Month: December 2009

Indian media looks back at the Chetak

Rediff and The Hindu look at the Bajaj Chetak and its importance to India. It’s interesting that all this nostalgia is spilling now, a few years after the Chetak was discontinued, simply because Rajiv Bajaj chose to make a big deal about the demise of the uninspired Kristal. It almost seems like the whole brouhaha was calculated to spite his father. No one will really miss the Kristal, but the decision is important on a symbolic level, and it seems strange to absolutely rule out future scooter production. Which makes me even more positive that a retro Chetak is imminent, ha. Then again, LML has that market pretty well covered now.

#18: Indoor winter scooter storage?

Today’s question for Dr. Buzz comes from From Phil T. from Chicago, IL:

I have a scooter that I plan to keep in storage for this winter. My plan is to keep it in the basement of our 9-unit building, but I want to be sure that I do everything necessary to both 1, avoid the scooter becoming a fire hazard and 2, ensure that the scooter operates well for the spring unveiling.
Continue reading “#18: Indoor winter scooter storage?”

The end of Bajaj scooters?

Rajiv Bajaj announced last week that Bajaj Auto is halting all scooter production. Their only current model, the Kristal, is selling only a few hundred bikes per month, compared to hundreds of thousands of motorcycles, which are far more popular with Indian teenagers. The company is also looking to compete in the automotive business. A few years ago, I predicted a rebirth of a retro-styled Chetak in 2010, and even though this news sounds dire, and comes so close to the new year, family patriarch Rahul Bajaj is on my side, so I’m sticking to my prediction. Never underestimate the power of nostalgic elder Bajaj.

Scooterworks’ Secret Santa, 6 Days Of Corazzo, and Scootmoto

More great holiday sales, this time from Scooterworks and Corazzo.

Philip McCaleb of Genuine/Scooterworks and Bradford Duval of Corazzo, both actually CALLED us (on the PHONE!) to ask us to hype these sales, and they both promise you’ll never see better deals…

Scooterworks Chicago’s Secret Santa Sale is this Friday and Saturday, McCaleb promises lots of bikes from Genuine, Kymco, and more at or below dealer cost, and vintage scooters sold for the best offer. They’ll also be offering big specials from scooterworks.com (only for orders placed at the store these two days) with free shipping.

Corazzo’s already in the midst of their big “6 Days of Christmas” sale, sorry for the late heads-up, with one special per day for the next few days.

Don’t forget Scootmoto is also a great place to stock up on holiday gifts for scooterists or yourself. We don’t have any big specials because our prices are always stupid-low (and include shipping!) but we do have new 2010 Scooter Calendars and the new issue of Bumpstart and we’ll be adding a few new items in the next couple days including Voodoo’s Buddy lighting adaptors and the new American Scooterist. And all your Scootmoto orders benefit 2strokebuzz and other small-time scooterist-owned businesses!