Seems some good news has come to Scooter fans in Spain as the congress moved to pass a law to stop Piaggio Group from closing the historic factory in Martorelles (Barcelona) where 200 workers continue to make the Derbi Scooter brand.
Many people forget Derbi first imported into the US in the 1960s and 70s as dirtbikes later resurfaced in the early 90s thanks to Cycle Imports ( Ozzy Saez ) and later got shut down as Piaggio Group assumed control in late 03. Ozzy did an amazing job actually selling more units most years than Aprilia did despite being a much smaller operation ( another trend in the US scooter business the bigger you are sometimes the crappier job you do)
I drove my first Derbi right around that age 18 while at my dad Froilan's scooter shop. He happened to be friends with Ozzy and he's the guy who thought him how to import and sell bikes. So even if they were competitors at one point over the years we've done business and purchased parts from each other I still have a lot of respect for the legacy of these bikes. South Beach and Key West Florida are still covered in hundreds of Derbi Predators, Hunters, and Atlantis units that were sold thanks to Ozzys hard work. It was a dumb move on Piaggio USA's part to focus on the mess at Aprilia in 2006 instead of keeping Derbi alive and its a dumb move to start phasing out production in Spain.
Derbi is an iconic Spanish brand and it should be kept alive. Not something you can start manufacturing in the outskirts of Hanoi.
MRP still gets a ton of calls every week for Derbi parts and we sell a ton of them.
Back in 2009 it seems Piaggio signed an agreement saying it would keep the factory and jobs in Spain and now its trying to break that agreement. Let's see what happens.
From http://www.finanzas.com/noticias/economia/2011-06-07/498976_economiamotor--congreso-insta-gobierno-impedir.html
Now if Mr. Prantoni, Antonino Malaguti, and everyone else in Bologna would get their act together they might find a way to save Malaguti Moto. Good for Spain for their politicians saving the iconic brand, leave it to some multinational company that is now focused on exporting all the jobs to Vietnam, China, and Thailand. A Derbi made in China won't be the same, but I doubt Colamino get's that.
In the meantime if you need cylinders, variators, roller weights, CDIs, AM6 parts for the GP1 we have exhausts from TK spain and other replacement parts from Italkit as well.
Not to mention disk brakes and brake pads, cables and hard to find Derbi items.
MRP has parts for both Piaggio Derbi bikes as well as the Derbi engines.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2eToXv4suA
Parts for Derbi Scooters at http://www.mrp-speed.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrVmTuvR52Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWYDE12HCYc
Many people forget Derbi first imported into the US in the 1960s and 70s as dirtbikes later resurfaced in the early 90s thanks to Cycle Imports ( Ozzy Saez ) and later got shut down as Piaggio Group assumed control in late 03. Ozzy did an amazing job actually selling more units most years than Aprilia did despite being a much smaller operation ( another trend in the US scooter business the bigger you are sometimes the crappier job you do)
I drove my first Derbi right around that age 18 while at my dad Froilan's scooter shop. He happened to be friends with Ozzy and he's the guy who thought him how to import and sell bikes. So even if they were competitors at one point over the years we've done business and purchased parts from each other I still have a lot of respect for the legacy of these bikes. South Beach and Key West Florida are still covered in hundreds of Derbi Predators, Hunters, and Atlantis units that were sold thanks to Ozzys hard work. It was a dumb move on Piaggio USA's part to focus on the mess at Aprilia in 2006 instead of keeping Derbi alive and its a dumb move to start phasing out production in Spain.
Derbi is an iconic Spanish brand and it should be kept alive. Not something you can start manufacturing in the outskirts of Hanoi.
MRP still gets a ton of calls every week for Derbi parts and we sell a ton of them.
Back in 2009 it seems Piaggio signed an agreement saying it would keep the factory and jobs in Spain and now its trying to break that agreement. Let's see what happens.
From http://www.finanzas.com/noticias/economia/2011-06-07/498976_economiamotor--congreso-insta-gobierno-impedir.html
Now if Mr. Prantoni, Antonino Malaguti, and everyone else in Bologna would get their act together they might find a way to save Malaguti Moto. Good for Spain for their politicians saving the iconic brand, leave it to some multinational company that is now focused on exporting all the jobs to Vietnam, China, and Thailand. A Derbi made in China won't be the same, but I doubt Colamino get's that.
In the meantime if you need cylinders, variators, roller weights, CDIs, AM6 parts for the GP1 we have exhausts from TK spain and other replacement parts from Italkit as well.
Not to mention disk brakes and brake pads, cables and hard to find Derbi items.
MRP has parts for both Piaggio Derbi bikes as well as the Derbi engines.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2eToXv4suA
Parts for Derbi Scooters at http://www.mrp-speed.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrVmTuvR52Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWYDE12HCYc
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