[limerick1999]

It's allways impressive to see how many scooter models have been developed in India over the years! Is there a possibility to find out, how many of each model were produced?

For Italian Vespas there are quite detailed informations like that page: Retro Old School Rocka: Vespa Piaggio Motor Scooters Engine Number and Type

Unfortunately I have found none such information on Indian Scooters (Bajaj, LML, Andhra Pradesh Scooter Limited, Maharashtra Scooters, Girnar Scooters or Gujarat Narmada Auto ltd. (GNAL).

An inquiry last year at Bajaj Auto remained unanswered. They probably got better things to do...

[hillram]

Here is my latest addition/restoration : 1984 APS Vespa PL 170.
I had to struggle a lot for the parts,but in the end..I got there.Its a sheer joy to ride this little machine !!!

[limerick1999]

Whow Hilram, impressive work!

Very interesting scooter, kind of a mixture between Vespa Special and PK.
Would be interesting to find out how many of those scooters were produced.
The production numbers of PVX as well...

[hillram]

Originally Posted by limerick1999

Whow Hilram, impressive work!

Very interesting scooter, kind of a mixture between Vespa Special and PK.
Would be interesting to find out how many of those scooters were produced.
The production numbers of PVX as well...

Thanks my friend.PL 170s were made quite in number and were a sort of rage in their time.Most of the people confused PL 170 for Payload 170cc engine,where as it was powered by a humble 110cc engine.

AFAIK,PVX came in very limited numbers.

[directinjection]

Originally Posted by hillram

Thanks my friend.PL 170s were made quite in number and were a sort of rage in their time.

I'm hearing that for the first time. The scooter hardly sold in North India. May be things were different in South.

Originally Posted by hillram

Most of the people confused PL 170 for Payload 170cc engine,where as it was powered by a humble 110cc engine.

The designation PL 170 was cleverly devised in order to deceive gullible people into believing that it was equipped with a 170 CC engine whereas PL 170 really meant Payload 170 Kgs. However, people were wise enough to stay away from the product.

Originally Posted by Technocrat

Another bit, Priya was a 100 cc 3 gear scooter unlike the Chetak.

Priya was 150 CC with 3 gears.

The chronology was like this:

Vespa 150 with 3 gears became Bajaj 150 with three gears when the collaboration with Vespa expired. This happened in early 1970s.

In 1978, Bajaj 150 got re-branded as Priya although sold through Maharashtra Scooters. It was identical to Bajaj 150 in all respects.

At the same time the Priya was launched, Bajaj 150 got the shape of Chetak but with smaller, Priya/Bajaj 150 size wheels. It also got 4 gears at the same time.

The 100 CC scooter was called Cub.

Originally Posted by esteem_lover

The Bajaj Chetak (4 gears)was launched in the 80s only (like you said with bigger wheels)as an export model meaning if you wanted to buy that, you had to pay in forex.

The model you are referring to was called Bajaj Viking. It came with indicators and a single, integrated seat for both driver and pillion. Chetak was for the Indian market and was launched in late 1970s.

[Gansan]

The cub was a three gear, 100 cc scooter with electronic ignition.

The Chetak and Super were 150 cc four gear models with 10" and 8" wheels respectively.

The Priya was 150CC, three gear model made by Maharashtra Scooters.

There was also a four gear, 150cc Chetak look alike model made by GNFC in the 80's called the Leo Girnar. It bombed.

Lohia Machines started in the 80's with the Vespa XE, a 100 cc four gear model with a lot of hype and initial premium. Then quickly switched to various 150 cc models which sold very well.

The Vespa PL 170 made by AP Scooters was also a pretty decent scooter.

[hillram]

Originally Posted by directinjection

I'm hearing that for the first time. The scooter hardly sold in North India. May be things were different in South.


The designation PL 170 was cleverly devised in order to deceive gullible people into believing that it was equipped with a 170 CC engine whereas PL 170 really meant Payload 170 Kgs. However, people were wise enough to stay away from the product.

Many scooters till date are sold with a regional bias,nothing alarming.For example: LML relaunched recently and is sold only in North.

I dont think so the naming was to mislead gullible people.Infact people prefered it for its small size and good power and they were sold like hot cakes in Andhra Pradesh.There is still a gentlemen who still hoards 5 of his PL 170s as a pride.

[directinjection]

Originally Posted by hillram

Many scooters till date are sold with a regional bias,nothing alarming.For example: LML relaunched recently and is sold only in North.

Infact people prefered it for its small size and good power and they were sold like hot cakes in Andhra Pradesh.There is still a gentlemen who still hoards 5 of his PL 170s as a pride.

Thanks for the info! It had failed miserably in the North including in Chandigarh which was a major two-wheeler market.

Originally Posted by hillram

I dont think so the naming was to mislead gullible people.

I beg to differ. IIRC, there was a news report in Business India around that time about court cases being filed against the company for misleading consumers by designating the scooter wrongfully. A scooter is not meant for hauling load that you designate it on the basis of payload, more so when the convention had been to designate scooters on the basis of the cubic capacity of their engines.

Cheers!

[limerick1999]

Originally Posted by Gansan

There was also a four gear, 150cc Chetak look alike model made by GNFC in the 80's called the Leo Girnar. It bombed.

This is extremely interesting.

Is/was the Leo Girnar different from the GNAL Narmada Prince?
Has anybody got pictures of the scooters?
Ads or road-tests would be very welcome and highly appreciated indeed.

[Technocrat]

Originally Posted by limerick1999

This is extremely interesting.

Is/was the Leo Girnar different from the GNAL Narmada Prince?
Has anybody got pictures of the scooters?
Ads or road-tests would be very welcome and highly appreciated indeed.

Here is a Pic from another thread which shows the Girnar Leo

Originally Posted by harit

Originally Posted by harit

Totally OT, can anyone identify those Scooters? With a current picture )

Cheers harit

Originally Posted by wbd8779

As far as i can decipher from this pic , these scooters appear to be the Girnar Leo scoots that were made by a company called Gujrat Small scale industries corporation (A goverment of India/Gujarat Enterprise).

The G logo on the front panel also points to this.

This information has been taken from a a existing Tbhp thread.

Regards
Salman

[limerick1999]

Originally Posted by Technocrat

Here is a Pic from another thread which shows the Girnar Leo

Thank you very much Harit!

In fact I have stumbled upon that picture before.
Very interesting to see that the Girnar Leo seems to have been quite unique.

The backwards elongated headset slightly reminds on the API Lamby/Lambretta Li Series II while the front part with the headlight seems to be similar to the square Vespa Sprint/Bajaj Chetak headset.

The angular front of the frame seems to be unique as well.
As far as I can see, the fender differs from Bajaj-fenders, too.

Finally the cowl and the rear end of the frame seem to be distinctively different as well.

Has anyone got full screen pictures of the scooter?

[Technocrat]

Originally Posted by limerick1999

Thank you very much Harit!

Just to clarify, I am not Harit, I merely quoted his post

[Gansan]

@Technocrat

That picture is indeed of the Leo Girnar! But the company was actually Gujarat Narmada Fertiliser Corporation, scooters division! At that time, Kelvinator of India Ltd also made a Vijay super look alike, named Avanti!

[Skyline GT-R]

Remember the Narmada Prince TV ad in DD channel, in which the scooter falls into a river & is found later without any rust.

My dad had a PL170 (KRZ 6950) then. Used to fight with friends whenever they told Narmada Prince is better than PL170. Though Narmada was seldom seen in Kerala, PL 170 was relatively popular.