Sunday, July 28, 2013

Minarelli The story of one of the most copied engines in the world is unfolding in Italy

Right now in Bologna the Engine Capital of Italy one of the most important brands to have ever emerged is silently in crisis.

Often ignored by the press Motori Minarelli at one point produced mopeds, scooters, and high profile engines for many of the brands in Italy. Below is a Google translation of the Italian edition of the Huffington Post. Motori Minarelli is in the first round of layoffs. It might be a clear sign its owner Yamaha is no longer willing to float the company due to the downturn of 50cc vehicles in Italy.

The Jog Minarelli engine is one of the most copied engines out there in the world. As any USA scooter has seen over the years they probably get more 140EQMB 2 stroke 50cc Jog copies than any other scooter in for service. Popular in the Yamaha Zuma the Chinese clone is virtually part of the livelihood of many shops, it would be terrible if the original designer was out of production.

http://www.huffingtonpost.it/gianni-bortolini/motori-minarelli-a-rischio-un-altro-pezzo-dellindustria-bolognese_b_3639310.html

Minarelli engines: another piece of the industry at risk Bologna


The province of Bologna has always been an eminent Italian industry. The so-called Motor Valley passes through here. Within a few kilometers you can meet historical factories that have brought honor to the name of 'Italy in the world: Ducati, Lamborghini, Magneti Marelli and, continuing Modena, Ferrari, Maserati, etc..
Unfortunately, in recent years the crisis has also hit hard the Via Emilia and major production companies have been forced or permanently close its doors or downsize so very consistent. The cases of Malaguti, Moto Morini, the Verlicchi, are perhaps the most famous.
On 27 June, after an 'unusual meeting of the trade unions at the Unindustria of Bologna, also the Management of Motori Minarelli (Yamaha Group) opened a mobility procedure for 56 people.
The Minarelli engines, which is headquartered in Lippo di Calderara di Reno, Bologna is an established brand in the industry and motorcycle manufactures engines for scooters and motorcycles at 2 and 4 stroke. Owned by the multinational Yamaha since 2001, currently employs 283 employees, including 218 workers. If mobility were to be implemented, would mean the dismissal of half of the workforce employed in the manufacturing departments, that is, a staff of 34 to 75.
This dramatic acceleration comes after more than five years in which workers have experienced massive recourse to layoffs and other social safety nets. In fact, things have not always been the case. Since the mid-eighties until the beginning of the millennium, Motori Minarelli has in fact enjoyed a long period of expansion and large profits. The basis of these successes was the scooter boom 50, but also the policy of the government incentives for scrapping. Following the sharp downturn in the market recorded from 2000 to 2003, the company has started to pump profits due to the excellent results of the "branded scooters", ie the displacement from 125 cc up.
Since 2008, in a crisis of capitalism on an international scale, the motorcycle industry has undergone a veritable collapse, as well as the whole automotive industry. The difficult situation was unionized fronted by entering into agreements that would provide defensive, in the case of the use of social clauses improvements for workers, starting from the integration wage and recognition of accrued contractual.
We must therefore know that a worker on layoff zero hour perceives no more than 750 euro per month, and if that month does not work at least two weeks lost as well the rate of the thirteenth. Over time, two agreements were signed for mobility on a purely voluntary and incentive that led, in the face of a first statement of redundancies by the company to the escape of more than 70 workers, half of whom are close to retirement and to it "ferried "entering mobility, in fact. Subsequently was used for about a year and a half, to the solidarity contract, identified by the trade unions as the social safety net is less penalizing.
For the RSU and Fiom, that that company is by far the most representative trade union, today it is absolutely necessary to reach agreements that solve the problem of the crisis, using, improving them, and especially to social safety nets to their contract of solidarity. It is also necessary to provide recourse to mobility on a voluntary basis and with incentives, like any transformations of contracts from full-time to part-time. Any other procedure open mobility unilaterally by the Company is considered by the RSU and the Fiom, as is in fact, a collective redundancy and therefore unacceptable.
The Yamaha, throughout this period, he carried out a restructuring plan throughout the Group called "One company", which has led to large-scale redundancies (66 also in the settlement of commercial-technical Monza) and the closure of a plant in Spain. Trade union representatives have always considered that the new organization of work would be the instrument to get to define the redundancies in Minarelli engines, but management has excluded such hypotheses launching into official statements that today sound obviously mocking. Indeed, according to dell ', with the start of production of a new 400 cc engine capacity, all seats were confirmed.
The opening of the mobility procedure then takes the flavor of a provocation against those who, workers, believe to be the correct labor relations. The workers responded with several initiatives to combat that revived certain practices in vogue in the 70s. For example, the strikes were declared a "hiccup" which consist in suspending the 'work than half an hour in quarter of an hour, alternating between workers with badge number equal to workers with odd number, and so on.
The participation was very high, and the delegates were impressed by the determination with which workers and employees have participated in the struggles. Today the walls and gates of the Minarelli engines are plastered with protest signs, banners, flags and even mannequins dressed by workers who are plastically redundancies.
And while the Fiom of Bologna was offering two buses for an event with strike below the provincial headquarters of Unindustria, the RSU activated the subscription for a fund of struggle, a case of resistance useful to deal with each type of expenditure, which is filled in a few hours. Solidarity also came from delegates of other factories in Bologna that have made ​​their contribution by participating in garrisons and submitting press that have been highly appreciated by workers Minarelli. At present there are no unusual reactions by the Japanese multinational, in a trade union However, there seems to be cautious optimism because the participation in the struggle was very high. Moreover, it could not be otherwise because at stake here is the social right to work. Just that right to work that our Constitution recognizes as fundamental, but that, too often, the perverse logic of a market without rules do not take into consideration.

