--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
October 22, 2009
Finding Ease, Efficiency and Fun on a Scooter By DEXTER FORD
A FUNNY thing happened on the way to $4-a-gallon gas, financial collapse and gridlocked city traffic. Americans finally climbed off their Hogs and out of their Hummers and discovered scooters — the zippy, fashion-forward transpo-pods that have long filled the streets and sidewalks of Beijing, Paris, Rome, Shanghai and other cities throughout the world.
American city dwellers, from Miami to Seattle, are being lured into Vespa and other scooter dealerships by the prospect of 70-plus miles per gallon efficiency, traffic-dodging agility and leave-it-anywhere parkability.
“People in the city are using scooters more and more,” said Paolo Timoni, president and chief executive of Piaggio Group Americas, the American distributor of Vespa, Piaggio and Aprilia scooters. “If you were walking across New York City four years ago, you’d be unlikely to see a scooter anywhere. Nowadays, you’ll probably see a scooter on every other block. You see them on Park Avenue. You see them in Tribeca.
“Five or six years ago, most people were buying Vespas as recreational vehicles: they liked the design, the great colors, the fact that a Vespa is an Italian product. But more and more, there is a larger share of people who are choosing Vespas as an alternative form of transportation — either to reduce their cost of transportation, or because of traffic congestion. And some buy a Vespa as an environmental effort, to leave a smaller carbon footprint than a car.”
So the depressed economy and rising gasoline prices have given more urban Americans a practical reason to consider this less-expensive way to move. But once they start riding them, many scooter newcomers discover what Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn learned filming “Roman Holiday”: these things are a hoot.
“I bought a Yamaha 650 cc cruiser,” said Vijay Yajnik, an ebullient 60-year-old software entrepreneur and scooter neophyte in Torrance, Calif. “Too much bike, not enough fun. So I got rid of it and got the Vespa.
“And I’m just having a blast,” he said, buckling his helmet for a brisk Saturday afternoon ride with his new two-wheel posse, the South Bay Scooter Club. The club, like many others across the country, has members ranging from pierced-and-tattooed teenagers to trim sexagenarians, riding a wild mix of machines from loud, stripped-down Honda Ruckuses to sleek, chic $9,000 Piaggio MP3s.
Scooters deliver the same flying-over-the-ground, slicing-through-traffic freedom as motorcycles, but without the tough-guy, daredevil image associated with their bigger, faster cousins. And with their simpler, easier-to-learn controls, lighter weight and more modest speed, scooters can more easily slip under the peer-pressure radar of concerned parents, spouses and friends.
What makes a scooter a scooter? Unlike a motorcycle, which has its (generally larger) motor mounted in front of the rider, a scooter’s power plant is mounted in the rear, under the seat, and is generally concealed by styled bodywork.
Because all the mechanical stuff — engine, transmission, fuel tank and so forth — is hidden under the seat, there is plenty of room to rest one’s feet in front; this feature makes it possible to ride a scooter while wearing a skirt.
Scooters generally have a lower front fairing, to help keep the rider shielded from flying mud, stones and dust. Smaller wheels add to a scooter’s maneuverability while further reducing its over all size and weight. Vintage scooters — early Vespas, Lambrettas and others — had clutches and three- or four-speed manual gearboxes, but almost all modern scooters have electric starters and automatic, continuously variable transmissions. Simply hop on, start up and go.
Riders new to scooters are cautioned by safety experts to wear a helmet certified by the Department of Transportation — preferably a full-face design — and protective clothing and shoes, and to take riding in city traffic very seriously.
“Just because it’s called a scooter and is small and cute doesn’t mean it’s any safer than a big, high-performance motorcycle,” said David R. Thom, a motorcycle accident researcher with Collision and Injury Dynamics, a safety consulting firm in El Segundo, Calif.
Studies have shown that about half of all serious or fatal motorcycle accidents occur at urban-style intersections, with impact speeds below 25 miles an hour. These crashes are primarily caused by auto drivers failing to see bikes and turning into their paths — an accident that can happen just as easily on a Vespa 50 as on a Suzuki GSX-R1000.
Safety advocates and scooter manufacturers recommend that before setting out, scooter riders, like motorcyclists, get proper licensing and adequate training, preferably through the Motorcycle Safety Foundation’s RiderCourse classes.
