Bajaj Saffire: Convert to Electric

gopalnayak · 15th February 2008, 19:06

Hi,
I am one of the unfortunate souls on earth to own a Bajaj Saffire. Luckily, I use it as a secondary vehicle and am not totally dependent on it. For the price at which it would sell, I thought it is better to hold it and use it once in a while.
I did find a guy who managed to do something with its transmission and the vehicle has been running fine till date, though I feel it might not be a permanent fix. But, I was wondering if I could get the vehicle converted to Electric. If anyone of you knows somebody in Bangalore who can do this, please let me know. If anyone has done any other modification to get the vehicle to work reliably, I could possible try that option as well.

Regards,
gopalnayak.

archie · 16th February 2008, 14:59

I really doubt it would be possible to convert saffire to electric scooter.. never came across anyone who managed to do that..

We also had one Saffire and it was really troublesome. We had to sell it off pretty quickly and for a huge loss.. my father was very upset about that.

gopalnayak · 16th February 2008, 20:24

I think this is a good business oppurtunity. If someone comes up with a decent fix to that vehicle, I am sure he is going to be a millionaire pretty quickly!!! Fix could be conversion to Electric or developing a proper variator to replace the Auto-gear mechanism.

hollywoodhogan · 16th February 2008, 22:56

gopal-ji...forget the electric conversion because its not possible. i suggest that IF you wish, you can get the saffire exchanged for a new gearless one. of course it will be worth only about 1k in bangalore today. but i have seen ads that say that you can possibly get 2-4k for it on some kind of exchange offers at some dealerships. check it out.

however if you wish to retain this very vehicle, i know someone who has fitted a 2-stroke kinetic honda engine to a saffire chassis. but it costs quite a bit. pm me if you are interested.

crazybiker46 · 17th February 2008, 01:38

Best option- Sell it,forget it buy another gearless scooter if you need gearless scooter!!

We too also had a Saffire which is always a horrible story to remember....

,Bought it in 2002 sold in 2004 that tells all.I told dad to go for Activa but he just settled for saffire on a friend's advice.first year no hiccups but after that a regular visitor to workshops
When things got worse like spending lot of money for keeping it running ( some times it will just stop on road while going on normal speeds)he decided to get rid of it exchanged for a CT 100 which suited him best for city rides,now he is a happy man....

dass · 1st February 2012, 00:59

Count me amongst the unfortunate ones to ever own a saffire. That was my first vehicle, brought with my own money 2001, still remember that day like it was just yesterday. Got a silver one, with twin front forks. 3 months into the ownership, the scooter just stopped while i was going home from work at 2am and i had to push it for a good 6 kms to reach office. Called the showroom in Bangalore, I believe it was VST near Yeshwanthpur railway station and they came after 3 days, took it for check up and returned saying no trouble found. 6 Months down the line, breaks down again, push for 3 kms and again call VST, they check and no trouble found. This time, i took the issue to the regional office of Bajaj and threatened them with consumer court case and they in turn organized for a complete recheck with another service centre in Majestic and this time they found it to be a compression leakage and was fixed free of cost. After tht, there was virtually no trouble, but i never had the confidence in the scooter to take it far and had to let go of it in 2005 with a heavy heart, but a relieved one. Bajaj should issue a public apology to all the saffire owners, for they sold a sub standard product under a trusted brand then. I have never gone back to Bajaj after that, it was Activa later on for dad and a access now for myself.

