Category: Asia

Garelli is back, if only in name

Motoblog.it reports that Garelli, thought to be lost forever in the never-ending shuffle of Italian motorcycle brand names, has three new scooters on the market, but as one reader comments, “Oltre al marchio cosa ha di Garelli questo pezzo di plastica?”. It’s another case of a once-great manufacturer that exists now only as a trademark, slapping their esteemed name on Chinese scooters.

Tuk to the Road

Ants and Jo

Jo Huxster and Antonia “Ants” Bolingbroke-Kent wil start their 10,000-mile tuk-tuk adventure Saturday, starting a three-month drive from Bangkok to Brighton to raise awareness and money for mental health charity Mind (I’m sure we’re not the first to question their own sanity). Their Tuk-Tuk, named “Ting Tong,” was custom-built in Thailand by Anuwat Yuteeraprapa at Expertise. You can follow their adventures in their blog. (thanks Becky for the info)

Sachs’ China deal

The line between Chinese and European scooters is further blurred as 120-year-old Sachs signs a deal with a Chinese manufacturer. Perhaps it’s the same manufacturer that’s already knocking off their Madass for Xkeleton. Even as SachsUK brags about the arrangement, they continue to warn buyers about “other” Chinese scooters. Why are all these companies feeding the hand that bites them? China is an attractive manufacturing center and an attractive market, but scooter makers seem too excited to invest there considering the ethics and quality issues involved. Thanks to Scootersnoop for the story.

Buddy 125 Assembly Line

Genuine Buddy scooters on the assembly line

PJ Chmiel at Genuine Scooters has posted some new photos of the first Buddy 125 scooters being assembled at the PGO Factory in Taiwan. These bikes are on the way to the US now, and should arrive here in about a month. The 50cc Buddy and Black Cat models are expected in early July. Genuine also plans to introduce two more PGO models to the US this summer (“but not the 3-wheeler,” says PJ). We’re betting the quite-cool PGO EVO G-Max is one of them, that’s the scooter PJ rode from Chicago to Cincinnati and back last month.

Yamaha wins “copycat” suit

Speaking of Asian copycats (Via the BBS):

Yamaha Motor Company, U.S.A., Cypress, Calif., has obtained a Consent Judgment in its lawsuit against Yamoto Motor Corporation, Union City, Calif. Yamoto has agreed to stop the import and sale of Yamoto products into the United States which Yamaha claimed were copycats of its products.

The lawsuit, filed October 12, 2005 in Los Angeles Federal Court against Yamoto Motor Corporation and Patriot Motorcycles Corporation (Pink Sheets: PMCY), alleged trademark infringement and copyright infringement, among other claims.

Read the full story at Powersports Business

TNG files charges against Schwinn Scooters

Can you tell the difference?

As 2strokebuzz noted a couple weeks ago, the new Schwinn Scooters bear more than a casual similarity to the TNG Venice and Milano models, and as promised, we’ve dug a little deeper into the situation and our findings are rather startling. Tom Lynott, president of CMSI, makers of the TNG scooters, had no comment on April 4th, but since then, a source outside CMSI confirmed that CMSI were preparing legal action against Pacific Cycle, the parent company of Schwinn, Mongoose, and GT bicycles. A complaint, which alleges that Pacific Cycle effectively “stole” TNG’s product and business model after a proposed collaboration was abandoned, was submitted to the United States District Court in Seattle on April 6, (two days after our original story), listing six charges against Pacific Cycle: False Designation of Origin, Violation of Washington’s Consumer Protection Act, Common Law Unfair Competition, Intentional Interference with Contract, Intentional Interference with Prospective Economic Relations, and Breach of Contract.
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