Italy plans to pay riders to replace their old scooters with new ones

Italy is a bastion for cool old scooter finds, as classic manufacturers such as Piaggio, Vespa and Lambretta were born and bred there. These classic scooters include striking and beautiful design aesthetics as well as solid construction methods. Also in their favor are decades of sentimental value, which is hard to put a price on. Unfortunately, most of these scooters also have a dark side, and it has to do with emissions. While they are quite thrifty when it comes to fuel consumption, the vast majority of the older scooters on Italian roadways are powered by 2-stroke engines, which emit much more harmful pollutants than newer 4-stroke models. Also, when many of those scooters were manufactured, emissions laws did not yet exist, meaning there is nothing in between the combustion chamber and exhaust pipe than a straight tube ... catalytic what? To help alleviate some of these pollution generators, the Italian government has decided to offer a 300 Euro bonus to trade in your old scooter for a new model. The hope is that pollution levels will decrease as the older fleet of scooters currently on the road is replaced with a new, cleaner one. Scooter fans the world over collectively shed a tear.

[Source: Forbes via 2 Stroke Buzz]