September 24, 2006
Parking cops use Segways to give tickets more efficiently
This silently rolling team turns heads and leaves people wide-eyed.
The uniformed, helmet-clad, parking-control representatives make quite an impression, but it's their mode of transportation that is the attraction -- the Segway.
Gary Wittenmyer, 65, and Bob Macek, 56, use the two-wheeled, self-balancing, battery-powered scooters to patrol downtown Riverside.
Their duties include checking meters and issuing tickets, but Wittenmyer and Macek might as well add responding to frequently-asked-questions-about-a-Segway.
"Some days you can hardly go a block without being stopped a couple of times," Wittenmyer said as he zipped along Main Street. "I've had a couple of older people in wheelchairs who wanted to race me."
The public parking services division purchased the $5,500 Segways in August for its SmartPark program, which expanded metered parking in the downtown commercial and courts districts, supervisor Arlene Armendariz said.
The scooters allow the officers to get around more quickly than on foot and more easily than if they were in a car that they'd have to park on busy streets.
The officers ride the Segways on the sidewalk, occasionally veering off to the side to let pedestrians go by or stopping to answer questions by curious passers-by.
"They pay you for that?" asked Abel Silva, 21, of Riverside, as he checked out Wittenmyer's scooter.
Silva asked questions the officers hear all the time -- and answer patiently. How expensive are they? How fast do they go? Can you fall?
"Chase somebody down on those?" Silva wondered.
"Not yet," Wittenmyer said with a broad grin.
"So you give more tickets?" Silva asked.
"It actually depends on the people how many tickets we give out," Wittenmyer said, adding that the Segways do allow them to cover more ground than on foot.
Wittenmyer used to walk eight miles a day and likes the scooters because they're easier on his knees and feet.
If the Segway pilot program is deemed successful by making parking enforcement more efficient, Armendariz said, she'd like to replace the division's two electric cars with the scooters. The cars need to be plugged in every couple of hours and don't have parts readily available, she said.
Link.
Posted by Frank at 6:46 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
St. Louis drunks driven home by scooter-preneur
It's proven successful on the west coast and is now gaining popularity in St. Louis.
It's called 'The Driver's Seat' -- a safe and innovative way to get home and have your car there after having one too many cocktails.
"It is a safe and viable alternative to an accident or DUI", explained local founder Todd Morlen.
Here's how it works.
You make a reservation to be picked up, and a volunteer driving a motorized scooter arrives and takes you home.
Morlen said after the diver arrives the scooter is folded and placed in a suitcase-like bag.
Since December, the program has removed 300 drivers from the road with only six scooter drivers.
It isn't cheap. There is a $20 pick-up fee and a $1.77 charge per mile.
Link.
Posted by Frank at 6:42 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 22, 2006
Scooter law puts girl out of business
Ten-year-old Savanna Nelson thought the police officer was joking when he told her she couldn’t ride her scooter downtown anymore.
Savanna lives with her parents above their shop, The Chocolate Lady, at 212 Hay St. Last spring, she started a downtown delivery business using her scooter, her personality and some youthful ambition.
Just like that, she was dubbed downtown’s youngest entrepreneur, an ambassador on wheels who brought lunch, coffee and ice cream to hungry shopkeepers up and down Hay Street — until Fourth Friday last month, when a police officer stopped her and a friend in mid-scoot.
“We were almost down to Sunny’s Men’s Wear and he stopped us,” Savanna said. “I’m like, ‘You’re kidding, right?’”
The officer wasn’t kidding. A city ordinance blocks people from riding skateboards, bicycles or anything else with human-propelled wheels on the downtown sidewalks.
Savanna was heartbroken.
“When I came home — you can ask my mom and dad — I came home in tears,” she said. “I can’t do the scooter business anymore.”
Link.
Posted by Frank at 4:30 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 21, 2006
Texas town considering scooter restrictions
Be careful where you scoot. And, if you're under the age of 16, wear a helmet. That's the gist of a proposed ordinance in Georgetown that would regulate the use of increasingly popular but potentially dangerous motor-assisted scooters, mopeds and other such vehicles.
"We're in no way trying to prohibit their use; we just want to have some sort of safety net," Police Chief David Morgan said.
The proposed ordinance would prohibit anyone from riding a motor-assisted scooter or moped on the sidewalk or the city's hike-and-bike trails. It would also require children younger than 16 to wear helmets, ride only during daylight hours and stay off roads where the speed limit exceeds 30 mph.
Violators, or their parents, could be fined up to $500.
