After admin SE’s tease on the ScooterBBS yesterday promising a “New Bajaj line,” ArgoUSA unveiled their new scooter today. It’s decidedly not a Bajaj, but the “AR150-18,” another presumably-Chinese-made Vino clone, mostly indiscernable from the TNG Milano, Schwinn Graduate, Baron 150VLA, and a dozen other generic scooters already on the market (although it does have front-and-rear disc brakes, and a Yamaha-manufactured engine). Saddled with a generic name and a $2500 MSRP (same as the Baron, more than the Schwinn or TNG) the AR150-18 is probably a decent scooter, but too little, too late to get the scootering world talking about ArgoUSA again, especially when you consider how few scooter dealers will be interested in adding yet another 150cc Vino clone to their lineup. The site promises “more models coming soon,” hopefully they’re a little more exciting. (Thanks for the tip, Professor Matthew)
Category: Asia
4th Annual MGPC Scooter Cup
This weekend, Macau (a Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China) plays host to the 53rd annual Macau Grand Prix.  The Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix, run on the Guia Circuit made up of the streets of Macau, is part of a dieing breed of Real Road Racing. The notoriously dangerous race is favored by racers who normally take part in the celebrated Isle of Mann TT. Also being held is the 4th annual MGPC Scooter cup. The race is open to Macau residents and follows the 40th annual Motorcycle Grand Prix on Saturday November 18th. The race includes 50cc or 70cc two stroke scooters and 125cc 4 stroke scooters, each with their own class. PGO entered a G-Max 125 (aka Genuine Blur) in 2004 and won the 125cc class by placing 14th overall. This years entry list does not show a PGO taking part but there are plenty of Yamahas and a smattering of SYM scooters making up the race grid. 2005 podium residents Kin Fei Lai, Mou Heng Tou and Kin Fai Chan (finishing in that order) return for this years challenge. The Scooter Cup, run on the same circuit, has got to be the coolest scooter race on earth. The Macau Grand Prix Committee website offers live audio of the race.
Eco-Glide electric scooter
California importer/exporter Global Discoveries has brought their Chinese-manufactured Eco-Glide to the Costco catalog. Hopefully, Global Discoveries have learned from TNG’s problems dealing with China and Costco.
Taiwan celebrates growth at Motorcycle Industry Show
The Taiwan Journal posted a comprehensive report on the Taiwanese scooter industry as a follow-up to Taiwan’s first International Motorcycle Industry Show sponsored by the Taiwan External Trade Development Council.
Whole Hog
One Plus One Equals Three’s tribute to the motorscooter: All those Vietnamese scooter photos with six kids and a pig, all collected in one place. Nice. (Thanks, Delahoyde. Yes, I got scooped by a co-worker.)
2006 TGB sales already exceed 2005 figures
TGB (Taiwan Golden Bee) scooters’ U.S. distributor, Cobra Powersports, reported Friday that in the first three quarters of 2006, TGB sales in the U.S. had already exceeded 2005 total sales.
Two new Asian bike blogs
Two great new-ish blogs about Asian motorcycles and scooters, for those of you that can’t get enough Hyosang, Hero Honda, and SYM news: The Bike Chornicles [sic] of India has been doing a great job documenting the Indian motorcycle industry for the past three months, and Two-Wheeled Asian Invasion offers a “view of the motorcycle industry in China, India, Taiwan and elsewhere,” mostly from a U.S. powersports-dealer perspective.
Taiwan: Taiwan kicks ass
The Taiwanese scooter industry is totally freaking awesome, according to a statement issued by the Taiwanese scooter industry. The report namechecked SYM, Kymco, and Maxxis, ignoring PGO, who was presumably too busy making scooters to attend the conference. Joking aside, Taiwan *is* a scooter success story, with US$500 million in exports and a good reputation worldwide. The industryis focusing on further distinguishing their products from those of mainland China and positioning Taiwanese scooters as being competive with Japanese scooters. Kymco, at least, is well on their way in the U.S.
