Have found something VERY interesting - possibly the new owners of Vectrix... Hesketh Motorcycles Ltd

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Drew
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Have found something VERY interesting - possibly the new owners of Vectrix... Hesketh Motorcycles Ltd

Hi All,

I was doing a bit of googling the other day and came across a very interesting new link that I don't think has been seen or discussed on here before (my apologies if it has).

A UK company called Hesketh Motorcycles would appear to be offering the following and I quote;

'Hesketh Motorcycles Ltd is delighted to announce its entry into the electric vehicle market with its new 'HZE-Vectrix' zero emission scooter...' so that leaves me to assume only one thing; this is the company that have bought the rights to Vectrix as we knew it.

If you get a chance, have a look at http://www.heskethmotorcycles.net/index.php?p=home as there are more details on there. I will certainly be siging up for their newsfeed!

It would appear that they are tied to an all British company called Broom Engineering whom you can have a look at here; http://www.broom.engineering.btinternet.co.uk/ It makes for an interesting read also.

I hope that this means that there IS a future for those of us with Vectrii (plural of Vectrix?) and also for those wanting an entirely new HZE-Vectrix...

Let me know what you think!

Best wishes

Drew
Beady-eye Drew (BDIDrew)

jdh2550_1
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Re: Have found something VERY interesting - possibly the new ...

Wow, that is interesting. Poking around on their site it appears that they were working on a different maxi-scooter (there are photos of another maxi-scooter). Did they decide to buy Vectrix - or is this some sort of re-branding deal whereby they're buying Vectrix bikes from "New Vectrix".

Very, very interesting (I checked and it's not April 1st so I don't think this is a hoax)

John H. Founder of Current Motor Company - opinions on this site belong to me; not to my employer
Remember: " 'lectric for local. diesel for distance" - JTH, Amp Bros || "No Gas.

marsupi
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Re: Have found something VERY interesting - possibly the new ...

Apparently the initial posting was HZS AQUILO, they just replaced it by HZE Vectrix...
if that's really the case, they probably figured it was cheaper to buyout Vectrix than develop a whole new bike from scratch, plus they get an existing dealer/customer base and better looking scoot than this...
bikeV2.png

07 Vectrix, Vego 600 mod.48V 800W, Arcade Alu E-Cycle 24VSachs Hub

Drew
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Re: Have found something VERY interesting - possibly the new ...

Another thing I spotted about the HZE-Vectrix;

You have to ride it with very very big gloves, quote;

'Storage capacity: Under-seat: 1.41 cu ft (1 full-faced helmet); Glove compartment: 21 cu ft; Optional top case: up to 1.66 cu ft'

21cu ft! Wow, now I have the space to park the Vectrix inside it's own glove box! I sure they meant 'cu in'! It tickled my sense of humour anyhow!

Best wishes,

Drew

Drew

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Re: Have found something VERY interesting - possibly the new ...

Let me know what you think!

I think you found a new owner of Vectrix!

marylandbob
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Re: Have found something VERY interesting - possibly the new ...

Yes, you have struck gold! If you search "Hesketh + Vectrix" you will find the HESKETH site, and they definitely are now involved with the VECTRIX! I have E-mailed them, and await any response.--Bob

Robert M. Curry

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Re: Have found something VERY interesting - possibly the new ...

now forgive me if i am wrong but surely this has all been arranged before the end of the public auction, so what was the point of the public auction if the winner had already been decided.
has Mr Boyle and his team taken a brown envolope and legged it.
are Hesketh going to honor warranties globally is this just a UK branding or is this now what Vectrix is called globally.
will we as dealers automatically be taken on or will there be a new marketing and outlet network.
This hasnt been sorted out in 24hrs this would have taken time to set up ,So were the creditors taken into consideration here or just the retirement fund of the directors.

Just very well informed

jdh2550_1
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Re: Have found something VERY interesting - possibly the new ...

now forgive me if i am wrong but surely this has all been arranged before the end of the public auction, so what was the point of the public auction if the winner had already been decided.
has Mr Boyle and his team taken a brown envolope and legged it.
are Hesketh going to honor warranties globally is this just a UK branding or is this now what Vectrix is called globally.
will we as dealers automatically be taken on or will there be a new marketing and outlet network.
This hasnt been sorted out in 24hrs this would have taken time to set up ,So were the creditors taken into consideration here or just the retirement fund of the directors.

Right, the timing of this is perplexing me as well. If I had to guess then I'd say that this might be simply a branding deal between Vectrix and Hesketh. It might even have been in the works before the bankruptcy.

It seems unlikely to me that Hesketh can be the new owner - where's marcopolo when you need him? ;-)

John H. Founder of Current Motor Company - opinions on this site belong to me; not to my employer
Remember: " 'lectric for local. diesel for distance" - JTH, Amp Bros || "No Gas.

Jim Knopf
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Re: Have found something VERY interesting - possibly the new ...

Re-branding deal is the magic word! John, you are right. Mr Hesketh puts just another sticker on, that is it! He may has a small investment in New Vectrix but not more! Sorry!

Martina Engels

procrastination inc
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Re: Have found something VERY interesting - possibly the new ...

I'll be disappointed if Hesketh have bought it. The Vectrix would sit well with their previous offerings, quirky, exclusive, low volume. they don't have a well recognised brand and I fear they would lead the Vectrix further into obscurity.