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

How to find correct QJ, Keeway, Strada, PSF part numbers and models

The biggest question we get from Ex-Keeway, Powersports Factory, Diamo, TNG, United Motors, Xtreem, Cubik, Stephanies, Astro dealers is how to find parts.

Many of them even overlap with CPI.

Plastics are hard to match because of all the different names and models, but they generally cross over to one another.

Use this chart when using our catalogs on the MRP site.

RX200 = T-3
RX8 = B08
RX50 = QT-2
RX125 = 125-4A
Ph t 12C Phantom = 12C
Venus (retro model )


MRP DISTRIBUTES ORIGINAL FACTORY QJ PARTS THIS IS A CHART FOR SOME OF THOSE PARTS
QJ IS SOLD IN THE USA UNDER SEVERAL DIFFERENT NAMES:
KEEWAY, YAMATI, STRADA, BENELLI (NEW FROM CHINA)
CMSI/TNG, AMONG OTHERS. THESE PARTS WORK ON MANY PRIVATE LABEL BRANDS MADE BY QJ CHINA.
TO SEARCH ON MRP SITE LOOK FOR PART WITH INITIALS QJ- SO TYPE THE PART NUMBER BELOW PLUS QJ- IN FRONT OF THE NUMBER
EXAMPLE TYPE IN QJ-40100BMBT001 TO LOOK FOR THE QJ PART

Other
Owners manuals TNG Scooters:
Wolverine CF MOTO 250cc Go Kart Buggy:
NG Disc Brake Catalog:



CF-MOTO:
QLINK 150:

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Zongshen USA passes parts support to MRP

Its official now
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9rPAQVgYks

Zongshen USA has told its dealer network to call MRP for the scooter parts. Call us and open a wholesale account today!

$4 gasoline is finally here for 2013

http://money.cnn.com/2013/07/16/news/economy/4-dollar-gas/index.html?iid=Lead

Finally it took way too long this year, but $4 gas is upon us.

Friday, July 12, 2013

Hero Indian Scooters in the USA?

Many people in the Scooter Industry are familiar with Hero. Over the years many Indian companies have purchased older Italjet, Benelli, Malaguti molds and re-assembled them for the Indian market.

This was true of Kinetic, Hero India, and several others.

Last week Hero purchased shares in a former Harley partner Erik Buell.

My honest opinion this is more than likely to lead to Hero scooters coming into the USA and small sub 250cc motorcycles coming into the USA than Buells being sold in India. Why? Because India can't afford Buells.

http://www.firstpost.com/business/with-economy-at-its-slowest-pace-indian-companies-set-sights-on-us-investments-940495.html
Last week, India’s largest motorcycle and scooter maker by sales, Hero MotoCorp bought a 49.2 percent stake in Wisconsin-based Erik Buell Racing LLC, a maker of high-end street motorcycles, for $25 million. The stake purchase in Erik Buell follows a tech alliance with Hero MotoCorp last year.
Pawan Munjal, chief executive of Hero MotoCorp said the partnership with Erik Buell would allow Hero MotoCorp not only to develop new products, but also to sell its motorcycles in the US and Europe. Hero MotoCorp is aiming to export 350,000 vehicles this financial year through March 2014, compared with 161,043 vehicles exported in the previous year.

