The Indian Express reported Saturday that Bajaj Auto chairman Rahul Bajaj has not reached an agreement with his younger brother Shishir and Shishir’s son Kushagra, who filed an internal grievance “alleging oppression and mismanagement” by Rahul and his sons Rajiv and Sanjiv. The story is a bit unclear, but it appears that Shishir and Kushagra are looking for a cash settlement for giving up their stake in Bajaj Auto in order to pursue independent ownership of some smaller Bajaj subsidaries. The settlement is held up as the debate continues over the worth of their stake in the company as the company continues to expand production. Recent reports project production capacity to grow from the current 3 million units annually to over 4 million within the next three years.
Author: illnoise
Kymco to add cross-brand comparison technology to site
WantFacts.com allows you to select and compare new scooters online based on manufacturer’s stats. They don’t have all brands, but they have most of the major manufacturers. Consumer Research Solutions, who run WantFacts, recently announced plans to supply KymcoUSA‘s site with this same comparison technology. Kymco is also in the process of switching over to ARI’s PartSmart system to help dealers manage parts supply.
Canadian Scooter Group brings Guzzi to Canada
Canadian Scooter Group, Canada’s national Vespa importer, today announced plans to import Moto Guzzi motorcycles. CSG joins the list of North American scooter importers and dealers that now find themselves with an awkward name in a Piaggio-owning-Guzzi world.
New Lambretta setbacks
Washington-based partners CMSI and Khurana issued a press release this month outlining the problems facing the “New Lambretta” and their internal rivalry:
CMSI, Inc. and its partners KG of Seattle, WA reached an impasse late in 2005 in their discussions concerning how to proceed on the Lambretta project. CMSI and KG are currently working to resolve this impasse and if needed, will submit to binding arbitration to resolve it as outlined in their agreement.
Continue reading “New Lambretta setbacks”
Vespa Village
If American Scooterist’s special GS issue whetted your appetite for all things GS 160-related, visit the handsome and useful Vespa Village.
Take longer to look for bikes
Another reason to move to England: The British Department for Transport’s THINK! safety campaign features a chilling TV spot and an extensive print campaign to remind motorists to keep an eye out for motorcycles. (Thanks, Girlbike)
American Scooterist 48/49
The Las Vegas rally is underway, which can mean only one thing: the new American Scooterist is out! #48/49 is very special, it’s a 52-page double issue celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Vespa GS. It features an in-depth look at the various GS models from around the world, personal memories from original GS owners, and even complete rebuild directions. As part of the hard-working American Scooterist team, I really strongly suggest you join VCOA today, or at the very least, order it from the VCOA club store.
Snow ride
I actually rode around Galewood in the snow the other day. Goodtimes, for a few minutes. Check out The Baron in Winter for some cold-weather riding inspiration, and remember, the Cold Weather Challenge ends on the 28th.
Peg Perego Vespa GT
Peg Perego unveiled a new rechargeable-battery-powered Vespa Granturismo at the American International Toy Fair in NYC this week. We’ll keep an eye out and let you know when we see them for sale. Last night Milena backed her Chicco Vespa into a door and busted out the rear right turn signal, so she’s going to have to learn to ride more responsibly if she wants a GT. Thanks for the link, Vespaquest (See, I’m stealing links already!)
Huckin’ big air, or whatever the kids call it
At the motorcycle show, Toyota Trucks had a big green wall with an upside-down motorcross bike bolted to it. I walked up, hung from the bars, and gave them my email address, and today I got this.
50 million Super Cubs
Honda announced last week that worldwide production of Super Cubs topped 50 million in December. They won’t notice if just one is missing, right?
Paper Lambretta
I’ve been waiting ages to post this, even though I can’t remember who sent it to me, and probably everyone’s already seen it. Here’s an NSU Lambretta LD paper model you can print out and assemble. I assume it’s from an old German magazine. If you assemble it, send us a photo!
Exhaustive Vespa PX200 exhausts
To end all those “it feels like…” arguments once and for all, here’s an english translation of Scooter Center Köln‘s test of fourteen exhausts, complete with dyno results, tested on a Malossi-kitted PX200 in 1999.
Go-time
We’re back live, with little fanfare. There’s still a lot of work to do, but we decided it’s better to get the posts rolling, and finish up the sloppy bits as we go along. We’re still moving things around, and we might be down for a day or less in the near future as we move the domain name to the new host. Also note that you need to register to post comments now. Registering is painless and easy, it’s necessary to prevent the overwhelming comment spam that destroyed the old site.
Coming soon: new mersh, and category-specific RSS feeds. Thanks for nagging me and checking the site every day for the past year, please spread the word that we’re back in business.
Vespaway and Vespaquest
While 2sb was gone, many scooterblogs have sprung up, notably VespaUSA’s two officially-sanctioned blogs; Vespaway and Vespaquest. Both are lovely, and I look forward to stealing links from them in retribution for the pain of 2strokebuzz not being asked to the dance. Just keep in mind that even if other sites have stolen your hearts, you can always come here to bitch about Azzurro Grande behind its back.