Happiness is removing the support wheels
"Sitting on the bike was happiness and freedom. And it still is. I have long run various tech companies, but Vässla is something different – because now I get to work with my passion for two-wheelers for the first time. And I will try to do it without training wheels."
This rascal I slid around on
A 1985 Yamaha YZinger was my first bike with a motor. I rode every day until I got too big and upgraded to an 80cc. The mother drove me around to cross tracks in the area, with the bike in the back on her folk pickup. And I have to admit, we have borrowed some details from the cool 80s when we designed our new moped.
Then I found a scrap heap
A few years ago I did a bucket-list project. I ran on an old Jeep Wrangler. A real pile of scrap. But it could be fixed, because everything can be fixed. I lived in the garage for 5 months and googled and googled to figure out how to do it. The first trip after the renovation was a trip to Biltema because I had forgotten something. The second trip was a camping trip with the children.
Look under the shell
"The first thing I did when I took over Vässla was to take apart all the bikes. Every little damn nut, screw, and washer. To understand how everything worked and to see together with my new design, mechanics, and battery people how we could make things even better. And of course, to be able to answer questions in customer service."
So this spring it will arrive. The new mop.
Soon I will post some specifications and drawings of our new bike. It's a mop with a new design, great range and a few other goodies, developed with some who are terrible at mecha - one of the world's best tech and design companies. Maybe the mop should be called grandpa. Or Thor. We'll see. What do you think?