Link.
Posted by Frank at 6:21 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 19, 2006
Retro archives: Harley Davidson - How Do I Hate Thee
Editor's note: I wrote this article about Harley Davidson motorcycles three years ago and it just logged it's 598th comment over at BlogCritics. On rereading it, I find it pretty funny, even if I did write it and decided to share it with the scootering community. Original pub. date, May 23, 2003.
We in the D.C. area just got treated to another tiresome rolling Geritol commercial. Thousands of RUBs [Rich Urban Bikers] came to the area on their Harley Davidson motorcycles, polluting the area with the sounds of troubled G.I. tracts.
Here's why I hate Harleys and the dweebs who ride them:
1. For encouraging dentists to wear leather.
2. For giving away a case of DentuCreme with every new hog.
3. For disenfranchising real tough guys. The true scum and lowlifes that made Harley fearsome either can't afford them or are ashamed to ride them. [Maybe they can become part of a protected class.]
4. For their thumping pipes, which serve no function, except to disrupt the peace.
5. For riding two abreast, because they have no balls.
6. For diluting an authentic piece of Americana.
7. For the fat asses I see spilling over the ever wider seats.
8. For the stupid looks on their faces when they drive down the street. Look at me, I'm cool!
9. For their endless, and now meaningless, displays of flag waving patriotism. It is a soulless piece of the branding effort.
10. For how shiny and endlessly chromed out their their bikes are — another sign they are just part of a laundry list of toys — and not an intrinsic part of their lifestyle.
11. For the wimps from Ohio and North Carolina who drive them here on trailers — pulled behind minivans!
Harley has become a joke.
Posted by Frank at 12:40 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 18, 2006
Vespa rider, writer, pens NY Times Op Ed
The below article by NEIL BARTON appeared in the NY Times Metro Opinion pages (9/17)
SCOOTERS are quickly becoming the vehicle of choice for many in New York City. This is not surprising, given that they are inexpensive, fuel efficient and easy to maintain and they provide tremendous personal mobility. They are legally considered motorcycles but their smaller size and step-through design set them apart from the bigger bikes, making them ideal for city life. Imagine no longer being at the mercy of a subway or bus schedule, or never having to hail a cab or get stuck in a car during gridlock again. Scooters make New York City life easier, more fun and more accessible.
But as far as the city is concerned, unfortunately, scooters don’t fit in, and they are being towed, ticketed and fined more than ever before.
The main problem, of course, is parking. There is almost no officially designated scooter or motorcycle parking in Manhattan. While cities across America — from Annapolis, Md., to San Francisco — are encouraging scooter drivers by offering parking spaces, in New York City, it’s a free-for-all: if you park on the street, you’re liable to have your bike damaged by a driver using the “park by feel” method or even picked up and moved elsewhere without your consent.
Some of my nonscootering friends have suggested that I avoid all this by using a garage or parking lot. This sounds like a good suggestion, but most garage owners don’t allow bikes because they aren’t insured to take two-wheeled vehicles. And those garages that do take scooters or motorcycles insist on charging the standard auto rate, which doesn’t seem fair.
At the moment, sidewalk parking is really the only alternative. Those scooterists, like myself, who park on the sidewalk are usually pretty careful about trying to find unobtrusive spots, out of the way of pedestrians and automobiles. This, however, eventually results in a ticket since parking on the sidewalk is in fact against the law.
In reaction to the ticketing, a lot of scooterists remove their license plates when parked so that there is no way to identify them. But this trick no longer works now that parking enforcement officers are armed with scanners to read registration stickers and issue summons. Recently the city began towing bikes parked with their plates removed, treating them as abandoned vehicles.
I may not be speaking for all scooterists, but I’m sure many, like me, don’t enjoy breaking the law to park somewhat safely. We want our scooters to be there when we walk outside; not knocked over or stolen or moved or towed.
The reality is that this parking problem is not going to go away. Scooterists are a growing constituency. According to the Motorcycle Industry Council, a national trade association, scooter sales in New York City, Long Island and northern New Jersey grew 310 percent from 1996 to 2005. Last year, there was a 64.5 percent increase in scooter sales nationwide.
Aside from providing scooter-designated parking on the street, separate from cars, New York City needs to require garages to provide parking for two-wheeled vehicles. And the city needs to regulate what rates garages charge. After all, if garages can charge a premium for S.U.V.’s because they take up more space, then shouldn’t they provide a discount to a scooter for taking only a sixth of the space of a standard car?