A new Vespa looks a lot like Peck’s 1952 machine, but under the skin there have been a wide range of improvements and innovations. Vintage Vespas and Lambrettas, which are still very popular among dedicated scooteristas, used oil-burning two-stroke engines, identified by their characteristic ringing exhaust sound and wake of blue smoke. Current Vespas and nearly all other modern scooters use much more environmentally friendly four-stroke engines, and advanced antipollution technology like electronic fuel injection is rapidly becoming routine.
VESPA’S corporate parent, Piaggio, has also heavily invested in a scooter design with two front wheels, the MP3. These advanced machines lean and turn just like a normal scooter, but can be parked, even on tilted ground, by simply locking the tilting mechanism and brake — no awkward kickstand needed. The dual front wheels and brakes provide added front traction and stopping ability, making the design more confidence-inspiring in rough weather and on slippery manhole covers and trolley tracks.
Piaggio will even introduce a plug-in hybrid version of the MP3 to the United States next year, allowing riders to charge their batteries at night and ride to work in all-electric mode in the morning, using a small gas engine to extend range and power. Maximum mileage is projected at 140 m.p.g., about twice the efficiency of conventional scooters.
Scooters come in all shapes and sizes, from tiny 50 cc machines with top speeds of 30 to 40 miles per hour all the way to 500 cc, 600 cc and bigger maxi scooters, from Piaggio, Suzuki and Honda, which can carry two people and luggage on freeways, at speeds nearing 100 m.p.h.
Asian and European urbanites have long embraced the low initial cost, easy parking, traffic-thwarting maneuverability and practicality of scooters. And now, as fuel prices remain high and the economy continues to struggle, Americans are beginning to see the wisdom of the rest of the world’s scooter-riding ways.
“I got the idea of getting a scooter in Ho Chi Minh City,” said Roisin Wisneski, 26, an energy analyst who recently moved from Washington to Brooklyn.
“They are everywhere in Vietnam, and I rented one just to get around,” Ms. Wisneski said. “When I got back to D.C., with its wide avenues and limited public transit, it just made sense, and I bought my own.”
October 22, 2009
Finding Ease, Efficiency and Fun on a Scooter By DEXTER FORD
A FUNNY thing happened on the way to $4-a-gallon gas, financial collapse and gridlocked city traffic. Americans finally climbed off their Hogs and out of their Hummers and discovered scooters — the zippy, fashion-forward transpo-pods that have long filled the streets and sidewalks of Beijing, Paris, Rome, Shanghai and other cities throughout the world.
American city dwellers, from Miami to Seattle, are being lured into Vespa and other scooter dealerships by the prospect of 70-plus miles per gallon efficiency, traffic-dodging agility and leave-it-anywhere parkability.
“People in the city are using scooters more and more,” said Paolo Timoni, president and chief executive of Piaggio Group Americas, the American distributor of Vespa, Piaggio and Aprilia scooters. “If you were walking across New York City four years ago, you’d be unlikely to see a scooter anywhere. Nowadays, you’ll probably see a scooter on every other block. You see them on Park Avenue. You see them in Tribeca.
“Five or six years ago, most people were buying Vespas as recreational vehicles: they liked the design, the great colors, the fact that a Vespa is an Italian product. But more and more, there is a larger share of people who are choosing Vespas as an alternative form of transportation — either to reduce their cost of transportation, or because of traffic congestion. And some buy a Vespa as an environmental effort, to leave a smaller carbon footprint than a car.”
So the depressed economy and rising gasoline prices have given more urban Americans a practical reason to consider this less-expensive way to move. But once they start riding them, many scooter newcomers discover what Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn learned filming “Roman Holiday”: these things are a hoot.
“I bought a Yamaha 650 cc cruiser,” said Vijay Yajnik, an ebullient 60-year-old software entrepreneur and scooter neophyte in Torrance, Calif. “Too much bike, not enough fun. So I got rid of it and got the Vespa.
“And I’m just having a blast,” he said, buckling his helmet for a brisk Saturday afternoon ride with his new two-wheel posse, the South Bay Scooter Club. The club, like many others across the country, has members ranging from pierced-and-tattooed teenagers to trim sexagenarians, riding a wild mix of machines from loud, stripped-down Honda Ruckuses to sleek, chic $9,000 Piaggio MP3s.
