Bajaj / Lambretta to modern non-geared scooters: A look back!

My experiences with the older generation of scooters are that no doubt these were tough and enduring but had niggles that had to be attended to on a regular basis. But overall ownership was always a pleasure.

BHPian anjan_c2007 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

The commuter two-wheeler scenario has seen drastic changes though on a long term basis only. It was only bikes earlier, but come the mid-1950's scooters from Automobile Products of India Ltd (API) viz Lambretta and from Bajaj Auto Ltd (BAL) viz Vespa started making inroads into our two-wheeler market scape. Vespas and Lambrettas ruled the markets in the 1960s and '70s. Royal Enfield's Fantabulous and Escorts' Rajhans with some lesser players like Gujarat Narmada and a few others made almost no impact on the Big Two's sales and were sooner or later consigned to history.

Come the Vijai Super in 1975 and soon in its various avatars (state branded avatars) the Lambretta glitter faded and by 1987 API had to wind up scooter production. Bajaj continued its winning spree eclipsing the glory of the Vijai brands by the early 1990s. Piaggio Vespa launched its models in 1982, claiming that they are well ahead of the competition with newer designs, but they had to satisfy their market hold with sales figures that didn't come close to Bajaj. Mr Rahul Bajaj was ultimately crowned as the "Scooter King" by the media.

By 1985, the Indo-Japanese 100 cc commuter bikes made inroads and the four brands viz. Ind Suzuki AX 100, Hero Honda CD 100, Yamaha RX 100 and the last entrant Kawasaki Bajaj KB 100 jointly made an impact on the market scene. But the Bajaj Super, Cub, Priya and Chetak continued to be sold in decent numbers. The Indo Japanese bikes upped their games with 110/125/135 cc variants/upgrades and enticed the young crowds who would prefer these any day over the scooters. Come 1987, Kinetic Engineering threw a googly at the two-wheeler market with their 100 cc Kinetic Honda. Popularly called the KiHo, it won the hearts of lots and lots of customers, reigning our market for about 14-15 years. Ladies and the elderly preferred this scooter as among the best daily commuter, two-wheeled prodigy. Mr Dilip Bam, who coined the term KiHo also in his road test for the Indian Auto Journal had said that this scooter wins my heart as it can carry a gas cylinder hassle-free on its footboard. Incidentally, Mr Bam owned one till he passed away recently.

But despite such headwinds, Bajaj Auto's scooters continued to sell, though they were feeling jittery along with their only surviving competitor LML Vespa (later only LML) due to the inroads made by the 100-135 cc bikes. The Kinetic Honda continued to sell decently though as its niche was defined. And the Kawasaki Bajaj KB 100 /RTZ/125 sold the least among the foursome for pretty long. Bajaj entered soon with their four-stroke bike engine to capture a market slice.

By the 1990s, Bajaj and LML attempted to introduce quite a few variants of their best selling scooters with nearly the same mechanicals to attract more customers. In fact, Bajaj had brought in the Cub (125cc) in 1985 and had four models on offer incl the Priya by PSU Maharashtra Scooters that was soon after bought by Bajaj Auto.

The newer scooter models for Bajaj ( like the Stride/Bravo/Legend/Saffire) and LML (like the Select/Supremo/Sensation/Pulse/Star) gained limited buyers, though only some of these models were popular then. But the fading glitter of owning a scooter had come full circle after the turn of the millennium. The 100-150 cc (some with higher engine displacements like the Pulsar 180) bikes continued their market winning spree post-2000.

With successive failures of their three to four offerings of four-stroke scooters, Bajaj Auto exited the scooter market. Papa Scooter King Mr Rahul Bajaj though was displeased with his son Rajiv's decision but the latter decided to hang on only to the bike market. TVS came and disappeared with its four-stroke scooter, the Spectra.

By 2001, the Honda Activa was launched and soon it took the market by storm and created its own niche, very soon reigniting the passion signalling a restart of the pleasant years of scooter ownership. In fact, it soon dented the commuter bike market to become a dominant player. Others like Suzuki, TVS, HeroMotoCorp and Yamaha soon followed to get a slice in this non geared scooter market dominated by Honda but had to satisfy themselves with their "lesser than Honda" sales.

Back to the title of this thread, we would like opinions from members about coping up with ownerships of the older generation Lambrettas/Vespas to the later 100 cc or more commuter bikes and to the market created by the non geared Honda Activa and its peers.