News Briefs
- A one-cm-long Vespa will be certified as Vietnam’s smallest scooter in Ho Chi Minh City today. Presumably, it has yellow kickstand boots.
- Reese Witherspoon’s film Penelope, featuring Christina Ricci with a pig snout and Witherspoon as a scooter messenger, debuted in Toronto this weekend.
- Arkansas pastor Bryan Fink, sick of $85 fill-ups for his minivan, switches to a scooter, racking up 1200 miles since May.
- Another boilerplate “scooters are great” story from Windham, Maine.
- Another Providence Journal Javaspeed story. (Doesn’t it seem like there have been several others this year?)
- Hindustan Times reports LML workers have started a sit-in at a Labour commisioner’s office. (Story was later removed)
Kymco gears up for export market
The Taiwan Economic News reports that Kymco plans to export 10% more scooters and ATVs worldwide next year, about 290,000 units, including the world’s first 700cc scooter. Upscale products for more affluent markets will continue to be manufactured in Taiwan, while secondary markets will be served with products made in mainland China. 2sb prediction: by this time next year, KymcoUSA will be fighting a PR battle against cheaper illegally-imported Chinese-made Kymcos. Safety recall: 2006 Kymco Agility 50cc scooters were accidentally shipped without an engine kill switch. A voluntary recall is in effect, Kymco dealers can inspect and fix the scooters at no cost.
LML in Daelim talks?
Moneycontrol India reports:
…Daelim, [LML’s] South Korean partner, might buy into the Lucknow-based company. Sources say talks between the two companies have been on for about four months now.
LML management had no comment.
Vespatude
Jonathan Pait’s blog, Vespatude, started about a year ago when he bought a Vespa on eBay. Surely he planned to write about his travels and adventures, but unfortunately he’s spent the year learning why you should never buy an Asian restoration on eBay. Currently, he’s trying to raise some money for a new engine (“Million Dollar Homepage”-style), if you’re in the market for a vintage scooter, throw a few bucks his way to thank him for saving you the trouble of finding out the hard way.
POCphil on the CF Moto V5
Our good friend Phil Waters of Pride of Cleveland Scooters (POC) sent us his impressions of a CF Moto/Baron V5, a 250cc automatic motorcycle, that came into his shop for service:
“First it’s a candy, then it’s a gum!”
This doesn’t seem to work as well with automatic motorcycles. What Honda did so well with the Hondamatic 30 years ago is being re-introduced by the Chinese, in a typically Chinese fashion.
The CF Moto V5 is currently being distributed by Big Jim’s Wholesale, who has recently taken on the more scooter-friendly name of TwinCityScooters.com.
We’ve been considering bringing them in as a line here at POC and talked to their reps at Indy. Their bikes had intrigued me, but I was skeptical about the quality.
Continue reading “POCphil on the CF Moto V5”
China limits exports, tries to repair image
Also via The Scooterscoop, via the Kneeslider: Autoweek reports on China’s drive to limit exports and improve quality. Here’s consultant Paul Gao preaching to the choir:
“The motorcycle industry provides the clearest example of the danger of taking a laissez-faire approach to auto exports. Uncontrolled exports of low-quality, low-price motorcycles led to anti-dumping charges in many markets and damaged the reputation of China-made products,”.
Maybe this is an important step in China’s eventual domination of the motor vehicle industry. They have a long way to go (see Phil’s story above), but it’ll happen.
Scooter reality in Cambodia
In one of those wire stories that’s too vague to seem real, yet too mundane to be made up, Cambodian Television Network is now casting CTN Coffee Shop, Cambodia’s first reality TV show. The participant best able to cope with the stupidity of existence on a reality show for three months wins a brand new scooter. Somewhere, the PR director of a Cambodian factory that makes knockoffs of Vietnamese knockoffs of Chinese knockoffs of Indian knockoffs of Honda Super Cubs is complaining that the one wire service that picked up his story didn’t include the make or model of the scooter.