Category: Manufacturers

Kymco at EICMA 2006

Kymco Super8 125cc, Photo courtesy Kymco

In all our rambling about the Piaggio Group’s EICMA offerings, we forgot to mention that there were 600 or so other manufacturers there. For instance, Kymco had several new bikes on display, including the Xciting 500 they’ve been teasing us with for a year (still not shipping). The new Super 8 (above), is a 50 or 125cc, 4-stroke, 14″-wheeled update of the handsome-but-underpowered Super9. The Grand Dink 125 (Grand Vista in the U.S.) somehow sired a family of “New Dinks” with 50, 125, and 200cc engines. Also on display was the new MovieXL125 scooter and some new motorcycles, including the Quannon 125 entry-level sportbike. Two bikes listed as motorcycles may be of interest to scooterists, the 5-speed Straight 125 looks rather like a modernized Honda Passport, while the 4-Speed ActivSR (50 or 125cc) appears to be the offspring of a Gilera Runner and a moped from the eighties. Neither is terribly attractive, but don’t let it be said there are no manual-transmission scooters out there. No word from KymcoUSA if any of these beasts will come to our shores, other than the Xciting500, which they’re already advertising.

Portanje’s Nostalgia Collection

Kees Portanje’s famous Vespa museum has expanded their website since we last checked in (it’s been a few years!). The site now features hundreds of photos of Portanje’s scooters, album covers, posters, toys, and more. Good to know that the first three issues of 2strokebuzz are tucked away in a folder in a cabinet somewhere on the premises, waiting for a wave of mid-90s scooter-scene nostalgia.

Goodbye, Vespaway

Blogger Crystal Waters retired from Vespaway today, pretty much bringing an end to the “official” Vespa blog project that started in May 2005. Waters left Vespaquest, her original official Vespa blog, to join Neil Barton at Vespaway in March, after their blogging partners lost interest. Barton has posted only seven entries since April, (vs. 500+ posts on 2strokebuzz, brag brag), so Waters’ departure — and her frank admission that Vespa and their marketing firm, CooperKatz have lost interest in the blogs — seems to spell the end of Vespaway. Like many Piaggio marketing initiatives, the blogs seemed woefully ignored by Piaggio after a bright start, and the bloggers’ frustration even snuck to the surface a few times. Luckily, Waters’ better personal blog will continue, and I would link it up, if she hadn’t snubbed the world’s first and best scooter blog (that would be us) in her list of other resources. OK, I won’t be petty, ha, it’s girlbike.com. Best of luck, Crystal, ride on.

Kinetic outlines new plans with SYM, Italjet

More talk from Kinetic, as reported in the Business Standard:

  • The Italjet-designed Kinetic Blaze has been a sucess in Japan, prompting even more Kinetic interest in other export markets, specifically America and Europe.
  • Kinetic has signed a deal with SYM of Taiwan and the companies will introduce a automatic 100 or 150cc scooter in 2007, and two more collaborations in 2008.
  • Of about 170,000 vehicles expected to be produced at Kinetic’s Pithampur plant in 2007, 40,000 are expected to be exported, including 12,000 Blaze scooters.
  • Interestingly, with Italjet’s surprise return to the market, the language of the Italjet/Kinetic deal seems to be changing weekly. Rather than talking about making seven Italjet models, the arrangement now sounds more collaborative. Company officials now say they “may” produce discontinued Italjet models, possibly even selling them in Europe as Italjet scooters, adding that they also may be involved in new Italjet projects as third-party suppliers.

Bajaj blocks Chinese clone, announces plans for Chinese plant

Along the lines of the recent Yamaha/Yamoto “copycat� suit, Bajaj has blocked a Sri Lankan company from importing Chinese Bajaj Pulsar copies. Gulsar? Come on, you could at least try, China. A few hundred more small victories like this, and Chinese manufacturers might give up on knockoffs. Not likely a coincidence: on November 21, Bajaj announced plans to locate an assembly plant in China. While Bajaj already has plants in Nigeria and Indonesia that serve those markets exclusively, the Chinese plant would manufacture bikes for China as well as the international market.

