Mahindra Records Success In Two Wheeler Sales

The early account of the sale for September 2010 for Mahindra two wheelers has brought some cheers. The company is said to have reaped a whooping 451% growth against its performance in the past one year period. The net sale in that month was 16,569 scooters and the sale of the company was stagnated at 1.5 lakh units.

Mahindra&Mahindra’s status is $76.1 billion. The company is concentrating on its power scooter concept targeting the youth and women. The products are one of the most stylish in 125cc sector. Mahindra two wheelers is taking its next giant step in the motorcycles segment by launching new products as confirmed by the President of the two wheeler segment. 

Two models of Mahindra two wheelers, Mojo and Stallio has Aamir Khan doing the brand ambassador role. Mojo is equipped with sophisticated technology. M&M believes that this bike will bring in a grand brand reputation for it in the highly competitive in Indian and global market. Mahindra & Mahindra's MD and Vice Chairman said that Mojo reflects the company’s capability in two wheeler manufacturing. He claimed that it is to run as the fastest Indian bike as on date as it has been designed so. 

Stallio 110cc satisfies the customers with its fuel efficiency, economy pricing and latest features. Having tested its presence in this two wheeler market, Mahindra & Mahindra is actively engaged in promoting its products through vigorous campaigns. As a part of it, it has come forward to make a ride show of its bikes by employing 20 bikers who will all along ride from Ladakh to Nagpur. They will be gifted with the bike once the drive journey is over. M&M’s journey began last year with its gearless scooter acquired from Kinetic, by getting 80% stake at Rs110 crore.

Source: oneindia.in

Scooters in UK

Scooters - we've all got an opinion on them whether we think they're essential accessories for cool, urban living or just wannabe motorbikes that sound like an annoying wasp.

Here in the UK, scooters conjured up a particular image for many a year - that of a mod heading off for yet another weekend of handbags with the rockers at some faded seaside town.

Nowadays, of course, you can hardly move in the city without seeing some trendy metrosexual dodging the lines of black cabs and, most recently in London, the legions of Boris Bikers on the crowded streets.

So, it's a welcome relief to find that in some parts of the world, there are plenty of people with enough time on their hands to perfect their scooter skills. 

Man builds world's fastest mobility scooter.

A plumber has built the fastest mobility scooter in the world, capable of hitting 69mph.

Colin Furze, 31, spent nearly three months converting the machine which has a powerful 125cc motorbike engine installed under the seat, five gears and twin exhausts.

The petrol-powered super scooter, which is British racing green, can almost reach the national speed limit and keep up with cars on the motorway.

It does 10 miles to the gallon and is nearly nine times faster than an average mobility scooter which glides along at just 8mph.

"It is quite scary when I'm driving it fast as the frame is pretty flimsy and designed for going along at slow speeds," said Mr Furze, from Stamford, Lincs.

"You can't take your eyes off the road when driving it as any rash steering decisions could make it flip over and the slightest dip or bump in the road makes it drift off course."

Mr Furze decided to transform the scooter after he was given the machine by a friend.

He was determined to build the fastest mobility scooter in the world and applied to Guinness to set the record as there wasn't one already in place.

He was told his scooter would have to travel at least 61.4mph and still look like a commercial mobility scooter.

"You hear lots of people complain about scooters going really slowly around supermarkets and blocking the aisles so I thought it would be a laugh to make a really fast one," he said.

"I was told I could modify the engine but I wasn't allowed to change the appearance in any way so I couldn't give it bigger wheels or make it more stable.

"I initially tried experimenting with battery power but I only got to about 30mph and the batteries died really quickly so I knew then it would have to be petrol powered."

He removed a 125cc engine from his motorcross bike and spent a week rebuilding the frame of the scooter.

"I was a bit nervous when I first started it up as I wasn't sure if it would work, but it sounded good and got to 64mph, then 69mph very quickly," he added.

"I was worried it would be a real death trap to drive but it's not too bad when you get used to it.

"It takes people by surprise as it looks like the real thing but it's really noisy when it gets going."

Mr Furze is now going to do a time trial at the Santa Pod Raceway, Northants and hoping to gain a place in the Guinness Book of Records.

"I will be wearing full leathers and a crash helmet for the record attempt," he said. "My aim is to hit 70mph - that would make me really happy."

