The TGB F409 is listed by its manufacturer in two forms, the F409 BF1 and the F409 Royal Cruise. Neither name gives away much, and the source does not explain the difference between them, but they are enough to place the F409 in the programme of Taiwan Golden Bee, a Taiwanese maker that builds both scooters and quads.
TGB F409 at a glance
| Maker | Taiwan Golden Bee Co., Ltd. (TGB), Taiwan |
|---|---|
| Model | TGB F409 |
| Listed versions | F409 BF1 and F409 Royal Cruise |
| Place in the range | listed among the company’s familiar models |
| Engines | mainly Morini units, licence-built Moto Franco Morini designs |
| Assembly | Taiwan: Youn-An plant (270 staff) and Ping-Tung plant (170 staff) |
| European presence | more than twenty years; leading quad and ATV maker in Europe |
| German distribution | ZEG from 2001; Leeb of Austria from 2008 |
| Technical data in the source | none: the two model names are all the source gives |
No Wikipedia page exists for this model in any language. The page is built from the Polish, German and English articles on the manufacturer, Taiwan Golden Bee; the source gives no technical data for the F409 and does not explain the difference between its two listed versions.
History of the TGB F409
Taiwan Golden Bee started in 1965 as Taiwan Vespa Co. Ltd., producing Piaggio scooters under Italian licence for the Taiwanese market, and took its present name in 1978 when production of its own vehicles began. Since then the company has worked in both the two- and the four-wheel sectors, and its quads and all-terrain vehicles are what made the marque known in Europe, where it has been sold for more than twenty years and counts among the leading makers of the market.
The F409 is one of the names in the company’s register of models, listed twice over as the F409 BF1 and the F409 Royal Cruise. The two designations sit in the same list as the Blade and Target ranges, the Bullet and Tapo scooters and the small 101 and 303 models, but the source says nothing more about them: it does not give an engine size, a body type or a production period, and no article on the model exists in any language of Wikipedia. The difference between BF1 and Royal Cruise is therefore not documented anywhere the source reaches.
What can be said with the sources behind it concerns the maker rather than the machine. TGB makes most of its bodywork itself, buys cockpits, handlebar switches and engines mainly from Morini, whose engines are licence-built Moto Franco Morini designs, and supplies complete continuously variable transmission systems to Piaggio, Rotax/Can-Am, Peugeot, Polaris, Minarelli, Morini and SYM. Its two Taiwanese plants, Youn-An with 270 employees on 31,260 square metres and Ping-Tung with 170 employees on 21,623 square metres, turn out scooters and quads on the same lines.
In Germany the marque has moved between importers: Auto-Teile-Unger brought in the Ergon 50 and Akros 50 scooters between 1995 and 2001, the Cologne cooperative ZEG held the exclusive import from 2001, and since 2008 scooters and quads have been distributed by the Austrian importer Leeb. Where the F409 fits into that timeline the sources do not say.
Design and features
- Two versions: the maker lists the F409 BF1 and the F409 Royal Cruise.
- Quad-side product: it belongs with the all-terrain vehicles that established the marque in Europe.
- Morini engines: the company fits mainly Morini units, licence-built Moto Franco Morini designs.
- Two Taiwanese plants: production is split between Youn-An and Ping-Tung.
TGB F409 versions
- F409 BF1: the first of the two listed forms.
- F409 Royal Cruise: the second, whose difference from the BF1 the source does not explain.
- Range neighbours: the Blade, Target and Gunner quads, listed alongside it.
The TGB Target and TGB Blade are the all-terrain families listed beside it. More machines are in the TGB collection.
Sources
- Taiwan Golden Bee, Polish Wikipedia: model list with F409 BF1 and F409 Royal Cruise
- Taiwan Golden Bee, German Wikipedia: company history, plants, market position, importers
- Taiwan Golden Bee, English Wikipedia: origins and transmission supply
