Our article about the release of Royalloy scooters really caused a lot of comments across the internet and speculation about the relationship between Royalloy and Scomadi.
Let us answer some of the questions with what we know at the moment based on what we were told at EXPO.
Who are Royalloy?
Royalloy is a brand created by Hanway to sell a retro scooter based very closely on the Scomadi platform. MotoGB have said that they will distribute the Royalloy brand in the UK.
Who are Hanway?
Hanway are the Chinese scooter and motorcycle company who\’ve built all the plastic bodywork 125cc Scomadi scooters.
What are Hanway proposing?
Hanway seem to be proposing two models, both air-cooled 4-stroke 125s bearing an extremely close visual relationship to the Scomadi TL125. So close in fact that the images of the scooters on the MotoGB display at EXPO actually bore the Scomadi ‘Turismo Leggera’ and \’TL125\’ legshield and horn badges.
So far there is no word if Royalloy plan a 200 version like the Scomadi 200 that SLUK got the world scoop road test on.
Have Scomadi sold out to Hanway/Royalloy?
It looks very unlikely. MotoGB told us that they were unsure about the arrival date of the Gran Tourer base model due to possible forthcoming legal action.
We have contacted Frank and Paul from Scomadi but they are unable to make any form of public comment at this stage.
That does not sound like any sort of amicable or approved arrangement. It also suggests that Frank and Paul have some form of Intellectual Property protection with which to defend themselves.
What are the differences between the Scomadi TL125 and Royalloy’s base model?
Given the badges on the display, I suspect not very much at all. The heritage is obvious.
According to MotoGB, this model will now be named the Gran Tourer (GT) 125.
The most important changes are:
- A round-headlight housed in a headset made from cast aluminium.
- Proposed Euro-4 approval (cleaner emissions and combined braking system as standard)
What about the proposed premium model?
According to MotoGB this model is definitely coming with pressed all-aluminium bodywork. Quite what technical advantage that gives is something we can only tell in the future.
Easily-irritated Lambretta fans might want to stop reading at this point.
The proposed name for this aluminium version is the Grand Prix (GP 125) and MotoGB seem convinced that this model will arrive in April irrespective of any legal action that may take place.
What are the proposed prices for the Royalloy scooters?
Here’s where things get really interesting. Scomadi have built up a very strong brand and a loyal following particularly in Asian market countries.
Loyalty and brand image count for a lot, but if you can buy something almost the same for a lot less money then punters are likely to vote with their wallets rather than their hearts.
The announced retails prices are:
- Grand Tourer 125: £2,471 on the road
- Grand Prix 125: £2,971 on the road
The 2016 RRP price for the Scomadi TL125 was £2,495 + O.T.R but the price was due to rise for 2017 with the introduction of a Euro-4 version. Some stop-gap stock remains in UK dealers at a higher price due to Scomadi having to source machines from Europe to meet demand.
In other words, the proposed Royalloy prices are slightly cheaper than Scomadi. It’s not a surprise that Hanway could afford to do this because they have no significant development costs to recoup on the GT125. If it is largely the same then Frank and Paul did most of the development work already on the Scomadis they made in the UK before going to China for production.
How is this going to play out?
That’s difficult to call. There is clearly a dispute. In cases like this the biggest winners are often the lawyers since they have nothing to lose.
In many Intellectual Property disputes the victor is the side with the biggest wallet rather than the one with the clearest moral entitlement.
We at ScooterLab will keep you up to date with this story as it develops .
What owns what?
The story gets more complex when you look into the registration of the Royalloy name for scooters. It was registered as a trade mark in October 2016 to Scomadi Motor Company LTD at MotoGB\’s address.
However, if you look up Scomadi Motor Company LTD in the UK Companies Register you discover that Scomadi Motor Company LTD was registered not to Frank and Paul, but to Yiming Chen (of Hanway) as the sole officer. The company was first registered in 2014.
What is more interesting is that there are several UK companies registered under the name Scomadi with companies house, but the trading name of Frank & Paul’s business is Scomadi LTD registered way back in 2005.
It is perfectly possible for anyone to register a company with a similar name. Look how many companies are registered under the name Scomadi in the UK alone.
Owning a registered company with a similar name suggests some form of approval from the brand owners, when in fact that may not be the case at all. Sometimes, speculative registration is done in the hope of levering financial advantage at a later date.
In other words, don’t read too much into company names unless you know exactly what that company owns or has rights to.
If I registered \’Buckingham Palace (Posh London Mansion) LTD\’ tomorrow, it doesn\’t mean that I own the Queen\’s house. It just means that I own a hollow limited company with that name.
Sticky
Legal action won’t bother the Chinese. Google the LandWind, it’s virtually an exact copy of a Range Rover Evoque. If the Chinese are prepared to take on legal action from a big company like Land Rover, Frank and Paul are not going to worry them.
Isn’t the Land Wind only sold in China though?
oh dear, you didn’t look at the address scomadi motor co is registered then?
even for a premium chinese scooter, still about £800 over the top
Pot, kettle n black spring to mind.
Now Paul n Frank have done a lot to get these iconic machines back on the road but surely they ripped off a small company called Lambretta‽!!
Ps. They’ve taken thr time bringing out the SX headset too
Lambretta as a functioning automotive brand ceased to manufacture in the early seventies so Frank and Paul have hardly ripped anyone off in the same way this is a blatant copy of a currently trading companie’s intellectual property. Typical of the industrial warfare China engages in to undermine western economies and expand their own.
What bugs me the most is many of you so called “patriots”, scooterists that regularly attend Help for Heroes runs (being the limit of the effort you put in to support this country) are so willing to drop Scomadi in favour of this underhand object and support Chinese economic warfare for the sake of a few hundred quid. Shame on you all. Wake up and inform yourself on what is going on in the world.
Damn you all you filthy apes! 🙁
bought british did you?
Yes mate a Triumph Bonneville and a Tigress. Touche.
Traitors!
not a vespa gt300 then
LML, Vespa GTS, NSU Prima 5K plus the Bonnie and Tigress.
I would never buy into THIS act of Chinese skullduggery!
The only Chinese bike I would buy would be from Taiwan.
A democratic Chinese speaking island country that mainland China bullies and refuses to recognise their sovereignty and independance. If you recognise Taiwan as an independant country, the Chinese state responds with trade sanctions, visa withdrawals and diplomatic personnel expulsions. Makes DJT look like a light weight. I would buy a Taiwanese bike as two fingers up to the Chinese Juggernaut that thinks it can get away with anything! 🙁
jesus guys lighten up ffs