And although sidewalk parking is controversial, the city should consider this option. By looking at underused areas both on the street and the sidewalk, the city can find the space. Designated sidewalk parking also has the benefit of providing a structure to which scooterists can lock their bikes. In many cities around the world, sidewalks are where most scooters are parked.
As a final thought, consider Toronto. Until recently, the city also ticketed and towed its scooterists. But last year, the Toronto City Council passed legislation to make motorcycle and scooter parking free. The legislation also called for increasing the amount of parking space available for two-wheeled vehicles. Toronto obviously realized that it did more harm than good to punish those who reduced congestion and emissions in the city. It’s only a matter of time, I hope, before New York City comes to the same conclusions.
Posted by Frank at 5:06 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 17, 2006
Man tries to steal scooter from police station
PHILIPSBURG--A robber soon learnt that the back of the Philipsburg police station was not the best place from which to attempt stealing a scooter. He was caught red-handed by police around 2:30am Thursday.
Police spokesman Chief Inspector Humphrey “Boyd” Giterson told The Daily Herald on Thursday evening that the suspect F.G.R. (32) of Dominica probably had not been aware that the entire police station is monitored from inside via surveillance cameras installed on the building nearly two years ago.
Police officers were “holding the fort” during the early morning hours and could not believe what they were seeing as they watched F.G.R. on camera as he climbed the fence, entered the parking lot at the back of the building and headed for the confiscated scooters that are stored at the back of the station.
To add to F.G.R.’s misfortune, an Acting Prosecutor was passing by at the time. When F.G.R. saw police coming from the building he started to run, but was stopped by the Acting Prosecutor.
It is not clear what F.G.R. thought, as the gate to the police station was closed and could only be opened by remote control. It is not likely that he would have been able to take the scooter from the parking lot without having access to the remote device that opens the gate.
Posted by Frank at 11:39 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
As scootering grows, vintage weenies become whiners
With new, easier-to-use models, scooters have had a blast of popularity in the Twin Cities. But veteran retro-geeks look askance at newbies and wonder: Whine, or welcome them?
They hummed through city streets like a motorcade of mosquitoes. Vintage Vespas, modern Kymcos and even plastic crotch-rockets became goodwill ambassadors eliciting grins or laughter from spectators.
But for some veteran riders, last month's seventh annual Twin Cities scooter rally had grown too large and willy-nilly — words they might also apply to the larger scootering scene in Minnesota and the nation.
Thanks to recent gas prices and an influx of contemporary models on the market, scooters have attracted a new lot of enthusiasts who may not salivate over salvaging old bikes. Some veterans complain the newcomers are gradually transforming a cherished subculture rooted in retrogeekiness, Italian flair and the British "Mod" scene from the 1960s.
"A lot of people that ride scooters today are yuppies," said Chris Miller, 34, of Minneapolis, who sports a jacket for his scooter club, All Mod Cons (a shortened version of the slogan "all modern conveniences"). "Nothing's wrong with it, but everything that's been cool for the last 20 years has become mainstream, like skateboarding."
Miller's club takes its cues from the 1979 scooter cult flick "Quadrophenia." Based on The Who album of the same name, the film tells a story of an alienated Mod teen from London who hates his parents and his social life but finds freedom through cruising on his GS scooter.
A LOST REFERENCE
Yet such pop-cultural references, as well as the so-called pain and frustrations of owning a vintage scooter, are often lost on the new generation of riders.
One vintage scooter club, The Regulars, lost some of its, well, regulars after some new folks with modern vehicles appeared at the outings.
Jeremy Stomberg, 32, of Minneapolis has nothing against automatic "twist-and-go" machines, which, unlike the classics, don't require shifting gears. He just prefers the company of fellow vintage buffs, who just as breathlessly discuss the latest hard-to-find parts they've unearthed.
Even when he started scootering five years ago with a contemporary Yamaha Vino, the vintage community accepted him because he was eager to learn more about the old bikes, he said. Today, he rides a powder blue 1963 Vespa.
"It's just a thing where, if you become too welcoming, too diverse, you kind of lose the focus of why you got together in the first place," said Stomberg. "Say you have a club for people with red cars. And then you have people say, 'I don't have a red car, but I like red cars.' Well, OK. Then, 'Well, I have a blue car.' Then it becomes, 'I have an orange semi-trailer.' "
This year's rally, which he helped organize, drew more than 150 riders. It has nearly tripled in about four years, he said, making it harder to coordinate.
"We want something that's a little more focused," said Stomberg, who might organize a smaller ride next year open only to vintage riders. A separate mass rally would still likely take place next summer if other volunteers step forward to plan it.
