Scooting beyond high gas prices

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GMI

Vehicles are gaining popularity for their fuel efficiency; sales have doubled from 2000.

By Joe Kafka
Associated Press

Gasoline pushing $3 gallon? Why worry?

Buy a motor scooter like thousands of other Americans and stretch that single gallon of gas a week or more.

"As people start driving them, they start finding more reasons to use them," said Doug Day, owner of Scooter Centrale and Vespa Hartford in Plainville, Conn.

"They're practical, easy to park and get great gas mileage. I put $5 worth of gas into mine when it's totally empty, compared to $50 in my SUV."

As gasoline prices soar, the popularity of peppy, fuel-sipping motor scooters -- most easily get 50 miles per gallon and some of the smaller ones get up to 80 mpg -- is soaring. Sales, estimated at 86,000 last year in the U.S., have doubled from 2000, according to the Motorcycle Industry Council.

"I put about 20 miles a day on mine, and I only have to fill it up twice a month," said Jessica Meuchel, 23, who uses a scooter to deliver daily newspapers in Pierre, S.D. She bought the two-wheeler last spring because it was costing her $200 a month to fuel her truck.

Even the larger scooters are more economical to drive than cars, says Day. He says sales at his shops climbed nearly 200 percent last year and are doing well this year, too.

MIC spokesman Mike Mount said the market gained momentum when upscale Italian scooter maker Piaggio re-entered the U.S. market with the legendary Vespa in 2001.

Motorcycle makers such as Honda and Yamaha also began offering new lines of scooters in recent years. Scooters were pioneered in postwar Europe by Piaggio, which made the first Vespa in 1946.

Small scooters, especially those made in China, Korea and Taiwan, sell for as little as $800 to $900. Larger scooters, capable of legal highway speeds and more, can cost $4,000 to $6,000.

Scooters, while fun to drive, also can be dangerous. Other motorists often don't notice the small two-wheelers, and that can land scooter drivers in the hospital -- or the morgue.

Motor scooters are usually regulated by state laws as either motorcycles or mopeds. If classified as motorcycles, special licensing endorsements are required. Several states require young drivers to wear helmets, Mount says. As for liability insurance, some states require it and others don't, he said.