of new scooters following complaints from customers that they are too slow.

Holmes, Williams and Purvey made the promise after a mother contacted The Royal Gazette to complain that her 17-year-old daughter has been waiting since March for a new part to increase the power of her Honda Scoopy 50 cc.

The woman, who asked not to be named, said she was repeatedly told by staff at the dealership that the bike required a new CDI, a computer box which controls the bike's engine, but they were on order.

The woman said although the bike could reach 35 kph, the legal speed limit, it was far too slow going up hills.

She said seven people in her daughter's class had the same problems with that model of bike and that young people had resorted to stealing CDI boxes from other bikes.

HWP president Jonathan Brewin said yesterday there was nothing wrong with the batch of Scoopy 50 ccs his company had sold so far this year.

He said they could reach 50 kph, but they were slower than previous models.

The company had originally thought the bikes needed new CDIs, but had since discovered an adjustment can be made to the restrictor on the clutch to allow them to go faster.

Mr. Brewin said the company had made alterations to between seven and ten of the bikes sold this year and would make adjustments to other customers free of charge.

He said: "We are sad to hear that one of our customers feels dissatisfied with the product that we have sold and we are very happy to make an adjustment to her bike at no extra charge that will increase the top speed to more than 50 kph.

"The initial diagnosis was that the CDI box was to blame but the subsequent conclusion was that by altering the restrictor on the clutch we could increase the power rating.'' The woman said yesterday: "I am disgusted. I have been calling since March trying to get this sorted out and every time they told me the CDIs were on order. They definitely said the whole box had to be replaced.''