Piaggio redesigns design process

Powersports Business reports that Piaggio has selected a new product development system designed by Product Development Company of Needham, Mass. The system is currently used by 1400 vehicle and parts manufacturers. Piaggio will implement the PDS for all its brands (Piaggio, Vespa, Moto Guzzi, Aprilia, and Derbi) at all facilities in Italy, Spain, India, and China. The system is expected to promote the use of components across product lines and facilitate collaboration among Piaggio’s 700 engineers worldwide, thus reducing development costs and bringing new products to market more quickly.

PM Tuning’s L-series photos

PM Tuning (Lambretta Innovation) has a series of photos of the L-series “new Lambretta,” showing various stages of assembly, and more photos from the EICMA show (Thanks, Stephen and Chad) The engine is, in fact, the Piaggio QUASAR 250ie motor found in the Vespa GTS, Piaggio MP3, and several other Piaggio Group scooters. The bike is being evaluated by Piaggio for engine approval and another Italian company is preparing drawings and production plans. Several years in the making, the new Lambretta is getting tantalizingly closer, but there are still a few hurdles ahead.

Back from the dead: CMSI “L”ambretta?

Steve at The Scooter Scoop reports that CMSI (parent company of TNG scooters) had a prototype “Lambretta” on display in Milan. Not big news if it was the same Lambretta prototype they’ve been showing off for years, but it looks to be a new prototype (comments appreciated). You may remember that CMSI, losing a major investor and finding themselves unable to use the Lambretta name, but teaming up with PM Tuning and looking at a more global market, abandoned the name Lambretta USA and were marketing the scooter as “Scomadi” for a while, but the Scomadi site now features an “L-Series” logo and “coming soon.” Hope springs eternal…

Follow-up: Looking at the photos from the 2005 debut of the Lambretta prototype, the scooter in Milan is pretty vastly different. It appears to be more orange than red, (or poorly color-balanced) and the speedometer, rear turn signals, and glovebox, among other details, would indicate that this is either an entirely new prototype, or the old one was heavily modified. Any engine nerds want to take a stab at what’s inside?

More on Bajaj’s scooter rebirth

Following last month’s reports that Bajaj was looking to re-enter the scooter market, Moneycontrol India reported last week that Bajaj will launch the Kristal (for the ladies) in January, and re-introduce the Blade. Rajiv Bajaj, who seemed creepily gleeful a year ago when he proclaimed the Chetak dead, is hyping his mysterious hi-tech blockbuster 150cc scooter to the press and making it clear that it won’t be secondary to the Bajaj motorcycle line; it will be “insightfully positioned” (is that Rajiv for “boutique?”) at only 100 of Bajaj’s 500 dealerships. You’d think Bajaj could learn from Piaggio’s mistakes, even if Piaggio can’t. “Given that the Honda Eterno sells 90,000 units a year,” says Vespa Club of America historian John Gerber, “I have to wonder if they would try to compete in this niche with another geared scooter.” I think that seems unlikely, but I don’t think for a second that Rajiv would have any problem pillaging the “Chetak” name.

Viva la Vespa (the podcast)

Trevor from Southern California wants a Vespa, and has decided to document his journey into scooterdom in a podcast. He’s still trying to sell his car, and doesn’t have the bike yet, but he’s determined. It’s sort of the podcast version of the Scooter Snoop blog. Trevor will thus be happy to learn that Scott from Scooter Snoop finally passed his test last Wednesday and has his GT200 on the road! (Thanks for the link, Rye.)

Burgdog

Bill Meek and Sandy

Reader Bill Meek responded to our “Burgmania spreads” story:

It’s great that a 2-stroke site has information and links about the Suzuki Burgman. Here’s an interesting newspaper article about a Burgman rider (me) and his unusual passenger that I thought you might find amusing.

We certainly did. Bill and his dog Sandy have covered over 10,000 miles in the last year. Sandy even has her own website with photos, press appearances, and videos.

Piaggio’s EICMA site

I could have saved myself a lot of work if I’d seen this a few days ago: Piaggio Group’s site for Milan motorcycle show visitors. Don’t worry, I’ll still do the Piaggio writeup, but this might give you more detail than my stories, and won’t leave out the motorcycles, some of which are interesting. It’s strange that this site calls the Vespa S the “LXS” wheras the press release avoids making any connection between the LX and S models. (Thanks, Myttrr mA5ty.)