There was a time when scooters were the most popular choice of vehicles in India. They also outnumbered the sales of motorcycles in our country and manufacturers would offer customers scooters in a variety of different designs and specs. Currently, the popularity of scooters is only limited to gearless and electric scooters. But these old beauties had a charm that can’t be replaced. Most people have forgotten the era of scooters, so here we bring you 20 forgotten scooters of India.
Bajaj Cub
The Cub was launched back in 1984 as a limited edition offering from Bajaj. Amongst a lot of small differentiators, what stood out back in the day was the electric ignition system and engine kill witch. The scooter came with a 100cc, 2-stroke, single-cylinder engine that was mated with a 3-speed manual gear. It could churn a maximum of 5.6 Bhp.
Also read: Rajiv Bajaj: We consume OATS (Ola, Ather, Tork & SmartE) for breakfast
Bajaj Spirit
Bajaj launched the Spirit in 1999 to give a tough fight to TVS Scooty. It was fully automatic. Spirit was powered by a 60cc, 2-stroke engine that could produce a maximum of 3.5 Bhp power and a peak torque of 4.3 Nm. The scooter had CVT, which makes the Spirit the first gearless scooter by Bajaj. Picture by T-BHP.
Bajaj Bravo
Bravo was also launched in 1999 and featured transparent indicator housings. It was powered by a 2-stroke, 145.5cc air-cooled engine which came equipped with a superior reed valve technology. The engine produced maximum power of 8 Bhp and a peak torque of 13.2 Nm. It came with a 4-speed manual transmission.
LML Supremo
LML was an extremely famous scooter brand based out of Kanpur. They launched a lot of successful bikes and scooters and amongst them was the Supremo. The stylish scooter was launched in 1995 and was powered by a 149.5cc 2-stroke engine which churned a maximum power of 7.5Bhp and 8Nm of peak torque. This also came with a 4-speed manual transmission.
LML Sensation
The Sensation was launched in 1996 by LML. It was powered by a 125cc, 2-stroke engine. The engine could produce a maximum power of 6.5 Bhp and a peak torque of 7 Nm. It was also famous for its design like most of the scooters coming out of LML.
LML Trendy
LML Trendy was launched to capture the market share of Bajaj Sunny. LML played on its design again and had an extremely unique design choice on this one. The spare wheel is oddly placed and made it look different from the rest of the scooter. It came with a 60cc engine that produced 3.4 Bhp maximum power and 3.5Nm peak torque.
Bajaj Stride
Bajaj Stride was amongst the long line of geared scooters launched by Bajaj. Its differentiating factor became the rectangle headlamps instead of the regular round ones used on every scooter those days. It was powered by a 145.5cc, 2-stroke engine that churned a maximum power of 7.1Bhp and a peak torque of 10.8Nm.
Bajaj Super
The Bajaj Super was probably one of the most popular scooters launched by Bajaj, back in 1976. It came with a 145.5cc single-cylinder air-cooled engine which is the same one used in the Stride. It churned a maximum power of 7.1 Bhp and 10.8 Nm of peak torque.
TVS Spectra
The TVS Spectra had an extremely catchy design and became extremely popular with the youth. Instead of going with a CVT Transmission, TVS equipped it with a 145cc 4-stroke engine mated with a 4-speed manual transmission. The engine produced maximum power of 8Bhp and a peak torque of 8Nm.
LML Star Xpress
The Star Xpress gained popularity in little pockets of the country but was majorly exported to the USA and UK under a different name. It was powered by a 149.56cc, 2-stroke engine mated to a 4-speed transmission which churned a maximum of 9.5Bhp power and 13.2 Nm of peak torque.
Lambretta
Lambretta broke all the monotony associated with the overall design of scooters in India. It is still remembered and loved for it evergreen design. It was assembled in India by Automobile Products of India and later sold post-independence. API built the Li150 Series 2 version which was sold in our country as Lambretta. Later, in 1976, it was renamed Lamby. It was powered by a 148cc, two-stroke engine. The top speed for the Lamby was 80km/h.
Vijay Super
Following the Lambretta story, in 1972, the state-run Scooter India took over Lambretta scooters in India and launched Vijay Super in India. There were minor changes in the scooter. The same scooter was exported as the GP150 to few international markets.
Bajaj Sunny
The Bajaj Sunny was also an extremely popular scooterette. It was powered by a small 50cc 2-stroke engine that could churn a mere 1.2 Bhp. The marketing tagline for Sunny went like “Ride the red-hot super looker teen machine”, which made that the target was young adults.
Kinetic Honda
The Kinetic Honda became India’s first 2-stroke automatic scooter and immediately gained popularity amongst buyers who wanted to upgrade to a better scooter from the boring old ones. Even though it was aimed at the younger crowd, it became popular with many age groups. It was powered by a 98cc, 2-stroke engine that produced a maximum of 7.7 Bhp and a peak torque of 9.8 Nm.
Royal Enfield Fantabulous
We were just as surprised with Royal Enfield entering the scooter market and named it geared scooter as the Fantabulous. It was a risk and an attempt to make some headway in the scooter market by Royal Enfield. It came a 175cc, 2-stroke engine from Villiers. It could churn maximum power of 7.5 Bhp. It came with an electric starter.
Bajaj Chetak
Anyone who has followed the scooters trend in India, even a bit, knows about Bajaj Chetak. It was launched back in 1976 and was named after the legendary horse of Rana Pratap Singh. The ‘Humara Bajaj’ marketing campaign was launched to promote the Chetak and remains just as popular as the scooter itself. The Chetak was powered by a 145cc, 2-stroke engine that produced a maximum power of 7.5 Bhp along with a peak torque of 10.8 Nm.
Bajaj Legend
The Bajaj Legend was amongst the first few 4-stroke scooters from Bajaj. It looked quite good on the roads and came with a powerful 145cc air-cooled, four-stroke engine that used to produce a maximum of 9 Bhp and 10.8 Nm peak torque.
Bajaj Saffire
The Saffire had an extremely sleek and modern design. It came with a 92cc, 4-stroke, air-cooled engine and was mated to a CVT transmission.
Kinetic Pride
The Kinetic Pride was an extremely modern looking scooter back in 1996. It was based on the Kinetic Style and was targeted towards the youth who wanted more power in their scooters. It came with a 72.86cc, 2-stroke engine.
Kinetic Blaze
The Blaze was India’s first maxi styled scooter and was the most powerful scooter when it was launched back in 2006. Powering the Blaze was a 165cc engine that churned 11.5 Bhp maximum power and a peak torque of 12 Nm. It came with a CVT transmission. The Blaze’s top speed was close to 100 km/h.