TK, SN, TECNIGAS, TWO BROTHERS EXHAUSTS ALL ON SALE

Dealers Log In Today for some great offers on all the top names in Exhausts, TK, Naraku, Tecnigas, Yasuni, Two Brothers, Leo Vince and more!
Exhausts in July SALE Starts Now!

Exhausts and More on Sale this week

We are getting ready to do a massive sale on exhausts pipes! Who's ready for Exhausts!NEXT R

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Kymco leads the pack in the US Scooter Market Resurgence with AIME

There hasn't been a lot of news in the US Scooter market the last few months. I think the biggest news is that the year has not seen the surge that we all expected.

Yet Scooters are as popular as ever the moment gas prices go up.

Yet to me a slow news year lead to the new show. AIME. This is the news I think everyone should be looking at because at the start of the year most business owners and brand managers were all looking at each other wondering what is the next guy going to do? I don't want to spend money unless the other guy spends money. I went to Dealer Expo and it was a bust again.

I want to have my own dealer meeting in my warehouse etc... just a lack of overall leadership in the motorcycle business in general. I will personally commend LeoVince for just calling it like it is. The new meeting spot is AIME. I supported it from day one and now its happening.

The biggest news is that KYMCO USA is the first major to be pushing scooters at the AIME Show.
http://www.aimexpousa.com/


Every scooter maker should be there. Yamaha and Suzuki are both there and now Kymco. Only major missing is Piaggio Group and the should be noted. Piaggio is dropping the ball again in favor of an expensive dealer meeting somewhere when really it should be reaching out to the general dealers that are still in business. The sad reality is most US Dealers cannot stay in business selling only Vespa and Aprilia. You need Taiwanese, Chinese, Korean bikes as well.


This show is a great opportunity to talk to the public for three days, talk and train dealers, and help bring back US commerce. From financial companies to accessory companies it will be a whos who in the industry gathering in the Magic Kingdom.

That's why in my humble opinion Piaggio should be embracing AIME. They should be embracing dealers that carry Kymco, SYM, and other brands along with Piaggio so that they stay open.

At the show Ice Bear, Kymco, Adly, Yamaha, Suzuki will all be side by side with a bunch of more brands, so it makes sense everyone should want to be there.

This year is marked by the fact that there was no growth. A few stories have come and gone mainly only important to industry insiders that have not been mentioned in the trade magazines:

*Adly Taiwan changed importers fourth time in a dozen years

*Several major dealers have changed hands

*I just confirmed the Big Box retailers finally removed all the 49cc scooters from their stores here in Florida.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGPFnZJCv4c


*One Big Taiwanese Factory is looking at coming back to the USA, they might even be at AIME.

*Another Chinese importer recently discovered you can't have multiple dealers in the same area without getting sued and loosing money ( could have avoided this by looking at the dealer laws)

*A major distributor pushed out the former owner/founder thanks to a group of VCs who saved the company a few years back

All these things will affect stores, dealers, distributors in the small scooter industry. The fact is there are new brands. Many of them are PRICE POINT Chinese brands. They have no branding, marketing, and basically sell on price, but they are out there. A show is a place to get educated about them because like everyone we make our living selling parts for them and unless we gather and know whats happening then we don't have a place to talk about what has really happened in the US Industry.

So the Show is a necessity. I commend those who are showing leadership. Yes, it has been a rollercoaster the last couple of years, everyone wants everything for free, and nobody is willing to risk anything to build a better tomorrow, but so what. There will always be companies and people like that.

The time is now to get together and discuss as a group how we can make Lemonade out of a few Lemons. Dealer Expo has not produced any results the last few years so lets make it happen in Orlando.

A big thanks to Kymco for leading the pack this year!

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Smart getting Smart about EV Scooters

The EV game might have changed, the moment a big name brand gets involved with national distribution it could really push EV units in America.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-07/smart-shrinks-to-scooter-in-last-chance-for-daimler-brand.html

Interesting quote from the article "The electric-powered bike, a partnership with MIFA Mitteldeutsche Fahrradwerke AG (FW1), features a 250-watt electric motor attached to the rear wheel, a lithium-ion battery pack and a carbon-fiber belt instead of a chain for pedal power. Daimler says it’s pleased with sales of the bike, though declines to give figures."

What does that mean? really in Europe I can look up registrations, but its a process for each country and is it really worth it? 

Would be interesting if they show up at the AIME Expo this year.