July 12, 2008
Two-Wheeled Gas Savers
Interest in scooters has been increasing as the pain at the pump has been intensifying, dealers report, as people looking to save on gas in turn cut down on the number of wheels under them!
And on The Early Show Saturday, Men's Health magazine's Matt Bean showcased several of the latest and coolest ones.
They're all ultra-fuel efficient. Two don't even use gas at all!
Vespa S:
The vehicle gets a maximum speed of 59 miles per hour and can get 72 miles per gallon. The tank holds 2.3 gallons, so this equals out to about 165 miles per tank. With gas currently at an average of $4.10 per gallon, you can fill up the gas tank for only $9.43.The Vespa S features a single-cylinder engine, front-disk brakes, and weighs 243 pounds. It comes in three colors: red, white, and black. The suggested retail price for the Vespa S is $4,199.
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July 29, 2007
Scootering USA now available in nine languages!
Thanks to the Babel Fish translation software from AltaVista, Scootering USA is now available in translation for nine languages. If you include English.
The alternate languages include: Spanish, French, German, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Italian and Portugese.
All you have to do is click on the appropriate flag in the box that is at the upper right hand corner of this and every page on the site.
Click here to read the site in Spanish.
Click here to read the site in French.
Click here to read the site in Japanese.
Click here to read the site in Chinese.
Click here to read the site in German.
Click here to read the site in Korean.
Click here to read the site in Italian.
Click here to read the site in Portugese.
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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.
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February 2, 2006
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