For those of you that happen across this blog. My name is John Tonic I’m a founding member of the Blue Ribbon Kings Scooter Club and an organizing member of the High Desert Scooterist. My Obsession for the motor scooter began in 1988 when I walked into a dealership in Phoenix, Arizona and eyed my first Honda Elite starting a 24 year addiction…
This blog is an extension of my post in the High Desert Scooterist Forum. If you’re a scooter enthusiast you should join us on the forum at http://highdesertscooterist.lefora.com/ . I plan to import my writings on various scooters to this blog. I also plan to continue to share my future research and writings. In short this blog will be a collection of information on vintage and modern bikes to help feed my scooter obsession…
I feel like I should first introduce the scooters in my garage. I currently own a 2001 Aprilia Scarabeo 150, 2003 Derbi Red Bullet 50, 2008 Genuine Scooter Company Stella, 1986 Honda Gyro 50, and a 2006 Vespa GTS 250ie. My dream scoot is a 1968 Vespa Rally 180…
Aprillia Scarabeo
Aprillia is a world renown Italian manufacture of race bikes. In 1990 Aprilia designed a scooter that would shape the future with a unique example of Italian style and technology that would win a place in the history of two-wheel mobility in a short amount of time. The Scarabeo was presented to the public in September 1993 in the 50 cc version. The name Scarabeo had already brought the brand luck at the beginning of 1970s as successful “scrambler/cross” with a small engine capacity. Aprilia would eventually treat Scarabeo with the independence of being its own brand. By 2000 new models and technologies where added to the Scarabeo family. The new 4-stroke engines, the 100, 150 and 200 cc. versions, the revolutionary DITECH engine with very low emission rates. The pursuit of elegant and environmentally-friendly urban mobility was becoming a distinctive feature of the Scarabeo. 2003 saw the introduction of 500 truly representing the touring class; from the downtown to the outskirts, from home to the open road. 2003 would also be the year Piaggio acquired 100% of Aprilia, saving the company from bankruptcy. Scarabeo is nearing 20 years of production and shows no sign of decline with over 750,000 Scarabeo scooters produced to date; and at least a dozen attempts to copy it…
(Tonic and Son on the Scarabeo MHM8, picture stolen from http://www.scoot.net/ )
(Tonic and Son on the Scarabeo MHM8, picture stolen from http://www.scoot.net/ )
Derbi Atlantis Red Bullet
Derbi was founded in 1922 by bicycle racer Simeon Rebasa Singla near Barcelona, Spain. Derbi started building motorized vehicles at the end of WWII and is now Spain's largest motorcycle manufacturer. They started mass production of their first moped the SRS in 1949. By 1950 the SRS was a success and the company now called NACIONAL MOTOR SA started production on the Derbi 250 motorcycle. By 1969 the company had shifted focus to its smaller displacement bikes (49cc, 65cc, 75cc). The company now employed 450 employes and was producing 140 units a day. Derbi entered the export market that same year, shipping orders to France, Morocco, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Great Britain, USA, Netherlands, Australia, Sweden, Denmark, Algeria, Thailand and Guatemala. By 1977 European moped brands were in crisis Bultaco, Mototrans and OSSA all disappeared, Puch was absorbed by Suzuki, Montesa by Honda and Sanglas by Yamaha, but Derbi managed to fight on. In 1982 Derbi entered the scooter market with the Derbi Scoot; its engine was derived from the Variant, but was 75 cubic centimeters (80 cc for Europe); electric transmission, single-shell steel frame, classic motorcycle-type suspension and an instrument panel that included gasoline level and a mileage clock. Entering the scooter market during the Japanese dominant years meant that Derbi had to stay on top of their game. The company fared well with booms in the motorcross, moped and scooter market. In 1997 Derbi made an aggressive bid for the scooter market by overhauling their scooter line, and producing a generation of new models. 