Link.
Posted by Frank at 11:06 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Scooter brothers recall buying cheap classified buys
High priests of scooter world deliver the word
It's been nearly two decades since Michael and Eric Dregni were pushing their broken Lambretta scooters all over the Twin Cities. Now, the Minneapolis brothers have largely graduated from the scooter scene.
Except for writing about it.
Since buying their first scooters in the late 1980s, the Dregnis have worked on several books on the subject — "about five, embarrassedly," Michael says — including their latest, "The Scooter Bible." Their fanaticism about scooters, tempered with self-deprecating humor, demonstrates why the vehicles can seem both nerdy and cool.
The two Macalester College alums — Michael, 45, and Eric, 38 — spoke with the Pioneer Press about the scooter trend and their distaste for the newfangled plastic models typified by the Yamaha Zuma.
How did you guys get into scootering?
Michael Dregni: People all over the Cities would have these things as toys. They'd break, and they started stuffing them into the garage. We'd go through the thrifties (classified ads). In no hurry, because no one else was chasing them, you'd go out and find these scooters. You might pay 50 bucks for one.
Eric Dregni: Yeah, when someone charged $300, it was just outrageous.
Was it the subculture aspect of scooters that drew you in?
MD: I think it was more the Italian connection. We were interested in Italian motorcycles, Italian cars, Italian racing bicycles …
ED: Italian language …
MD: Italian food …
ED: Italian movies.
So, what generation Italian are you?
ED and MD: (pause) Norwegian.
Oh. You have the vintage types, the modern riders and the mini-crotch-rocket riders. What's the deal? Are there scooter divisions?
MD: It used to be that everyone rode old scooters, and that was it. Now you have these modern scooters, and they (work) all the time.
Link.
Posted by Frank at 11:02 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 14, 2006
Segway recalling every scooter they ever sold to repair defect
NEW YORK - Segway Inc. is recalling all 23,500 of the self-balancing scooters it has shipped to date because of a software glitch that can make its wheels unexpectedly reverse direction, causing riders to fall off.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, which is cooperating with Segway on the voluntary recall announced Thursday, said consumers should stop using the vehicles immediately.
Segway has received six reports of problems with the Personal Transporter, resulting in head and wrist injuries, according to the agency. The vehicles were previously known as the Human Transporter.
Segway is offering a free software upgrade that will fix the problem. The upgrades will be done at Segway’s 100 dealerships and service centers around the world, according to Segway spokeswoman Carla Vallone, and the company will pay to ship the devices to the appropriate center if need be.
It is the second time the scooters, which sell for about $4,000 to $5,500, have been recalled since they first went on sale in 2002. The 2003 recall involved the first 6,000 of the devices sold, and involved a problem that could cause riders to fall off the device when its battery ran out of juice.
Link.
Posted by Frank at 4:31 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 13, 2006
Pastor scoots for Jesus
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- An Arkansas pastor is working to save not only souls, but also gas and money.
The Rev. Bryan Fink said he has switched from a gas-guzzling van to a scooter. The associate pastor at the Central United Methodist Church in Fayetteville, Ark., said it was time to consider alternatives when it cost him $85 for a fill-up.
Fink said he has put 1,200 miles on his scooter since May. He said a tank of gas for the scooter lasts nearly a week and only costs him a few dollars.
Posted by Frank at 12:25 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Virgin Mobile paint scheme for Yamaha
A limited edition Yamaha Mobile replica paintscheme is now available on the Aerox 50 scooter, and it doesn't cost any extra.
The price also includes free Third Party Insurance, a one year manufacturer unlimited mileage warranty, 12-months RAC breakdown cover, and a fitted Datatag anti-theft security marking system. Three named family members can also benefit from the TPO insurance, with Fire and Theft upgrades available.
In addition to the new Virgin Mobile livery, you can also pick Race Replica, Yellow 50th Anniversary Laguna Seca, Blue, Silver or Black paintschemes. The Yamaha Aerox costs £2199 on the road. Contact: 01932-358121.
Posted by Frank at 12:23 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 12, 2006
Motorcycle crashes - now more deadly than 9-11
By Dr. Erik Steele
Being a middle-aged wingnut, I have been thinking a lot in the last few years about buying a motorcycle. OK, OK, I’m an ER doc thinking about a motorcycle, so that means I blew my brains out with my last sneeze. But I like the idea of its gas efficiency, the wind blowing through my hair before it is all gone (my hair, that is), and the thrill of open travel on the open road. I know I could get the same things with a horse, but one pet’s poop is all I can stand.
