Retroscope scooters "Tulitsa". Part 3

I must say that the new engine was received ambiguously. The old one (as it was popularly called - "cast iron") was praised for its excellent traction on the "bottoms". The new cylinder (which was called "bimetallic" at the factory) had even higher maximum torque, but it was also achieved at higher speeds.
In the 70s and 80s of the last century, the Tula Machine-building Plant annually produced 80-90 thousand scooters.


Meanwhile, the demand for passenger scooters in the USSR was rapidly falling. A car became the dream of the middle class, while a motorcycle began to play two roles: a sports equipment for young people, and along with a wheelchair, a cheap substitute for a car for poor fathers of families. Alas, a light scooter was not suitable for any of these options. Vyatka was discontinued in 1979 (after the cars produced in almost three years accumulated on the trading bases). In order to save the motorcycle industry in Tula in 1978, they were finally allowed to sell cargo scooters to the public. This step was enthusiastically accepted by the buyers.: The dacha program was just gaining momentum (which made it possible to somehow solve the food problem within a single family). The plant even hastily mastered the two-seat version of the Ant: although the load capacity of the car had decreased, it was now possible to get to the cottage with his wife. In addition, the cargo scooter had another important advantage over the passenger one: it was given a place for a garage. So soon the factory completely changed the structure of motorcycle production. Previously, about two-thirds of the production was made up of light scooters, but after 1978 their share began to fall rapidly and by the end of the 80s reached 5%.

It is not surprising that the factory authorities tried in every possible way to exclude the passenger scooter from the production program. It supported its point of view with data from world statistics: in the late 70s, passenger scooters of similar cubic capacity practically disappeared from the scene, they were produced only by Piaggio (Vespa) and its Indian epigones. It is interesting to compare the parameters of the then-newest Vespa P200E (production of which began in 1978) and the Tulitsa. With the same working volume, the Tulitsa was more powerful (14 hp versus 12 hp for the Italian), but much heavier (140 kg versus 109 kg) and longer (the base of the Tulitsa was 1400 mm, for the Vespa - 1235 mm). So the Tula scooter was then the most powerful in the world, but not the fastest (the declared maximum speed of the Tulitsa was 97 km/h, the Vespa was 110 km/h).

In fact, Tulitsa survived in those years only thanks to a few enthusiasts, led by Evgeny Nikolaevich Shcherbakov, Deputy chief designer of the motorcycle industry, who oversees this topic. Soon they got arguments in their favor: the roller renaissance, which began abroad, initially affecting only small cubic meters, was rapidly gaining "working volume." In 1982, the 180 cc Yamaha Cygnus was introduced, followed two years later by the 250 cc Honda Spacy Freeway. And the Honda Fusion, which debuted in 1986, made such an impression on Tula designers that, using measurements from photographs, they recreated it in plasticine to test ergonomics (the ministry was stingy to allocate currency for the purchase of foreign samples). Many players look for a site that offers fair rules, clear odds, and a calm environment where they can responsibly explore different types of gambling, and they often compare several options before deciding where to wager. When they are ready to try a new platform, they might choose to carefully gamble at play at Boho Casino after checking its features, limits, and available support tools.