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Electric Scooters

Smart's Electric Scooter

Mini e Scooter

Peugeot VivaCity

Hayden gets two more years at Ducati

 

 

Hayden joined Ducati from Honda at the start of the 2009 season. He initially struggled to acclimatise to the Desmosedici and was only 13th in last year's standings - but he has been much more competitive in the 2010 campaign. Although he has yet to repeat his '09 Indianapolis podium this year, he is sixth in the championship and has been much more evenly-matched with current team-mate Casey Stoner.

 

Ducati sporting boss Filippo Preziosi said the determination Hayden showed as he worked to improve his form really endeared him to the team.

"We are really pleased that Nicky will be staying with us for the next two years," said Preziosi.

 

"It is no secret that he is a rider who never gives up, his whole racing history shows it. As a person his tenacity is an example for us all because he shows us that nothing is impossible if you truly believe.

"His progress since arriving at Ducati has been impressive and I am sure this trend will continue in the future.

 

"Nicky is also a special rider because of his attention to every detail and for him having Valentino as his team-mate means a huge contribution towards the development of an even more competitive motorcycle.

"I think it is these characteristics that have won the hearts of all the Ducatisti and that is the reason why a Ducati is the bike for him right now."

Hayden felt he had made huge progress since first joining Ducati. This weekend at Indianapolis he took his first front row start with the team.

"Last year I felt like I rode for Ducati but now I really feel as if I am a Ducati rider," said the 2006 champion.

 

"The team, sponsors and Ducati fans have really taken me in and supported me a lot and I really hope to pay them back with the results they deserve."

 

The arrival of Rossi at Ducati next year will renew a partnership last seen when the Italian and Hayden were team-mates at Honda in 2003.

"Next year I'll be teamed with some guy named Rossi who knows a little something about bikes!"

Hayden joked.

 

"We're going to have a strong squad - I won't predict results but I have no doubt this team will have some real passion, real worth ethic and a lot of fun.

 

 It is the start of a new era at Ducati and it is an honour for me to be a part of it."

Stoner not looking at Honda form

 

 

Ducati has yet to win a race this year, while Stoner's future Honda team-mate Dani Pedrosa scored his third victory of the season at Indianapolis last weekend and dominated ahead of his team-mate Andrea Dovizioso in Friday practice at Misano today.

 

But Stoner, who was only eighth fastest in today's session, said his 2011 team's performance was of no consolation whatsoever amid Ducati's issues.

 

"I have to worry about us at the moment," said Stoner. "I don't give a crap about what anybody else is doing at the moment.

"At the moment, we're struggling with our bike and we need to concentrate. I honestly don't care if the Yamahas are going well, if the Kawasakis were here and they were doing well. At the moment, we're not.

 

"At the moment, we are the slowest bike out there. There are four manufacturers and many times we are the most difficult one.

"So we have to pick up our game, and I know we can do a much better job than what we're doing."

 

The former world champion said he still did not feel the team had found how to extract the potential from the Ducati GP10.

"It's just difficult to find the solution that makes this bike work," said Stoner. "We've been able to get a great setting for a lot of races, but not a fantastic one, so we just need to keep working."

 

Ducati has been persisting with a new fork specification at Misano this weekend, and Stoner reckons the best policy is to continue making bold changes to the bike."At the moment I've got not a lot to gain and not a lot to lose," said the Australian, who is fourth in the championship, 132 points behind leader Jorge Lorenzo, at present."We're just going to keep trying different things and see if we can come up with a solution, because I'm sick of finishing third, being on the podium but on the last step and too far away from the lead, so we have to try something big.

 

"Unfortunately when you try something big, it doesn't necessarily mean you'll arrive at the best setting first time. We have to keep trying a lot of crap settings before we come across a good one."

Pedrosa unstoppable in first practice

 

 

The Honda rider, fresh from his third win of the year at Indianapolis last weekend, was at the front for the majority of the session.

Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) nosed ahead by 0.076s for a spell, but Pedrosa soon reasserted his authority. Although Lorenzo improved his pace several times after that, it was only ever by a few fractions of a second - and in any case Pedrosa moved well out of reach with two minutes to go when he set a 1m34.772s lap.

 

Then as the chequered flag fell, his team-mate Andrea Dovizioso came through to take second from Lorenzo by 0.06s and complete a Honda one-two.

