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THE LAST REAL SCOOTER FACTORY ON EARTH!
Please be patient as these pictures will take time to load but will be worth it.

We’ve added this page to our site just for the freaks & weirdos just like us who are interested in where these great scooters actually come from. Eddy was lucky enough to be invited to visit the LML factory in Dec 07 to view production facilities and seethe last factory on Earth still producing classic metal bodied geared scooters. Over the years Piaggio have produced their iconic scooter known as the ‘Vespa’ in several countries and up until 2007 was still being made and supplied in several regions. This all finished almost simultaneously in 2007 when production was pulled. For a full story of this please see Scootering Magazine March 08 issue.

In summary  and by  default LML (Lohia Machines Limited) is now the only known factory with full dedicated production lines now producing this design icon formerly known in India as the ‘Vespa’.

We hope you enjoy this summary of Eddy's factory visit.   ©2008 eddy bullet
Main entrance to reception, boardroom and design offices in Kanpur site.

The whole factory covers over 100 acres with several large production halls, most of which are mothballed.

This factory used to produce up to 39,000 two wheeled vehicles per month at peak production!














Nice potted plants!
Several sites like this were seen on approach to number 1 production hall, two trolleys of bare petrol tanks out in the sunshine.
Roller benches, this chaps visually inspecting a completed frame.
Before Eddy got really excited he spotted these old discarded small frame chassis identical to the Piaggio PK. In India they were known as the ‘Sensation’ and were not a success. Keys in the name small frame, too small!
Another oddity noticed. A laid out & labelled display of all the metal components of a scooter, presumably for training purposes?
Now we’re talking. Original Piaggio presses in use after all these years. These two chaps are stamping out side panel cowls.
Here's what the blanks look like on exiting the press and before trimming.
Here's another pressing (leg shield apron) having its reinforcement web spot welded in.

Twitching yet?



You should be because if you are reading this instead of doing a household chore you are clearly a freak.

Welcome to our world!
Centre spars with steering column attached.

Half a cut down ready to go.
A unified chassis. Does anybody actually know how many individual pressing go in to making up a P Range monocoque frame?


This guy knows the score.




Here's a frame in a jig being spot welded. Unique!

Eddy saw lots of jigs for different models just laying around but couldn't distract them long enough to wheel one out in to a waiting taxi..

It would never pass as hand luggage anyway.
That's what we’re talkin about.
Another shot of the production line.

‘Migtastic’.

Here's some laid up small frame jigs again. Genuine piaggio.
This chaps spot welding the inner web to a side panel (cowl).


Will this madness ever end?
Finished gas tanks being checked for leaks. This is an important chap. If it wasn’t for men like this you could end up in a screaming fireball on some deserted B road somewhere.
Loads of them.

By the way, all metal pieces are not spray etched primed with paint but are CED dipped like a car and for anti corrosion purposes.

C.e.d means cathode electro deposition.

Cathode and anode stuff. The frames magnetised in a paint bath and the paint particles are deposited by the magic of elastic trickery.

Probably the sort of bath you wouldn't want to accidentally tumble in to.
Lots of individual pressing prime coated and ready to go in to the paint shop

We wish eddy bullets store room looked like this.
Side panels in various stages of paint. What is the collective noun for this?

Aerial  conveyor belt of freshly dipped frames.




Okay you’ve run out of patience or disc space so please click here for another page of scooter porn if you can stand it.










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