Two things are stopping my hankerin’ for a Harley hog, however: a likely divorce if I dare, and the simple fact that motorcycle crashes are killing Americans in record numbers these days. In fact, for perspective, more motorcyclists are now dying in America each year than died in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
According to 2005 crash data just released, motorcycle crashes killed a record-high 4,553 Americans in 2005. That is 13 percent more than in 2004, more than twice the number killed in 1997, and it was the eighth straight annual increase in the number of motorcycle deaths. On average, more than 12 Americans a day are being killed in motorcycle crashes, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA — Web site www.nhtsa.gov) crash data.
Another 87,000 motorcyclists were injured in 2005. If I ran the math right that means there were about 100,000 crashes that caused those injuries and deaths, and every year about one in every 57 registered motorcycles will be involved in a crash, and one in every 1,200 will be involved in a fatal crash.
Those numbers are making the rest of us all look bad when it comes to traffic deaths. Last year saw the first increase in the overall rate of traffic fatalities per mile traveled in this country since 1986, and the highest number of traffic fatalities (43,443) since 1990. The main cause of these increases is the increase in motorcycle deaths. That’s the bad news; the worse news is that 2006 seems likely to be another banner year.
Why the increases? The growing number of motorcycle deaths in America is the result of a match being put to the gas; the number of people riding motorcycles is rising rapidly, and because motor-cycles "are the most hazardous highway vehicles" (NHTSA publication "Cost of Injuries Resulting from Motorcycle Crashes: A Literature Review"). The result is record numbers of motorcycle deaths in many states; 2004 was the worst year on record in Maine with 22.
The idea that motorcycles are the most deadly means of licensed motor vehicle travel in America may put motorcyclists’ cam shafts in a twist, but it is not meant as an indictment of motorcycles; it is just a fact. On a per- mile traveled basis, a motorcyclist is 34 times more likely to die in a crash than is the occupant of a car, according to the NHTSA. Motorcyclists suffered 39.89 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled in 2005, while car occupants suffered about 1.2.
The number of registered motorcycles on our roads has gone up by almost 400,000 each of the last three years, to almost 6 million in 2004, and up from just under four million in 1995. Further increases seem likely as gas prices go up, although some of us are buying little scooters from Vespa and not two-wheeled street rockets from Kawasaki.
Many of those new bikes on the road are being bought and vrroomed by my fellow middle-aged wingnuts. Baby boomers are not only buying motorcycles in record numbers; they are unfortunately crashing them in record numbers, and the biggest jump in fatalities by age group between 2004 and 2005 was in the over-50 crowd. The average age of a motorcyclist killed in a crash is now 38; this and the other data suggest the popular notion of dead motorcyclists as just 19-year-olds racing recklessly into oblivion is a myth.
The lack of motorcycle helmets on 50 percent of those riding motorcycles is a major factor in motorcycle deaths. Virtually every study ever done on helmet use suggests they reduce the risk of death in a crash by at least 30 percent. The idea that helmets may increase neck injuries — cited by many as a reason not to wear them — is a myth that persists despite subsequent studies discrediting the original single study that suggested this almost 20 years ago.
The injuries suffered in motorcycle crashes are the bottom of the iceberg. About 80 percent of those who crash a motorcycle will be injured, according to the NHTSA, and some of those injuries will be permanently disabling. Unemployment tripled and disability quadrupled in motorcyclists who suffered a brain injury, according to one study.
What’s the answer? It is not to bag motorcycles. Instead, Americans are going to have to approach motorcycles very differently than we have to this point, or the numbers of deaths and injuries will continue to climb as more of us feel the need for motorcycle speed.
Car drivers, who cause many motorcycle crashes, will need to be more "motorcycle-aware"; many of us are "blind" to motorcycles as though a 200-pound person on a 600-pound motorcycle is just noisy thin air. Laws that allow anyone who once had a motorcycle license to always have one need to be tightened to require new training and re-licensing for riders who have been off the bike for a long time. Motorcycle driver courses should be improved, required and repeated intermittently for those who do not ride regularly. Motorcyclists should be a special focus of campaigns against speeding and drunken driving, two common causes of motorcycle crashes.
The 30 American states that allow it, including Maine, should reconsider the freedom most motorcyclists have to ride without helmets. This freedom was a luxury when there were three million motorcyclists and 2,700 deaths 10 years ago, but as the math of more riders multiplies the mayhem, it has become even more of an unaffordable waste of lives and money. The costs of the injuries and deaths, which run into the many billions of dollars (exact numbers are hard to come by), are shared among us all.
