R.P.M. Co., Ltd., a major powered two-wheeler (PTW) tuning-parts brand in Taiwan, recently celebrated its 22nd anniversary by moving into a brand-new integrated office- factory complex in Taipei, showing its determination to further expand its business, especially globally after having built dominance on the island. The new office-plant complex cost over NT$100 million (US$2.86 million at US...

The Yichin Transportation Equipment Co. is ceaselessly developing new products and upgrading its manufacturing quality in an effort to become a top supplier of a comprehensive range of high-end safety-critical brake parts and performance-critical transmission parts for motorcycles and motor scooters. Through a well-established division-of-labor manufacturing system, Yichin keeps costs down b...

Fred Cheng, president of the Nan Hoang Traffic Instrument Co., Taiwan's largest manufacturer of friction material, recently confirmed that his company is working with strategic partners to develop the most advanced non-organic ceramic-fiber material and related equipment for making top-end ceramic brake discs and pads. These parts are currently used only on a very few car models, such as Audi's f...

A steam velocipede built by the American inventor Sylvester H. Roper in 1867 may be the earliest known motorcycle; while Roper's powered two-wheeler (PTW) never found commercial success, his innovations inspired, directed inventors of gas-powered motorbikes at the turn of the century. The first really successful production of PTW though, was the Hildebrand & Wolfmueller, patented in Munich in 189...

Due to limited driving range, light electric vehicles (LEVs) are making the biggest inroads today among commuters in high-density urban markets. Much of Taiwan's population is concentrated in the type of large and compact cities in which LEVs excel, giving the island a natural home market to fuel the sector's rise. A sound LEV manufacturing infrastructure and stringent emission standards promise ...

Devoting years of effort to develop vehicular technologies in Taiwan to realize urban transport solutions based on need has paid off again, besides playing a role to launch an LEV in 2007, for James Wang, a familiar figure at the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), the largest and most important industrial technology development hub on the island: he has been promoted as the deputy d...

Electric vehicles have become one of the main focuses of the global effort to conserve energy and protect the environment. At the present time, most development is aimed at designing personal vehicles for short-distance mobility and public transport vehicles for medium- and long-distance transportation. Taiwan, with its strong technological and manufacturing capabilities, is an ideal location...

Pierangelo Andreani, an internationally known Italian who has been designing transportation equipment for over 40 years, generously shared his views on trends in powered two-wheeler (PTW) design, especially in the European market, during a recent visit to Taiwan. Andreani works with cars, motorcycles, scooters, and bicycles, as well as boats. He joined the global car-design firm Pinifarina S.P...

The INTERMOT Cologne 2008, the trade show focused on "crotch rockets" and scooters held in Koln, Germany from October 7-12, made progress in all statistical aspects relative to the previous 2006 event. Clearly the German PTW show was important enough a business platform to warrant attendance from all the who's who in the field. The show organizer Koelnmesse says that 1,068 exhibitors from 36 ...

A few hundred reporters got an early peek at the world's latest and greatest powered two wheelers (PTWs) displayed at INTERMOT Cologne 2008 on October 7, one day before the event's grand opening. If the constant strobe of camera flashes was any indication, they were clearly impressed by what they saw. The world's largest international trade fair for motorcycles and scooters, INTERMOT more t...