Gas Scooters

A gas scooter can help you save money at the pump and put a little fun into your life while you're out and about town. I'm starting to see more of them in my neighborhood and they're good for short trips around your neighborhood. Many of the scooters today can reach speeds up to 55 miles per hour, and go 80+ miles per gallon for a 150cc model. Granted, you can't carry two weeks worth of groceries, but you can use your scooter for short trips to work or out to eat or any short errands that you might run. Scooters are not as expensive as a motorcycle and definitely less expensive then a car in terms of maintenance and operating costs. Does it really make sense to get in your 20 mpg car and drive to the store when you run out of milk or bread? You're using all that fuel to carry around the thousand pounds of metal that the car weighs. A gas scooter won't weigh much more than you, and it's more convenient for short trips. It's also easier to park a scooter, and maneuver around the parking lot. If you live in a large city like New York where parking is at a premium a scooter can also be more cost effective. Monthly parking for a car in Greenwich Village N.Y. can run $560. That's right monthly parking. That's more than a lot of peoples car payment. The cool thing is, with a scooter you can bring it right into your apartment (if you live on the first floor).  Apparently there's a whole "method" to parking in New York, paying tickets and fines is the cost of doing business.  It seems you save more money doing that than actually paying for parking.  Kind of like I did my last semester in college.  I got one ticket which was $15, if I'd paid for parking I'd have paid $50, so I came out ahead.

If you're wondering where to get a scooter, they're not too hard to find.  If you live in the United States you've probably seen scooter stores popping up around town.  Sales of scooters have increased 200% in the last few years, due in part to rising gas prices and a sluggish economy.  Most of the major motorcycle makers also make scooter, especially the European and Japanes makers.  Vespa, Honda, Suzuki, and Yamaha scooters can all be easily found in the United States.  In Europe you can find Piaggio, (Vespa) Moto Guzzi, Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki and more.  Scooters tend to be more popular in Europe because of higher fuel costs there. 

Before you get all excited and run out to get yourself a scooter, be sure and check your local laws on licensing. In some places their considered the same as a motorcycle and you'll have to have a drivers license with a motorcycle endorsement, have it registered, make sure it has the safety equipment to be street legal etc. Sometimes there's a way to get around this. In some states if a scooter is under 50cc's you don't need to deal with all that. A 50cc Scooter is a good size to get around your neighborhood and down to the local market. So what a lot of makers have done is make a 49cc scooter. It's essentially the same thing, but doesn't have to have all the licensing. Be sure and check in your area though, it's not the same for every place. n

The Vespa (Italian for "wasp") is a scooter produced by Piaggio of Italy.  Piaggio originally produced railway cars and locomotives.  Many of their plants turned to making aircraft during World War II.  Many of Piaggio's plants were destroyed by Allied bombing.  After the war, Enrico Piaggio, son of the founder Rinaldo Piaggio decided to get out of the aircraft business and address Italy's need for transportation.  Bombing had left roads and highways damaged and in many cases unsuitable for cars. Piaggio decided to make a scooter that was cheap, durable, and easy to drive for men and women.  The Vespa scooter was the result.  The "pass through" seat made it easy to ride while wearing a dress unlike a motorcycle, and the front shield also prevents water and mud spray unlike a motorcycle.  Using elements of aircraft design like monocoque construction (the body is an integral part of the chassis) Vespa sold slowly at first, but sales grew yearly.  With the release of the movie "Roman Holiday" the Vespa sales took off worldwide.

Yamaha scooters are a product of Yamaha's automotive division.  Yamaha originally started making pianos and reed organs in 1887.  Much like Piaggio, after World War II, Yamaha repurposed many of the company's assets to produce motorcycles.  Yamaha also makes personal watercraft, all terrain vehicles and also makes engines for use in other companies vehicles.  The Yamaha XF50X is a popular Yamaha scooter model, it is marketed as the C3 in North America.  Yamaha has long been a trusted brand name and its scooters are popular all over the world not just in Japan. In fact Yamaha is the second largest motorcycle maker in the world after Honda.  The Yamaha Morphous is an interesting concept with a long low scooter, sort of the Cadillac of scooter.  It just goes to show that Yamaha is always pushing the boundaries in the scooter world.