 feet of gravel on a curve, spun around, went into a ditch, through an electric wire fence and hit a 6-8" in diameter pole straight on, breaking it off. He was ejected from the bike, flipped and rolled several times. His Scarabeo 500 is totaled.. His helmet saved his life. He has a fractured spine and worse, his left leg is totally mangled. He has massive breaks. The lower part, the bones are crushed into lots of pieces. Below his kneecap, something broke loose and is now on top of his kneecap. The top of his leg is separated from the bottom, with broken tendons and ligaments, busted cartilage and several broken bones. He is hospitalized at the University of Loouisville Hospital. He is likely to lose the ability to straighten his leg by at least 10% and will lose 5-15% ability to bend the knee. If his surgery is successful, he heals properly and if he does everything he is supposed to do (and nothing he's not to do) he will walk again, however will have a limp.

He had surgery Thursday on his hip and the top part of his leg. They put two screws in his hip and a rod down from his hip to the top of his knee. He had too many chipped or cracked bones to count...they are going to let them heal themselves. He also had a bad break just above the knee. He had two big gouges (the surgeon said it looked like someone had taken a garden tool and just scooped out everything...tissue, muscle, nerves, ligaments, tendons, etc.) He was able to repair the one on the outside of his L thigh, above the knee to his satisfaction, but had a very difficult time with the one that is on the inside of his knee area and around back, in the crease of the knee. He may be having his 2nd surgery tomorrow (Monday). The surgeon said he was going to hold off on it for a bit, but they are preparing him tonight for surgery tomorrow, so we'll see. They will be repairing all the damage around the knee. The tip of the fibula broke off and is lodged under his kneecap. They will remove that and anything else under there, as well as repair two breaks just below the knee. He will then need a third surgery. He has two breaks in his ankle, two other breaks in the lower part of his leg and an area that is totally crushed. They will do repair work and rebuild the bottom part of his leg, putting in a plate and pins. They expect to find many cracked and chipped bones there as well. He is in an immobilizer (his leg) and a hearty brace for his back. We had been told yesterday (Saturday) evening that he would require surgery on his back, as the bone (T9) is broken and the only way to heal a broken bone in the spine is with surgery. However, because he is so immobilized by his hip and leg injuries, the surgeon told Kevin today, after an x-ray during the night, that he was not going to do back surgery at this time. He will have to wear the brace for months...maybe a year or longer. He did not rule out that surgery might be required at a later date. The surgeon said, after his first surgery, that he would not have use of his L leg for a minimum of 4-6 months or longer, and even then it would be with the aid of a cane or walker.

Kevin is self-employed, so when he doesn't work, there's no pay. He's been off for 2 months from a hernia surgery...was due to start back to work Monday(Aug 18). Now, all the healing, physical therapy and immobility/restrictions for 4-6+ months more. The surgeon told me, after asking what he did for a living, that Kevin will never be on a ladder again. There goes his business of 27 years! -Diane Kemble

Kymco 700cc Class Likely in U.S.

The long-rumored Kymco 700cc twin maxi-scooter likely will be reaching U.S. shores sooner rather than later, and ScooterMaxi has learned it will have a familiar-sounding name. In a ScooterMaxi interview with Kymco USA Marketing Communications Manager Rick Pawelka, he was quoted: “I’m sure that we’ll bring it into the U.S. marketed as the Xciting 700i.” With Kymco's record of bringing recent products into the US market as soon as possible, it's likely a matter of getting governmental approvals and making marketing decisions about what may be the biggest MaxiScooter to hit these shores at the time of its' introduction here.

THE University of Tasmania has leapt to the cutting edge of hybrid-vehicle technology with the launch of its latest engineering project.

The scooter's primary power source is an electric motor, unconventionally mounted on the front wheel, which provides enough power to cruise down to the shops or the nearest cafe.
The standard internal combustion engine, converted to run on renewable ethanol, kicks in seamlessly. The power sources combine for a top speed of 80km/h (49.5mph) that will give it the jump over its rivals at the traffic lights. "This should out accelerate a scooter of the same size because it has the two power sources working in tandem," design team leader Steven Ambrose said.

But it is the scooter's environmental credentials that the project team is most proud of. The hybrid uses 35 per cent less fuel than the petrol-only machine it is based on for a truly staggering mileage of 1.7 litres per 100km (126.5mpg). A state-of-the-art regenerative braking system captures energy when the front brakes are applied and feeds it back into the battery. When not in use, the machine can be plugged into a household power point to recharge in just 40 minutes.

The retro-fitted parts cost just $1500 but could be sourced for as little as $800 in full-scale production. UTAS's commercial arm is considering pursuing marketing opportunities that could one day see the scooter on the showroom floor.

Kymco looks set to mount a challenge for a serious slice of the scooter market as it pours resources into quality programms and hi-tech componentry. The MyRoad 700i, which we’ve just clapped our eyes on at the Tokyo Motor Show, will be the company’s flagship for this year, with an impressive feature list surrounding the liquid-cooled 699cc 4-stroke parallel twin engine, which is good for around 45Kw (~55hp) at 7250rpm.

ABS governs the disc braking system, and the rider can control the suspension on the go by selecting soft, medium or hard through a switch on the dash Kymco MyRoad 700i right side

that electronically adjusts the damping to allow for different riding conditions. A keyless ignition system (similar to that used on the 2007 Kawasaki 1400cc GTR tourer) comprises an electronically coded tag that sits in the rider’s pocket. If the tag is within 1.5 metres of the bike, it’ll start simply by pressing the ignition button.

With a 170kmh+ top speed, it should be a serious competitor to Honda’s successful Silver Wing and Suzuki’s Burgmann 650.