At least half of injured motorcyclists are either uninsured or have insurance paid by taxpayers, and the rest have private insurance which we all help pay with our premiums. The old slogan "Let those who ride decide" should be revamped to "Let those who pay have the say."
Finally, any of us thinking about indulging our middle-age "Easy Rider" fantasies should think twice before we join the burgeoning biker crowd. That doesn’t mean don’t buy the bike; it means if you need the wind to whistle through your thinning hair and are not prepared to ride more carefully than you ever drove, and as though your life depends on it, consider just sticking your head out of your car window, or buying that horse.
Erik Steele, D.O., a physician in Bangor, is chief medical officer of Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems and is on the staff of several hospital emergency rooms in the region.
Posted by Frank at 1:26 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 11, 2006
Cop commutes on a scoot
Some drivers happily wave at Andy Wheeler when they see him on the road, while others sarcastically yell for him to "Get a car!"
Wheeler's response, in so many words: Get a clue.
The north Arlington resident commutes several days per week to his job as a Coppell police officer on a two-stroke scooter.
"I love the wind and the freedom of not being surrounded by metal," he says.
He also loves the spare change in his pocket.
By car, Wheeler's 42-mile round-trip commute costs about $6 a day -- but on the "scoot," as he calls it, the tab is only about $1.25 a day.
He rides the LML Stella scooter several times per week, weather permitting.
Wheeler's two-wheeler can hit 65 mph, but he prefers to use side roads, such as Farm Road 157, Trinity Boulevard, Amon Carter Boulevard, Dallas/Fort Worth Airport service roads and Denton Tap Road.
He packs his work gear in a small duffle bag.
The trip takes about 40 minutes -- yes, longer than if he took a car and used freeways. But there's more to life than freeways, right?
"When I go to the gas station, I always get asked about the mileage -- and where I got it," he said.
Link.
Posted by Frank at 10:18 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Beyond MPGs, lover for scooters runs deep
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - It could be a critical moment for motor scooters.
No doubt we're buying the heck out of scooters compared with just a few years ago. Colorful and shiny Vespas and Kymcos buzz our boulevards.
So are we on our way to a new motoring look, all European and Asian?
Future gas prices could hold the answer. Or other less tangible issues might. Take the cool factor, for one.
Twenty-year-old Brenna Spurgeon zips to work on her black Vespa, never quite sure if the scene she's creating is hip or dorky. Not that she cares. But people do smile. Are they laughing?
On a scooter, are you stylishly elegant or a goof who can't afford regular transportation, like Terry the Toad from "American Graffiti"?
We talked to scooter buyers to see what they were thinking. As we suspected, motor vehicle purchases have to do with a lot of other stuff besides miles-per-gallon - style, psychology, personal history. Here are snippets from those conversations:
Link.
Posted by Frank at 10:15 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 10, 2006
Aussie scooterists call for safer roads
A sharp increase in the number of motor scooter users needs to be met with better and safer road-sharing arrangements, a leading motor industry body says.
Cars and poor road-sharing practices posed the greatest risk to scooter users and it was time the Victorian government took steps to ensure their safety, the Victorian Automobile Chamber of Commerce (VACC) said.
"Scooter riders need safer travel routes, better sharing initiatives, better education for riders and drivers, better traffic management, better licensing and training laws as well as better infrastructure," VACC executive director David Purchase said.
"Government policymakers and road planners are failing powered two-wheeled transport users.
"We need a system of designated `safe routes' and better traffic management features to make road-sharing safer for scooter and motorcycle riders.
"It is time the growing army of scooter riders was heard and their concerns addressed."
Mr Purchase said scooters were a convenient and inexpensive form of personal transport and were here to stay.
"Compared to driving a car, a scooter commuter can save hundreds of dollars a year annually on petrol and parking," he said.
"A scooter is even cheaper than public transport."
Link.
Posted by Frank at 3:02 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Pistol packin scooter mama shoots mugger dead
The pistol-packing Harlem grandma who grabbed a registered .357 magnum and blasted a mugger is a steady shot who has won awards for her marksmanship.
"I never thought I would have to use my gun on a person," said Margaret Johnson, who has at least a dozen shooting trophies in her apartment and once shot a hole in a quarter from 30 feet away.
"I feel bad, but it was his choice," Johnson, 57, said of the mugger she wounded. "I think he's stupid. I think it's really wrong to take advantage of the disabled."