Scooters deliver the same flying-over-the-ground, slicing-through-traffic freedom as motorcycles, but without the tough-guy, daredevil image associated with their bigger, faster cousins. And with their simpler, easier-to-learn controls, lighter weight and more modest speed, scooters can more easily slip under the peer-pressure radar of concerned parents, spouses and friends.
What makes a scooter a scooter? Unlike a motorcycle, which has its (generally larger) motor mounted in front of the rider, a scooter’s power plant is mounted in the rear, under the seat, and is generally concealed by styled bodywork.
Because all the mechanical stuff — engine, transmission, fuel tank and so forth — is hidden under the seat, there is plenty of room to rest one’s feet in front; this feature makes it possible to ride a scooter while wearing a skirt.
Scooters generally have a lower front fairing, to help keep the rider shielded from flying mud, stones and dust. Smaller wheels add to a scooter’s maneuverability while further reducing its over all size and weight. Vintage scooters — early Vespas, Lambrettas and others — had clutches and three- or four-speed manual gearboxes, but almost all modern scooters have electric starters and automatic, continuously variable transmissions. Simply hop on, start up and go.
Riders new to scooters are cautioned by safety experts to wear a helmet certified by the Department of Transportation — preferably a full-face design — and protective clothing and shoes, and to take riding in city traffic very seriously.
“Just because it’s called a scooter and is small and cute doesn’t mean it’s any safer than a big, high-performance motorcycle,” said David R. Thom, a motorcycle accident researcher with Collision and Injury Dynamics, a safety consulting firm in El Segundo, Calif.
Studies have shown that about half of all serious or fatal motorcycle accidents occur at urban-style intersections, with impact speeds below 25 miles an hour. These crashes are primarily caused by auto drivers failing to see bikes and turning into their paths — an accident that can happen just as easily on a Vespa 50 as on a Suzuki GSX-R1000.
Safety advocates and scooter manufacturers recommend that before setting out, scooter riders, like motorcyclists, get proper licensing and adequate training, preferably through the Motorcycle Safety Foundation’s RiderCourse classes.
A new Vespa looks a lot like Peck’s 1952 machine, but under the skin there have been a wide range of improvements and innovations. Vintage Vespas and Lambrettas, which are still very popular among dedicated scooteristas, used oil-burning two-stroke engines, identified by their characteristic ringing exhaust sound and wake of blue smoke. Current Vespas and nearly all other modern scooters use much more environmentally friendly four-stroke engines, and advanced antipollution technology like electronic fuel injection is rapidly becoming routine.
VESPA’S corporate parent, Piaggio, has also heavily invested in a scooter design with two front wheels, the MP3. These advanced machines lean and turn just like a normal scooter, but can be parked, even on tilted ground, by simply locking the tilting mechanism and brake — no awkward kickstand needed. The dual front wheels and brakes provide added front traction and stopping ability, making the design more confidence-inspiring in rough weather and on slippery manhole covers and trolley tracks.
Piaggio will even introduce a plug-in hybrid version of the MP3 to the United States next year, allowing riders to charge their batteries at night and ride to work in all-electric mode in the morning, using a small gas engine to extend range and power. Maximum mileage is projected at 140 m.p.g., about twice the efficiency of conventional scooters.
Scooters come in all shapes and sizes, from tiny 50 cc machines with top speeds of 30 to 40 miles per hour all the way to 500 cc, 600 cc and bigger maxi scooters, from Piaggio, Suzuki and Honda, which can carry two people and luggage on freeways, at speeds nearing 100 m.p.h.
Asian and European urbanites have long embraced the low initial cost, easy parking, traffic-thwarting maneuverability and practicality of scooters. And now, as fuel prices remain high and the economy continues to struggle, Americans are beginning to see the wisdom of the rest of the world’s scooter-riding ways.
“I got the idea of getting a scooter in Ho Chi Minh City,” said Roisin Wisneski, 26, an energy analyst who recently moved from Washington to Brooklyn.
“They are everywhere in Vietnam, and I rented one just to get around,” Ms. Wisneski said. “When I got back to D.C., with its wide avenues and limited public transit, it just made sense, and I bought my own.”
