The TGB 101 is one of the small scooters in the range of Taiwan Golden Bee, the Taiwanese manufacturer known at home and in Europe as TGB. The manufacturer’s model list gives it in two forms, the 101S Orion and the 101R Tryton, and both are counted among the company’s familiar models.
TGB 101 at a glance
| Maker | Taiwan Golden Bee Co., Ltd. (TGB), Taiwan |
|---|---|
| Model | TGB 101 |
| Listed versions | 101S Orion and 101R Tryton |
| Place in the range | listed among the company’s known models, in its two-wheel range |
| Engines | mainly Morini units, licence-built Moto Franco Morini designs |
| Assembly | Taiwan: Youn-An and Ping-Tung plants |
| Company founded | 1965 as Taiwan Vespa Co. Ltd.; renamed Taiwan Golden Bee in 1978 |
| German distribution | ZEG of Cologne from 2001; Leeb of Austria from 2008 |
| Technical data in the source | none: the source gives the model names only |
No Wikipedia page exists for this model in any language. The page is built from the English, German and Polish articles on the manufacturer, Taiwan Golden Bee, and from the model list they give; the source publishes no technical data for the 101 itself.
History of the TGB 101
Taiwan Golden Bee began in 1965 as Taiwan Vespa Co. Ltd., a Taiwanese company that built Piaggio scooters under Italian licence for the home market. In 1978 the firm was renamed Taiwan Golden Bee and started producing vehicles of its own, keeping the small-capacity scooter as its core product. The founder, Chi-Fu Chang, had earlier run the Taiwanese division of Vespa and carried its manufacturing methods over into the new company.
The 101 is the point where that scooter tradition is easiest to see. The model list names two versions, the 101S Orion and the 101R Tryton, which differ in designation rather than in any way the source explains. Neither has an encyclopaedic page of its own, and the manufacturer’s list does not publish engine sizes, weights or production years for them, so the scooter is documented here by the place it holds in the range rather than by a specification table.
What the company says about its scooters in general applies to the 101 as well. Most bodywork is made in-house, while cockpits, handlebar switches and engines are bought mainly from Morini, whose units are licence-built Moto Franco Morini designs; the same engines have been used in scooters of several other, less well-known makers. TGB also earns a large part of its income as a supplier of complete continuously variable transmission systems to Piaggio, Rotax/Can-Am, Peugeot, Polaris, Minarelli, Morini and SYM, which is why its own scooters sit on proven transmission technology.
In Europe the 101 belongs to the period when TGB was building a dealer network rather than a reputation. The company has been on the European market for more than twenty years; in Germany its vehicles were imported from 2001 exclusively by the Zweirad-Einkaufs-Genossenschaft (ZEG) of Cologne, and since 2008 scooters and quads have been distributed there by the Austrian importer Leeb. Earlier, between 1995 and 2001, the Ergon 50 and Akros 50 scooters had come in through Auto-Teile-Unger in Weiden, sold on until 2003 by Motor Sport Accessoires.
Design and features
- Two designations: the range lists the scooter as the 101S Orion and the 101R Tryton.
- Small-capacity scooter work: the model belongs to the class the company has built since its Vespa licence years.
- Morini engines: the company fits mainly Morini units, licence-built Moto Franco Morini designs.
- Own bodywork: most panels are made by TGB itself, with bought-in cockpits and switchgear.
TGB 101 versions
- 101S Orion: the S version named in the manufacturer’s model list.
- 101R Tryton: the R version named alongside it.
- Related small scooters: the Ergon 50 and Akros 50, the models through which TGB first reached German buyers in the late 1990s.
The TGB 303 and the TGB Laser are the other small models in the same part of the range. More machines are in the TGB collection.
Video: Stunt Tgb 101s !
Video by StunTer PaPaj on YouTube.
Sources
- Taiwan Golden Bee, English Wikipedia: company origins, founder, transmission supply
- Taiwan Golden Bee, German Wikipedia: 1965 and 1978 dates, Morini engines, German importers
- Taiwan Golden Bee, Polish Wikipedia: model list with 101S Orion and 101R Tryton