1999 saw the birth of the Atlantis a 50cc liquid cooled 2t. In 2001 DERBI launched GP1, a new model that took its scooter range forward, breaking into the racing sector most tuned-in to the tastes of a discerning young public, who want aesthetic and performance criteria that approach the high cc sport bike range. The GP1 was a replica of Derbi’s competition bikes; the Atlantis Red Bullet was in turn a replica of the GP1. That same year The Piaggio Group acquired Derbi-Nacional Motor S.A. After acquiring Derbi, Piaggio made the choice to no longer import the brand to the States. There is a Derbi USA office in New York, but dealers and service shops have become obsolete. Derbi offers an exciting line of motorcycles and scooters to the European market, and I would love to see their return to the USA, but I fear Piaggio does not want to compete with its already established brands; Vespa, Piaggio, and Aprillia…
(Tonic on the Red Bullet at the High Desert Gathering, 2011)
Genuine Scooter Company Stella
We all know the story. Essentially the scooter known in India as the LML NV is a Vespa PX 150. In 1984 a collaboration agreement was signed with Piaggio and Lohia Machines Limited to manufacture a scooter. In 1986, the LML NV was launched. The partnership ended in 1999. LML would continue to grow building 4stroke motorcycles for Daelim Motor Company of South Korea. They would also continue to build Manual shift 2 stroke PX styled scooters. The Scooter was imported to Europe as the Star, Australia as the Belle Donna, and the US as the Stella. In 2004 LML faced bankruptcy and production of the scooter ceased. The company was able to find new finance and the factory reopened on March 8, 2008 to manufacture geared Vespa style scooters, primarily for export only. In October 2009, LML started production of LML 150 NV Four Stroke; Genuine currently imports the Stella 4 Stroke…
(The Stella and I at MOAB MMXI)
Honda Gyro S TG50
The story of the Gyro begins with the BSA Ariel-3. The Ariel-3 was launched with a fanfare from the BSA management, and round condemnation from the motor cycling press, around June 1970. It was a three-wheeled moped with automatic transmission and a novel hinging system whereby the front could be leant like a conventional two-wheeler, while the back containing the engine & transmission sat squarely on two wheels. The engine was a 50cc fan cooled single cylinder two-stroke made by the Dutch Anker.
The three wheel design was developed and patented by George Wallis in 1966. It was then marketed by BSA with the failed 1970 Ariel-3. The license was then sold to Honda. Honda has built seven vehicles with this configuration. The first, the Stream was introduced in 1981, followed closely by three other personal transport versions, the Joy, Just, and Road Fox (my bike). All were short-lived, but the cargo-oriented Gyro line that begun in 1982 found a ready market, with all three variants still in production to this day in Japan. Honda only imported the Gyro to the states for three years (84-86). If you’re interested in Japanese scooters you have to check out The Motor Scooter Guide... http://www.motorscooterguide.net
I’ve donated my bike to the Blue Ribbon Kings S.C. The club is doing a custom rebuild in hopes of Raffleing it off at The High Desert Gathering this September. I’ll post details about the Gyro and the Gathering as things progress…
(The current state of my 1986 Honda Gyro S TG50)
(The Raffle bike will look similar to this Japanese custom, found at http://cuby.jp/gallery.shtml)
Vespa GTS 250i.e.
The Vespa GTS 250 i.e. was launched on May 25, 2005 in Portofino, Italy. It was the successor to the Vespa Granturismo 200L released in 2003. Fifty years after the launch of the Vespa GS (Gran Sport), Vespa revives the GS as The GTS with a blend of speed and style to become the fastest, most powerful and most high-tech Vespa in history (until 2009 GTS300 Super). With an avant-grade, extremely powerful 250cc four-stroke, four-valve electronic injection engine and two disc brakes, the Vespa GTS 250 i.e. was one of the first two-wheelers and the first 250cc to already meet the strict upcoming Euro 3 emissions...
(My GTS, this Scoot fears nothing)
No comments:
Post a Comment