 

Yamaha filled the next four places - Lorenzo leading his factory team-mate Valentino Rossi and Tech 3 pair Colin Edwards and Ben Spies.

It was a tough session for Ducati. Nicky Hayden was outside the top 10 for most of the hour, jumped up to fourth briefly, and ended up seventh, while his team-mate Casey Stoner struggled with the bike and was only eighth.

Gresini Honda's Marco Melandri and Suzuki's Loris Capirossi filled the final top 10 positions, with Hector Barbera in the top five for Aspar Ducati early on but pushed back to 11th in the end.

Rossi 'quite happy' with Misano practice

 

The Italian, who has taken one podium from the four races since his return from a broken leg, was 0.767sec behind fastest man Dani Pedrosa - but only 0.155sec from second placed Andrea Dovizioso and less than a tenth from Fiat Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo, in third.

"I'm quite happy because we did a good job during today's practice, especially towards the end when we made a big improvement to the setting of the bike and I was able to make some faster lap times," said Rossi, who will join Ducati next season.

"We have some more things to try, some electronics and some tyre settings, but I already feel confident so this has been a good way to start. We're quite far from Pedrosa, who was very impressive today, but we're close to Dovizioso and Lorenzo. 

"Tomorrow we will try to find some tenths and improve our time a bit. 

"My physical condition is okay, I don't have too much pain but this track has two or three hard braking sections to the right and I suffer a bit with my shoulder at those points," he added.

Lorenzo feels the need for speed

The new Spanish circuit contains a long, downhill, back straight, where fellow front row starters Casey Stoner (Ducati, pole) and Dani Pedrosa (Honda, 3rd) were able to reach 324.5km/h and 326.8km/h respectively in qualifying.

Despite qualifying second on the grid, Lorenzo was only able to reach 318.6km/h on the straight, and also feels he's losing out to his main rivals under acceleration.

Acceleration isn't measured by MotoGP organisers, but in terms of top speedLorenzo was faster than only one rider this afternoon - Tech 3 Yamaha's Ben Spies. 

All four M1s were in the bottom five for top speed in qualifying, with only Honda's Marco Simoncelli slower than a Yamaha.

"I'm riding good and every lap I improve my riding style and understand the track, which is not so easy," began Lorenzo, after extending his run of successive front row MotoGP starts to 15.

"The problem is that we lose a lot on the straights and under acceleration. We don't have the same power as the Ducati and Honda, so this is the worst point we have now. 

"But anyway we can't change the bike, so with this bike we must be perfect and ride perfectly to have some more chance of victory or a podium tomorrow."

Lorenzo starts round 13 with a 63 point lead over Pedrosa and has finished on the podium at every round this year.

Two Nifty New Scooters–Why Don’t Americans Like These Things?

At the Paris Motor Show this week, both BMW’s Mini subsidiary and Daimler’s Smart subsidiary showed new electric scooters, or e-scooters as some are calling them. Meanwhile, Honda is expected to introduce one in Japan later this year, and Peugeot plans one for 2011. Scooters sound like a more sensible, cheaper way into the new era of electric vehicles than cars. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, the lithium ion battery for a scooter costs just $2000, while an electric car battery can run upwards of $16,000.

Judging from the pictures, the new Mini and Smart e-scooters look way cool–a kind of Jetson Vespa. You plug them into any normal AC outlet for four or so hours, which gives you enough juice to go around 60 miles–plenty of range for the kind of city driving these things are made for. No word so far on expected price.

I have never understood why scooters never caught on in major U.S. cities the way they have in Europe. Certainly a big metropolis like New York would seem as ripe for a scooter invasion as the cities of Europe, where a cluster of them precedes cars at every red light. Maybe more so, since the special indignity of the New York subway system constitutes an even more compelling argument in their favor. Maybe it’s just the greater European tolerance for two-wheel vehicles in general. You see lot more people on bicycles here too, including commuters off to work and housewives doing the daily shopping. I use a dinky little 50cc Peugeot scooter as my basic transportation in Paris–you don’t even need a license to own one– and it gets me around town much faster than any other kind of public or private transportation. A trip that takes me half an hour on the Paris metro takes ten minutes by scooter. It’s also more fun than a barrel of monkeys, as the Beach Boys pointed out some time ago in “Little Honda.” Wet Paris winters do present a challenge, however.

Source: forbes.com