The caption for Saffire was, "It rides, you think" or something on similar lines and i always used to say to myself, i keep thinking when it would STOP to ride.. :-)

15th February 2008, 19:06	#1
gopalnayak BHPian Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Bangalore Posts: 63 Thanked: 30 Times	Bajaj Saffire: Convert to Electric Hi, I am one of the unfortunate souls on earth to own a Bajaj Saffire. Luckily, I use it as a secondary vehicle and am not totally dependent on it. For the price at which it would sell, I thought it is better to hold it and use it once in a while. I did find a guy who managed to do something with its transmission and the vehicle has been running fine till date, though I feel it might not be a permanent fix. But, I was wondering if I could get the vehicle converted to Electric. If anyone of you knows somebody in Bangalore who can do this, please let me know. If anyone has done any other modification to get the vehicle to work reliably, I could possible try that option as well. Regards, gopalnayak.
	() Thanks

16th February 2008, 14:59	#2
archie BHPian Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Pune Posts: 57 Thanked: 0 Times	doubt it I really doubt it would be possible to convert saffire to electric scooter.. never came across anyone who managed to do that.. We also had one Saffire and it was really troublesome. We had to sell it off pretty quickly and for a huge loss.. my father was very upset about that.
	() Thanks

16th February 2008, 20:24	#3
gopalnayak BHPian Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Bangalore Posts: 63 Thanked: 30 Times	Good Business Oppurtunity.... I think this is a good business oppurtunity. If someone comes up with a decent fix to that vehicle, I am sure he is going to be a millionaire pretty quickly!!! Fix could be conversion to Electric or developing a proper variator to replace the Auto-gear mechanism.
	() Thanks

16th February 2008, 22:56	#4
hollywoodhogan BHPian Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: bangalore Posts: 423 Thanked: 14 Times	gopal-ji...forget the electric conversion because its not possible. i suggest that IF you wish, you can get the saffire exchanged for a new gearless one. of course it will be worth only about 1k in bangalore today. but i have seen ads that say that you can possibly get 2-4k for it on some kind of exchange offers at some dealerships. check it out. however if you wish to retain this very vehicle, i know someone who has fitted a 2-stroke kinetic honda engine to a saffire chassis. but it costs quite a bit. pm me if you are interested.
	() Thanks

17th February 2008, 01:38	#5
crazybiker46 BHPian Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: TRV-DXB Posts: 605 Thanked: 404 Times View My Garage	Best option Best option- Sell it,forget it buy another gearless scooter if you need gearless scooter!! We too also had a Saffire which is always a horrible story to remember.... ,Bought it in 2002 sold in 2004 that tells all.I told dad to go for Activa but he just settled for saffire on a friend's advice.first year no hiccups but after that a regular visitor to workshops When things got worse like spending lot of money for keeping it running ( some times it will just stop on road while going on normal speeds)he decided to get rid of it exchanged for a CT 100 which suited him best for city rides,now he is a happy man....
	() Thanks

1st February 2012, 00:59	#6
dass Senior - BHPian Join Date: May 2008 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,291 Thanked: 737 Times	Re: Bajaj Saffire: Convert to Electric Count me amongst the unfortunate ones to ever own a saffire. That was my first vehicle, brought with my own money 2001, still remember that day like it was just yesterday. Got a silver one, with twin front forks. 3 months into the ownership, the scooter just stopped while i was going home from work at 2am and i had to push it for a good 6 kms to reach office. Called the showroom in Bangalore, I believe it was VST near Yeshwanthpur railway station and they came after 3 days, took it for check up and returned saying no trouble found. 6 Months down the line, breaks down again, push for 3 kms and again call VST, they check and no trouble found. This time, i took the issue to the regional office of Bajaj and threatened them with consumer court case and they in turn organized for a complete recheck with another service centre in Majestic and this time they found it to be a compression leakage and was fixed free of cost. After tht, there was virtually no trouble, but i never had the confidence in the scooter to take it far and had to let go of it in 2005 with a heavy heart, but a relieved one. Bajaj should issue a public apology to all the saffire owners, for they sold a sub standard product under a trusted brand then. I have never gone back to Bajaj after that, it was Activa later on for dad and a access now for myself. The caption for Saffire was, "It rides, you think" or something on similar lines and i always used to say to myself, i keep thinking when it would STOP to ride.. :-)
	() Thanks