The TGB 303 is a small scooter from Taiwan Golden Bee, listed by its maker as the 303 RS. It belongs to the same part of the range as the company’s other low-capacity models, a class TGB has been building since it made Vespa scooters under licence in the 1960s.
TGB 303 at a glance
| Maker | Taiwan Golden Bee Co., Ltd. (TGB), Taiwan |
|---|---|
| Model | TGB 303 |
| Listed version | 303 RS |
| Place in the range | small scooter in the manufacturer’s model list |
| Engines | mainly Morini units, licence-built Moto Franco Morini designs |
| Assembly | Taiwan: Youn-An and Ping-Tung plants |
| Company capital | NT$190 million, about €4 million |
| European presence | more than twenty years; leading quad and ATV maker in Europe |
| Technical data in the source | none: only the model name is given |
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 303 itself.
History of the TGB 303
Taiwan Golden Bee dates its own history from 1965, when it was registered as Taiwan Vespa Co. Ltd. and produced Piaggio scooters for Taiwan under Italian licence. The rename to Taiwan Golden Bee in 1978 came with the switch to vehicles of its own design, and scooters have stayed in the programme ever since, next to the quads and all-terrain vehicles that later made the company’s European name.
The 303 RS is one of the names on the manufacturer’s list of familiar models, together with scooters such as the 101S Orion, the Laser RS 50 and the Bellavita 125 and 300. The list is a register of designations rather than a catalogue: it does not give the engine size, the frame, the production period or the market of the 303, and no encyclopaedia has an article on it in any language. What can be said with the source behind it is where the model sits, not how it performs.
The company behind it is substantial for a maker little known in western Europe. TGB runs two factories in Taiwan, the Youn-An plant with 270 employees on 31,260 square metres and the Ping-Tung plant with 170 employees on 21,623 square metres, and its capital stands at NT$190 million, roughly four million euros. Most bodywork is made in-house; cockpits, handlebar switches and engines are bought mainly from Morini, and those engines are licence-built Moto Franco Morini designs. TGB is also a supplier of complete continuously variable transmission systems to Piaggio, Rotax/Can-Am, Peugeot, Polaris, Minarelli, Morini and SYM, which places its own scooters on the same kind of transmission as far larger brands.
In Germany the marque arrived through changing importers. Scooters and quads have been sold there by the Austrian importer Leeb since 2008; before that, from 2001, the Cologne buyers’ cooperative ZEG held exclusive import rights, having already sold TGB vehicles under the Pegasus name since 1997.
Design and features
- RS designation: the maker lists the model as the 303 RS.
- Small-capacity class: it belongs with the 101S Orion and Laser RS 50 in the lower part of the range.
- Morini engines: the company fits mainly Morini units, licence-built Moto Franco Morini designs.
- Two Taiwanese plants: assembly is split between the Youn-An and Ping-Tung factories.
TGB 303 versions
- 303 RS: the only version named in the manufacturer’s list.
- Range neighbours: the 101S Orion, the Laser RS 50 and the Bellavita 125 and 300, listed alongside it.
- Related 50cc models: the Ergon 50 and Akros 50, imported into Germany by Auto-Teile-Unger between 1995 and 2001.
The TGB 101 is the closest model in the list, and the TGB Laser follows the same small-scooter idea. More machines are in the TGB collection.
Sources
- Taiwan Golden Bee, Polish Wikipedia: model list with 303 RS
- Taiwan Golden Bee, German Wikipedia: company history, plants, capital, importers
- Taiwan Golden Bee, English Wikipedia: transmission supply, company origins
