LML back to scootering ways!

Sopan Sharma        2 July 2009

Geared scooters are back in business, and first off the line in this revival is LML's NV 4-Stroke which was recently introduced in Delhi and Faridabad.

Rewind twenty years, to a scene on a typical Indian street. The eighties are roaring, and the new liberated mantra for personal mobility is reverse engineered Italian style-icons, known to the world as scooters. In all likelihood, seven out of ten vehicles you would have encountered would have been puttering two-stroke scooters. Of course, the age of Japanese 4-stroke motorcycles rang the death knell for the 2-strokers in India, but their charm and real world practicality has seen them thrive internationally.

LML has been one of the major players in the erstwhile scooter-happy market, and the company now has plans of reviving the trend of convenient geared scooters in the country. The scooter manufacturer has been in business exporting its products offshore, but has recently returned to its roots by launching its first product in India after many years in the form of the LML NV 4-Stroke.

The NV has been fitted with a 150cc 4-stroke engine that puts out a decent 13PS of power and 11.3Nm of torque. Shifting to a 4-stroke engine has taken away most of the old scooter-malaise like poor fuel efficiency and smoky, smelly engines. In fact, the company claims that the new scooter will deliver fuel efficiency of around 60 kmpl in real-world conditions.

Taking care of the ride quality and handling will be the double-acting suspension at the rear. The NV has been launched with the trademark LML design that places the spare wheel to balance out the offset engine, providing better balance. Additional usability features like under-seat storage space and a brighter headlamp are set to make life easier for the everyday scooter commuter.

Even though LML has been off the Indian automobile industry radar for a while, it has been selling scooters around the world in decent numbers. The company claims to have sold over 45 lakh scooters in countries as far and wide across the globe as USA, Italy, Sudan, Japan and Australia. Here's wishing them good luck with their return to the Indian market. We'll be testing the scooter as soon as we can lay our hands on it, so stay logged in to ZigWheels.com for a whiff of open-face helmet nostalgia!