As gas prices rise, demand for scooters grows

Debbie Dunning hasn't even gotten her first shipment of motor scooters yet, and she's already getting calls from would-be buyers.

The owner of Renegade Classics motorcycle dealership in Cathedral City, Calif. is getting about a dozen scooters this week delivered from a Chicago manufacturer. She expects them to sell quickly, and plans to get another 10 or 15 in June.

"There's a call for them -- they get (nearly) 100 miles per gallon, and gas is going through the roof," she said.

Even longtime motorcyclists have expressed interest in the scooters she has ordered from the Genuine Scooter Co. in Chicago, Dunning said.

Motor scooter dealers and enthusiasts nationwide say interest in the lightweight, zippy two-wheelers is growing fast.

More than 130,000 Vespas, Hondas, Yamahas and other scooters were sold in the United States during the first quarter of 2008, according to preliminary figures gathered by the Irvine-based Motorcycle Industry Council. That is a 24 percent increase over the same period the previous year, and the 2008 figures do not include sales by some startup manufacturers in China and elsewhere.

Sales are being fueled at least in part by the fact that some scooter models get up to 90 miles per gallon, said Mike Mount, a spokesman for the nonprofit trade group. With gas around $4 a gallon, that's a big incentive.

"And they're just a lot of fun to ride," Mount said.

Dealers and riders alike say scooters are growing in popularity throughout the Inland area. Riverside and San Bernardino counties are home to several clubs whose members gather for monthly, weekly and annual outings.

Inland Scooter Buffs

Gordon, co-founder of the Cafe Moto Vespa Club, keeps six Vespas in his Temecula, Calif. garage. His wife and 19-year-old son both ride, and Gordon, 49, said he tries to arrange one workday a week to ride one of his scooters to his job as an office machine salesman.

Granted, it is tough to show up for a sales meeting with helmet hair.

"But if gas keeps going up, I might just shave (my hair) off and ride my scooter to appointments," he said.

About two dozen people take part in the Cafe Moto Vespa Club's monthly rides between Temecula and Fallbrook in northern San Diego County.

Gordon said he got interested in scooters in the mid-1990s, after he and his wife returned from vacationing in Italy, where it seemed everyone was riding one.

Vespa's parent company, Piaggio, began producing scooters in 1946 as a cleaner, low-cost alternative to motorcycles. They caught on in a post-World War II Italy where money was scarce and gas was expensive.

Scooters became even more popular internationally in the 1960s, after stars such as Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck were seen riding them on film. Scooters -- decked out with extra mirrors and gleaming chrome -- became a symbol of the "Mod" cultural movement in Britain in the mid-1960s and again among ska music fans in the 1980s.

Scooters today are better on the environment and easier to ride than their predecessors. Gone are the old "two-stroke" motors that ran on a mixture of gas and oil and emitted a noxious cloud.

The newer models take regular unleaded and are automatic, meaning no gear shifting is required.

Scooters range in price from less than $1,000 for some Chinese imports to as much as $8,000 for the highest-end brands.

There is also a range in performance, from engines of 50cc to 500cc. Some putter along at 35 mph, while others can easily clock in at 80 mph or faster.

E-mail Gregor McGavin at gmcgavin(at)PE.com

(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)