I owned a Bajaj Legend for 4 years.
I bought it when it was new in the market- in 1999 without knowing how it would be in terms of performance, economy and handling.
I loved its big boy looks though and its trendy headlight. Also the balance in the bike was much more than other traditional side engined Bajaj scooters due to the presence of the spare wheel on the left side. Good switchgear and a pass switch- a first on scooters in India.
The 9 bhp engine was a mighty performer with tremendous mid range grunt. Overtaking was easy and braking inspired confidence. Top speed was about 90 kmph.Decent handling and a near perfect handlebar position made driving effortless. I consistently got a 50 kmpl mileage on the Legend all the time.
There were two major flaws in the scooter. The first was the absence of an external petrol cock- so we had to rely on the fuel indicator(which conked off in a year). Also the TRICS- Throttle Regulated Ignition Control System- a first for Bajaj (the Bajaj Wind 125 also features this system)- had a problem. If you rode the bike at a constant speed of 50 kmph over long distances- there used to be petrol overflows. Many a time it would take some time and real hard kicking to get the engine back to life.
Unlike 4 stroke motorcycles, geared 4 stroke scooters were a flop as they did not offer value to the customer in terms of mileage as contemporary 2 stroke technology was offering the same mileage. Both TVS Spectra and Bajaj Legend were unceremoniously dumped from the production line. As a result now parts are hard to come by and the the scooter has no resale value.
The Legend was launched at a time when demand for scooters was reducing.The Bajaj Legend would have been the king of scooters in India if it had been launched 10 years earlier.