Johnson, who has been confined to a wheelchair since 2001 when she suffered a dislocated hip and a herniated disk, has a permit for the handgun that allows her to keep the firearm in her home and take it to shooting ranges.
She told the Daily News she has been firing guns at the ranges for 25 years to relieve stress. But until Friday, she never had to shoot a gun anywhere else.
She was heading to a Bronx shooting range at 3 p.m. when she saw Deron Johnson, a 45-year-old ex-con, in a parking lot outside her Lenox Ave. building, police said. "I said hello to the man," recalled Margaret Johnson.
But he didn't respond. He grabbed the retired bus driver around the neck, causing her MTA medallion to pop from her necklace and fall to the ground, she said.
Link.
Posted by Frank at 3:00 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 9, 2006
Vespa for the training wheel set
This three-wheeled toy Vespa is available at Target for $49.99.
Winner of Dr. Toy's "Best Classic Toy Award," the Chicco Vespa is for kida aged 18 months to 3 years and has a battery operated working horn.
Link.
Posted by Frank at 1:01 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Crazy "air-bag" jacket protects thrown riders
Kenji Takeuchi used to drive his car every morning to Mugen Denko, the electrical services company he founded in Nagoya, Japan.
One day in 1994, he witnessed a motorcycle accident along the way: The rider flew into the air and landed hard on the ground. Questions flooded Takeuchi's brain: "What if he has a family? How will his wife or girlfriend feel?" And then the one that would preoccupy him for the next decade: "How can I protect someone in a motorcycle crash?"
An airbag on the motorcycle wouldn't do. After all, riders usually fall far from their bikes in a crash. Takeuchi learned that upper-body impacts cause 90 percent of fatalities and serious injuries in traffic accidents, so he thought about sewing an airbag into a motorcycle jacket. But how to make it inflate before the rider hits the pavement?
While he was pondering that challenge, a friend invited him to go scuba diving. Takeuchi declined, but he noticed his friend's unusual vest. It had a key ring that, when pulled, would cause an emergency buoy to inflate and rise to the surface.
Takeuchi's company built its first prototype jacket in 1996. Like eventual production versions, it had an airbag inside that inflated automatically when a pin connecting the jacket to the bike was forcefully pulled from its socket. (A one-touch release button allows riders to get off their bikes without inflating the bags.)
But when Takeuchi took his invention to motorcycle shows in Tokyo and Osaka, bike manufacturers shunned him. "They thought the jacket would remind people that riding a motorcycle was dangerous," he says.
Undeterred, Takeuchi began selling the jackets in Japan in 1999 under the name Eggparka; in 2001 he relaunched the brand as Hit-Air. Today, Mugen Denko sells 16 styles of airbag-equipped motorcycle jackets and vests for about $270 apiece in Asia, Australia, Europe, and South America. (Product liability laws have been an obstacle in the United States.) In 2003 the police department of Japan's Ibaragi Prefecture adopted Hit-Air vests for its motorcycle force, and Brazilian motorcyclist Jean De Azevedo, who finished seventh in the 2005 Paris-Dakar Rally, had a Hit-Air jacket custom-made for the race.
Total revenues from Hit-Air products reached about $1.5 million in 2005, and Takeuchi says his interest in safety products hasn't let up: He's currently working on extra protection for people on bicycles, skis, and skates, as well as for medical rescue personnel. But he's proudest of the testimonials he's received from Hit-Air buyers. As one happy Japanese customer reports, "I should be dead."
Link.
Posted by Frank at 12:31 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 8, 2006
Maine scooter dealer love his 133 mpg ride
WINDHAM, MAINE -- With gas prices on the incline and the state’s fuel prices higher than the national average, it's no wonder why some are looking for alternate modes of travel to save money on transportation costs.
With 664 motorcycles registered in Windham last year, some motorists are steering toward fuel efficient and cost effective vehicles, the most popular of which are scooters and motorcycles.
“I’ve seen a lot of older machines come in out of storage lately. A good number of them to get better mileage for gas,” said Jeff Gilpatric of Moto Milano in Windham.
Gilpatric drives his 2004 Malaguti scooter whenever he can – to the store, the post office, every sunny day there is to work. The modest 49cc engine may only take him to work at 49 mph, but its amazing 133 miles per gallon stops any chuckler short.
“You want to get a picture of me with my helmet and gear on, in all my geekness?” he asked.
