The TGB R50X is the smallest machine carrying the R designation in the Taiwanese manufacturer’s range. It appears in the model list next to the R125X, between the scooters of the two-wheel side and the large quads that made the marque’s name in Europe.
TGB R50X at a glance
| Maker | Taiwan Golden Bee Co., Ltd. (TGB), Taiwan |
|---|---|
| Model | TGB R50X |
| Larger sister | TGB R125X |
| Place in the range | listed among the company’s known models |
| 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 |
| German distribution | ZEG from 2001; Leeb of Austria from 2008 |
| Technical data in the source | none: the model name and displacement 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 R50X itself.
History of the TGB R50X
Taiwan Golden Bee began 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 it started building vehicles of its own. Its founder, Chi-Fu Chang, had run the Taiwanese Vespa division, and the methods he brought with him remained the basis of the company’s small-vehicle work.
The R50X is one of the smaller names in the resulting list. It is given together with the R125X, in a range whose other end is formed by the Blade, Target and Gunner quads of up to 1000 cc; the light scooters and the heavy four-wheel-drive machines are what TGB is known for, and the R models stand between the two. The source gives nothing beyond the designation: no power, weight, frame details or production years, and no article on the model in any language of Wikipedia.
The firm behind it makes most of its bodywork itself and buys cockpits, handlebar switches and engines mainly from Morini, whose engines are licence-built Moto Franco Morini designs. Alongside its own vehicles TGB supplies complete continuously variable transmission systems to Piaggio, Rotax/Can-Am, Peugeot, Polaris, Minarelli, Morini and SYM, which is a substantial part of its business and the reason its products share transmission technology with far larger brands.
Production is concentrated in two Taiwanese plants, Youn-An with 270 employees on 31,260 square metres and Ping-Tung with 170 employees on 21,623 square metres. In Europe the company has been present for more than twenty years and counts among the leading quad and ATV makers; in Germany its vehicles came in through Auto-Teile-Unger between 1995 and 2001 for the Ergon 50 and Akros 50 scooters, through the ZEG cooperative of Cologne from 2001, and through the Austrian importer Leeb since 2008.
Design and features
- 50 cc class: the smallest displacement in the R series.
- R series pair: listed together with the R125X.
- Morini engines: the company fits mainly Morini units, licence-built Moto Franco Morini designs.
- Shared transmission technology: TGB builds complete CVT systems for Piaggio, Polaris and others.
TGB R50X versions
- R50X: the version named in the manufacturer’s list.
- R125X: the larger model of the same series.
- Other 50 cc models: the Ergon EMR 50, Octane 50 and Laser RS 50 from the same list.
The TGB R125X is its larger sister, and the TGB Blade shows the top of the company’s range. More machines are in the TGB collection.
Video: TGB R50X aceleration
Video by Ivan Župančić on YouTube.
Sources
- Taiwan Golden Bee, Polish Wikipedia: model list with R50X and R125X
- Taiwan Golden Bee, German Wikipedia: company history, plants, capital, importers
- Taiwan Golden Bee, English Wikipedia: founder, origins, transmission supply
