(I think I’m gonna cry here… *sniff sniff* WAAAAAAAAAA!)
[Please note... this story is based completely on rumors, hearsay, speculation, ouiji board results, coin tosses, calls to Mrs. Cleo's hotline and logical deduction. There have been NO official announcements confirming nor denying the future of Stella. This is just my gut telling me that Stella is finally saying "buon giorno" or rather "khuda hafiz".]
Back in January we made the announcement that Bajaj was discontinuing the Chetak. A sad moment indeed. Next we see a sudden boost of PGO products in the Genuine lineup for late ’06 and in to ‘o7 and VERY low, if not non-existent inventory on the Stella.
Finally, a flock of little birdies have recently informed us that Genuine is completely out of stock on the Stella. Not only that, but we also hear that the LML plant in sunny Kanpur has shut down. That’s right… turn off the lights, lock the doors, collect dust and spiderwebs kind of “shut down”.
It’s a painful thought really. Seems like P.J. was JUST there. How could Genuine, the company that managed to bring us “the first EPA approved 150cc two-stroke to be sold in America in nearly 20 years”, allow the Stella to just up and die? I don’t think it’s anything they could help really. I’m afraid the cheap 4-stroke had it in for the sweet little Italian decedent. Today more people want to ride automatics and they want ‘em cheap. A large portion of the market doesn’t care about things like “metal bodies” or “2 stroke engines”… and when you don’t have money to pay your builders to keep production going, you gotta start looking at what you can cut and what you can keep.
I just hope Genuine keeps their parts division, ScooterWorks USA, rolling and that they can still get Stella/Vespa parts. If LML’s isn’t even producing replacement parts (assuming they made them in the first place), then P series Vespa and Stella owners are going to be hurtin’. We’ll keep you posted on developments here.
Rumors also indicate that Phillip McCaleb might have a trick up his sleeve for saving the metal bodied beauty, but she may end up more like the Bride of Frankenstein when it’s all said and done. I don’t wanna be a naysayer, so Phillip… I hope you can make it happen brother. May the Scooter gods be with you!
16. August 2006 at 4:13 am
I hate the scythe…:(
16. August 2006 at 6:41 am
I wouldn’t call Scooterworks the “parts division” of Genuine. I’d call Genuine the “scooter re-badging division” of Scooterworks.
16. August 2006 at 7:39 am
vespabelle,
Well put. What are you doing up at 1:41am?
What am I doing up at 2:34am? Ugh.
16. August 2006 at 1:21 pm
So does this mean that I shouldn’t buy the Stella or the Chetak? I guess that there is Kymco but I wanted the steel.
If there is a real demand for metal framed scoots someone will come up with a way to fill the market.
16. August 2006 at 2:21 pm
dariaspop, though I was a big fan of the bajaj chetak when it came to the US, the truth is that it’s probably not a great idea to buy one now. They still have their merits, and the price is reasonable, but from what I’ve heard, since Bajaj only made the 4-stroke Chetaks for a few years, parts are already getting hard to find, notably the regulator/rectifier, which has a tendency to go bad. Other than that, it’s a good bike.
On the other hand, the Stella has issues of its own. Especially this last “disgruntled LML employee” run seems to have problems with cranks and other engine parts. The good news there is that parts are in very good supply (most are common to the Vespa P range) and after a rebuild with higher-quality components, it’s a fairly invincible machine. The downside to that, of course, is that you have a potential catastrophic engine failure to look forward to. From what I’ve heard, Genuine is good about honoring the warranty, and if it doesn’t happen in the warranty period, you’re more than likely home free, but that’s still not the greatest scenario.
Another option, of course, is to buy a Vespa PX150. If you have $5000+ and you can find one, seems like theyr’e just about gone.
After that, you’re looking at used bikes or imported restorations, and you’re on your own.
I have a feeling that you’re right about the demand. there wasn’t enough to support three similar models, but now that there’s no 4-speed manual metal-bodied scooter out there, I bet someone will bring it back. My bet is on Bajaj, Rahul Bajaj was so sentimental about the Chetaks demise, and Sanjiv Bajaj so UNsentimental, that I expect a “Chetak Retro II” within a year or two.
16. August 2006 at 2:22 pm
No… I wouldn’t say that. If anything they will become more of a collectors item.
I believe that Bajaj had a good backstock of Chetaks… They may be easier to get than new Stellas today.
16. August 2006 at 3:00 pm
atomic brown scooter shop in OKC is still able to get plenty of both Bajaj and Stella scoots.
I really don’t think that manual transmissions are that important to me. I just want to get great gas mileage from a durable scooter. Being able to take short jumps on the interstate is a must in OKC, so that is somewhat important.
I just think that all that plastic on a small scooter looks gross. On a maxi scooter it looks OK, like something that drove out of Akira or some other anime. If I had wanted something over 150 cc I would be looking at small bikes any way.
I sat on the buddy and it just felt small.
UGH I don’t want to got to the local bike shops.
16. August 2006 at 3:49 pm
Atomic Brown must have “the hookup” then.
As for “short jumps on the freeway”… How fast is this freeway and exactly how far is a short jump? I’d hate for you to be underpowered… I wouldn’t trust a stock P styled 150 on a 75MPH freeway… Maybe a high performance racing 200cc metal body, if I didn’t want to do coffee that morning.
I think the Buddy does look a bit small… Hrm… And if you have to look at MaxiScoots you’ll consider a Motorcycle? Let’s talk Maxi options before you make that decision. ok?
16. August 2006 at 8:11 pm
Short jumps as in a few miles in sections where the speed usually runs about 60 mph. There are several places where in my area that if you don’t jump on I35 you have to go several miles out of your way to find a secondary street.
The interstate isn’t that big of a deal. I generally only use them on the way to work which is 55 miles away so no scooter riding to work for me.
The reason I was looking at the Stella and Bajaj is that three grand is about all I will be able to put on a scooter or bike. Those two were at that price point and felt pretty solid.