But Gilpatric is no geek, just a man with a passion for a finely tuned two-wheeler. He likes his Malaguti for many reasons, not just the gas mileage. He’s got an empty stock count of the scooters to prove it. But don’t worry. If that astonishing 133 mpg grabs your attention and desire to stop in, they are planning to stock and sell more.
“They’re nice looking machines,” he says. His is all decked out in Ducati decals, the paint identical to ones parked just feet away in the sunny lot outside the shop on Route 302. His admiration for Ducati has not left him blinded by the shine off the finely polished exhausts. While speaking about one of Ducati’s touring bikes, he admits it’s not the “prettiest of things.”
“But it sure is a great bike,” he says. “My 28-your-old daughter just got back from a 600-mile trip, and she loved every minute of it. Not tired or sore at all, she said. Great, great touring bike. And not bad mileage on that either.”
Link.
Posted by Frank at 12:37 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 5, 2006
Scooter sales up 18%
With rising oil prices, an increasing number of US drivers has hopped on scooters, long a favourite in parts of the world familiar with pricey petrol. Aged 55, Karl Levithan tools around the Washington suburbs on his silver Vespa from April to November while the weather is agreeable. “Sometimes, less is more,” he says, noting that fuel is often more than $3 per gallon now. “Americans should think about more efficient means of transportation.”
Scooters get a whopping 60 to 80 miles to the gallon, at least triple what their four-wheeled counterparts return. This year is set to mark record scooter sales although the streets don’t yet resemble Milan. “The big markets are urban markets, vacation destinations and college towns,” said Mike Mount, spokesman for the Motorcycle Industry Council.
According to the industry group, 113,000 scooters were sold in 2005, up 18 per cent from the previous year. As with fuel efficient cars, the market is led by Japanese makers Honda and Yamaha, but the Italian brand Vespa is making a big dent in the Japanese dominance with its retro-styled models. Randy Campbell opened a scooter store in Dallas, Texas three years ago.
“The more you see them riding by, the more they are gaining popularity,” he said, adding that his clients are mostly between the ages of 35 and 55 and that 40 per cent are women. Half are buying the scooters, which sell for an average $3,000, for pleasure, a quarter for economy and “some for the cool”. Service manager at Campbell’s store, Rian Sumner, also noted that riders tend to be older than expected.
“More professors are riding them than students,” he said. But in Washington, where petrol is more expensive than in Texas, prices are driving scooters’ popularity, according to Gerry Helfgott, an Italian who opened a Vespa store in the nation’s capital. However, two wheels cannot replace four and Campbell said few of his customers use scooters as their only mode of transport. But “a few customers replace their second car with a scooter,” he said.
Boise, Idaho, has only 200,000 residents but Valery Aker sells about 20 scooters per month at her two-year-old shop. “The more people see them, the more they like the idea, and they are fun,” she said.
Posted by Frank at 5:22 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Getting ready for the Scooter Cannonball
Somewhere in the middle of Wyoming, roommates Mike Garrett and Rob Downs may come to question the wisdom of their journey.
Crossing the continental United States on a Vespa and a Lambretta ? Those nippy little scooters more associated with the narrow, congested streets of Rome than the vast, yawning spaces of America?
But they cannot be dissuaded, and Sunday in Pacific City, Ore., they will straddle their machines and point them east, destination Coney Island, N.Y., 3,500 miles away. With them will be 30 other scooter riders.
Make that "scooterists."
"There's a difference between scooterists and people who ride scooters," said Rob, a 30-year-old Navy vet who works on the Department of Labor's Web site. "Some people just own and ride scooters. If someone's referred to as a scooterist, that means he does scooter rallies and likes hanging out with other people who have a shared interest in this hobby."
Link.
Posted by Frank at 4:46 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Lake Saint Louis may put brakes on mini motorcycles
LAKE SAINT LOUIS -- They're low to the ground, can reach speeds of 50 mph and often are ridden by young children. Police say the little motorcycles, known as "pocket bikes," are becoming a big problem.
Police Chief Mike Force is asking the Lake Saint Louis Board of Aldermen to consider banning the scaled-down motorcycles from city streets and sidewalks.
"If you're in a pickup truck or any vehicle of a decent size, they are extremely hard to see," Force said. "I would hate to have a situation where, God forbid, something happens to a kid, and we say, we should have thought this through."
According to the chief, a city ordinance is needed because it is unclear whether the little bikes are covered under state statutes. The vague definition of "motor vehicle" is the main issue, and more specific guidelines are necessary for effective enforcement, he said.
Link.
Posted by Frank at 4:28 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