I had hoped BMW would pick it up. They have a penchant for unusual, quality engineering, they have dabbled with the systems with the C1-E, the styling could almost fit their current line and they have the premium brand to command the premium price tag asked for the VX-1.

procrastination inc
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Re: Have found something VERY interesting - possibly the new ...

I'll be disappointed if Hesketh have bought it. The Vectrix would sit well with their previous offerings, quirky, exclusive, low volume. But, they don't have a well recognised brand and I fear they would lead the Vextrix further into obscurity.

I had hoped BMW would pick it up. They have a penchant for unusual, quality engineering, they have dabbled with the systems with the C1-E, the styling could almost fit their current line and they have the premium brand to command the premium price tag asked for the VX-1. Mainstream the VX-1!

Jim Knopf
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Re: Have found something VERY interesting - possibly the new ...

No worries proc...., like I said small investment. Branding deal and may he is the new Importer for the UK! their are rumours that the Vectrix Uk ( Vectrix Europe) office is shut down and the employes are discharged. The company sale was last week, funny that their is no press release, but the reason for that could be that
the creditor meeting did not happen yet, the creditor meeting has to take place latest 7 days after the auction, so in theory that should happen very soon and
then maybe we will know for the future who is who! In theory!!

Martina Engels

moccasin
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Re: Have found something VERY interesting - possibly the new ...

I wonder if it's possible that they just bought the existing stock of parts and already assembled and warehoused bikes? This is sort of what Myers Motors did with the Sparrow Company when Corbin closed it. I don't think they still manufacture the cars (or maybe they do by now), but for a long time, they just finished assembling the stockpile of warehoused body parts and drive components.

Boy Racer 2009
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Re: Have found something VERY interesting - possibly the new ...

I have heard that 'Hesketh Motorcycles' is an arm of 'Hesketh Motor company' and nothing to do with Broom enginering. does anyone know anything about this?

R
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Re: Have found something VERY interesting - possibly the new ...

The bid is over?
ANybody knows who is the new owner of vectrix?

doctor_of_music
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Re: Have found something VERY interesting - possibly the new ...

From R:
"Anybody knows who is the new owner of vectrix?"

I don't know the answer to that I'm afraid, and at the moment hardly anybody does.

I do know, however that Paul Hesketh is the new UK importer, and has some interesting plans for the future....

VectrixAddict
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Re: Have found something VERY interesting - possibly the new ...

Hmmm, I hope the company is better than their website.

It's got spelling mistakes and some misleading wording: "Operating from our head office in Cheshire, Hesketh Motorcycles Ltd is on schedule to launch the HZE-Vectrix during the 4th Quarter 2009. Having created the vision of a zero emissions scooter back in 2006, the team has worked hard to develop and build a vehicle designed specifically for today's market.:"

They had nothing to do with the development of the Vectrix. They should not feel the need to resort to bull***t and hype.

I would say that their website is letting them down and that is an unpromising start. Lets hope that this is a temporary glitch, because it is likely to put potential buyers off and we all want Vectrix to be a great success.

I say watch this space. It has the air of amateurishness about it and sadly I suspect it will not last long.

Not afraid to have a go

RaDy
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Re: Have found something VERY interesting - possibly the new ...

So maybe we could recomend Hesketh to buy out that website which was on sale.....VectrixFan!!!
Hahahahaha

VectrixAddict
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Re: Have found something VERY interesting - possibly the new ...

Don't know about anybody else but I find it troubling that Hesketh, a failed brand in many people's eyes is calaiming that the vectrix is a British made bike. What do you think?

Not afraid to have a go

AndY1
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Re: Have found something VERY interesting - possibly the new ...

I couldn't find, on their website, where it says, that they do, but at least they removed their badge and put back Vectrix badge back where it belongs to. Now, their logo is at the back of the bike, before their logo was put in place of Vectrix logo.

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Re: Have found something VERY interesting - possibly the new ...

Not afraid to have a go

VectrixAddict
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Re: Have found something VERY interesting - possibly the new ...

If I was Hesketh, I would get myself proper website before I launched, and sort out the wikipedia page too. This is in danger of being a bit of a joke. Trouble is we may be left without decent support.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hesketh_Motorcycles

Not afraid to have a go

jdh2550_1
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Re: Have found something VERY interesting - possibly the new ...

Heres some background on Hesketh, god help us.

http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/News/newsresults/New-bikes/2009/July/jul2909-hesketh-lives-on/

So, Paul Hesketh is not the same guy as Lord Hesketh who originally started the brand. He just bought the rights to use the name...

All very confusing. Sort of par for the course...

John H. Founder of Current Motor Company - opinions on this site belong to me; not to my employer
Remember: " 'lectric for local. diesel for distance" - JTH, Amp Bros || "No Gas.

Mik
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Re: Have found something VERY interesting - possibly the new ...

Hilarious! It fits like a bum on a bucket:

However, there were numerous problems. The bikes were heavy, made worse by a high riding style; and unreliable, with numerous manufacturing problems adding to an overheating rear cylinder due to lack of air flow. The resultant bad press combined on top of an under-developed bike, lack of cash and a collapsing market meant that after the production of 139 bikes, the company went into receivership.

This information may be used entirely at your own risk.

There is always a way if there is no other way!

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