As for me, I learnt scooter driving with my Dad's Lambretta as he owned three of these during different years. I had a 1985 Bajaj Super too and had also bought an Ind Suzuki AX100 in 1986. Replacements happened and I bought a Yamaha RX 100 in 1990 (still with me). Also, by 2003 I bought a Honda Activa (still with me).

My experiences with the older generation of scooters are that no doubt these were tough and enduring but had niggles that had to be attended to on a regular basis. But overall ownership was always a pleasure. The Ind Suzuki AX 100 with some 7 plus bhp felt a bit underpowered but was extremely reliable. The engine was silk smooth and kick-starting it was so easy. After driving the old generation bikes and scooters this change was very perceptible. It delivered 50-55 km/l and that was too good. Its wheelbase was smaller than the competition and hence balancing it was not as easy as its peers. All the 100 cc bikes made a great difference in driving as long drives never tired me and I could always hanker for more. The Yamaha RX 100 won my heart and has now done 31 years of ownership with me. It's so tough, brute and quick even today. This command has a very good resale value today. The opaque, grey smoke from the exhaust is though a turn off as today, Greens are having their say everywhere. Coming to the Activa, it's extremely reliable for crowded market commutes and carries anything one needs to carry with its two-wheeler limitations.

Lately, I have bought a 1963 Lambretta in 2016 just to keep the old memories alive. One can never till the last breath forget his or her first love and first encounter in metal. More so if he or she is a Team-BHPian

Here's what BHPian ebonho had to say on the matter:

My first two-wheeler in college was a Kinetic Honda.

A year later I sold it and bought a Kawasaki KB 100 RTZ. Simone. Still in college. Which I rode for 10 years, right up until the birth of our second child.

Then after the block piston had seized for the second time, I sold her for 10K to a local mechanic and bought the first lot Pulsar 180.

I rode her for less than a year and sold her and bought my Bullet 500 Standard (Doppie, Doppelganger, who I still have).

Then in 2007, a year after the birth of our third child, I bought Figgy, my LB 500 Machismo. I rode her a lot while modding and racing my Standard 500, and she was my primary touring rig, till I sold her to a friend in 2011.

I briefly bought a first lot Classic 500 UCE and sold her after one big ride. That was the end of my love affair with RE as a company and its new(er) bikes.

I then bought my KTM Duke 200 (Baby Duke 222) in 2012. Rode her for a couple of years, and then sold her.

And bought my Duke 390 in 2014.

Since 2016 I've been a cyclist, and now a State Masters champ and planning to get deeper into masters racing full-time.

Meanwhile, I've seen the Indian scene (from the corner of my eye) moving to maxi and E scooters. I guess it was a nice ride while it lasted.

Cheers, Doc

Here's what BHPian Mafia had to say on the matter:

Change is the only constant. While I appreciate the nostalgia, there are reasons things fall out of circulation.

While it is nice to look back and remember the good old days, we only recollect the good things mostly. Rarely the struggles and the rest of the bitterness.

My experiences have taught me to grow and move on. Though I remember many things fondly, I can not go back and enjoy the old things with the same intensity as I did when they were new. So I invariably regret spoiling the original memory somewhat.

While I look jealously at the old Jawas, I look forward to the latest and the newest bike in the market for buying.

Here's what BHPian drt_rdr had to say on the matter:

We've had a few different nostalgia worthy possessions in the family: the RE Silver Plus, Hero Puch, Bajaj Chetak, Suzuki Fiero, HM Ambassador, Maruti Zen, TVS Scooty, a few different bicycles like the old Atlas standard, Hercules Cannon Barrel, Hero Hawk, BSA Champ and such. Some of these are no longer with us, but personally, I'm not given any sort of nostalgia towards any of these.

Apart from the bicycles, the Zen and the Fiero are the only ones I think are worth preserving. The rest I think are more trouble than they're worth.

Meanwhile, my Suzuki GS150R is another rare gem that I would want to preserve and ride as long as there's no other motorcycle in our market with similar characteristics of upright ergonomics, huge tank, tractable yet rev-happy yet gentlemanly engine, well-behaved handling, great build quality and features which hold up really well even 10 years later, all at a weight that's fairly easily manageable. The day Suzuki brings a GS250R or something like that here, this one would lose its value to me. And I'm actually looking forward to that day.

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